The Beautiful Game

In this country, football is often referred to as ‘the beautiful game’.  They also say that football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen.  As an American, it is interesting to me that soccer is a sport that cannot compete commercially with the traditional American sports like baseball, football, basketball and ice hockey; as it is a fast-paced, exciting game that only takes two hours!

Having a football-mad Italian husband and two teenage boys that have been brainwashed since birth to be die-hard AS Roma fans, this is usually an activity that I leave to ‘the boys’.  So when a friend of ours informed us of her long-standing support of Liverpool, my husband insisted that a pilgrimage to watch Liverpool play at Anfield Road with the two families was a must. 

We boarded a train from Euston station on Saturday morning and within two hours arrived in the centre of Liverpool.  Located in the Northwest of England, and obviously famous as the birthplace of the Beatles, Liverpool has a lot to offer the weekend tourist.  In 2008, Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture, and has several wonderful museums and churches, including Tate Liverpool and the Maritime Museum, as well as the Liverpool Cathedral and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King Liverpool.  

We stayed in a lovely hotel on the Docks, and the 4 teenage boys in our party were thrilled to learn the opposing team, Tottenham Hotspurs, were staying there too.  Plans were hatched on how to disturb the players in the night so that they wouldn’t play well the next day, but thanks to a full day of sightseeing, they were too tired to carry out the dastardly deeds.  They did, however, do a fair amount of stalking the players throughout the hotel, and managed to secure the odd autograph.  

Sunday afternoon finally arrived, and we bundled up (it was a freezing 0 degrees, with snow flurries and an arctic wind blowing from the east) and headed off to the stadium.  Anfield Road is a relatively intimate stadium, seating just over 45,000.  It was a surprisingly orderly crowd and the atmosphere within was electric.  The anthem, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, written by Rogers & Hammerstein for the musical Carousel, but made popular in the early 1960s by Gerry and the Pacemakers; is played over the loudspeaker and sung by all fans at the beginning of every home match.   

Then the action began!  Liverpool got off to a cracking start and scored a goal early in the first half – the crowd went wild.  Subsequently the Spurs retaliated and by half-time the score was 1-1.  Early in the second half the Spurs scored a second goal, and the atmosphere was certainly dampened.  Shortly thereafter there was another goal by Liverpool and they were back in the game!  With just under 10 minutes left to play, Liverpool scored a third goal and the crowd was electrified – could they keep the lead for the last few minutes?  The final score was 3-2 for Liverpool and the fans were thrilled, especially as their rival team, Everton, had lost the previous day.  

Before heading back to the train station, we had a bite to eat in an Italian restaurant.  As it was Mother’s Day, the place was packed, and once again, the boys were thrilled to learn that a player was seated behind our table, this time from Liverpool.  While they wanted to ask for an autograph, they realised that he was out for a special occasion with his wife and baby.  They discreetly asked the headwaiter if he would ask for the autograph, and they were told to wait until the end of his meal.  Once the player had finished eating, the boys sheepishly approached him, and he graciously signed their programmes on the page with his picture.  Another success!

We arrived back in London Sunday night, exhausted, but satisfied.  It was a great weekend trip filled with food, culture and sport!

Written by Eva Stock