Glory round the fields of Anfield Road

An Evening with Mr Rush

So, it was Seth's birthday and what do you get a LFC fan for his birthday? Well luckily for me I got an email that helped me with the decision. A LFC Legends v's FC Zurich Lads and dad's match.

We bought our tickets and last night we went along to Anfield. The evening began as we caught an employee carrying out the European Cup in a bin bag to put it in his boot, he got startled and bashed it in to one of the big gates near the Kop. I don't think it was anything dodgy, but it made us chuckle.

We entered the stadium through the Director entrance, probably the first and last time. We were greeted with drinks and made our way to the Directors Box; It felt so surreal.

The FC Zurich boys came in droves, their youngest being 13 and their oldest at the ripe old age of 79! LFC Legends didn't match their numbers and they had to borrow someone from a charity as their Goal keeper, but he did an amazing job. I will not give you a running commentary like my fellow blogger Kop-Post because unlike him I do not have a photographic memory, plus I was concentrating on staying warm. It was a good match and we won 4-3, with all players from each team having a chance to play. Rushy had not lost it and although he didn't play long, he outshone everyone else. 

The half time highlight was an invitation for a kick around on the pitch, I was utterly disappointed that I had worn heels to the event. Here is Seth loving the experience, excuse the iPhone quality.

Dinner was lovely and we got a chance to meet people on our designated table and talk football. The conversation was dominated by the current affairs of the club and Kenny's departure. I think this had cast a faint shadow over the event and I spoke to some of the LFC employees who said that the Americans had definitely made them feel nervous about all their futures at the club. I think the general feeling is that if you are not performing then you are out; I don't know what this will mean for Adam, Downing and Henderson in the near future?

Both charities gave talks about their current projects and what they wanted from their joint ventures in the future. They were both inspirational and both centred on football and disadvantaged children.

After the speeches it was time for a question and answer session with Phil Neal and Ian Rush and they were both on form and had the whole room listening to the old stories from the pair in their glory days. It was so good to hear from them at a time when Liverpool was making the history that we seem to have been so far from in recent years. Pictures and autographs followed......

Me with Ian Rush

Seth with Ian Rush

Seth with Phil Neal & David Fairclough

The main event was the raffle which had amazing prizes; the top prize was a trip to Kenya with the LFC Foundations and Football is More charities to see one of the projects they have going. Other prizes included a 5* trip to Dubai which I had all my fingers and toes crossed for, and lots of signed memorabilia from the 1st team. 

Another star was the new seasons signed shirt, this was the first one that had been signed and could not be released until the 1st June.  It was a silent auction and Seth spent the whole night trying to talk me into spending an extortionate amount of money on a t-shirt. He gave up when I told him that if he bought it I would auction it for charity too. 

Our table was very lucky and three members won prizes... a framed Shankly photograph signed by the 1st team, the Dubai holiday (not won by me unfortunately), and Seth was lucky enough to win a signed football. I did try and swap the football for the holiday but neither Seth nor the other lucky winner agreed with my reasoning.

If you do get an email regarding any charity events in Anfield I can't recommend it highly enough. The hospitality and intimacy of the whole event was so unexpected and the causes that our club are involved in are so worth while. LFC might not have performed well on the pitch recently but their work off the pitch is worthy of a mention.