The story of football’s most famous song will be told in a special documentary to be broadcast by BT Sport on Monday, April 14.
‘Walk On’ focuses on the iconic song ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, an anthem that can be heard ringing out from stands throughout the footballing world, in particular at Anfield, the home of Liverpool FC.
The latest documentary from the BT Sport Films strand explores the song’s rise, from its origins on Broadway via Anfield to eventually become arguably the most famous football song in the world.
Although mostly associated with Liverpool FC and Celtic FC, the song is also the anthem for many more clubs around the world, including Borussia Dortmund, Monchengladbach, St Paoli and FC Tokyo to name but a few.
First-hand accounts of the song’s importance are gathered in special interviews with footballing legends and TV personalities past and present.
These include current Liverpool club captain Steven Gerrard, as well as Jamie Carragher, Kenny Dalglish, Ian St John, Ian Callaghan, John Aldridge, Phil Thompson, Pete Wylie, Jimmy McGovern, David Price, Tom Boyd, Joe McBride and many more.
The documentary discovers how and why the song was first appropriated by Liverpool Football Club under Bill Shankly, and then by Celtic Football Club under Jock Stein.
It examines how the song’s meaning has fluctuated over the years, having been ever present during the highs, such as Liverpool’s 2005 UEFA Champions League Final victory in Istanbul, but also its meaning as a song of reflection during the lows.
The song was adopted poignantly in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 and signifies the fight for justice that is subsequently still ongoing to this day, exactly 25 years on.
‘You’ll Never Walk Alon’ was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, the famous Broadway song writing team behind the Sound of Music, the King and I and South Pacific.
It was later recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley, but is most widely known in Europe because of the version recorded by Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers in July 1963.
The song has now become a part of popular culture and has been played at events such as the Last Night of the Proms and the World Cup.
‘Walk On’ is the latest documentary in the BT Sport Films strand which aim to tell the compelling stories behind sport.
Films to have aired to date include ‘An Ordinary Hero: The Mike Hailwood Story’, which celebrated the colourful life career of of one of motor racing greatest characters, and ‘Football Outposts’, where Arsenal fan, author and ex-EastEnders star Tom Watt embarks on a journey to various British football outposts.
‘Winning Ugly’, presented by Brian Moore, looked back to the hard playing, hard drinking, win-at-all-costs mentality of sport in the 70’s and 80’s and compared it to what some would term the slick, professional sporting culture we have today.
As well as its first airing on Monday, April 14, ‘Walk On’ will be repeated numerous times across the BT Sport network in the coming weeks.
For more information about BT Sport, visit btsport.com.
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Monday 14th April
BT Sport Films: Walk On
10.00pm-11.00pm BT Sport 1
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