This week’s edition of France Football has a special on Liverpool. And not just the football club.
They explain how Liverpool likes to consider itself a city different to the rest of the UK, and the French magazine has been happy to help back this up.
As part of the special, there’s a lengthy interview with Jamie Carragher, and right at the end he was asked if Liverpool (the club) having a love affair with European football is partly responsible for the city voting 58.2% to Remain in the European referendum.
Liverpool wasn’t one of the English areas to have the highest Remain percentage. London stood at 59.9%, Manchester at 60.4%, Bristol was 61.7%, Brighton 68.6% and Cambridge 73.8%.
Outside of England, Cardiff was 60% Remain and Edinburgh 74%.
Despite that, Carragher feels football made an impact in the minds of Liverpool voters, and that the 58% figure shows how special the city is.
“I do not doubt it for one second,” the Sky pundit explained. “We have always had this mystique of elsewhere. It’s the presence of the sea, being an island on the island. Liverpool fans have followed their team all over Europe for more than 50 years. They tick the boxes of the cities and countries they visited. When the draw takes place, they hope we will play against a club we have never visited.
“For us, Europe is also those who came to help us when the British government refused to invest a penny in our city, when Liverpool became cultural capital of Europe in 2008. It is the regeneration of Albert Dock. It’s European money that has supported us, we have not forgotten it. This city has always chosen the European option.
“Most people here, including me, think that Brexit is a disaster, promoted by people who have only their personal, political and financial interests in mind, that this is one of the biggest mistakes ever made by the country. But what makes me proud is that this city has chosen to stay in Europe. Liverpool is a European city. And it’s not just about financial aid. Europe has also made us dream, thanks to football.”
Carragher will certainly hope that should there be a second referendum, Liverpool’s latest successes in Europe can encourage the city to match the Remain percentage votes of some other areas in the UK.
