Nostalgic images of Liverpool FC fans to go on tour thanks to National Lottery support
Fans of Liverpool FC are being given the chance to view nostalgic images - thanks to grant from the National Lottery.
Community group RED Archive has spent six years collecting more than 1,000 photos and stories from the 1960s to the 90s.
They are on display in a special touring caravan, making its way round Merseyside, thanks to the £10,000 grant from the National Lottery.
It is hoped it can showcase how football can bring communities together and inject a great sense of local pride amongst fans.
The group say the funding will enable The RED Archive to create a new ‘fan’s bedroom’ display within their caravan.
The new exhibition will be based on nostalgic images from their archive, which have been donated by fans spanning a time period from the 1960s to the 90s.
The caravan will hit the road during August, September and October 2022 and stop off at various venues in Merseyside, including The Life Rooms, The Florrie, The Greenhouse Project and Merseyside Society for Deaf People.
As well as hosting the caravan, each venue will also see a pop-up exhibition and an array of family friendly activities allowing visitors to get hands-on with football heritage.
It is also hoped the tour will help expand the collection, with people able to record their own memories as voice and video clips.
The team will also identify a number of fans to take part in more extensive sessions to add their treasured memories and memorabilia to the collection.
Emma Case, Founder of The RED Archive, said: “It's hard to articulate our joy knowing that we've received this funding!
"It's been a long journey getting the caravan ready (especially with the pandemic) and the fans have been with us and supported us every step of the way.
"We cannot wait to get the caravan out into the heart of our fan community, to local spaces around the city. To share the archive, to bring fans together and to say a massive thank you to all of them for believing in The RED Archive.”
David Renwick, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Football has proven time and time again that it can bring people of all backgrounds and all ages together.
"Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we’re thrilled to be supporting The RED Archive to share the amazing and inspiring heritage of the fans behind the world famous football club.
"The North of England is steeped in sporting heritage and we know it is a great way for communities to connect and find pride of place in their hometowns and cities, that in turn can deliver a host of much wider social and even economic benefits.”
The dates for the RED Archive Caravan tour are:
Friday 12 August: Greenhouse Project (Lodge Lane) - as part of the LFC Foundation's 'Big Red Festival'
Sunday 18 September: Merseyside Society for Deaf People
Wednesday 21 September: HMP Liverpool
The tour will call at the Life Rooms in Walton, Bootle and Belle Vale in October, with a date at The Florrie still TBC.
About the RED Archive
The RED archive was founded in 2016 by Emma Case, photographer and daughter of Liverpool legend Jimmy Case (1975-81). It is a community archive project sharing Liverpool fans' personal photos and stories, created alongside the fans and shared through exhibitions, books, interviews and events.
The Archive sent 50 fan photographers to the Champions League Final in Paris in 2022, a follow up to the highly successful Madrid final project.