My First Liverpool Game Was The Last Time We Lost In The League At Anfield - as remembered by 10 year old Tom Smyth

Going to watch Liverpool from across the Irish Sea takes some organising. There are two ticket sales for the season, one in the summer for the first half of games and one in November for the rest. My mate Damian (Smiddy), was planning on surprising his son Tom with a trip to Anfield for his 7th birthday in April and I was able to get us all tickets for Crystal Palace at the end of that month. We decided we would fly over on the morning of the game and fly back after which makes for very a long day but saves on the added cost of staying in a hotel. It's something I'd done a lot when I was going over to games on my own and Smiddy felt that Tom would be able to handle it. The next part is waiting for TV to dictate when the game will actually be played and then book flights. This wasn't finalised until the end of February. The game was scheduled for Sunday 23rd April 2017, a date that still resonates today.

As it was a 4.30pm kick off, we didn't have to fly at stupid o'clock though I was still up at 6 to get collected by Smiddy and Tom in Newry at 7.30am. Tom sat in the back in his Liverpool shirt with a big smile on his face that stayed there most of the day. We were in Dublin Airport an hour later for a 10.30 flight to Manchester. I'd discovered that flights into Manchester were a lot cheaper for Liverpool home games, even with the added cost of getting a train over to Merseyside. Once we got through security, Tom smashed the smiley face on the feedback buttons as we joined other Liverpool fans on our first walk of the day to the Ryanair gates at the very end of Terminal 1. The flight from Dublin to Manchester took about an hour with another 30 minute walk to the train station. After several stops picking up fellow supporters and Sunday shoppers, we arrived in Lime Street, an hour and a half later. (Tom: "I don't remember much about going over. I just remember being on the plane then the train"). The excitement was building in all of us. It doesn't matter if you're 7 or 70, whether you go once a season or every week, there's nothing like going to a game. It was a short walk from the train to the bus up to Anfield as Tom bounced his way from one mode of transport to another on the big adventure of his first game at Anfield. He told me he loved Coutinho but Smiddy had him well drilled on Liverpool history because he was still talking about Steven Gerrard who had retired two years earlier. Ironically, his final game was against Palace at Anfield as well, a day when the Londoners hadn't read the script. Since then, Liverpool had not only lost their most iconic player but they'd also changed manager. We were about 18 months into the Jurgen Klopp era and there had been some very good signs along the way. He led us to the 2016 League Cup and Europa League finals in his first season then there was a long unbeaten run at the start of the 2016/17 season that ended with a 4-3 defeat at Bournemouth, having led 3-1 with 15 minutes to go. We beat City on New Years Eve to go second behind Chelsea and I felt optimistic enough that I enquired about tickets for the final home game of the season against Middlesborough but was told no chance as many other Liverpool fans were daring to dream of a long awaited league title too. That optimism was extinguished by the time we were booking our flights for the Palace game as we only took 3 points from a possible 15. Now, it was about getting into the Champions League places. We were in third place with 5 games to go but City and United were breathing down our necks and had seven to play. When we were on the bus to Anfield, the red side of Manchester were well on their way to beating Burnley 2 nil and move within 3 points of us.

Apart from that, our day was going exactly to plan as we slowly drove through all the fans and arrived at the back of the Kop. Tom waited his turn to get his picture taken beside the statue of Shankly. We walked up the steps to see what gate we would be going in to take our seats in the magnificent new main stand with its' giant Liverpool badges at either end, big pillars and tall windows then it was over to the King Harry pub on Anfield Road to wait for the Liverpool team bus to arrive. Smiddy and I had been here before ahead of the famous Dortmund game in 2016 but it was all brand new to Tom and he was loving every second of his surprise birthday present. (Tom: Daddy only told me the night before that he I going). We cheered as the red bus drove past and made our way back to the stadium. At the bottom of the steps on this side, we met Ronnie Whelan and he was good enough to stop for a photo with Tom. I'm still raging I didn't think to ask him about that goal he scored for Ireland against Russia in 1988! (Tom: Ronnie Whelan asked me what position I played and said if I kept at it, I might be good enough to play for Ireland one day.) It was the first time any of us had been in the new main stand. I'd been in the old one a few times, the last time was in 2009 and inside the stand looked like a World War 2 bunker. I'd also been in the Centenary Stand many times and there were a lot of steps to get to my seat at the top of it so I was delighted to see the new one had escalators. On the way up, we paused for a photo at a Steven Gerrard banner painted on the wall before we spilled out onto the wide and spacious concourses that housed plenty of food and drink stands but it was the Fenway green decor that stands out in my memory the most, a reminder of who finally redeveloped Anfield. Could we now produce a new modern team to match our new modern stadium?

We were in our seats early to see if it was as impressive pitch side as it was inside and outside. It was. High up above the Anfield Road end, the view of the pitch was spectacular. Proud dad Smiddy, got more photos of Tom holding a scarf above his head in front of the empty Kop and we watched the teams come out and warm up. As the seats filled up and kick off approached, the players came out and lined up before the final part of the preamble - You'll Never Walk Alone. Smiddy had gone to the toilet before the game kicked off,  I lifted Tom up on his seat so he could get above the sea of scarves and look at the flags flying on the Kop below. The game kicked off as Damian arrived back and Tom's day got even better as Coutinho curled in a brilliant 30 yard free kick right below us to give Liverpool the lead. (Tom: I still talk to my daddy about Coutinho's free kick). Klopp was putting together his own team and of the those that started that day only Milner, Matip, Wijnaldum, Firmino and Origi remain while Alexander-Arnold and Gomez were on the bench. At this stage of his tenure, we were still beset with defensive problems and Palace exploited this just before half time when a ball down the right to Cabaye drew Lovren out, the French man got away from him and fired across goal for Christian Benteke to equalise against the team who'd sold him in the summer. This wasn't supposed to happen. Worse was to follow in the second half as Liverpools defensive frailties caused anxiety in the stands and when Firmino didn't defend a corner at the near post, Benteke stooped to conquer and headed the ball into the net unchallenged. The Palace fans were singing "You must be sick of us" as they went on to win 2-1 and became the first team since Chelsea in 2005 to win 3 successive games at Anfield. It was also the first time Sam Allardyce had ever won there after 14 attempts with 5 different clubs.

We left the ground stunned at what we'd just witnessed. Tom was asking us was it really over, did we really lose, as we made our way out of the ground (Tom: We were so high up I could see Goodison Park through the windows) and began our next walk back down the main road to get the train back to Manchester Airport. Not far from the ground, an old lady, obviously an Everton fan, was dancing for joy in her front garden as the disgruntled Liverpool fans went home defeated. (Smiddy: I remember carrying Tom on my back for most of those 2 miles from Anfield to Lime Street). He's a Fireman, that's no bother to him! The train was quiet as we sat on our phones reading the post mortems on forums, comments boards and social media. Tom got some sweets for the journey and he asked me when I was going to bring my son, Arlo, to a game. He was only two and a half at time, I said I would love to bring him when he was a bit older. We eventually arrived at Airport security and I was just about to regale the boys with the time I met Pepe Reina at that very spot when the whole Palace team came walking round the corner. Tom got his picture taken with Benteke, the man who'd ruined our day and also with Mamadou Sakho, who was on loan to the Eagles from Liverpool but had effectively ended his career under Klopp by celebrating Benteke's winning goal with an elaborate handshake in front of the home team dug out. Sammy Lee stopped for a photo too and wished us a safe journey home, we explained to Tom who he was. Martin Kelly was looking at us as if to say "I played for Liverpool too" and I regret us not getting a photo with him also. We were on the 10pm flight home and arrived in Dublin at about 11pm. There was one more long walk from the plane to the car park bus and it was probably about midnight before we got in the car. Tom passed out as soon as he was buckled in while Smiddy and I continued talking all the way up the road about how we were 10 and 15 years older than the wee man in the back before we set foot in Anfield and what went wrong in the game that day until we arrived back in Newry, 19 hours after our day had begun.

Tom got the next day off school to recover before going back on the Tuesday to tell all his pals about his trip to Anfield. Smiddy and I returned for the final game of the season against Middlesborough when victory sent us into the Champions League and the beginning of an unforgettable few years for the Reds. April 23rd 2017 was the last time we lost at home and from afar, Tom has witnessed Klopps men become World, European and English Champions while equalling a club record 63 league games unbeaten that goes back to Bob Paisleys team in the 70's. If that record is beaten on Sunday 22nd November 2020, Tom's first and only game at Anfield so far will still be the last time we lost at home in the league.