Here in Liverpool we take our football very seriously, here it’s much more than just football. I was brought up on Football , my Nan always told me that I couldn’t bring home an Evertonian and she wasn’t joking.
I was always a bit of a Tom boy , all of my friends from a very early age were boys , I never wanted to be girly or femine. I was happiest in something comfortable. I don’t know what it was but I was happier kicking a ball about but you have to grow up quickly sometimes and that happened to me.
I fell in love with Football and loved the likes of Ian Rush, Steve McMahon, John Barnes and then later on I idolised Robbie Fowler. I even mourned the day he left 😢. When I was younger cups and championships came easy and being able to go and watch my club tour our city in the open top bus was so special, I never thought it would take this long for it to happen again.
As a Liverpool Fan you know hurt and anxiety it comes as part of the package but watching that Hillsborough game on the big screen , just seeing in real time what was happening changed me forever. You could see the panic on the faces of our team and the colour draining from the face of King Kenny.
Our City changed that day , back then we didn’t have mobile phones so if you knew someone at the game you didn’t know they were safe until they could get to a land line. In many cases it wasn’t until they walked through the door. Just imagine that for a minute. I still find it difficult to watch any coverage from that day and I was one of the lucky ones as my Uncle came home safe and my friend wasn’t able to get a ticket to go.
If only people knew just how many of our team attended funerals in the aftermath and just what the families of our 96 went through to be heard. I will never forget queuing outside Anfield to lay flowers and being broken at seeing those flowers and scarves laid out ,each one for a person , Our 96 angels who went to a football match and never
My life changed when I gave birth to my Daughter and straight away she had to have Liverpool FC teddy bears. She had LFC everything growing up from dummies, bottles, kits, bears. We got her this red beanie type bear who we called Reddy and to this day , aged 20 she will not go anywhere without him. I was so fortunate at this time to go to the matches with my Hubby. We were able to be there for big games and if we did not attend together it was guaranteed that the Hubby would have our little toddler running around singing “Who let the reds out” .
My Nan adored the team and would always listen on the radio if the match was not on TV . My Nan knew more about our club than most men, so the night we had the was it a goal or not a goal debacle at home to Chelsea , I was straight on the phone to my Nan to see if it went over the line and as she said it did , it did. Sadly we lost my Nan a few years back so I know that she will be celebrating in heaven tonight with our 96 angels , that will be some party.
All over tonight here in Liverpool you can hear celebrations and fireworks going off and the scenes from outside Anfield are special but tonight for me it wasn’t just about our current team , it was for every single person who had put on a red shirt in our clubs long history. Liverpool isn’t just a football club , they are so much more than that and I can’t wait to see them parade our city once again. Liverpool Football Club is finally back on top , the only place we deserve to be.