can't stop talking: August 2013

Friday, August 30, 2013

Saturday, August 24, 2013

One Night in July... (or, How I Became a Liverpool Supporter, and The Night a Dream Came True)

A little over seven years ago, in May 2006, I decided after my dad told me how he used to watch the FA Cup final as a kid, that it was time that I watched this thing that I heard about each year but that I'd never seen. World Cup fever was building fast, given that the Socceroos had qualified, and people were suddenly excited about 'real football'. I was too - and so I watched what was my first ever Cup final.

I didn't realise when I sat down to watch, how heavily stacked in Liverpool's favour the odds were in that game, played against West Ham United at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. During the pre-match chatter though, it must have become clear that Liverpool were overwhelming favourites - clear enough that when they went 1-0 down everyone, including me, was stunned! The fact that it came from an own goal made me feel sorry for them - great emphasis was placed on how as one of the club's favourite sons, there was few worse things Jamie Carragher had ever done than put his team behind in a final - so I did that wonderfully Australian thing of supporting the underdog, and decided to cheer for Liverpool.
(They ended up winning the Cup, coming from behind and taking it on penalties).

As the years went on, I slowly amassed a collection of jerseys, and grew to love the club I had almost by accident become a supporter of. There were sad days, like when my absolute favourite player, Xabi Alonso, left the club, and when my once-beloved Fernando Torres betrayed Liverpool by transferring to Chelsea; and there was also lighter moments - like when I laughed out loud after our 2012 League Cup win, when I realised that was the first trophy the club had won since that fateful FA Cup final - talk about jumping on the wrong sort of bandwagon!

By then, all my family and most of my friends knew that I was a keen Red. Dad and I had gone to several A-League matches to watch our local team, Perth Glory, and one winter when two Premier League teams (Fulham and Wolverhampton) toured Australia, we went along to watch. I was pumped to hear that there were rumours that Glory's manager intended to try to convince Liverpool to visit the following year, as part of their annual pre-season tour. It didn't come off, but in 2011, Celtic toured, and I got to be a part of my first ever You'll Never Walk Alone. Perth is a long way from Anfield, but Glory's purple army and The Bhoys supporters did give football's most famous anthem a good go!

Dad said to me earlier this year, after we had heard that Manchester United had announced a visit to Australia, that if Liverpool ever came out on tour, we would go to see them. "Even if it is in Sydney or somewhere," he'd said. And wouldn't you know it, only a few months later, the announcement I had waited for for years finally came. Liverpool were coming, and I was not about to let my chance to see my club live in the flesh for the first time, slip by me!

And so it was, at the MCG on the chilly night of July 24, I watched my first ever Liverpool match. Along with 95,000 other football tragics (most of whom were also dressed in red), I sang You'll Never Walk Alone, and it was a rendition to remember - I might have had a tear in my eye as I realised a dream. Oh, what a night it was =D

The teams line up before kick-off

Stevie G taking a corner =)

Ian Rush! and Craig Johnston

Mighty Red!

Luis Suarez...

!!!!!

Another pre-season win, 2-0 =)

Sea of Red!

Captain Fantastic and his newly-appointed vice captain, Daniel Agger

Awesome night!!

It was an experience I won't soon forget, sitting in that sea of red, singing and watching players who I spent years getting up to watch at 2 and 3am, live for the first time!

Here's hoping it won't be too long before the Reds are back for round two!

All credit to my brother Chris for the great matchday photos =)