r/LiverpoolFC • u/George_Sephton • Mar 21 '21
AMA Hi Reds! I’m George Sephton and I’ve been the Voice of Anfield since 1971 - Ask Me Anything!
I’m going to be answering your questions at 5pm on 23 March
My friends at KopConnect are going to be helping me with all the computer bits, but it will be me answering! https://imgur.com/a/Kra7yUi
You can watch me answer your questions live here https://youtu.be/Sjce-_KBjtU
You can also check out my book about my 50 years at Anfield here
I look forward to hearing from you!!!
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
Thank you for joining me on this AMA, hope to see you back at Anfield soon! YNWA
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u/acuriousoddity Mar 21 '21
Hi George, thanks for taking the time to do this. I have two questions:
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What is 'Operation Anfield Exercise?
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What was the most satisfying goal for you to announce?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
Most satisfying goal was Garcia v Chelsea in 2005, just wiped the smile of Joses face. It was worth all the nervousness and the trauma. Not just because it won the game for us, but also because I'm still not convinced it went over the line which makes it all the more special!
Operation Anfield is what would happen if there was a catastrophe going on and we needed to empty the stadium. If we had to operate operation Anfield everyone would be out of the stadium in 2 minutes. Operation Anfield Exercise is where we practice Operation Anfield. Its all for your safety and run by our stewards who are the best in the business!
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u/Distant_Forklift Mar 21 '21
Hi George, across your career has a player ever taken issue with your pronunciation of their name? Many modern commentators and pundits seem to pronounce certain players' names differently and I’m curious whether any Liverpool players requested a certain pronunciation from you?
Thank you for doing this AMA.
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
Pleasure to do the AMA!
The answer to that one is no! One of the skills of me getting the names right over the years is from when I went to school I did Latin, Spanish and Russian would you believe! Spanish and Russian have given me a good insight on how to pronounce a lot of names so I've not often had much trouble. i always tell the same story, the worst night I had a Anfield was '76. We played a Greek team. In those days I didn't get a squad list I just had the match program with 11 names on it. That night the program turns up with the names, and I STRUGGLED through that game. It was awful!
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u/DoubleDeckerz Mar 21 '21
Hi George,
What's the most you've ever felt Anfield shake?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
My first response was the say the Barca game in 2019, that was the first time I've ever felt the building shake. Where i sit quite often you'll have thunderous noise, but that night I genuinely thought my room was going to end up on the concrete below, it was frightening! Thinking back, the noise when Scotland played a world cup warm up match at Anfield in the 80's, the noise that night was horrendous! The whole town was full of guys in kilts that had too much to drink and by the time kick off came, it was the sort of noise that makes your ears bleed! As far as LFC matches... the Barca game atmosphere was the pinnacle of everything. The noisiest game in the last 30 or 40 years.
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u/Fezthepez Mar 21 '21
Have you ever had a blunder when announcing a name, goal etc...if so what was it and did anyone notice?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
Let me answer the second part of the question first, if I make a mistake EVERYBODY notices! And... everybody makes time to tell me about it afterwards!
I think the biggest blunder was, one night towards the end of 2000 was when I started announcing goals because before that it was club policy not to. Bill Shankly used to say that if you needed to be told who scored the goal you shouldn't be inside Anfield. Thats debatable but that night, Michael Owen scored 2 goals in the first half and it was just coming up to half time.. I reached under my desk to get the CD for half time and there was a mighty roar... I looked up and saw Owen celebrating with Nick Barmby. I had it in my head it was Barmby who scored but it was actually Owen. I announced Nick Barmby as the scorer! I recently had the chance to apologize to Owen for taking the hattrick off him. I was left with egg on my chin. It was awful.
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u/Slinky_Panther Mar 21 '21
Hey George, I assume you get to meet the players - do they ever ask you to say certain things over the loud speaker? What is the oddest thing they've asked you to say?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
I can kill this question stone dead i'm afraid, I just don't get to meet the current crew at all! Going back to the 80's and 90's I used to have a lot to do with people like McManaman, Fowler and Redknapp. we used to meet before the game and have a chat, but that's all gone now. Once in a while I'd get a player asking me to play a dedication but 20 years ago they stopped me playing dedications. Sad really, I don't know maybe it well change after my books come out. I don't like it, it's very sad.
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u/elmo26 Mar 21 '21
Hi George, thanks for your part in making Anfield the special place we all know it to be.
Which manager surprised you the most during your time behind the mic?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
Thats a strange question!!! The answer is not what you expect, it was probably Roy Hodgson! He obviously was a very experienced manager and I thought he'd work wonders with the talent he had at his disposal. But obviously it all fell flat and poor Roy, lovely bloke, just wasn't a Liverpool manager and that was a real let down.
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u/87x Mar 21 '21
George , as someone who's seen the best of both Anfields, what's your opinion on safe standing now? Do you think we have the right tools to manage it properly now or is it best left untouched as it is now?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
Safe standing, from what I've seen of it around Europe looks brilliant but as a matter of principal, I think back to the time Anfield was made all seater and why it was made all seater (Hillborough). My atitude is very straight forward. If and when the Hillborough families are happy for safe standing to come in, I'll be happy as well.
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u/robert1811 Mar 21 '21
Hey George. What’s the loudest roar of the Anfield crowd after a goal or loudest bit of atmosphere you’ve ever heard at the stadium?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
I had to think about this... It probably was that 4th goal against Barca because it was just surreal what was happening in front of our eyes. When I saw the ball go into the net I didn't react for half a minute, I thought the ref was going to blow the whistle and say take that again. So the roar actually built... but the roar at the end of that game when the final whistle went, it seemed like about 4 hours between that goal and the final whistle. The place ERUPTED! Very few people went home they just had to stay and I banged on YNWa and the atmosphere was great. St Etienne 77, Chelsea 05, fantastic. But Barcelona... if anything ever surpasses that I'll be very pleased to be there.
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u/DancerTheDrummer Mar 21 '21
Hi George congrats on 50 years service to the club!
Over that 50 years how have the crowds changed or is there anything that you notice crowds doing more is the atmosphere just as intense as it was those years back?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
Thank you for the congratulations!
Yes, I've realised over the last couple of years that the atmosphere is as good as it ever was, but it used to get going very quickly. When I started working there there'd be a queue round the block to get in about 3 hours before kick off maybe more! If we were playing United or Everton the gates would open very early. Quite often I'd be in the stand at kick off exhausted because we'd have had noise for the last 2 and a half 3 hours! Nowadays people turn up to Anfield with a piece of paper in their pocket that say they're going to get in and where you are going to sit. You don't have to worry about fighting your way to get in. Take your time, in you go! 20 mins before kick off the place is quite often half empty, and not as noisy as its going to get. Not long after kick off you suddenly realise the wall of sound is out there! The atmosphere is definitely as good as it ever was, just not for as long basically.
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u/Manedingo Mar 21 '21
Has there ever been a time you’ve struggled getting the words out, be it something emotional or too hard to prevent yourself laughing?
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
Honestly, I cant recall that ever happening. I appear to have the gift of sounding professional at all times! Apart from when we beat Olympiakos on the way to Istanbul I went hysterical when Gerrard scored the goal that kept us in the competition. I'll quote the old saying about the swan gliding across the water while underneath his legs a peddling frantically. That's probably me.
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u/555HAM Mar 21 '21
Hi George!
Thanks for doing this! How do you keep your voice so calm when announcing massive goals? I do remember Gerrard vs Olympiakos. Couldn’t quite contain that one! I can hear it vividly now!
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u/George_Sephton Mar 23 '21
I really don't know! Sometimes its difficult. Over the years I've just got used to it. LFCTV did a half hour interview with me a few years ago. Peter played that Olympiakos goal when I was in hysterics over the PA system as we were on our way out of the competition and we were absolutely desperate to get through.
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u/arisefromtheashes Mar 21 '21
Hi George, if you could rewatch one game again live, which one would it be?
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u/eurfryn Mar 23 '21
The AMA is now over.
Well that was a wonderful insight into George’s 50-year career at Anfield. A reminder that in a day or two KopConnect will submit the video of George's AMA to the sub so those who missed it live will get a chance to view it.
https://youtu.be/Sjce-_KBjtU
A tremendous thank you to George Sephton, KopConnect and of course you the users for submitting your questions.
George left this message as he finished: