There is overwhelming evidence that Liverpool Football Club supporters were the first to sing this song en masse. The song was famously covered by Liverpool group 'Gerry and the Pacemakers' in 1963. At this time, supporters standing on the Spion Kop terrace at Anfield began singing popular chart songs of the day. The mood was precisely captured on camera by a BBC Panorama camera crew in 1964. One year later, when Liverpool met Leeds United in the F.A. Cup final, the travelling Kop sang the same song and match commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme commended the "Liverpool signature tune". Liverpudlians have been singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' since 1963. Fully 44 years.
Celtic sang it on one or two occasions during the 1970s, along with several other British clubs, specifically during crucial cup games. Then nothing worthy of note until 1989, when they hosted Liverpool in a fundraiser for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster. Both sets of fans sang it together as a symbol of unity and support. Only in the years to follow - as both clubs repeatedly came together in a series of friendly matches - did Celtic begin to sing it with any degree of frequency, otherwise they have no legitimate claim to the song, nor is there any credible evidence seriously linking them to it. Liverpool can adduce written materials and video evidence. Celtic only supposition and hearsay.
Manchester United supporter Jane Hardwick claimed in 2004 that she, together with friends from the New Mills Operatic Society, decided to sing the song at "one of the games" following the Munich Air Disaster as her own personal tribute, before spontaneously being joined "by thousands of fans" around her. This would predate Gerry Marsden's cover version by five years, if true. However, as one Liverpool supporter scoffed:
"Anyone who has watched/listened to Carousel will tell you that the composition and performance of the musical version with the popular Gerry Marsden version sounds completely different."
Put another way, Hardwick may have been an aspiring opera singer, but to believe that the Old Trafford faithful belted out an operatic version of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' is patent nonsense. Moreover, nothing is recorded on film or in print media of this most emotional of moments. Her claim remains unsupported and, given the intense rivalry between clubs, deserves no serious attention.
And so in conclusion, Liverpool are both the first adopter and by far the most consistent singers. No other club comes close.
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