My first game at Anfield was Liverpool v Chelsea in March 1994 and I remember it vividly. My da has no interest in football but his brother Jimmy, my uncle, was a red, although that wasn't always apparent to me. He never married and lived with my grandparents although I think he eventually bought the house they'd lived in for most of his life. My nana and granda spent their days in the kitchen but the front room was Jimmys. He drove buses for a living and then when he came home he just wanted his dinner and peace and quiet in the front room watching tv. We would visit nana and granda frequently and I'd always have conversations about football with my granda. Sometimes Jimmy would be there and sometimes he wouldn't. I don't remember talking to him about Liverpool or football but at some point I discovered he was a red and I remember being surprised. He bought me an official Liverpool annual after the double winning 1986 season. It wasn't like the normal red LFC annuals, it was more of a collectors item. I read that book from cover to cover dozens of times.
One of my da's other brothers was a big football fan but he lived in London and was a Villa supporter. Peter McParland was from our town and he played for Villa and Northern Ireland from the 50's. My uncle Brian idolised him and has followed Villa since. Every so often he would come home from London and stay in the family home. I loved when he was home because we'd talk about football for hours. I thought he'd maybe take me to my first game at some stage. I'm still waiting! My da worked with a man who was involved with probably the biggest youth team in our area. Every year this club took the kids to a Liverpool game. I was still too young to play for them (I eventually did play for them but the club was in decline and the Liverpool trips were a distant memory). One year, my da gave his colleague money to get a few things from the club shop for me. I remember coming down stairs one Saturday morning and seeing a treasure trove of Liverpool accessories like a wallet, a car sticker, badges and a scarf. It felt like Christmas. My ma's brother, Uncle David, moved to Liverpool in the early 60's though he was a blue but he sent me a load of Liverpool programs he got from being a guest at games through his job.
I was still at primary school but one of my best friends had already been to his first game. He was a good goalkeeper and did nets for the school gaelic team. I was sub keeper. He had been scouted by Celtic Boys in Belfast and had started going down there every weekend to play. One week their game was cancelled but the manager and others from the club had tickets to go and see Celtic that day. My pal got to go with them. Up to that point he'd been a big United fan but from that moment on it was only Celtic for him. He came into school that Monday and he told me about getting the ferry over to Scotland, driving to Glasgow in the car, learning the songs, seeing Parkhead for the first time, joining the crowd singing songs in the stadium, describing the goals and the saves made by Northern Ireland keeper Allen McKnight who was in the team for injured Celtic legend Packie Bonner. It all sounded magical to me but it would be years before I would get to sample it.
At secondary school, there was a trip to a Celtic match organised and this was going to be my first trip across the water to watch football. I'd been to Wembley twice by this stage on a school trip and a family holiday to London but only for the stadium tours . We'd taken the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead and stayed with Uncle David and his family in Liverpool. It was summer so there was no football on but David drove us over to see Anfield and Goodison from the outside. The school trip fell through due to alleged financial irregularities regarding the teacher who was organising it. I'd been to a couple of League of Ireland games over the border in Dundalk and started to go and watch Newry Town regularly at home. I trained and played a few youth team games for them which entitled me to a players pass to get into first team games for free. Liverpool were no longer the team I'd started supporting but I'd long been hooked on them and when my da told me Jimmy was going to bring me to a game, I was on cloud 9. I don't know if I'd been asking Jimmy to take me whenever I saw him or if I'd said to my granda and he'd said to him. I was obsessed with football and Liverpool and I was finally going to see them play at Anfield.
I got picked up at the house by Jimmy and 2 fellas he worked with. One of them was an apprentice about my age but he went on like he was a lot older. Old fashioned as my mother would say. I was listening to Pearl Jam Unplugged on my walkman - recorded onto audio tape by playing the video and sitting a tape recorder beside the tv speaker. We got the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead and met up with a load of people from our town that were going over too. The craic was good but I was having a bit too much of it out on the deck with some of the other younger ones having consumed some duty free I'd been able to purchase with a fake ID made out of my Newry Town players pass. There had been talk of me being able to stand outside The Kop to see if I could get someone to swap for a main stand and I could go on the standing Kop which was going to be knocked down at the end of the season. Getting drunk on the boat put pay to that. We stayed in a b&b in North Wales overnight then drove over to Liverpool the next day. We checked in at the hotel in Mount Pleasant and collected the tickets there also. I can't remember exactly how we got to Anfield but I remember buying a green white and black Liverpool scarf as that was the colours of our away kit and I really liked it plus it also looked a bit like a Celtic scarf because as Liverpools glory days faded away, supporting Celtic as well offered a chance of seeing a team win some silverware.
We watched the game from the main stand. I took it all in. The Centenary Stand opposite looked huge. It had opened in 1992 to celebrate 100 years of Liverpool FC. Jimmy said he sat at the top of it once and it was freezing. I looked enviously over at those on The Kop but the way the people moved and swayed when Ian Rush scored a tap in and then John Barnes scored a header, made me wonder if I was better where I was. Craig Burley scored an absolute pearler into the top corner to half the deficit and that was it. Liverpool were a mix of old and new. Along with Barnes and Rush was Ronnie Whelan while Steve Nicol and Bruce Grobbelaar were on the bench. David James, Rob Jones, Jamie Redknapp and Steve McManaman represented the future and Robbie Fowler was about to become one of the best players in England. I was allowed a couple of pints back at the hotel and sat with the younger ones again from the boat. I think Match of the Day was on in the bar too so we got to relive that feeling of going to the match. I tried to order another pint when Jimmy went to bed but the barman had been pre-warned not to give me any more. I got up the next morning early for breakfast to say good bye to the people I'd met. There was one girl in particular whose number I wanted to get but I didn't have the nerve to ask her for it. I hoped I'd see her again on the boat but I didn't. We drove back up from Dublin Port and I listened to Pearl Jam Unplugged for the 10th time, I got dropped off at the house and I thanked Jimmy for taking me. We'd never go to another game together.
About 20 years later, I got a call from the club asking me if I wanted a season ticket. I'd been on the waiting list since 1999. I got the go ahead from my wife but I felt like I needed to go halfers on it with someone. I hadn't spoken to Jimmy for a while. After my grandparents died, we didn't call to the house much but he'd come to my parents house for Sunday dinner occasionally. I discovered he loved Johnny Cash and I bought him a limited edition album pack for Christmas one year which I think was a really nice surprise for him. I phoned him up and asked him if he wanted to go in on a season ticket with me in the Centenary Stand. I told him he could have the pick of the games and I was away on holiday for the United game so he could definitely have that. It was 2012 and Brendan Rodgers had just taken over but Liverpool weren't doing very well. He declined the offer. I only seen him a few times after that but he got to meet his great nephew, my son Arlo born in 2014. Jimmy died in 2015 and when we won the Champions League in 2019, me and Arlo put a pennant on his grave.
When Jurgen Klopp announced he was leaving Liverpool at the end of this season, my plans to get Arlo to his first game at Anfield were accelerated. I had him at football from he was 2 year old and in Liverpool kits from about the same age but he had no real interest in it. In fact, I don't think he liked football at all. When I was young, my da always seemed to be watching westerns on telly and because we only had one tv in the house it meant I couldn't watch what I wanted. Nowadays there are tv's in every room in a lot of homes but I think Arlo probably felt that all I did was watch football on tv. It wasn't until I got him a Euro 2020 sticker album that he started to get interested. He was obsessed with getting stickers (and particularly Liverpool players) whenever we went anywhere. We were in Westport Co. Mayo in 2021 for the 2020 final and I booked a pizza place for dinner that had a tv so we could go and watch it. I think we were the only 2 in the place wanting England to win. Euro 2020 paled in comparison to the pursuit of stickers for Qatar 2022. He was only 8 at the time but he knew the flag of every country and more information about players from each of the participating nations, than me. He also started playing a lot of FIFA on the playstation and playing football during break times at school. We watched every England game until they inevitably went out and then we were willing Messi and Argentina to win it. We celebrated their penalty shootout triumph almost as much as a Liverpool goal! After the tournament, we were still trying to fill the sticker book and discovered there was an app for swapping tickets via the post. We got rid of as many doubles as we could and targeted all the Liverpool players we didn't have then we tried to get all of England plus the finalists Argentina and France.
One of the problems with Arlo and playing sport was that he couldn't deal with the rain and it rains a lot in the UK and Ireland. Similarly he didn't want to go and watch sport. I'd had him at horse racing with me a few times but he didn't enjoy it. I'd been to see the Belfast Giants play ice hockey a few times over the years since it began in 2000 and I decided we would go to watch it as a family. Arlo loved it. There's enough for everybody. There's the ice hockey itself which I'm most interested in but there's also the razzmatazz of north american sport - music, flashing lights, plenty of breaks, pop corn, pepsi, subway sandwiches being fired from guns into the crowd and best of all it was indoors. It also helped that the Giants were having their best ever season and ended up winning all 3 trophies. We ended up going to about 6 games and saw them win the challenge cup final. We were still watching Liverpool try and get into the champions league places and Arlo jumped into my arms when we equalised against Arsenal late in the season. My first ever football match was Dundalk v Derry City in the League of Ireland in 1989 and a friend said he was bringing his son to see Dundalk at home to Sligo during Easter 2023 so we went along too. Dundalk lost 2-1 late on but Arlo couldn't wait to go back. We saw them beat the champions Shamrock Rovers and got a picture with Ireland keeper Gavin Bazunu, they won in europe against a team from Gibraltar and beat Bohemians in the last home game of the season. We also went to see Cliftonville lose to Larne with neighbours who go regularly and we were given a tour of the boardroom to see the trophies and pictures of famous games such as the european tie against Celtic. This was also the night Joe Biden arrived in Belfast and it took us hours to get home as there were diversions everywhere.
Arlo was getting more and more into football and Liverpool. Last summer we went caravanning in France. We played football everyday with other campers from around Europe. There were Irish, English, French, Dutch and Germans. It was August and Ligue 1 started while we were still there so we went to see the closest team to where we were staying Nantes v Toulouse. What a great experience. I've only seen football in the UK, Ireland and Australia. The noise and colour at this Nantes games was incredible. There was even an ex Liverpool player captaining the home side called Pedro Chirivella. When we got back from holidays I tried to get Arlo in a local team but the level was too advanced for him and he didn't know anybody there. Then we were talking to his best friends mum and she was sending her boys to a club a few miles outside the town and said we should send Arlo too. He's been there all season, training twice a week and a game on Saturday. He enjoys playing outfield but he loves doing keeper in his school yard games.
My first attempt at getting tickets for a Liverpool game this season was the Brighton game on Easter Sunday. I've paid membership on and off for a few years in the hope of getting us tickets. We were eligible to register for Brighton and Sheff Utd a few days later. It took me ages to register both myself and Arlo as couldn't figure out how to add him to mine and he couldn't register alone, being a child and all. After a lot of help from LFC on X, I got us registered. A few days later, I was surprised to see I was number 85 in the queue and it appeared that I was able to buy a ticket. I tried to add Arlo too but I kept getting an error message. I panicked thinking I was going to miss out altogether and ended up only getting one for myself. I told Arlo when I got home and promised I'd do my best to get him to another game. Brighton was great. I met up with my friend John and his adult son Rhys. They had been going to games since Rhys was young but now he was living in Canada they only got to go together occasionally. When the game kicked off, we went a goal down as usual but we won 2-1. I was 2 rows back on the halfway line in the Centenary Stand now called The Kenny Dalglish Stand. The players were right beside me warming up. I was talking to the two ladies beside me who had been season ticket holders for 40 years. They said the seat I had also belonged to another season ticket holder who must'nt have been able to go and put it back into circulation. I'd at least got to see Liverpool play in Klopp's final season now the hunt was on for tickets to get Arlo over.
As with the Brighton game, I bought flights for the Atalanta game to motivate me even more to get tickets. Unlike Brighton when I was able to travel over and back the same day (left the house at 5am and was home at 9pm), Atalanta was an evening game so would have to stay over as well. I looked at flights to Liverpool and Manchester but they were already very expensive unless you wanted to go very early and home very late. Then I looked at Birmingham and the flights were a lot cheaper and they went late morning. I looked at trains to and from Liverpool. There was one that would get us there but nothing back late at night. The other option was to rent a car. We got a Travel Lodge at Birmingham Airport which was less than £50 for bed and breakfast. All the travel plans were in place. Now could I get tickets? There were a few twitter accounts facilitating face value tickets which I had been following for a couple of months but they only tend to do the next match. So I sat through the swaps for Sheff Utd of which there weren't that many compared to Sparta Prague when people were giving away tickets close to kick off time. Next was united away which would be like hens teeth. I asked the twitter accounts if they thought there would be many about for Atalanta - one said loads but another said maybe not. It was still Easter holidays in England. I kept an eye on the twitter accounts all day and whenever any tickets came up I dm'd as quick as I could but no dice. After work, I sat on my laptop to see if I could reply any quicker but I wasn't quick enough. There were some hospitality tickets put up but I'd said I wouldn't pay those prices. Then I wondered if that wasn't the best option. I'd be sitting all the next day trying to get a pair of tickets which were even more difficult to get. On the Tuesday morning, 2 days before the game, I was on twitter from 7am, by 10am I was making an offer for hospitality tickets.
Although it was a more expensive option, it felt like it would be the one with least hassle. It turned out to be anything but. Not through any fault of the seller I might add. I made the bank transfer payment when I got home from work, this usually takes a couple of hours to process but by the time I was going to bed and after checking bank details etc again, payment still hadn't been received and I still didn't have the tickets. When payment still hadn't been received in the morning it was time to get on to the bank. There was still a big part of me wondering if I was being scammed because there was a lot of that going on but I felt I'd researched the seller well enough to be almost certain it was genuine. Indeed, the bank wanted to speak to me about exactly this and they confirmed they had suspended the payment pending a conversation with me to confirm I was happy to make the payment and would accept liability if it turned out to be fake. This wasn't a 2 minute conversation with the bank either, it was 20 minutes which all added to the doubts in my mind about whether or not I was being ripped off. I informed the bank I was happy to proceed, the payment was released and received by the seller who informed me tickets would be sent that evening. I don't know if it was buyers regret, mental exhaustion or paranoia but it was a long enough day waiting on the tickets. When I still hadn't received them by 7pm, I sent a message asking what time I'd get them as I still hadn't told Arlo we were going and I wanted to before he went to bed that. The seller told me he was on his way home from work and he would send them in about an hours time. He was as good as his word. The tickets were emailed and I showed Arlo the one with his name on it. It took him a few seconds to realise what he was looking at then he started shouting "ARE WE GOING TO SEE LIVERPOOL V ATALANTA?", I told him we were and he jumped up out of his seat, gave me a big hug and told me he loved me. I told him I loved him too and now get to bed because we have an early start.
At the airport the next morning, our flight was at 10am. Arlo kept turning to me and saying I can't believe we are going to see Liverpool. He's been through airports plenty of times but everything seemed amazing to him. I pointed out some other Liverpool fans and their kids identifiable at security when they removed their jackets. He got himself a football magazine in the shop and the Euro 24 sticker album was out so he got that too. Putting the stickers in killed an hour while we waited for our gate to be announced. On the plane there were a few Villa fans going to see their team in Europe. The man beside me was a Liverpool fan from Donegal, going to a funeral in Birmingham. Across the aisle was his father, a Villa fan who'd lived in Birmingham for a good part of his life but I didn't get to ask them if he was a Villa fan before he went to live there or since. I also didn't get to ask how come he didn't support the same team as his dad. We did talk about how difficult it was to get Liverpool tickets. In Birmingham Airport, Arlo spotted a bottle of Prime that he didn't have yet but I was focused on getting the rental car and driving to the hotel so we knew where it was for later. We couldn't check in until 3 but I needed to organise car parking there too. We eventually found our car rental place was at the end of the monorail (a feature I think must be unique of all the airports in Britain). I thought I'd got a really good deal on the car but it only had a 100 mile limit and a high excess payment. To increase the mileage and bring down the excess raised the price 5 fold but again, I was paying for peace of mind. The car was about as basic as you can get and didn't even have a radio but we would have been using my phone for navigation anyway. We called at the hotel which was about 2 miles away but beside car park 7 and then we headed north to Liverpool. It was motorway nearly all the way, mostly M6 which I didn't know was a toll road. We stopped off for McDonalds at a Road Chef not long into the journey and were greeted by a few Liverpool fans who saw our colours. On the way out, we met a minibus full of Atalanta fans who also recognised our colours but we walked past each other acknowledging quietly that we were from different tribes. The sun was shining and the car was warm but at least the a.c. was working. We were in Liverpool for 4.30pm after a slight tailback at the end of the motorway possibly due to the first day of the Grand National Festival at Aintree. I decided to park in a multistorey on the waterfront and we walked up to St. Georges Square to get the Soccerbus to Anfield. We were one of the first ones on board so we sat at the front of the top deck because I wanted Arlo to see Anfield emerging from between the houses. As usual, Arlo never stopped talking and the man sitting behind us picked up that this was his first game which no doubt sent him back in time, in his mind, to when he first went. As we drove up towards Tuebrook and then turned left towards Anfield through the streets of terraced houses, I stopped Arlo mid jibber with a point out the window, he turned around to see the stadium that must have looked as big as Kilimanjaro to him. He stood at the window open mouthed for about 10 seconds then started talking non stop again.
The closer we got, the more fans there were, even though it was still two and a half hours until kick off. I told him he had to get a scarf to hold up for You'll Never Walk Alone but as was we drove past street vendors, he spotted a Nunez one and wanted it. I tried to explain he should get a Liverpool one as players will come and go. When we were getting off the bus the man behind us wished us an enjoyable first game and on the footpath was another stall selling scarves. Before I could tell Arlo to take his time picking one, he saw a Conor Bradley one and that was it. We went over to the back of the Kop to get pictures at the Shankly statue, a quick look around the LFC store where we got an Alisson plushy to go with the army of cuddly toys in his bedroom. The tickets were in my phone wallet and were flashing up. I'd wanted to go and do the bus welcome but it was too wet and the seller told me to make sure we got in early to get the food provided. I still wasn't entirely sure we hadn't been ripped off and at this point, it would have been the cruellest of deceptions if we scanned the tickets and they were fake. As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about. We got in through the hospitality entrance of the Kenny Dalglish and once in I explained to Arlo that he would probably never experience football in such luxury ever again or he should get himself a really good job when he's older so he can afford to watch football in style. This wasn't something I'd ever thought of doing before but even the overnight ferry trips from Ireland were €400 per person (probably 4 times the price per person of our trip in 94 and we had 2 nights accommodation then as well) and that was a very long 24 hours on buses and boats either side of the game and the Irish Sea. What we did was expensive but much more pleasant for about the same price. We found ourselves at the entrance to the Premier Lounge. We had to get a wrist band on and were each given a program for the game. The room was busy with fans enjoying the pre-match food which was a choice of sweet and sour chicken, quorn bolognese or beef stroganoff. There was a salad bar, a hot dog stand and a sweet cart. Soft drinks were free but I later discovered alcohol or even non alcoholic beer was not. We sat at some high chairs and tables in the middle. The people beside us seemed to have the eating down to a fine art as they worked their way through the hot food and the buffet. They were grazing for the entire time we were there before kick off which was about 2 hours. Very impressive. A familiar looking man asked if he could have the seats beside us. "John Bishop!" I replied "You can absolutely have those seats". I explained to Arlo who was sitting beside us and he even got to tell John his favourite joke. Really nice guy, talked away to us and even knew where Lisburn was because he'd played there.
It was announced over the tannoy that the stadium was open and we could go and see where we were sitting. We didn't go up immediately but when we did I let Arlo run up the steps of the entrance to where we were sitting and got pictures of him having his first look inside Anfield. There weren't many in but the Atalanta fans were there in the Anfield Road stand, making a lot of noise. Another perk of the hospitality tickets are padded seats. We tried them out, sat and took it all in for a few minutes then went back downstairs for more treats from the sweet cart. John Bishop asked Arlo what he thought the score would be: "3-1 to Liverpool" he said without hesitating. I told him I wasn't so confident. European football is a different proposition and Italian teams are masters of the dark arts plus Atalanta had already beaten us at an empty Anfield in the CL group stages a few years before. After we'd stuffed our faces with cup cakes, donuts and petit fours, we told John Bishop and his son that it was nice to meet them and headed back to our seats to watch the warm ups. We were well sheltered from the wind and rain but you could see it coming down sideways in front of the big floodlights. Arlo was disappointed that Bradley wasn't starting but at least Kelleher was representing the Irish. The stadium filled, the players finished their warm up and disappeared down the tunnel. It wasn't long until they returned alongside the Italians. They walked out and lined up to shake hands and then it was the moment for You'll Never Walk Alone (I'd printed out the words for Arlo). Any time I thought of the prospect of standing at Anfield with my son, singing the Liverpool anthem, I always got really emotional but for whatever reason, on the night, I wasn't. There were no flags on the Kop because fans were protesting against ticket price rises so maybe that took away from the occasion. I videoed a few seconds of us then put the phone away so I could put my scarf above my head and belt it out as well. The song finished, there was a big roar of encouragement from the home fans and the game kicked off.
Atalanta were at it from the first kick of the ball and they had the first chance when a defensive mix up led to Kelleher having to spring from his line to make a point blank save with his face and deny a certain goal. Klopp was prowling the touchline as usual, we could see him there but he was very far away. A minute later and from the resulting corner, Liverpool broke with Gakpo who found Nunez brilliantly, he still had a lot to do and was eventually too wide on his left foot to threaten the goal. Another good move down the right from Atalanta saw the cross end up at the feet of Koopmeiners at the edge of the box but his shot was blocked. Liverpool then had their best chance when Jones played in Nunez who was one on one with the keeper and opted to try and lob him but scuffed wide badly. Nunez has had so much support from Liverpool fans but had now missed another big chance that could've changed the game. Harvey Elliott picked up the ball in the right hand side of the box and curled a shot that beat the keeper but hit both crossbar and post. Atalanta went ahead when they attacked down the right again and Scamacca finished from the edge of the box though Kelleher should have done better. We were used to going a goal down and coming back. Surely it would be the same again. It could've been worse before half time when Koopmeiners was played through but Kelleher closed him down quickly to keep the deficit at 1.
The cavalry was sent on at half time including Mo Salah who was quickly into the action following good work down the left by Nunez to pull the ball back for Gakpo who found the Egyptian running across the box to the penalty spot. His first shot was blocked by the defender but it sat up nicely for him to half volley another effort at goal, this time the keeper turned it wide with a good save at the near post. The header from the resulting corner was weak and fell into the keepers arms. More good work down the left, this time from Gakpo, led to another chance when his pull back found Nunez but he was leaning back when he hit it and scooped it over the bar. Another attack down our right, this time with Robertson now at left back having replaced Tsimikas at the break. Van Dijk went out to cover but the cross went in and found Scamacca completely unmarked by Gomez and Konate for a tidy half volley finish past Kelleher. Far too easy for the Italians. With 12 minutes to go, Robertson ran onto a pass infield from the left touchline, he carried the ball at top speed towards the box and fired a low, accurate pass diagonally into the box for Salah to run on to and finish first time with his right foot at the near post. Anfield exploded. I lifted Arlo up so he could celebrate and see but the cheers soon turned to groans as we all realised that the flag was up. Offside. We couldn't believe it but there was worse to come four minutes later. Szoboszlai gave the ball away in midfield and Atalanta broke, Kelleher saved the first shot but it fell nicely for Scamacca and the former West Ham flop tapped it into the empty net. Game and - as it turned out - tie, over. This wasn't how the fairytale was meant to end. It was meant to end with 100,000+ reds in Dublin in a final against Leverkusen when we got to show Xabi Alonso what a mistake he'd made by not choosing Liverpool. Arlo wanted to leave then but I told him you have to support your team until the end. We were in no big rush to get anywhere. He was getting upset but not as bad as he was a few days earlier watching Liverpool losing to Man United because he was dreading going in to school the next day to face the United fans he'd no doubt been teasing all year.
When the final whistle did eventually go we made our way out of the stunned stadium but had one last look at the lounge and got a word of consolation from one of the hospitality managers. Arlo wanted another photo of himself outside Anfield among the crowds going home or back to hotels or airports or to rental cars parked in town for the 2 hour drive back to Birmingham. First of all, we had to get into town and that meant getting the bus of which there were loads out on the main road but there were also loads of people queuing for it in a line that went on for about 400 yards around the corner and nearly back up to Anfield again. Everything continued to be amazing for Arlo though and he was happy enough because at least it had stopped raining. I asked him if he enjoyed it even though we'd lost and he said he loved it and couldn't wait to come back. The game ended about 10 and it was nearly 11.30 by the time we got back to St. Georges Square. We walked back down towards Crowne Plaza but had to stop off in a pub so Arlo could go to the toilet. The bar was closed but there were a few still in finishing their drinks while the staff cleaned up around them. As we walked past a couple of young lads on the way to the jacks, one of them spotted the LFC Store bag and asked us did we get anything nice "Did you get Nunez's head on a stick?". The Liverpool fans have been very supportive of Nunez but he missed at least one big chance in every game of that poor run and the fans patience was wearing thin. We got back to the car and drove out of Liverpool. I noticed I was getting a dirty look from a car beside me at traffic lights as I drove out of town. At the next set of lights the same guy was glaring at me again. I couldn't work out what his problem was until we hit the M62 and realised I was driving with no lights on! They come on automatically in my car.
Arlo soon fell asleep and I drove home in silence with just my thoughts for company. I thought again about Jimmy and that first game I'd gone to. Liverpool were 4 years on from they'd last won the league. There were still a few players in that team from the best years in our entire history to remind us what we were. I was too young to fully appreciate it all. We were a team that plays the Liverpool way and wins the league and cup in May. We'd won the FA Cup 2 years before I went to Anfield for the first time, we'd win the League Cup the year after in 95 but then for a long time there would be nothing. It's now 4 years since we won the league, we won the FA Cup 2 years ago. Arlo was too young to remember Madrid or the World Club Championship but he watched us beat Chelsea in the league cup final this year, jumping on me again when Van Dijk finally scored a goal that counted. As he goes up through his teenage years, I hope that he gets to experience watching his team in finals, winning leagues and cups, going to games with his mates and to sample those great European nights at Anfield on the way to winning no.7 and 8 and 9. To have a manager of Liverpool that is absolutely adored by the fans because of what he has achieved but even more because of how he makes them feel, so much so that you would do whatever it takes to go and watch his team. That's what it's all about. We got back to the hotel at 2am, a few hours sleep and we were up for breakfast and away to the airport to leave the car back and to catch our flight home. On the plane, Arlo thanked me for taking him to his first Liverpool. I told him it wouldn't be the last time we'd go and see Liverpool but he'll see Atalanta again first because we got tickets for the Europa League Final!
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