The fascinating story behind Liverpool's anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone"

You'll Never Walk Alone is the well-known as Liverpool's anthem. It is sung every match day in Anfield by thousands of fans, sending shivers down the spine of every opponent. But originally, Liverpool's iconic anthem had nothing to do with football.

In fact, while it's mainly associated with the "Reds", other teams around the world have also adopted the song as their anthem. Those include clubs like Celtic from Scotland, Borussia Dortmund from Germany, FC Twente from the Netherlands, Genoa from Italy, FC Tokyo, Lugo from Spain or ARIS from Greece.

The song was originally written by American composers and lyricists Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1945 Broadway musical Carousel. It has received many different versions over the decades, but the most famous one was by Gerry and the Pacemakers, a Liverpudlian band (born earlier than The Beatles) that released in 1963.

The song went on to top the charts, and was played regularly in Anfield before every match, as it was the case with other popular songs. But "You'll Never Walk Alone" stuck and became Liverpool's official anthem.

Sometimes, Liverpool meets with other teams that also use the Gerry Marsden's version as their anthem. In a 2003 match between Liverpool and Celtic, Gerry sung the song live to the whole crowd.

The unforgettable moments You'll Never Walk Alone was sung by supporters from both sides

The powerful and encouraging lyrics give a special meaning to the song, sometimes played in special circumstances. In March 12, 2004, one day after Madrid's tragic bombings, Celtic played FC Barcelona, and the anthem was sung in honour of the victims.

In March 2016, it was sung by the whole Dortmund stadium, including rival team Mainz 05, after a Dortmund fan died of a heart attack in the stadium. And in 2023 Real Madrid played it at the Bernabéu as a sign of respect after Liverpool, in the prior game, had made a tribute to Amancio Amaro, a Real Madrid legend who had just died.

Despite being associated with Liverpool or football in general, You'll Never Walk Alone has been used in other contexts, such as the COVID-19 Pandemic, when it was adopted as an anthem for doctors and hospital workers.