I’ve seen Liverpool win the title 11 times but never from my sofa

In the strangest season in English football history, it is fitting that Liverpool were crowned champions without kicking a ball

In the strangest season in English football history, it is appropriate that Liverpool were crowned champions without kicking a ball after Chelsea beat Manchester City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

The fans expected to watch Jurgen Klopp’s team clinch the title on TV in the behind-closed-doors age. The players probably didn’t think they would experience their moment of glory from the sofa.

It does not matter. All the hard work was done before the season was put on hiatus in March. The nature of league football is that moments like Sergio Aguero’s last-gasp title clincher against Queens Park Rangers eight years ago or Michael Thomas’ shocking late intervention for Arsenal at Anfield in 1989 are the exceptions.

The best way to win the league is to win it early. Liverpool have done that with seven games to go. That underlines the extent of their domination. This has been one of the most spectacular seasons we have ever seen.

There have been some memorable conclusions to Liverpool title races in the past 50 years and those of us lucky enough to recall them will always cherish the great days. In 1976, the Kevin Keegan-led comeback from a goal down in the last 15 minutes to win 3-1 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux was awe-inspiring. The 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 1986 was tense and thrilling. On other occasions Liverpool crept over the line with grim functionality. Three times in the 1970s and 80s the trophy was confirmed with 0-0 draws. Thursday night was significantly more exciting.

City are a good side but they have not lived with Liverpool this season. Their form after the restart led to rave reviews and even Klopp confessed to wondering how his team could have entered the break 25 points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s side. At Stamford Bridge City showed why. Their defending was comedic and their finishing lackadaisical.

Liverpool were rusty against Everton on Sunday but were back to their purring best in the 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace last night. Now they can relax and take their foot off the gas – with a shortened close season looming Klopp can begin to prepare for the next campaign’s September restart. City’s inability to push Liverpool for another 10 days until the Aston Villa game may have a knock-on effect in the coming months. Anfield’s pre-season starts now; City still have the Champions League and FA Cup to play for, which will keep them occupied until August.

Klopp will be delighted that it’s all over. There are some experiences in life where anticipation is better than the end result but a title race is not one of them.

For fans it is a matter of relief, too. Three decades has been too long to wait. That the race was decided elsewhere takes a little of the pain away from the fact that supporters would have been unable to witness the moment the title was won in the ground anyway. No one can look back and regret they were not inside Anfield because events elsewhere defined the team’s destiny.

In Liverpool’s glory years, the mantra was always the same. What’s the most important trophy? The next.

For once that is not true. This is one of the greatest moments in the club’s history. It puts an epoch of disappointment behind Liverpool and opens up an age of boundless optimism.

Where were you when Liverpool broke their 30-year hoodoo? On the couch. Like Klopp, like the players, like the entire country. We were all in it together. That’s a fantastic feeling. A champion feeling.