The rain came down here yesterday, cleared out the squares and sent Liverpool supporters scurrying for bars and hotels. Forward elements of KFS snatch squads relaxed. Their work would not be needed for another day. KFS (Keep Flags Scouse) are the shadowy flag-bearers – literally – of Liverpool’s identity.

Their fight to keep a Scouse soul for their globalised club is a story of heroism in the modern age. Like all guerrilla groups, their history is disputed and shrouded in myth. After a cadre from Kirkdale “confiscated” a “Bootle Irregulars” banner, the great flag wars of 2000-01 began.

Losses were many. A “Lancaster Reds” flag went missing, presumed burnt. It was in Rome that the most serious atrocity took place: a protest march bearing a “Turin Animal Rights” banner was water-bombed by rogue elements among the Liverpool support. It was messy. Hippies who had not seen water for years got wet. “Turin is definitely considered an out-of-town location,” Larry Bin Limey, the Scouse warlord and reputed hot-dog vendor, said. “As such, the banner cannot be displayed on the day of a Liverpool match.”

Peace came with the Boss Wednesday Agreement (think Good Friday), thrashed out in Boavista, which set down the rules about what can and cannot be displayed on Liverpool banners. Red is good, liver birds are great but Union Jack flags and St George Crosses are against the rules. Place names are acceptable only if Liverpool districts or overspill towns. A good joke always complies with the accord.

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BACKGROUND

• Debate: how can Liverpool beat Milan?

• Gerrard calls for heroes to make history

• Two clubs united by darkest days in history

• Istanbul has not scarred us

• The writing’s on the banner

Multimedia

• Athens audiocasts

• Rafael Benitez podcast

• Songs of The Kop

Multimedia

• Road to Athens

• Gerrard v Gattuso

• Controlling Kaka

KFS secret police enforce the policy, covering rogue banners with a “We’re not English, We are Scouse” flag for a first offence and confiscating the property of repeat offenders. It is an elite force, feared and loved in equal measure. Oh, and laughed at. Yes, it’s a joke. Mostly. But, like its political wing, Reclaim The Kop (RTK), it performs a serious function in an era when identities are being diluted on a daily basis.

RTK has an inclusive policy. It is right and proper to support Liverpool Football Club, wherever you hail from, but what made Kopites different was their refusal to be like other fans. We sing our own songs, we have traditions that should be observed – simple things, like clapping opposing goalkeepers – and should not use inane chants such as “Easy”. Fan culture, as seen on Soccer AM, is anathema.

RTK seeks to show new Liverpool fans that there is a better way. All over Athens, the KFS is on alert. It never sleeps.

And that’s why, this evening, when you see the Liverpool sections of the stadium, the standard of the banners will take your breath away.

Tony Evans is the author of Far Foreign Land: Pride and Passion the Liverpool Way.