Stars share what YNWA means to them

It is a track that symbolises Liverpool Football Club, and players and fans will always have special personal memories of the anthem that will stay with them forever.

From the likes of Phil Neal and Alan Kennedy through to Gerry Marsden himself, lifelong Red and journalist Brian Reade and Anfield resident DJ George Sephton, we ask them the simple question: what does 'You'll Never Walk Alone' mean to you?

Gerry Marsden: Pride because when we recorded it we didn't realise what was going to happen with it and then suddenly the Kop started singing it and continued to sing it, and it went all over the world. So no matter where you go, Australia, Canada, the USA, New Zealand, they all want to hear 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. It's all thanks to the Kop who started singing it. It's a song I never thought the Kop would sing. Every time I go to the game I still get goose pimples when the song comes on and I sing my head off.

Roy Evans: It just means Liverpool Football Club and Anfield to me. Our fans have been singing the song for 50 years, which is just fantastic. I had the pleasure to sing it with Gerry Marsden on the last day of the Kop - which I will never forget. It's just a great song for Liverpool FC and it's one that makes you feel proud.

Phil Neal: 'You'll Never Walk Alone' epitomised what the club was like for the 11 fantastic years I was at that wonderful place. We just felt as if we were one big happy family driving for each other's quest, and that was to be successful. That included all the fans and it was a fantastic period in anyone's life and I will never forget it. The song means everything.

Ian Callaghan: It really brings back all the great memories from the '60s and Bill Shankly. What Liverpool FC is today is down to Shankly and the foundations he set - and YNWA is very much a part of that. I still get hairs on the back of my neck when I'm at Anfield and the song is played.

Alan Kennedy:  It means everything about Liverpool Football Club. Over the years we have grown to love the record and it's ours, which makes me proud. The song came out in 1963 and I love that era with Gerry and The Beatles. Every time I hear the song, and I hear it at least once or twice a week, it means so much to me and it's very moving. It also means I'm part of that famous Liverpool Football Club.

David Fairclough: It's very much the anthem of Liverpool. My earliest memories of watching Liverpool incorporated the singing before the games that culminated with 'You'll Never Walk Alone' before the teams came out of the tunnel. That was one of the great moments of a Saturday afternoon - going to Anfield and being a part of the anthem. It is truly inspiring and we are proud to call it our song.

Gary Gillespie: My abiding memory is when we played Celtic after Hillsborough and the whole ground were singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. It was a fitting tribute to the 96.

Ian St John: 'You'll Never Walk Alone' means Gerry Marsden, who is a little pal of mine, and it means Liverpool Football Club. The two are tied together with the song which was first heard at Anfield 50 years ago and was picked up as the anthem of the club and it then swept the world. Wherever you are in the world, you would know that is Liverpool FC's song. It's a terrific song and it means everything to the Liverpool fans. The message is: together Liverpool are very strong.

John Aldridge: The song is synonymous with Liverpool fans. I remember my first game at Anfield in the mid-1960s against Southampton and singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. It's a very emotional song and it means a lot to me, you always well up listening to it every time it is played and sung by the fans. I remember half-time in Istanbul and it was fantastic.

Ronnie Whelan: Every time I hear it I get goose bumps, remembering great nights at Anfield, the whole ground and not just the Kop singing it, scarves waving and flags flying. It just brings back so many tremendous memories for me.

Mark Wright: Whenever I hear YNWA the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It fills me with immense pride to have captained this magnificent institution and when I led the team out at Anfield, hearing the Kop belting out YNWA gave us the edge over our opponents.

Brian Reade: It's hairs on the back of the neck, lumps in the throat, churns in the stomach, moisture in the eyes. It's pride bursting your heart in Paris and Rome, Istanbul and London, Barcelona and Manchester and either side of Stanley Park. It's the soundtrack to the greatest nights and the darkest days of your life. It's the hymn that makes you keep the faith. 

George Sephton: What can I say about YNWA? Firstly, of course, I'm old enough to have been standing on the Kop in October 1963 when it was first played! Spookily I was at Walthamstow Granada in May of that year when Gerry played his previous No.1 ('I Like It') for the first time. Half a century later the hairs still stand up on the back of my neck whenever I hear it played. Gerry has a unique place in Liverpool's sporting and musical heritage and very few artists can claim anything similar. Thank God he had the courage to insist to the record company that YNWA should be his next single all those years ago! Life on the Kop without that magnificent song doesn't bear thinking about!