The Kop

Lore & Background

The first recorded reference to a sports terrace as 'Kop' related to Woolwich Arsenal's Manor Ground in 1904, four years after the Second Boer War. A local newsman likened the silhouette of fans standing on a newly raised bank of earth to soldiers standing atop the hill at the Battle of Spion Kop. Two years later in 1906, Liverpool Echo sports editor Ernest Edwards noted of a new open-air embankment at Anfield: 'This huge wall of earth has been termed "Spion Kop", and no doubt this apt name will always be used in future in referring to this spot.' After Liverpool had won their second League title in 1906, a new stand was built along the Walton Breck Road. Designed by architect Archibald Leitch, it was originally referred to as the Oakfield Road Embankment before it was formally renamed Spion Kop the same year. While it resembled the hill it was named after, it was also used in honour of the many Liverpudlians who died in the Battle of Spion Kop between 23 January and 24 January 1900.

In Their Own Story

Rain slicked the pitch under the floodlights as the away team huddled in their box. From The Kop, a single voice started it, then another, until seven thousand throats roared 'The Leeds Way'. A young boy in his father's scarf stood on his seat, eyes wide at the white shirts charging forward. In that moment, history wasn't written in books; it was sung from the West Stand.

Reader's Guide

The size and location of 'a Kop' stand in the stadium varies; most are located behind the goal and are occupied by its club's most vocal supporters. It is usually a single-tiered stand and was traditionally terraced. In England, safety regulations brought into effect after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster required many to be made all-seated. A Kop is not necessarily the largest stand in the stadium and does not have to have a particularly large capacity; for example, Chesterfield's former stadium, Saltergate, had a Kop with a capacity of only a few thousand.

Did You Know?

• The Kop at Anfield was extended in 1928 to a 27,000 capacity and a cantilever roof was added which amplified the roar of the crowd.
• Liverpool's Spion Kop was redesigned in 1994 (completed) to comply with requirements of the Taylor Report, becoming all-seated with 12,390 seats.
• Following the opening of the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Anfield's Kop ceased to be the largest single-tier stand in the country; Tottenham's South Stand has 17,500 seats.