Virgil van Dijk‘s impact at Liverpool has been profound since arriving in 2018, and his influence now extends well beyond the pitch, even to the stadium’s announcer’s booth.
George Sephton was the man behind the microphone at Anfield for 54 years, finally taking home his record collection at the end of the 2024/25 season, having been recognised on the pitch before Liverpool’s final-day draw against Crystal Palace.
A month previously, Liverpool enjoyed one of Anfield’s greatest days as they secured their 20th top-flight title with a 5-1 win over Tottenham.
The victory triggered an outpouring of joy in the stands and on the pitch, and it was soundtracked by music, both modern and nostalgic, that was selected by Sephton with a little help from Van Dijk.
The stadium announcer told This Is Anfield: “Van Dijk, God bless him, sent me a list of 10 tunes he wanted playing after the game if we won the league, which obviously we were going to.
“So I was just sat there, ‘yes sir’, end of.
“One Kiss was in there and Show Me Love by Robin S and a few other things of that ilk, and a couple of things I’d never heard of.
“But, you know, if the club captain says, ‘play this’, you play it.”
10 songs requested by Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool’s Anfield celebrations
- One Kiss – Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa
- You’ll Never Walk Alone – Gerry & The Pacemakers
- Three Little Birds – Bob Marley
- Uhh Yeahh – Asake
- (It Goes Like) Nanana – Peggy Gou
- Fields of Anfield Road – Jamie Webster at BOSS Night
- You & Me – Rivo Remix – Disclosure, Eliza Doolittle, Rivo
- Freed From Desire – Gala
- Blame – Calvin Harris ft. John Newman
- Holy Ghost – Omah Lay
Before Sephton’s final game, against Crystal Palace on May 25, the 79-year-old was presented on the pitch with a framed Champions Wall and ‘Voice of Anfield, 54’ shirt by Kenny Dalglish.
Commenting on why now is the time to retire, Sephton said: “I really wasn’t thinking about going just yet, but then we had a meeting and it became clear this was a good time.
“And it’s true because I’ll be 80 next birthday, which is insane for somebody doing what I’ve been doing. I’ve still got my marbles, I think, although I wonder sometimes!
“The fact that we won the league and the fact that I’d been there so long. The club offered to give me a season ticket and I was thinking, ‘I can do without all this hassle’.
“I was thinking I could do without all this hassle because sometimes it gets very pressurised; people on your shoulder, you know, ‘Do this, do that, do the other’.
“It’s a long time since I had what I used to have with the crowd, the rapport with the crowd, because the last couple of years, everything I say more or less has been scripted. Before, I’d be chatting to the crowd.”
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