Karl-Heinz Riedle recalled how his teammates poured beer over his head during a wild Christmas party, marking the end of his Liverpool initiation. In the summer of 1997, the 31-year-old German joined the Reds from Borussia Dortmund.
Before departing for Fulham in September 1999, the striker would play for Anfield for just over two years, totaling 76 appearances and 15 goals.
Riedle became the first German player in Liverpool’s history to play for the team. He also chose to perform a song from his native country when it came time for his initiation at the first team squad’s yearly Christmas party.
However, the 59-year-old has acknowledged that his time on stage was brief, as his teammates abruptly ended his initiation song.
According to Riedle, “it was a tradition that every new player had to sing at the Christmas party.” “I believe I sang a Bavarian song, but I can’t recall what it was.
However, it didn’t last long because I was able to get all of the beer over my head in less than 30 seconds. And that was it!
“Anyway, a lot of weird things happened at the crazy party. That was probably Liverpool’s final Christmas party at the time.
Riedle had already been rudely awakened during his August debut against Wimbledon for Liverpool.
His teammates had forewarned him about Vinnie Jones, their midfield hardman, prior to the match.
The striker learned a lesson he would never forget after coming to England, and although he had previously clashed with Jones, he actually earned the wrath of one of his own teammates during the 1-1 draw.
“Listen, we’re playing against Vinnie Jones,” he told FourFourTwo when the players approached him prior to the match. “He is absolutely insane.”
“I was aware of Soccer’s Hard Men, his album and even the videotape he had made public.
“In the end, it was funny for another reason. Jones fouled me straight away, but there was another situation where I dribbled, had slight contact with a Wimbledon player, fell on the floor and shouted for a penalty.
“Seconds later, somebody pulled me up and said, ‘Don’t do that in England.’ It was Steve McManaman. He was like, ‘You should never cheat to win penalties in England.’ From that day, I never did it again!”
Before joining Liverpool, Riedle was a European champion, having scored two goals for Borussia Dortmund in their 1997 Champions League victory over Juventus, which ended in a 3-1 victory.
However, that didn’t mean much after Ottmar Hitzfield was replaced as manager by Nevio Scala, as the striker soon lost favor before joining Liverpool.
“We attended a training camp during pre-season after winning the Champions League,” he remarked. Additionally, there had been rumors that Dortmund was having financial difficulties and was trying to find funding.
“For me, it was a good time to make a move, as I was already 31, and maybe the club also thought that it was the right time to sell me if they wanted to get some money for me.
“Then my agent called me to ask whether I would be keen to go to Liverpool. It sounded special and I was happy to go.
“Also, I wasn’t really getting along with our new coach at Dortmund [Nevio Scala], who had replaced Ottmar Hitzfeld after the final.
“It was quite strange from the beginning, because I had maybe my best pre-season ever in Switzerland – I was on fire – but I continuously ended up in the reserve team. There was a striker who had never played before and he was playing in my position.
“That made me think that something was going on. In hindsight, the decision was really good for me: it was an incredible experience to go to Liverpool and later Fulham. I spent the last four years of my career in England, so I never regretted it.”