Jurgen Klopp conversation that changed the game for thousands

One single conversation with Jurgen Klopp would go on to change the game for thousands.

As the Reds boss steps down as Liverpool FC manager this weekend, it seems likely he and his wife, Ulla Sandrock, will soon leave the region - having lived in Steven Gerrard’s former house in Formby since 2015.

Despite this, the 56-year-old’s impact on football, not only within Merseyside but on the sporting industry as a whole, will be felt for years to come - especially for the LGBTQ+ community.

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Paul Amann, founder of Liverpool FC’s LGBT+ supporters’ group, Kop Outs, told the ECHO: “It is hard to think of a post-Jurgen world. But what I do know is that he has left the foundations of the future in a much stronger place than when he arrived.

“We look forward to further positive relations with whoever takes the reins in the future. We know this isn’t gonna be another Jurgen however, because there is only one.

“The ability of any leader is best encapsulated in what Jurgen was about. It was to elevate the voices of those who are marginalised and really fit into the Scouse archetype of solidarity and mutuality and doing the right thing by others.

“That’s what Jurgen really tapped into and that is what he was about. All we can ask of a future manager is to think about where is he managing and what are our fans about.”

Under Klopp’s direction, the club quickly combated any questionable chants on the terraces, took responsibility and called out those involved.

A more memorable instance was when Klopp urged “idiot fans” to stop using a homophobic chant against Norwich's on-loan Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour during the first Liverpool FC game of the 2021/2022 season. Following the match, Jurgen invited Paul Amann to the Reds' training centre in Kirkby to discuss the impact of homophobia in football.

The Liverpool boss said: "It obviously makes people uncomfortable within our own fan group. For our supporter's group and for me, that means: done, let's go for another one.

“I really think it's an easy decision and should be an easy decision. I'm not sure if people listen to me but it would be nice. I don't want to hear it anymore for so many reasons."

Paul said he still gets thanked for that conversation to this day.

He added: “The more I hear from fellow fans about the impact the conversation has had, the more I realise, it was perhaps the most important thing we could have possibly done with Jurgen. To have him, elevate our voice and join the campaign to say enough is enough is incredible.

“I was at an event just last night with many fans, from all different backgrounds, and I had several people come up to me and shake my hand and thank me for that conversation with him.

“It was so humbling because these are fans from all over the world, from Denmark, and local lads as well. You want to make a difference in life and Jurgen has made this difference possible for us, we wouldn’t have gotten half as far without him.

“I don’t know a fan who doesn’t immensely respect Jurgen’s choice to leave on his own terms. None of us are wishing he would hang in there on half an empty battery so to speak. But we are very mindful that we want to have a memory that is a pure memory of Jurgen - what he has done, how much we will miss him, it is almost without parallel.”

Rishi Jain, LFC’s senior manager of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), previously claimed “directly following” Paul’s sit down with Jurgen “there was a clear and purposeful behavioural shift within our supporter base against homophobic chanting once our fans had been educated on the impact of what many didn’t realise was offensive”.

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