Henderson to Liverpool Fans: “You’ve Driven Us to Achieving This Dream”

Liverpool are Premier League champions. Champions of the English top flight. For the first time in thirty years. After some painfully close calls and second-place finishes in the past. After a brush with administration and wondering if the club would ever again stand at the pinnacle of England and Europe.

Liverpool are champions. It’s kind of a big deal. And tomorrow night, following their final home game of the season against Chelsea, captain Jordan Henderson will lead the players and coaching staff in accepting the trophy in a ceremony set to take place on Anfield’s storied Kop.

“There are so many different people responsible when a team is successful and as players we are privileged to attract the most attention, the most praise, and the biggest rewards,” Henderson began. “But behind the team there are so many different individuals and groups who make a side successful.

“At Liverpool every single player in our dressing room recognises how fortunate we are to have the best in the world looking out for us and after us—and on a night like Wednesday it’s important to express that appreciation.

“The supporters, of course, are a huge factor. Without them this club isn’t what it is. Speak to anyone in the world about Liverpool Football Club and the conversation always comes back to the passion and emotion around the club—and that’s entirely down to our fans. This is an emotional club and we shouldn’t shy away from that fact. It brings pressures, yes, but it means everything we do together means more.”

Last year, this group won the Champions League. The club’s sixth, one year after making a run to the finals and falling just short. This year, they’ve won the league at a canter, with more games remaining when they clinched it than any other team in history. It’s the club’s nineteenth, and won a year after they came second with a record 97 points.

On Wednesday, finally, after three long decades of waiting and one global pandemic that nearly derailed the season and means the fans won’t be able to see them lift it live from the stadium, they lift the Premier League trophy. And that’s going to be special, no matter the broader circumstances.

“It’s gutting for all of us that our fans are not with us in person,” Henderson added, “but we can still make this one of the most enjoyable shared experiences we’ve ever had if we want it to be. We will feel you with us when we lift that trophy, even though you’re not at Anfield in person. We are lifting it for you—you’ve driven us to achieving this dream.”