This month the Reds welcome the Eagles to Anfield for a fixture with a history
of drama and intrigue – for players, fans and even matchday mascots!
Despite the last five encounters resulting in Liverpool victories
over Crystal Palace, echoes of the visiting fans’ chorus of “You
must be sick of us!” at Anfield from back in 2015 and 2017 are
still quite fresh in the memory when the Eagles travel to L4.
Palace are said to have the strongest recent claim to being
Liverpool’s ‘bogey team’, but how true is this? I have my own
personal perspective which goes like this...
Walking up the steps of the old Main Stand player’s tunnel and
running onto the hallowed Anield pitch for the very irst time, was
a moment I knew I’d never forget. Sami Hyypia shouted, “Peter!”
I turned as he played a pass to me. I was through on goal, Kop
end with a gaping net. I shot and the ball rolled slowly toward the
goal for an eternity before gently running into the side-netting on
its way in. The Kop cheered in celebration.
That was it, I’d achieved my dream, I’d scored in front of the
Kop in a full stadium at the tender age of eight. The only downside
was that, other than a missed penalty during a pre-season training
session on the pitch in 2013, this is the closest I will ever come to
scoring for Liverpool.
It was February 2003 and I was the matchday mascot as the
Reds lost 2-0 to Crystal Palace in a fourth-round FA Cup replay.
My mum had sent a letter to the club requesting that I could
be selected. I was the lucky one whose name was drawn out of a
hat. The whole day was a magical experience, from meeting then
manager Gerard Houllier in his oice pre-match, to ‘scoring’ the
goal tassisted by Hyypia, to enjoying a passing drill with Bruno
Cheyrou and John Arne Riise in the warm-up. Everything except
the result.
I still remember the huge juxtaposition of being among my
heroes Emile Heskey and Michael Owen, meeting my dad’s idols
and club legends Phil Neal and Alan Kennedy in the hospitality
lounge and being able to run on that pitch.
Compare that to the dejection at the end. I was still young and
perhaps unappreciative of the magnitude of the disappointmentCRYSTAL PALACE
BROKE MY HEART!