Jurgen Klopp has defended Liverpool fans for booing the British national anthem God Save the King prior to the 1-0 win over Brentford at Anfield.
The Premier League match took place on the same day as the coronation of King Charles along with other top-flight fixtures across the county.
Liverpool said it would play ‘God Save the King’ after the league had contacted clubs playing home games and ‘strongly suggested’ they note the occasion.
The club played the anthem ahead of kick-off, but even before it started, there were loud boos as many voiced their disapproval.
Liverpool fans booing the national anthem first became widespread in the 1980s as a protest towards Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government and her ‘managed decline’ of the city.
The treatment the city received from the government led to many Liverpudlians feeling a sense of disconnect from the rest of the country, with banners reading ‘Scouse not English’ often seen among the crowds at Anfield still to this day.
The previous national anthem God Save the Queen was loudly booed by Liverpool fans ahead of the FA Cup final a year ago and the Community Shield in July.
Speaking after God Save the King was booed on Saturday, Liverpool manager Klopp said: ‘First and foremost, [it] is a big day for England and I respect that a lot.
‘Everyone who wants to be happy about it and wants to celebrate it is allowed to celebrate it. We have, thank God – and not everything now is better than it was in the past – but we have freedom of speech. That means a free opinion as well.
‘It was clear that something like this would happen, I think everyone knew it. And that is allowed, meanwhile. That is fine.
‘I don’t know exactly what it is, some things I know about, not all. But the people of Liverpool in the past were not always happy with how the city or the club was dealt with. So that is what they did.
‘I think really today, for all other people who love the day – and I am not sure if you say congratulations to the King but if you did then I do that here – but people who celebrate it, they do that here.
‘Other people who are not happy about it say it and then that’s it. I think that is absolutely OK.’
