Steven Gerrard: My Liverpool Story (2 page)

Football players are forever finding themselves
pigeon-holed. You hear claims all the time that so and so is the best at this, someone else is the best at that, or no one has ever done this quite as well before. In the end, I am not sure any of it really matters. It is down to personal preference most of the time, anyway.

But when I think about Steven Gerrard and Liverpool, one fact is indisputable: the enormous contribution Steven has made to the history of the football club from the moment he first stepped out on the turf wearing that red shirt.

People should just be grateful that they have had the opportunity to watch Steven grow as a player, and as a person, before their very eyes, and take heart from the reality that he has brought so much excitement and joy to everyone in the process.

I have admired Steven from afar as a fantastic midfielder who leads by example on the pitch, but also off it with the way he conducts himself and speaks so honestly and passionately about Liverpool, and I count myself lucky to have worked closely alongside him, day in, day out, when I returned to Anfield as manager.

It was disappointing that I couldn’t select him as often as I would have liked due to injury in that period, but I know exactly what Steven went through for Liverpool Football Club during my time back at the helm, especially the lengths he went to in order to make himself available for selection.

I am not being disrespectful to any of the other players, but when Steven trained with the squad the quality in the sessions simply went up another notch – firstly because he is such a good player, but also because his team-mates sensed that quality amongst them and knew they had to raise their own games to try and match his. That tells you something about his presence and also the respect he receives as a colleague and a captain.

When I think about Steven Gerrard and Liverpool, I consider theirs to be the perfect fit. On the one hand you have a marvellous player who is living out his dreams with his boyhood favourites and, on the other, you have a magnificent club that has helped him to fulfil most of his ambitions.

Theirs is a relationship that has suited both parties. A match made on Merseyside.

Kenny Dalglish, August 2012

INTRODUCTION

Every year, I am presented with countless
opportunities to do books about my career. I usually turn them down flat. However, the chance to tell ‘My Liverpool Story’ through my words and the photographs which frame my life was too good a chance to overlook.

Sifting through all the pictures stirred great memories and I hope those who read this book gain the same level of enjoyment I have had in writing it. Each day I realise how lucky I am to live the dream.

Hopefully, there are a few more chapters still to be written in my time at Anfield, a few more trophies to lift and a few more highs to sample.

Steven Gerrard, August 2012

THREE WORDS CHANGED MY LIFE: LIVERPOOL WANT YOU

I didn’t realise it at the time, but when my dad told
me of the interest from Anfield one night at home in Huyton everything altered for me: my direction in life, the path I’d take growing up, the choices I’d make from that day on.

I was just a baby – eight years old – but that was that. A full-blown love affair had been ignited.

Dave Shannon, a coach at Liverpool’s Centre of Excellence, had approached Ben McIntyre, the manager of my local Sunday League team, Whiston Juniors, and he then relayed the news to my dad.

My dad wasn’t really surprised. He had grown used to scouts pulling him to one side after games. ‘Is the midfielder your lad?’ they would ask. ‘We like him. We would like him to come and train with us.’

Manchester United, Everton and Manchester City had all been in touch and basically Liverpool’s interest snowballed from there. They didn’t want one of their deadly rivals pinching a talent from under their noses and so invited me to go for a trial in the old Vernon Sangster Sports Centre that used to be in the shadow of Anfield, but is now no longer there, or to Melwood in the school holidays.

Melwood? The place where Liverpool’s first team train? Me?

Just to be driven through the iron gates of the training ground was an amazing feeling and on the way there with my dad I was imagining bumping into the likes of John Barnes and Ronnie Whelan.

Of course, there was no chance of that. The first team had long since gone home and it was night before the kids were allowed in. As it was, the first thing that really struck me about being in this magical, hallowed place that had been graced by some of the greatest players ever to play football was . . . the grass. It wasn’t like the scrap of land where I pretended to be a professional footballer every spare minute I had growing up in Ironside Road. It was like a carpet, a bowling green. Perfect.

At that age, I didn’t have a clue if I was good or not. Whiston Juniors was a well-run club and used to produce a programme with match reports in them. I was scoring hat-tricks, getting Man of the Match and we were beating teams heavily, every week.

I knew I was important for my Sunday League side, maybe the best in the league, but when you turn up at Liverpool to play in a small trial game and see other young lads doing the turns and flicks that you’ve been practising it was like: wow! There are other good players out there too! A whole new world opened up in front of me and it was one I was desperate to be a part of.

Back then, at the very start of my career, I was more scared and nervous than anything else. I didn’t know what to expect, what Liverpool wanted from me. But I was soon put at ease.

The first three people I met were the coaches Steve Heighway, Hughie McAuley and Dave, who had started the whole process off. From day one until the day I turned professional, they were there for me. And they would still be there for me if I needed anything.

They were a team and all used to sing off the same hymn sheet. They believed in the same values of the club and looking back on it now they became like uncles to me. I felt as though I was part of a family because they treated me that well.

Don’t get me wrong, there were times when they could give out a telling off – Steve would normally be the one to do that – but they always wanted the best for me.

Liverpool’s support didn’t stop me from trying out different clubs. Going elsewhere allowed me to see what those clubs were like compared to Liverpool, but I never got the same feeling.

I went to Manchester United on a five-day trial during the school holidays and I met Sir Alex Ferguson. I went to West Ham and scored a couple of goals in a trial game against Cambridge, which we won 6–2.

I spent four days with West Ham when I was 11 and at the end of it they offered me a three-year professional contract for when I was 17. Maybe I was better than I thought after all. Everton were also keen on offering me a deal around the same time, but they never had a chance. They were pestering my dad all the time to get me to go in and have a look around and play in a game for them and eventually I did just that, to ensure my dad got a break from them as much as anything. I started a game for them, but at half-time I was taken off. To this day I don’t know why. Maybe they had seen enough, but there were a lot of kids there that day so they could have wanted to give someone else a chance. But I took it as an insult. Everton had been asking me to go there for months and months and months and then they dragged me off. I just thought if I am going to impress you, I want a full match to do it in.

There were also a couple of games for Tranmere as a favour to one of my dad’s mates. I was never going to go there, but I did follow them a bit. Ged Brannan was from the same estate as me and he played for them and used to get us tickets every now and then, so I did have a bit of a soft spot for them. Really though, I wanted to play for Liverpool. My team. And Liverpool wanted me.