How did you end up supporting Liverpool so, mate?
Houghton, Aldridge, Staunton, Whelan---- But most of all, John Barnes. My Idle. My hero. Still the greatest player i’ve seen for Liverpool- Tho Suarez is pushing him. Of course they were winning, that helped. But my real love was forged in the 90s- Fowler-Redknapp-McManaman- and Barnes still knocking about. Throw in Collymore, McAteer— that was a great team, and a heartbreaking team to follow.
That 90’s team were all style, no substance. Suarez is the best player I’ve ever seen play for Liverpool.
For me, Fernando Torres on his game is the best player I have seen play for Liverpool. When he was at his best we had one of the best strikers in the world. That isn’t very common for Liverpool.
Suarez would be a clear second. For some reason I never warmed hugely to Suarez but I accept his brilliance. I used to worship Torres.
Barnes as a winger was a bit before my time. It seems to me that Peter Beardsley was underrated in terms of Liverpool greats.
To add a bit, I had followed Liverpool’s fortunes avidly from being a little nipper in 1976 through to 1989. Most of my schoolmates were ManU with hardly any other team getting a look in.
The music stopped at Hillsborough, I can clearly remember where I was watching the game and who with (in Tramore of all places). And the music died that night at Anfield when Michael Thomas scored (I watched it in a pub in Rathmines). I quickly gave up watching or following the results. I jumped on the bandwagon now for old times sake.
I can hardly imagine what the 25th Hillsborough commemoration will be like on the 13th when Man City visit for a title decider.
The Liverpool team of 1987-88 was the best Liverpool team I remember seeing - if they had not been banned from Europe they would have picked up another European trophy
Barnes and Beardsley were fantastic
Ray Houghton (in spite of being a rubbish grumpy pundit) was also underrated as a player
Did you not read the Australia thread? Who else was he going to support?
[QUOTE=“Mark Renton, post: 924334, member: 1796”]
When we were in Corpus Christi- every student in the school had to write a letter of apology to the Gaelic Grounds after we ran amuck there one year when one of our teams got to some schools football final- We were banned from playing there for a few years.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=“ciarancareyshurlingarmy, post: 924474, member: 464”]
I can hardly imagine what the 25th Hillsborough commemoration will be like on the 13th when Man City visit for a title decider.[/QUOTE]
Is that when the game is? Fucking hell that will be EPIC. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, these are heady heady days for MCFC 
The game is kicking off at 13:37
I assume that’s something to do with Hillsborough?
[QUOTE=“TreatyStones, post: 924480, member: 1786”]The game is kicking off at 13:37
I assume that’s something to do with Hillsborough?[/QUOTE]
All games kick off 7 minutes late that weekend as a memorial I believe.
Sick bastard.
[QUOTE=“TheUlteriorMotive, post: 924475, member: 2272”]The Liverpool team of 1987-88 was the best Liverpool team I remember seeing - if they had not been banned from Europe they would have picked up another European trophy
Barnes and Beardsley were fantastic
Ray Houghton (in spite of being a rubbish grumpy pundit) was also underrated as a player[/QUOTE]
Ray Houghton was a fantastic player.
[QUOTE=“farmerinthecity, post: 924472, member: 24”]For me, Fernando Torres on his game is the best player I have seen play for Liverpool. When he was at his best we had one of the best strikers in the world. That isn’t very common for Liverpool.
Suarez would be a clear second. For some reason I never warmed hugely to Suarez but I accept his brilliance. I used to worship Torres.
Barnes as a winger was a bit before my time. It seems to me that Peter Beardsley was underrated in terms of Liverpool greats.[/QUOTE]
The opposite for me. I wouldn’t have Torres in my top 50 favourite Liverpool players, and that’s far from entirely down to him leaving to go to Chelsea. I just never particularly warmed to him or the teams in the latter part of the last decade. I’ve always supported Liverpool since 1986, when I was 6, but my passion has had peaks and troughs. The first trough was during the Souness era because I was too young to associate him with Liverpool and only associated him with Rangers. To use a phrase used in one of the previous posts, the day the music died (a bit anyway) was the day Kenny Dalglish resigned, two days after the 4-4 match against Everton. It wasn’t until Roy Evans took over that I really began to start following Liverpool again. Other troughs were during some of the Houllier years and the latter part of the Benitez years. Kenny Dalglish’s reappointment and the signing of Suarez immediately reignited my passion to a level I hadn’t had since Dalglish’s previous reign.
Suarez was destined to be an all-time Liverpool hero from the first match he played. He is to Liverpool what Maradona was to Napoli.
But the 1987-1989 team and those players will always be my favourites. Aldridge, Houghton, Whelan, McMahon, Barnes. I can reel off what happened in pretty much every match in those two seasons off the top of my head, far clearer than what happened in recent seasons. I used to listen to the radio commentary of midweek matches and that gave me a love for radio commentary that has never faded. FA Cup and League Cup matches were huge, but the matches against Everton which were nearly always on live TV (in the 86-89 period anyway) were the biggest. English clubs were barred from European competitions when I started following Liverpool and it took me a couple of years to realise that they used to even compete in them, never mind having won the European Cup four times.
Steve McMahon is probably my favourite ever Liverpool player now that I think of it. Aldridge and Houghton very close behind. Kenny Dalglish rarely played by the time I started following Liverpool.
Now Steve McMahon sure can rap it’s about time he had an England cap
So come on Bobby Robson he’s your man
Cos if anyone can
Macca Can Macca Can Macca Can
It means nothing if you have no soul. City used to be a club with a soul. They had a soul when they were smashing United 5-1 in 1989 and when Alan Ball was screeching not to attack on the line and when they got over 30,000 into Maine Road for Division 2 matches.
Now they’re just a blancmange of blandness playing in a soulless flat-pack stadium with no atmosphere with players that have no connection to their supporters. City are now merely a less hateful version of Chelsea. Liverpool Football Club will always keep its soul, regardless of who owns it.
[QUOTE=“Sidney, post: 924490, member: 183”]It means nothing if you have no soul. City used to be a club with a soul. They had a soul when they were smashing United 5-1 in 1989 and when Alan Ball was screeching not to attack on the line and when they got over 30,000 into Maine Road for Division 2 matches.
Now they’re just a blancmange of blandness playing in a soulless flat-pack stadium with no atmosphere with players that have no connection to their supporters. City are now merely a less hateful version of Chelsea. Liverpool Football Club will always keep its soul, regardless of who owns it.[/QUOTE]
Would you ever fuck off 
[QUOTE=“Sidney, post: 924487, member: 183”]The opposite for me. I wouldn’t have Torres in my top 50 favourite Liverpool players, and that’s far from entirely down to him leaving to go to Chelsea. I just never particularly warmed to him or the teams in the latter part of the last decade. I’ve always supported Liverpool since 1986, when I was 6, but my passion has had peaks and troughs. The first trough was during the Souness era because I was too young to associate him with Liverpool and only associated him with Rangers. To use a phrase used in one of the previous posts, the day the music died (a bit anyway) was the day Kenny Dalglish resigned, two days after the 4-4 match against Everton. It wasn’t until Roy Evans took over that I really began to start following Liverpool again. Other troughs were during some of the Houllier years and the latter part of the Benitez years. Kenny Dalglish’s reappointment and the signing of Suarez immediately reignited my passion to a level I hadn’t had since Dalglish’s previous reign.
Suarez was destined to be an all-time Liverpool hero from the first match he played. He is to Liverpool what Maradona was to Napoli.
But the 1987-1989 team and those players will always be my favourites. Aldridge, Houghton, Whelan, McMahon, Barnes. I can reel off what happened in pretty much every match in those two seasons off the top of my head, far clearer than what happened in recent seasons. I used to listen to the radio commentary of midweek matches and that gave me a love for radio commentary that has never faded. FA Cup and League Cup matches were huge, but the matches against Everton which were nearly always on live TV (in the 86-89 period anyway) were the biggest. English clubs were barred from European competitions when I started following Liverpool and it took me a couple of years to realise that they used to even compete in them, never mind having won the European Cup four times.
Steve McMahon is probably my favourite ever Liverpool player now that I think of it. Aldridge and Houghton very close behind. Kenny Dalglish rarely played by the time I started following Liverpool.[/QUOTE]
Wonderful post… Brutal radio reception in the late 80s while you should have been doing homework! That team of the late 80s were magic, they had everything, I’ll never forget rushing home from a game of our own, when we also lost the league, to watch the happenings of 89 and Thomas. A chap up the road locked his wife and kids out of their house that night such was his disgust… Hillsborough is another day I’ll never forget for obvious reasons, I was in the full white kit and had been outside playing ball in the sun all day previous.
Later, the 3-3 draw with utd after they had gone 3-0 up was a big memory…Football had changed for me, I was older, Liverpool were not winning and I begun to understand rivalry. The joy , bit more so hatred, when Ruddock scored would epitomize young Renton for many years to come.
[QUOTE=“caoimhaoin, post: 924406, member: 273”]It’s hypocritical from many.
They accuse rugby people of being;
• bandwagoners
• unaware of the intricacies and tactics of the game
• being event junkies (Celtic “fans” in particular)
And more are all things that could be leveled at any British supporting soccer fan[/QUOTE]
Most people would have followed a soccer team from the age of six. Can’t say that about Rugby. Our generation anyway.
I don’t know how anyone can say that it’s not common for Liverpool to have a world class striker. Keegan and Dalglish were some of the best in the world in their prime. Owen also had a claim to be one of the best strikers in the world for a couple of years in the early 00’s. He even won a Balon d’Or for fuxake.
Ian Rush wasn’t too shabby either. Add in Torres and Suarez.
Liverpool have had some fantastic strikers over the years.
[QUOTE=“Mark Renton, post: 924496, member: 1796”]Wonderful post… Brutal radio reception in the late 80s while you should have been doing homework! That team of the late 80s were magic, they had everything, I’ll never forget rushing home from a game of our own, when we also lost the league, to watch the happenings of 89 and Thomas. A chap up the road locked his wife and kids out of their house that night such was his disgust… Hillsborough is another day I’ll never forget for obvious reasons, I was in the full white kit and had been outside playing ball in the sun all day previous.
Later, the 3-3 draw with utd after they had gone 3-0 up was a big memory…Football had changed for me, I was older, Liverpool were not winning and I begun to understand rivalry. The joy , bit more so hatred, when Ruddock scored would epitomize young Renton for many years to come.[/QUOTE]
As a nine year old I was not fully equipped to deal with the significance of Hillsborough. The day was also a sunny one in West Dublin and I was also out on the street in my Candy jersey kicking ball for most of the early afternoon. Liverpool were going to beat Forest like they had done the year before, beat Everton in the final, and were going to win the double, which I desperately wanted to happen as I didn’t remember very much about the double of 1986, an event of mythical proportions and mystical significance and aura in my mind. Myself and my brother both dressed up in our full kits for the match, as we usually did, even for radio matches. Peter Beardsley hit the crossbar and then I thought there was a pitch invasion. Even when I saw people being carried away on stretchers I couldn’t really comprehend what was happening. When the match was abandoned I was annoyed and went out onto the street to play football again. The visual innocuousness of the crush didn’t have that much impact to a nine year-old. Only when the news reports of 40 or 50 deaths started coming through (BBC had this ridiculously scary intro music on the news) did it start making any kind of impact on me. I was definitely sad at what happened, but even in the following days it didn’t strike fear into me nearly as much as something like Lockerbie, which felt utterly terrifying, although the effect of Hillsborough meant I didn’t go to the Ireland v Spain game 11 days later, which my father had got us terrace tickets for, so maybe it did upset me more than I remember. However things like the Sun’s reports went completely over my head. I really just wanted the football to start again and for Liverpool to play and beat Everton in the FA Cup final.
It was only when I got into my teens that I started realising the full significance of Hillsborough, how and why it happened, and how it represented one of the final battles in Thatcher’s war against the working class.