Our Pitch Gallery has been taken over by an awful curse this half-term but unbelievably so once was the home ground of England’s most successful club – Liverpool FC. The stadium was built in 1884 and originally housed local rivals Everton until rent disputes led to their move across Stanley Park and Liverpool were formed in their absence.
From then on, some of the game’s greatest played before the infamous Spion Kop delivering decades of success and acclaim especially under the helm of Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. Even dominating world football in the 80’s winning two European Cups and seven league titles across the decade.
One member of this squad’s success was Zimbabwean shot-stopper Bruce Grobbelaar. Joining the club in 1981, Grobbelaar went on an incredible run of appearing in 310 consecutive fixtures in net whilst earning the affectionate nickname ‘Wobbly Legs’ for his penalty shoot-out antics that helped Liverpool lift the European cup in 1984.
His iconic contributions during his 14-year career with the club some felt were downplayed so much so that in 1992 on the day of Grobbelaar’s testimonial, sponsor Zambezi Lager invited a witchdoctor to the fixture. Before kick-off he completed a ritual before announcing to the crowd – “unless Bruce Grobbelaar is at the club, you’ll never win the league again.” An unbelievable claim, laughed off by Grobbelaar himself at the time, it felt inconceivable a club as successful as Liverpool with their abundance of first team talent would ever miss out on English football’s top prize.
What followed is countless runner’s up finishes in the newly formed Premier League spanning the reigns of Houllier, Benitez and most memorably under Brendan Rogers. After a strong start to Liverpool’s season in 13/14 Grobbelaar became very aware of the lore set down at his testimonial and felt himself responsible for ensuring the club’s success and hopefully turning the tide on Liverpool’s title fortunes.
Following an evening game, Grobbelaar remained in the corporate suites as late as possible, while the floodlights dimmed, he raced down pitch side and began to relieve himself and the supposed curse on the Kop end goalposts.
He was stopped by an Anfield steward and removed from the ground before he could do the same at the Anfield Road end. That same season, having defeated title rivals Manchester City, Gerrard demanded his side “not let this slip.” Weeks later Gerrard’s painful slip let in Chelsea’s Demba Ba to score in a defeat that would ultimately see City pip the Reds to the title that year.
The title wait extended into the era of Jurgen Klopp where his side would face-off against Pep Guardiola’s City and still finish second with the highest points total for a runner-up in English football history. Grobbelaar was determined to act!
At the end of that season, Grobbelaar called on a friend who was hosting a corporate match at the ground. In the dressing room, Grobbelaar took the opportunity to urinate into a water bottle and take it onto the pitch. First emptying its contents on the Kop end goalposts and in the second half on the Anfield Road end. Grobbelaar’s side eventually won the corporate trophy and lifted it at the stadium.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe following season, Liverpool would go on a 44-game unbeaten run, lift their first Premier League trophy during the COVID affected season and end their 30 year wait for a league title. All the praise went to Jurgen Klopp his stars Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk but in the end should they have really thanked this club legend for urinating on the pitch and lifting an age-old curse…