Anfield: The home of football

After maintaining a poetic match report of all the Liverpool games for the last Barclays Premiership campaign, I felt I needed to live the dream and feel the pride of Merseyside. As an adopted Scouser and accompanied by three friends, including my pal Bootle Jan, we visited the great city of Liverpool to experience the magical Anfield Tour.

At the home of Liverpool Football Club (Still the most successful club in England) we were able to witness at first hand the breathtaking history of the Royal family of world football clubs.

First time visitors like yours truly can feel the excitement build up well before you arrive at Anfield Road. This is followed rapidly by a rush of blood as you are greeted by the Paisley gates, blinded by the Kop in bold letters and club crest, enough to veer into the towering shadow of Bill Shankly.

The Liverpool FC experience is not restricted to spending an hour with one tour guide. The club operates a clever relay system, whereby a younger, hip and retro team of guides talk you through the Anfield experience; from Shankly, to the press room, the changing rooms through to the Kop.

This was a superb opportunity to savour behind the scenes access and enjoy the peerless heritage of England's most successful Football Club and we followed in the footsteps of legends like Shankly, Paisley & Dalglish, all in an arena steeped in glory.

We sat in the same dressing room as modern day icons, Carragher, Gerrard, and Torres. Therein lay another surprise. In the modern game, changing rooms resemble state of the art gyms, with players having access to more mod cons than we will see in a lifetime. Astonishingly the Reds home dressing room has changed little since Shankly plotted the downfall of opponents, just a lick of paint here and there. We were told that Shankly’s dispelling of internal cliques and insistence on players sitting next to their playing comrade rather than their mates is still an important and prevalent practice today. The shirts are laid out on the hooks in accordance to the order of the teamsheet, with each team member changing next to the teammate they will standing shoulder to shoulder with on the green fields of Anfield Road.

We were escorted down the tunnel, touched the world famous "THIS IS ANFIELD" sign and emerged to the imaginary roar of the Anfield faithful to marvel at the Spion Kop - the most illustrious Terrace in World Football.

Each tour guide will hand the baton onto a new one at each stage. There is no rush and the superbly trained guides allow the fans to savour each and every step.

Fans can feel the history with a look at the museum – home to Liverpool’s five magnificent European trophies. One can relive the atmosphere of the dug out, sit in the gaffer’s seat and get the full player experience in the home locker room where the boys have laughed and cried many times.

There’s also a VIP tour which I hope to one day be invited back on.

Walk on with hope in your heart and enjoy the enthralling exhilaration of a true football cathedral – for the sun never sets on the Red empire.

The Liverpool experience will be an unforgettable day. Remember to take a fully charged camera on your visit to Europe’s capital of culture.

To book a tour visit – www.liverpoolfc.tv/stadiumtours