Thousand of Liverpool fans ignored pleas from police and the club to gather outside Anfield to celebrate their title success on Wednesday night.
As the Reds lifted the Premier League trophy inside an empty stadium following their final home game against Chelsea – which ended in a thrilling 5-3 win for the hosts – a heavy police presence was in force outside.
Merseyside police introduced a 48-hour dispersal zone around the ground to try to stop supporters from breaching coronavirus guidelines, with much of the ground fenced off.
But by 9.45pm a large group had gathered in the road outside the Kop end with flags and flares.
Fireworks were set off in the street and fans stood on hoardings.
Officers took flares off some fans but did not stop them joining the crowd on Walton Breck Road, where many more began to gather after 10pm.
Supporters waved flags from the gates outside the Kop after climbing up and fireworks were set off from areas around the ground.
Some members of the crowd wore face masks and some had brought children to enjoy the celebrations, while others carried cans of beer.
Thousands of supporters celebrated outside Anfield last month when the team’s first top-flight title in 30 years was confirmed and huge numbers gathered at the city’s Pier Head the following night, where police reported violent confrontations.
Ahead of the match with Chelsea, police had joined with the club, council and supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly to ask people to celebrate at home.
But those pleas fell on deaf ears as many decided to visit Anfield.
There was a short period where Liverpool, amid a cacophony of pyrotechnics going off outside the ground, looked far from comfortable against Chelsea until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored their fifth late on to make it 59 home league matches unbeaten.
That allowed the party, if it could be called such in an empty stadium, to get started with injured captain Jordan Henderson adding a Premier League to his already-impressive CV of Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup trophy lifts on a specially-erected platform on the Kop.
