❌
@KopCraftsman
’s banners won’t be on display at Anfield tomorrow and he’s still trying to find a solution with
@LFC
.
Check out Mark’s story on what’s led to this decision from those in charge of Anfield’s matchday operations.
FURTHER UPDATE: The Club's Chief Safety Officer has called me this afternoon and told me that, though I have been allowed to hang by banners between U4 and U5 since the opening of the Main Stand in 2016, I will no longer be permitted to do so. 1/
My
@wataru0209
banner has been confiscated on the way into Turnstile S today by a Mr Paul Hudson & an
@LFC
steward named Terry
#37
. The grounds stated were that the FA has issued a blanket ban on "nationalistic flags" at all stadia. 1) A national flag is not "nationalistic" 2)...
.
@spiritofshankly
@LFCHelp
For context, I have a standing arrangement with the stewards to fly my banners in the same spot where I have shown them since the Main Stand opened. They are all fire certified and have the proper permissions. This is the flag.
My
@wataru0209
banner has been confiscated on the way into Turnstile S today by a Mr Paul Hudson & an
@LFC
steward named Terry
#37
. The grounds stated were that the FA has issued a blanket ban on "nationalistic flags" at all stadia. 1) A national flag is not "nationalistic" 2)...
Bizarre situation, having to argue with
@LFChelp
@LFC
stewards on my way in to be able to display a banner in support of our 2nd goalscorer
@wataru0209
#Endo
in the same spot where I have hung my flags every game for the last 7 years.
@LFC
UPDATE| The family of 15-year-old Jessica Baker who sadly died following a collision on the
#M53
in
#Wirral
this morning (Friday 29 Sept) have issued a photograph.
Junctions 3-5 of the M53 remain closed and motorists are advised to avoid the area and seek alternative routes.
UPDATE: You may have seen reported that the club have apologised to me. This is NOT the case. They apologised only for the grounds stated. They have now withdrawn permission for ANY of my flags to be flown in the Main Stand. 1/
Honoured to have two of my creations on the Kop for the closed-doors games. Many thanks to
@soccrinthecity
for organising it all and to the volunteers who have made the
#Kop
look so amazing.
@LFCTV
@lfc
@LivEchoLFC
UPDATE ON SITUATION WITH LFC 🧵
You may recall that, some time ago, my Endo banner was refused entry to Anfield, and subsequently permission for all my banners to hang in the Main Stand was withdrawn due to their dimensions.
@spiritofshankly
then took up my case. [1/7]
My ongoing treatment at the hands of
@LFC
has left me broken. The season starts in 2 days, and for the first time in over 40 years as a Red, I wish it wasn't. I have lost all enthusiasm and enjoyment for what I do. The Club has robbed me of it. I don't think I can do it anymore.
Naby Keïta has cost
@LFC
a total of £82.75m in transfer fee and wages for 80 Premier League appearances and 9 goal involvements. More than a million quid a game. Mind-blowing.
It's a miracle I get anything done living in this chaos, but wouldn't have it any other way! After just 3 days, sewing is all complete, fire treatment done, and it's ready for a Kop debut on Wednesday night
@LFC
#LIVCHE
Well that's nice. The
@LFC
kit launch I worked on last year has just been nominated for an advertising industry award.
Always nice when someone values what you do, isn't it?
Last night was the 8th home game since
@LFC
decided to stop me hanging my banners in the Main Stand as they had allowed me to do each game for the previous 7 years. They hope I'm going to give up and go away. I'm not. Tradition is worth fighting for.
@spiritofshankly
The only logical inference I can draw is that the Club have decided to punish me as a result of me having the audacity to question their decision on Sunday. I'm afraid you've seen the last of my banners. This may well be the end for me and
@LFC
7/
Klopp: "I was not overly happy with the atmosphere behind me. I wondered what they wanted. We need Anfield on Saturday. We need Anfield on their toes without me being in an argument with their coach or whatever. If you're not in the right shape, give your ticket to someone else."
And there it is... A month-long project in the end, where I definitely felt I'd bitten off more than I could chew.
Please
#RETWEET
🔁 so as many Reds as possible see my work ❤️
#ALabourOfLove
#TheCraftsmanOfTheKop
🌐
Errrrm...
As the man who made this banner (in 2020, incidentally), I can confidently tell
@alsharq_portal
that it has nothing to do with the club's ownership and everything to do with the World Club Cup we won there. Don't let the truth get in the way of your nonsense, though!
Just when you think you've seen it all - the same
@LFC
who have banned my banners from the Main Stand and who are not engaged with me in any dialogue to resolve it are USING my banners for promotional purposes. 🤯
So, I made a thing. It's fair to say that working on this for an hour each evening has been the thing that has kept me sane in the last few weeks, when I've mostly been stuck in the house and in a lot of pain. Art is therapy.
@LFC
@TheAnfieldWrap
@LivEchonews
@steveofthekop
This does not tell the story. They have not apologised to me at all, but have rather apologised for the grounds stated. They have withdrawn my permission to fly banners in the main stand.
🔴
#LFC
have now admitted error after a supporter's (
@KopCraftsman
) Wataru Endo banner was confiscated at Anfield on Sunday.
Claims it was due to a ban on "nationalistic" flags across stadia per FA guidelines.
Story from
@dmlynchlfc
.
This is not a tenable position. My banners are perfectly safe and are fire treated and certified as such. They represent no safety issue and do not obstruct any view. If they DID represent a safety risk, then the Club is admitting it has endangered public safety for 7 years. 4/
Imagine thinking that this squad isn't good enough?!
@LFC
are going for all four this year. There is no team on earth who wouldn't fear them. Enjoy what we have... It genuinely doesn't get much better.
The Club have publicly celebrated my work in the matchday programmes and on the official website, and indeed have directed people exactly where to look in order to view them. It is not feasible for the Club to now claim that this is the first time they have been aware of them. 5/
Off the back of the banners displayed there, at (almost) every game since 2016, the Club has commissioned me to create a giant banner for a kit launch, has reproduced my banners as displays in its shops, & has borrowed many of them for its advertisements. They know their size. 6/
Tonight is the 1️⃣5️⃣th game since
@LFC
@LFCHelp
prohibited me from hanging my banners in the Main Stand after 7 years of hanging them there without issue. It still hurts like hell that they have taken this part of my matchday away from me.
@LivEchonews
@LivEchoLFC
Looks like a large banner being wholeheartedly welcomed by the manager in the Main Stand,
@LFCHelp
@LFC
. I assume the owners will be subjected to the same ordeal as I have suffered for the last 9 months.
This in the same week that
@LFC
are asking me to drop everything to make them a banner for their social media channels. Absolutely sick of being made to feel like a criminal every game on my way into the ground for working to uphold
#LFC
traditions.
My banners have hung in the same spot between U4 and U5 for the past 7 years. In response, I have requested that all my work for the Club be removed from the Club shops in L1 and Thailand. 2/
As the Club are well aware, my banners measure 2.4m X 1.4m. They have allowed them to hang there at every game since 2017. Yet the Chief Safety Officer claims to have only just become aware of their presence there. 2 large banners. Every game. Right in the middle of the stand. 3/
LATEST UPDATE: Just when you thought you were getting somewhere...
I have now been informed that banners of ANY dimensions cannot be tied up in the Main Stand. Having told me to go away and make the 2 x 1 banners, they now tell me they are no good either. 🤯 [1/2]
For the first time in 18 years, the last 7 of which have been in the Main Stand, I'm going to an
@LFC
match without a banner. Sadly staying in the boot of my car. 😔
Today is the day! No
#Wembley
tickets for me thanks to a rigged ballot, but at least 1️⃣4️⃣ of my banners will be there to represent me. Look out for them,
#Reds
, and be sure to take pictures if you spot them. 🇻🇳🧣
@LFC
You may be aware that one of my students died tragically in a coach accident on her way to school two weeks ago. Since her passion was climbing, as a community, we are raising money to install a climbing wall in her memory so that she lives on in others
95% of the banners I make are commissioned. Sometimes, though, I just have an idea that I love and I have to make it. This is a banner with hidden depths in honour of
@wataru0209
@LFC
@LFCJapan
@LFCjp
After no luck in yet another ballot, the next best thing.... Will be down at
@BalticMarketLiv
from 12pm today with 8 of my banners to deck out the place for the final. 🍺🧣❤️🤍💛🎀🇻🇳
They cite their flags and banner policy, which allows the bringing of flags up to 2m X 1m. Crucially, in my view, nothing in the policy prevents special permission being granted for larger banners. 2/
4) The Club have also agreed to help to fund me in creating a future series of 2m banners to hang in the Main Stand between U4 and U5 where my banners have always hung. The first of these has been created and approved, and will make its debut tomorrow v Man United (below) [6/7]
This is what the middle of the top tier of the Main Stand should look like every week... If only
@LFC
took the same attitude to its most loyal supporters as
@BalticMarketLiv
does.
9️⃣ originals on show for the
#CHELIV
cup final today.
@spiritofshankly
Not going to today's parade as, after last night, the last place I want to be today is in a crowd. I'm sure lots of us feel the same. Holding my daughter a little bit tighter having made it home safe to her. Up the Reds.
I am finally able to reveal this secret project. Made as a gift, so kept under wraps, this was one of my most challenging banners to date. It may just be my best. PLEASE RETWEET!
🌐
Further to all of this: If there are any Kop STHs would like to take temporary charge of one or more of my banners for display on the Kop while they are currently unable to be used by myself in the Main Stand, please do get in touch.
@SpionKop1906
Recreations of 8️⃣ of my finest designs right at the heart of the new-look
@LFC
@LFCRetail
store in town. What an honour. 🤯
My book,
#ALabourOfLove
#TheCraftamanOfTheKop
which tells the story of some of these and many more, is available now on my website:
Seems LFC Twitter has wet the bed. We are level on points at the top of the league in the April of a season which nobody began with any great hopes. We are still ahead of the champions. People need to get a grip.
The word 'legend' is used very freely these days. But Roy Evans is a Liverpool legend, as are each of the great men commemorated on this fantastic plaque.