A Word on the Future and Why We’re Just Getting Started
Over 100 free articles later, It was always...Liverpool enters a new era.
This all began, like many things in life, with a bit of daft optimism and a cup of tea. We wanted to tell stories. Our stories. Liverpool stories. We wanted to write them in our own voice, with our own sense of rhythm, and hand them out for free. A Substack without ego. Just a love letter, to the club that shapes our weekends and, let’s be honest, most of our lives.
We called it It was always...Liverpool because that’s what it has always been. From the chorus of You’ll Never Walk Alone to the whistle blown roars of a continental night at Anfield, this was always the centre of the universe for us. You knew what we meant. And you came along in your thousands.
Over 100 articles later, we’ve covered everything from the heartbreak of lost legends to the thrill of new beginnings. We’ve gone deep on tactics and soft on nostalgia. We’ve profiled the players, the people and the peculiar. And throughout all of it, we’ve kept it completely free. Every last sentence.
But today marks the beginning of something slightly different.
From this point forward, we will start placing selected articles behind a paywall. Not because we’ve run out of generosity or grown tired of doing this. Far from it. If anything, we’ve only just warmed up. But in order to grow, to do more, to keep the quality where it needs to be and bring in even more brilliant voices, we need the support of those who can chip in.
So, What Changes?
Let us say this clearly first. It was always...Liverpool will remain a free publication. That will not change.
Every week, there will continue to be free content. A selection of our matchday pieces, our news round-ups, our transfer commentaries, our tweets spun out into proper paragraphs will all stay open. No gates. No limits.
But, for those who subscribe as paid members, there will now be additional content every single week. This will include deeper dives, exclusive opinion pieces, historical retrospectives, early access interviews and long form analysis. The kind of writing that takes time, effort, and a particular kind of care. That writing deserves to be paid for. And your support makes that possible.
The first of these exclusive pieces will arrive tomorrow, Friday 25th July, penned by none other than Tony Evans.
Why Now?
There are a few reasons, and none of them is wrapped in corporate speak or cooked up buzzwords.
First, this has grown beyond anything we expected. What started as a bit of writing for the love of the thing has become a proper community. We see the same names liking, commenting, sharing and emailing. We feel the same connection as we do on the Kop, where strangers nod knowingly because you both saw the same flick of a shoulder or misread pass. That kind of shared experience is rare online. We want to keep nurturing it.
Second, we want to do more. We want to bring in more guest writers. We want to travel. We want to sit down with people who shaped this club, who wore the badge or helped define what it means to be one of us. We want to invest in the tools and time that let us tell better stories, write better pieces, and keep surprising you.
Third, and most importantly, we want to stay as independent as possible. No sponsorship strings. No watered down club lines. No favours owed. The only people we answer to are the readers…you. That’s how it should be.
What You’ll Get with a Paid Membership
We’ve tried to make it simple.
If you choose to support us with a paid subscription, here’s what you’ll unlock:
Exclusive Articles Every Week – Starting with Tony Evans’ piece tomorrow, you’ll get fresh long reads, columns, and behind-the-scenes insights. Not recycled, not ghosted, not bland.
Deeper Tactical and Historical Analysis – We’ll go where mainstream doesn’t, looking at the forgotten corners of Liverpool’s past and the fine print of its future.
Early Access and Bonus Content – Certain stories, interviews and audio content will hit your inbox first, before anyone else sees them.
A Voice in the Conversation – Paid subscribers will help shape the editorial direction. What do you want more of? Less of? Who do you want to hear from? We’ll listen.
A Community of Reds – In time, we’ll offer spaces where subscribers can chat, comment, and debate among ourselves without the bile that pollutes social media.
All of this will cost less than a couple of pints in town. And if that still feels too much right now, that’s absolutely fine too. As we said, there will always be free pieces here for you to enjoy.
A Word About Tony
We’ve followed Tony Evans for years. If you know your football writing, you know his name. If you’ve ever read a piece that made you laugh, then pause, then cry a bit into your cuppa, chances are Tony wrote something like it.
He has written many pieces for us over the years, the first paywall piece is a beauty. A mix of old school reflection and present day fire, it’s got his fingerprints all over it. We’re proud to publish it, and we’re even prouder that it will kick off our new phase.
From here on, we’ll be working with a range of writers, many of whom you’ll know from the Anfield Index world and beyond. Writers who get it. Writers who know that Liverpool Football Club is not a brand, but a way of life.
A Final Note of Thanks
We don’t take this lightly.
You’ve given us your time, your attention, your feedback and your trust. You’ve read our words, shared them, and kept coming back for more. That means the world.
There are already many of you who have subscribed, even before a single article was placed behind a paywall, and we are genuinely thankful for that. Your early backing gave us the encouragement to take this step, and your support continues to make this possible.
We’ve loved doing this for free and we’ll continue to offer loads for free. But if you believe in what we’re building here, and if you want to be part of this next chapter, we’d be honoured to have your support.
This isn’t about putting up walls. It’s about building something sustainable, something that can last, something that truly belongs to us.
If you can support us, brilliant. If you can’t just now, we’ll still be here. Either way, this journey continues, and it’s one we take together.
We hope you’ll join us.
Up the Reds.
Always.