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Steven Gerrard: LEGACY not L£GA$Y

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The 2005 Champions League will be a memory Gerrard - and LFC fans - will always savour

The 2005 Champions League will be a memory Gerrard – and LFC fans – will always savour

Stevie.. I’m not sure there is much left to say to describe this wonderful man as many writers for more talented than I have waxed lyrical about what he means to Liverpool, England and world football.  The send off he got, everywhere outside of the Anfield pitch, was wonderful and I am sure many a fan will have been ‘cutting onions’ throughout.

Screw that, I was unashamedly emotional. I am a 33 year old man watching football but to an outside observer I am sure I would be likened to a 13 year old girl meeting Harry Styles!  The one thing to say about the match is that in an odd way it was a fitting end to his Anfield career.  For years he has been let down by the team around him, but dragged them kicking and screaming by the scruff of their collective neck to victory, but this time in his last game he just wasn’t able to.

What an entirely different 17 odd years we would have had as a club without him.

Watching the events of the last week unfold had me thinking about the sport I love in an entirely different way.  For once I watched on full of envy, I was jealous of Stevie and this sort of feeling is something new for me.  Sure, I look and think how lovely it would be just to play football all the time and be paid for it but you know what, I am happy with my life so, yeah, sure it would be nice but it is what it is.

I look on and see the money these chaps earn (some more deserving than others) and think nothing more than ‘good luck to them’.  In my mind as long as I am able to provide for my family and see that we are OK then I’m good.  Bragging rights over my bank balance holds no interest for me and money is not the driving factor behind my chosen career path.  My Jealousy and my envy were centred around the outpouring of joy and the overwhelming appreciation and ‘thank you’s’ that our number 8 deserves.  I watched on, recalling my own happy memories of Stevie, and thought: I want that!

Am I so unusual in the modern world?  I am merely just indicative of what a Fan should be?  You give me enough money to pay my bills and I would don Liverpool red and run through brick walls to try and ensure in generations to come my name was remembered and forever linked to the club I love.

A young Gerrard against Newcastle United

A young Gerrard against Newcastle United

Now I know the vast majority of footballers don’t play for the team they support and the likes of Stevie and Carra are unusual in this respect, but the opportunity to build your own legacy at a club is there for all, even more so at a club like Liverpool with the history, support and worldwide renown it has.

In the modern world, if you are a footballer that is good enough for top flight football, let alone good enough for one of the top teams, money will not be an issue.  The weekly wages (before you even get on to sponsorship and so on) of some of the more ordinary players will be in excess of the annual wage for most fans, so aside from sitting with a wage slip and playing financial top trumps with other players, who
cares? A fascinating read around this is Fathers, Sons and Football by Colin Schindler about the Summerbee family and the three generations of players and the marked differences in lifestyles not wholly dependent on talent.

We are constantly told that football is a short career and people should make as much as they can, as an excuse as to why players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Scott Sinclair and the like make the moves they did.  I’m sure their bank balances will be nice stories to tell future generations when asked what they did in certain seasons.

Michael Owen had a wonderful career stacked with medals, awards, goals and a healthy bank balance but where is he revered, Liverpool? No, because of his choices. Real Madrid? I doubt those booing Bale now even know who he is. Newcastle? Not a chance, in fact quite the opposite. United? Barely even a footnote. Fernando Torres won more things at Chelsea but they couldn’t stand him.

In fact you could look at a lot of players Chelsea signed and ask them: ‘was it worth it?’ Lukaku, Salah, Sturridge, De Bruyne, Parker, Sidwell, Moses.  Similarly, at City, with the likes of Rodwell.

The last few years under Brendan Rodgers have not gone quite the way Gerrard will have hoped

The last few years under Brendan Rodgers have not gone quite the way Gerrard will have hoped

You could even make the argument about the players like Robin van Persie, Song, Nasri, Sagna and Clichy; would it have meant more staying at Arsenal with the adoration of fans who supported you through thick and thin and maybe not winning the league or was the pull of a medal so much more important?

You are a footballer, you will make money hand over fist but surely it is about the memories you will make and the joy that you will bring that sets you apart.  Not everyone will be, or even can be, a Gerrard, but you don’t need to be to secure your status at a club. Of all the players I have mentioned above, will any get anywhere near the send off or adulation that Gerrard received on Sunday? Not a chance, yet you have multiple league winners, Champions League winners and more in the midst.

All young players coming through should be sat down and made to watch the tributes, listen to the noise and truly take in what Gerrard means to Liverpool Football Club and told ‘this is your goal!’ because if you achieve this then the money comes as a result.  If a player is not inspired by Gerrard and what he has achieved or adds a caveat of ‘but I’m worth more’ you have to wonder what drives them.

It is true, football is a short career and in that respect you want to play as much as possible. The opportunity to play week-in, week-out, being the main man and earning the respect of millions has to be the most attractive proposition in the game, surely?

Don’t chase the money, let the money chase you. Stevie, you are my hero. You have given me so much joy and celebration just from watching you live out the dream of millions. You gave me hope, happiness, tears and laughter. Thank you, Stevie, you may be going but you will never be forgotten, you will never walk alone.

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