National Museums Liverpool Blog - Kicking and Screaming

As the video replayed images of football fans flying to far flung fields, Jamie Carragher was laughing his head off: “We know that lad!”

The Kop legend and family were among the hordes of visitors enjoying the Museum of Liverpool on the eve of the new football season.

Team Carragher were recognising fans in the Kicking and Screaming film in the Wondrous Place gallery.

It wasn’t long before people were soon recognising the football player in their midst. A few visitors did a double take when they spotted Jamie. One fan from Ireland was all at sea in Global City: “Jamie you are my hero. Can I have my photograph with you?”

Jamie was stopped and asked for autographs and photos around a dozen times and he obliged for every single fan. 

For me it was a bit surreal showing someone around the museum who I’d spent years watching from the stands at Anfield. I remember watching Jamie’s full league debut 15-years-ago at home to West Ham (he scored!). 

My favourite Carra moment was Istanbul – the greatest match in the history of Liverpool FC. He played on with agonising cramp in the European Cup comeback of the century.

The Kicking and Screaming film shows the scenes of jubilation as the Kop heroes returned to the city with the cup from Turkey. It’s great footage – tens of thousands of Liverpool fans going crazy amid flags and flashlights.

It’s my favourite part of the film. I never witnessed those scenes first hand during that balmy May night. Like a couple of thousand other Liverpool supporters I was stranded in Istanbul as flights home were delayed by hours.

What a high it must have been to see the team bring home the cup. But not as good as actually being in the Ataturk to witness history!

You can relive all the magic of Istanbul and what it means to be Red or Blue at the Museum of Liverpool. The Wondrous Place gallery contains artefacts and stories from all three Merseyside clubs.

To see photographs of Jamie at the museum go to our Flickr set here.

Ever wondered who spotted the likes of Keegan, Toshack and Hansen and brought them to Liverpool?

Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley are rightly credited for turning Liverpool Football Club into a winning side during the 1960s, 70s and 80s, but few people know about the major role played by Geoff Twentyman, the club’s chief scout from 1967 to 1985.

A former Anfield player, Twentyman was recruited into the boot room team by Shankly and went on to unearth a host of world-famous stars that helped to maintain the Reds’ position as one of Europe’s greatest teams during a glittering era that saw them claim the Football League championship 18 times.

Twentyman worked tirelessly, travelling up and down the country in his trademark Cortina to write reports on young up-and-coming professionals such as Alan Hansen, Terry McDermott, Steve Nicol, Ian Rush and other household names that went on to forge successful careers at other clubs.

His son William has kept his father’s fascinating scouting book, which reveals Twentyman’s early reports as he cast his expert eye over young hopefuls that were to become legends of the game, as well as others that failed to make the grade. 

(c) Trinity Mirror. Geoff Twentyman's scouting book will go on display in the Museum of Liverpool.

Here at the Museum of Liverpool, we are really lucky that William Twentyman has kindly loaned the book to the Museum of Liverpool to display in the Wondrous Place Gallery, where you will be able to see it from 19 July when the Museum opens.

If you want to find out more, a great book has just been published which tells the story of Twentyman’s life and legacy at Liverpool under Shankly, Paisley, and Dalglish and how he changed modern football forever through his dedication to scouting.

Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout includes interviews with more than 30 players; those Twentyman recommended including Keegan, Neal and Hansen and it also reveals, and interviews, the great names that Liverpool scouted but never signed.

The book is available at www.merseyshop.com.

Recently we updated the blog with news of how filming’s going for our football immersive experience Kicking and Screaming in the new Museum of Liverpool, and now it’s your chance to get involved.

TJ and Charlie, two of the young actors who appear throughout the film in the Kicking and Screaming football immersive

A film about football in Liverpool wouldn’t be complete without an insight into ‘Derby Day’, and soon we will be recreating our very own with the help of reds and blues across the city.

It’s true to say that football can unite, but many families across Merseyside are split down the middle, with some members supporting one team, and others pledging allegiance to another.

At least two days a season, this division can really catch up with us, as Liverpool and Everton go head to head in a Derby game. Rivalry is fierce, tensions high, but nothing quite matches up to the anticipation and exhilaration of a Derby game, and if you’re on the winning side (and I’m pleased to say I was recently) the sensation of a Derby victory is really quite something.

So, reds and blues, we are offering you a chance to be part of a really exciting project that demonstrates our mutual appreciation and true passion for the game, in recreating a classic scene in the build up to a Derby, of walking to the match.

If you’re interested in taking part, we will be filming on the evening of Monday 1 November at a location in Liverpool to be confirmed. Reds and blues of all ages can get in touch with Katie Louise Brown for further information on how to get involved by emailing katielouise.brown@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk or calling 0151 478 4069.

The film will feature in the Museum of Liverpool for some years to come, so we can’t have recent strips or names of famous players on show. Retro strips, scarves, hats and non descriptive clothes are fine, and it will be cold so wrap up warmly in hats and scarves of your team colour.

Are you red or are you blue? This is one of the big questions we ask in our football immersive experience Kicking and Screaming in the new Museum of Liverpool. The film celebrates and explores the city’s passion for football and takes the visitor on a journey through all the key moments that have shaped it.

A scene being filmed outside the Sandon pub in Anfield, for the football immersive in the new Museum of Liverpool

For the past few weeks production company Centre Screen have been out and about in Liverpool with museum curators and Creative Director Roy Boulter, filming some of the big scenes.

Joining them have been football mad TJ, a Liverpool fan, and Charlie, an Everton fan. They appear throughout the film and help reveal some of the momentous events that took place in the city’s football history.

Last week, the boys stepped back in time to film scenes at the Sandon Hotel in Anfield, where in 1892 a meeting took place that changed football in Liverpool forever.

Museum of Liverpool curator Paul Gallagher explains:

“As many reds and blues know, in the early 1890s Everton Football Club used to play their games at Anfield. On 12 March 1892, a committee meeting took place in the upstairs room of the Sandon Hotel - owned by club president John Houlding - that changed everything. Trouble had been brewing for some time and Houlding clashed with the committee led by George Mahon over the direction the club was heading in, in particular the proposed increase in ground rental. Mahon and most of the committee left to find a new ground for Everton and Houlding set up his own club, Liverpool Football Club.

“To capture the period when the meeting took place, the filming for this historic event was shot in the style of a silent movie. The actors had to express emotion and communicate through their facial expressions and gestures, so you can imagine the animation that was required to portray the heated discussion, and they certainly rose to the challenge!”.

The experience has really caught everyone’s imagination and we have received tremendous support from both football clubs, gaining unprecedented access to the stadiums, their archives and collections. In addition, Liverpool Football Club Museum and The Everton Collection have both have kindly lent us an array of memorabilia to use during the production, in order to make history come to life for the visitors to the Museum of Liverpool, and lead them to answer the question “Are you red or are you blue?”

Keep checking back to keep updated on filming progress.

The Museum of Liverpool is due to open next summer, 2011, and curators need your help!

One of the star features of the new museum will be an immersive film, taking visitors right into the heart of the city's passion for football, exploring our unique connections to the game.

We are currently in the process of filming sequences for the film, and in order for it to be as authentic as possible, we need to borrow certain things.

If you have any of the following articles, please get in touch with Katie Brown on 0151 478 4069 or katielouise.brown@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk before Thursday 7 October, who will make arrangements to collect your item.

Your object will be worn by a young Everton and Liverpool fan in a part of the film that looks at the incredible success of our teams in the 1980s. It will be returned to you safely by the end of the week.  The film will be shown in a gallery dedicated to Liverpool's creativity and sporting culture when the Museum of Liverpool opens next summer.

We are looking for the following pieces:

1984 Everton 'Hafnia' Everton kit (in kids’ size)
1984 Liverpool 'Crown Paints' Kit (in kids’ size)
1984 Milk Cup Final Hat for Liverpool & Everton
1984 Milk Cup Final rosette / memorabilia Wembley Trophy football

You can listen to curator Paul Gallagher talking about the appeal on Tony Snell in the Morning on BBC Radio Merseyside, at 2.22.36 hours in.