Sports Letters: Myth and the misunderstood

Sir: Like Jonathan Foster, I was at Anfield on Saturday for the Kop farewell. His attack deserves to be refuted. He is arguably correct that the Kop is not what it used to be - in the Sixties, Seventies and early Eighties. Nonetheless, its power to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by the awesome fervour of its will remains unrivalled: the Auxerre and Manchester United games in recent years for example. Moreover, it was inevitable that the unique success of Liverpool FC over this period would diminish the Kop's hunger.

Again, Foster argues that the Kop's power was always 'part mythical'. Yet this is true of the best institutions generally: the incredible track record of the Royal Navy, for instance, was partly due to the initimidating myth which enveloped it. In his final paragraph Foster misunderstands the causality: the Kop's fame was not owed to the team, they grew famous together in the Sixties. And he invites ridicule by claiming 'these (other Kops) were at least the equal of Anfield's'. Valley Parade - where?

Yours faithfully,

ROB NORRIE

Rickmansworth, Herts

2 May