e’s meant to be shielding, so this is a bit naughty,” said Rachel Taylor as she unloaded her son’s wheelchair from a minibus outside Anfield on Friday morning. “But you’ve got your mask, haven’t you, son?” she said, putting a red face covering emblazoned with “Liverpool: Champions” into 27-year-old Ryan’s lap. “He wasn’t born when they won 30 years ago. It’s such a big day, we had to bring him down to soak up the atmosphere.” It is a measure of just how big a day it was for Liverpool on Friday that not only was Taylor willing to ignore health guidelines for one special day to take a picture of him beaming in front of the Kop, but her Evertonian partner had come too. “I’m made up for them, honest I am,” said Neil Howells. “First thing I did this morning was go into Ryan’s bedroom and shout ‘Champions!’. You might think we’d be bitter but we’re not. I’m happy as long as it’s a team from Merseyside and not Manchester.” On BBC Radio Merseyside’s breakfast show, the usual presenter Tony Snell was absent, apparently away “on a bike ride”. Listeners smelled a rat, but his stand-in assured them he had booked the day off weeks ago, at a time when he couldn’t possibly have calculated that an Evertonian “wouldn’t want to be here this morning”. Everyone who had made a pilgrimage to Anfield agreed the celebration was about more than just football. “This means the world and more,” said Sean Kelly, 52, a self-declared adopted Scouser who last year left his native Newcastle to fulfil his dream of living right next to his team’s ground. “It feels like a huge release, not just for the club but the city in general. This city has had knock-back upon knock-back over the years.” Liverpool has had more cut from its budget since 2010 than almost any other local authority, and has been hit disproportionately hard by Covid-19 – the result of widespread deprivation caused by years of under-funding, its leaders say. Shunned by the government when it comes to big spending decisions – there will be no HS2 stop for this city of half a million people – many Liverpudlians believe the prime minister has it in for them, recalling that under his editorship the Spectator dismissed the city’s residents as “seeing themselves wherever possible as victims”. Megan Smith, 21, was paying her respects by the Hillsborough memorial, commemorating the 96 fans who died at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground in 1989, and remembering her father, Paul Smith. He worked at Anfield for 30 years, meeting her mum when he was a safety steward and she was a special constable stationed at a flagpole corner. He died from coronavirus in April. “This was his dream,” said Megan. “When he was in hospital, he said to my mum: ‘When we win the league, me and Megan are going to the Arkles [a popular fan pub] and you won’t see us for about a week.” Many fans had brought their young children on Friday morning, having been unable or unwilling to join in the raucous celebrations outside the ground on Thursday night when the title was won. Amy and Lee Draper had brought their brand-new baby, Reenie, along with daughters Dolly (four) and Winnie (two), all three in full kit. Both parents said the success was chiefly down to Jurgen Klopp, the team’s universally loved German boss. “There will be a statue of him here one day, he’s unbelievable,” said Lee, not far from ones of the former managers Bill Shankly and Bill Paisley. Landlords of pubs around the ground probably hoped it would take Liverpool another week to win the title, unable as they are to open their doors until 4 July. But it was still not hard to get a cold pint to sip outside the stadium, courtesy of the Mount pub turning itself into a takeaway-only speakeasy for the occasion. Merseyside police asked fans to celebrate “safely with members of your household and in your social bubble”. Most who were outside the ground on Friday kept to themselves. Dave Jones could not resist a gleeful handshake with a fan he recognised from games. At 10pm on Thursday he had received a text from his boss saying: “I take it you’ll be wanting to book tomorrow off?” It was hard resisting the urge to hug strangers and celebrate together, he said, but he supported the club’s decision to postpone the victory parade until the Covid-19 crisis has abated. “We’ve waited 30 years for this,” he said. “We can wait a few more months to celebrate properly.”