Just indulge me for a few minutes, I have to write a blog every now and then about my passion.
When I was young my dad supported
Leeds United and I didn't really know much about football, except
helping him pick his draws for the football pools each week and then
taking down the scores, for him on Saturday afternoons.
Then one Saturday in May 1974 there was a special game to be played, it was the FA cup final and my dad said “who do you want to win, pick a team?”
I knew nothing about either team, Liverpool or Newcastle. Hmmmm …
which one would I choose? You all know the answer … the team I went
for that day is the team I have stayed with ever since.
From that moment on I started watching
Football Focus on Saturday mornings, then Grandstand throughout the
afternoon and Match of the Day on a Saturday night. 
My sister bought a Liverpool keyring, it
was like a book and when opened there was a long piece of paper folded
back and forth with pictures of all the Liverpool players, if I can
remember they were: Ray Clemence, Phil Thompson, Peter Thompson, Ian
Callaghan, Emlyn Hughes, Kevin Keegan, Tommy Smith, Alec Lyndsay, John
Toshack, Brian Hall, Peter Cormack and more.
I studied those faces until I knew them.
The more I watched Liverpool play the
more I admired Emlyn Hughes – he was my favourite for a while and I
always had a soft spot for him. RIP Emlyn.
In the 1975/76 season Liverpool won the 1st
Division and the Uefa Cup, I was still young but knew then that I had
made a wise choice opting for Liverpool in the '74 cup final. This year
was the start of the glory years for me, I was spoilt throughout my
childhood with Liverpool triumph after Liverpool triumph.
In the 1976/77 season I kept a scrapbook
on Liverpool, it turned out to be a good season to document them.
Liverpool were going for the treble, with the League title under their
belts, for the 2nd year running, they were to take on Man Utd in the FA cup Final. Alas the treble was not to be.
I was so gutted when they didn't win the FA cup I wrote in my scrapbook “Never mind Emlyn you'll win the European cup” and 7 days later that's exactly what they did.
Fan...bloody...tastic
I was ecstatic - what a night, what a buzz. The Champions of Europe and The Champion of England, what a season!
Then the news came that Kevin Keegan was
off to SV Hamburg, I was amazed, how could anyone want to leave this
club? I should have known not to despair, Paisley wouldn't let us down,
better was to come. This is where my favouritism change …
In August 1977 for £440,000 Kenny Dalglish signed for Liverpool – wow.
By now I couldn't get enough of
Liverpool, my mum despaired with me. One day she decided to have a
spending spree through her catalogue, my 3 sisters chose some lovely
outfits. I chose a Liverpool sports bag, scarf, pennant, hat and a
Liverpool towel, at first she wouldn't buy them but then decided she
wasn't being fair. If I loved Liverpool more than new clothes then she
wasn't going to penalise me - so she bought them - I still have them,
don't think my sisters still have their clothes. :)
I started buying “Shoot” magazine every
week, my bedroom walls were soon covered in pictures of King Kenny
(along side Paul McCartney). I learnt all I could about Kenny, I even
sent him birthday cards on his birthday.
I was just in senior school by this time
and my English teacher wanted the class to prepare speeches, mine had to
be on Kenny Dalglish, I knew everything there was to know about him, my
hero. I remember my teacher raising his eyes to heaven when I stood out
the front of my class and said “My speech is on the life of Kenny
Dalglish” - I think he wanted something less self-indulgent and more
palatable, pfft what did he expect from me, the life of William
Shakespear? (A few years later for my final exam I wrote and performed a
speech on the “West African Slave Trade” – I think my teacher finally
approved).
At the end of Kenny's 1st season Liverpool were in the European cup final for the 2nd
time against Bruges. I sat watching the match on tv, with my Liverpool
hat and scarf on. As the match moved on I was getting more and more
desperate for the loo, but I couldn't go, I might have missed something.
Finally it happened - Kenny scored – woooo hooooo. What a relief, in
more ways than one (I finally had time to run to the lav).
Previous to the match I had wound some
mates up at school. I told them I had a ticket to the final at Wembley.
On the Monday morning at school, I asked them if they'd seen me on tv,
of course they hadn't, I wasn't there. I said I had been near the steps
the players go up to collect the trophy and that I gave Kenny a hat as
he walked up the steps to collect his winners medal. They believed me
.... I have admitted to them now that I wasn't actually there (but only
recently) ha ha! - But if only ...
There are so many good memories I have
from my younger days, too many to list out, and like I said I know Liverpool fans from that era were spoilt for glory, but, god! Do we want
it back! I don't just want it for me but for all the younger fans out
there as well, they need to feel the way I felt all those years ago.
We all had a reminder in 2005 & 2006, it was good, I was on a high for quite a while after lose two matches. After
both those cup finals my husband should have been scraping me off the
ceiling, I was leaping up and down so much.
I hope those glory days are on the way
back, I'd best get my heart checked out just in case because I am sure there are probably going to be some heart stopping moments. Liverpool always manage to bring me to the edge, they bring out the best in me ... and the worst!!
Other Liverpool related blogs :
A Hero From My Childhood
My favourite football matchA Hero From My Childhood
Redder than red, that's certainly true about you
ReplyDeleteHonorary Scouser, that's me :)
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