Liverpool are still flying the flag for outsiders at the Club World Cup – just like in 1981

Much has changed since 1981 but plenty remains the same. When Liverpool play Mexico’s Monterrey in the Club World Cup semi-final in Qatar, it will be no surprise to see a ‘Scousers Hate Tories’ banner flying proudly in the stands.

A doctrinaire Conservative government is in Downing Street and Liverpool are European champions again – it is like a 38-year flashback. Once again the football team is a source of pride for a region out of step with the political direction of the country. There are some significant differences, though.

When Liverpool contested the Intercontinental Cup – a de facto global playoff between the European Cup winners and Copa Libertadores champions – the messages on the flags were wittier, more subversive and less overtly political. ‘On the dole in Japan drinking saki,’ said the signature flag in Tokyo’s National Stadium when Bob Paisley’s team faced Flamengo nearly four decades ago. A reunion with the Brazilian side could well happen in Sunday’s final in Doha.

The banner cocked a snook at Middle England’s perception that Scousers were workshy layabouts and illustrated that there was not an ounce of self-pity in a place that right-wingers would soon dub ‘self-pity city.’ It is among the best flags in Kopite history.

Rival fans still sing songs about Merseysiders being lazy, jobless and starving even in an age when foodbanks have become associated with football clubs in a way that was unimaginable even in the Thatcherite Britain of the 80s. “Feed the Scousers” is as much a seasonal staple as “Do they know it’s Christmas.” It got an airing at Old Trafford on Sunday during Everton’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

The modern response from those on the receiving end is to take to social media armed with Office for National Statistics figures to show the deprivation levels are worse in Manchester or wherever the clubs of the offending supporters are based. This never changes perceptions. Football is as irrational as politics. Humour is probably a defter weapon.

The other thing that has changed since 1981 is that Liverpool actively care about being crowned world champions. Yes, Jurgen Klopp’s squad could have done without the two extra games and the travel to Qatar. Fifa are holding the tournament in a sensitive political and social environment but the club have handled the challenges presented by this expertly. They refused their assigned accommodation because the hotel had a history of underpaying immigrant staff, brought up the issue of LGBT supporters in a nation where homosexuality is illegal and made clear their concerns about the deaths of migrant workers involved in building stadiums in the desert state.

Now, finally, it is about football. In two games, Klopp can achieve something none of his illustrious predecessors managed: to see his team crowned world champions.

Paisley saw the opportunity as an onerous task that he would rather avoid. There were numerous reasons. Intercontinental Cup matches had acquired a notorious reputation for violence. Celtic were involved in the ‘Battle of Montevideo’ in 1967 against Argentina’s River Plate when six players were sent off. In Manchester United’s contest against Estudiantes a year later George Best was kicked relentlessly over both games. The Northern Irishman snapped at Old Trafford, punched one of his Argentinian tormentors and spat at another before being sent off. Mass brawls had become a staple of the competition.

The low point was 1969 when AC Milan and Estudiantes took part in what became known as the ‘Bombonera Massacre.’ Nestor Combin, the Italian club’s striker, was born in Argentina and targeted by the home side. He was knocked out and then arrested for draft dodging. A famous photo went around the globe showing Combin unconscious looking like the victim of a wartime atrocity. Paisley was determined his team would not get drawn into a similar scenario. Liverpool refused to take part after their first two European Cup wins.

Paisley warned the squad to avoid physical contact and hated the dusty, uneven pitch in Tokyo. Liverpool were also in trouble at home. The domestic season had started badly and by the time they headed for Japan the European champions were in eleventh place in the table, eight points adrift of the leaders. The manager was grappling with how he could get the team back on track. That did not happen until after Christmas when Paisley replaced Phil Thompson as captain with Graeme Souness.

Preparation was poor, too. Liverpool arrived in Japan a couple of days before the game after a long, boozy flight. The party atmosphere continued during the stay in Tokyo because the team did not take the game seriously. Jet lag, alcohol and the semi-detached attitude contributed to an embarrassing performance as a Zico-inspired Flamengo won 3-0. “We got told not to tackle,” Craig Johnston, the midfielder, recalled. “There was no sense this was an important game.”

Klopp will be giving a different message to his men. It might have been different if the Premier League table was a neck-and-neck contest but the 10-point cushion in the title race means the German can concentrate on the matter in hand rather than events at home.

Liverpool had two other attempts to become world champions. In 1984 Joe Fagan’s side were beaten 1-0 by Independiente. Fagan and his players were barely any more committed than three years previously. Even so, they were the better team but failed to break down an extremely defensive Argentinian side after conceding early in the game.

In 2005 Rafa Benitez took his heroes of Istanbul to Japan for the restructured Club World Championship. The 1-0 defeat by Sao Paulo in the final in Yokohama was overshadowed by the death of Benitez’s father and the Spaniard admitted “it was a very difficult time.” Liverpool were once again better than their Brazilian opponents but it would have taken a huge stretch of the imagination to suggest that either club could claim to be the best in football.

If Klopp’s side wins the competition, few would doubt that they are the finest in the world. That would be a cause for rejoicing for many on Merseyside, where the wagons are being circled one again. Liverpool are flying the flag for a region that feels like it is an outsider. That certainly has not changed since 1981.