By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed, 21 February 07.

Barcelona 1 Liverpool 2, yes it’s true, it wasn’t a dream we really did just beat Barcelona away from home in the Champions League. Anyone who thought our season was over had better think again because my goodness, it’s only just beginning!!

The alleged tension in the team following the reports of trouble in the Portugal training camp seemed to have the players really fired up before the game started. In the days building up to the match the media reports were dominated with reports of Craig Bellamy supposedly attacking John Arne Riise with a golf putter and Jerzy Dudek being led away in handcuffs after a night of ale and karaoke (is there anything better?). Enough has been written about this ‘incident’ that you don’t need me to go on about it here, but I do want to point out that stories of players letting their hair down and getting into minor scuffles has always happened at Liverpool. In the past it never affected team spirit in a negative way, so there’s no reason why it should be any different now. In a way it actually helps to enhance morale and get everyone fired up and passionate for a big match.

The tension was building at Library Square Public House (LSPH) as the seconds ticked away towards the kick-off. Before the match we were all speculating what formation and line-up Rafa would go with. Would it be the traditional four, four, two? Or would he do something different like play a four, four one, one with Steven Gerrard playing off a striker? There was a great argument for each formation but we all knew one thing, when it comes to Champions League football, trust in Rafa.

Within four minutes of the kick off Riise played a terrific cross in for Bellamy who only just missed the ball, proving that there were no problems between the two players. Unfortunately for us we struggled to get hold of the game as Barcelona seemed to be easily cutting through our defence with slick, fast passing. There were a couple of nice one two’s in the box within quick succession which had us all panicking. So there was no great surprise when Deco put Barcelona ahead in the fourteenth minute.

The atmosphere in the pub suddenly went downhill a bit. I began to grow concerned as I suddenly realised we had only won one game this season after going a goal behind. That was against West Ham at Anfield, hardly comparable to the situation we were facing now. This feeling wasn’t helped by the fact that on the pitch we struggled to get to grips with the game. Momo Sissoko (the man of the match in my opinion) was working his socks off winning the ball in midfield and trying to hold off Barcelona. Unfortunately he wasn’t helped by others who seemed to go missing at crucial times. Kuyt barely had a touch and Riise kept going too far forward leaving big gaps in the left side of our defence, he was also partly at fault for the first goal as he was still running back when Deco had a free header.

We managed to hang on throughout the first half and as it drew to a close we suddenly started to fight back. A Gerrard free kick was crossed in to Bellamy who went close as his header hit the side netting. We all started to jump as for a split second we thought it had gone in. Then in the 43rd minute came the moment we had all been waiting for. Xabi Alonso’s perfect cross fell brilliantly to Bellamy in acres of space. This time there was no mistake as his powerful header was directed on goal. Barcelona’s keeper Valdes caught the ball but the power of the header caused him to carry the ball over the goal line. Kuyt followed up to smash into the net but there was no doubt at all that the Bellamy’s header had crossed the line. We all went ballistic, jumping and screaming and dancing and all the other antics one does to celebrate an important goal!

All of sudden we seemed to have Barcelona on the ropes and people all around me began expressing how we should just forget half time and carry on playing with the momentum the equaliser had given us. Alas the whistle was blown and I blew a sigh of relief mixed with happiness just thinking of our current situation compared to what it had been less than five minutes previously. I think all knew which dressing room would be the happiest at the Nou Camp.

So after fifteen minutes of quaffing back disgusting free ale and trying to force down inedible burgers we got ourselves back into our positions in the pub for the restart. Suddenly we were a team playing with hunger, desire and purpose. Gerrard, Alonso and Sissoko were controlling the midfield and Carragher was controlling our area. Kuyt was also getting more involved in the game and what a difference he made. We look so much better when Kuyt gets stuck in and this was certainly the case now. I was never too worried about conceding another goal and it was looking like it was heading for the draw. The referee was a complete and utter disgrace and it looked like it wasn’t going to happen for us, especially when Kuyt hit the bar with a free header and the ball bounced over the goal instead of rebounding into the box.

But minutes later all hell broke loose. Gerrard sent an incredible through ball to Kuyt in space, Valdez raced out and blocked the ball which went straight up into the air, we all watched in silence wondering where the ball would land and if Kuyt had just blown it. The next few seconds seemed to go by in slow motion and then down came the ball, it bounced off a Barcelona defender straight to Bellamy who brilliantly slotted it towards the penalty spot. Riise was waiting and smashed the ball, right footed, straight into the back of the net. Oh my god it was two – one to us! I leapt into the air and began hugging everyone who was within arms-reach. The noise was deafening as grown men (and a few women) had tears of joy in their eyes. People were leaping over tables and chairs just losing control in a mad moment of pure excitement and adrenaline.

So once we had settled back down I realised we still had eighteen minutes to go and it was important not to get carried away and allow Barcelona to get back on level terms. They came close when a free kick from Deco sailed over the head of Reina and onto the post. But apart from that scare we held our nerves brilliantly and after four minutes of injury time it was all over. We had just beaten the mighty Barcelona at the Nou Camp and now the songs really began to flow. Chants of “Liverpool, Liverpool” and boisterous singing of ‘The Fields of Anfield Road’ filled the room as we heralded a victory that will go down in history. A victory that can sit proudly alongside all of the other special and famous nights in Liverpool’s already amazing European folklore.

Today history was recorded before my eyes, in the future we will all look back on today with a huge beaming smile and the question will be, “where were you when Liverpool beat Barcelona at the Nou Camp in 2007?’ I was at Library Square Public House, Vancouver with dozens and dozens of my fellow Reds. The atmosphere at the pub was electric as we loudly sang songs and chanted our boys home to victory. The scenes when Riise’s winner hit the back of the net will live with me forever. That moment in time was pure and complete pleasure.

Let’s hope that there is no hangover on the pitch this Saturday against Sheffield Utd. We all remember the awful Premiership performances that followed glorious European nights back in 2005. The 1 – 0 loss to Crystal Palace a few days after beating Juventus comes instantly to mind. This Saturday we have to treat the game as equally as important as the Barcelona game, especially with Arsenal breathing down our necks for third place in the Premiership.

But for now let’s all rejoice in the glory at the Nou Camp and sing our hearts out that we are Liverpool, Liverpool FC, we are by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen!

What do you think? Give Ste your comments at steSpeed [at] lfcvancouver.com.

By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 19 February 07.

My older sister’s interest in football began around the same time as mine. That was in 1965 when our family were living in the East Midlands and most of the best of football, music, and comedy was originating from Merseyside. A couple of years later, our family were in the West Midlands, in a region to the west of Birmingham. This was a mixed territory made up of roughly equal numbers of Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters (I don’t remember any Birmingham City supporters around that area, but there may have been a few). It was not easy being a young Red in that area, walking down the street proudly with a red and white hat and scarf in an area where none of the teams wore red. For some reason, my sister’s interest in football suddenly dropped to near zero with that move across the centre of the country, but picked up again a few years later with the sudden rise to stardom of Alun Evans.

In September of 1968, Liverpool signed a 19-year old blond-haired golden boy from Wolves for the outrageous sum of £100,000. He was brought in as a long-term replacement for Tony Hately, who himself had shocked the League a year earlier with an almost equally expensive transfer from Chelsea. The difference was that Tony Hately was an established player, possibly at his peak of performance when he arrived at Anfield. Alun Evans had two years with Wolves as a teenaged prodigy before joining Liverpool, during which time he showed plenty of potential for the future.

Bill Shankly’s attention was drawn to this precocious young player when Liverpool hosted Wolves in 1967. In this particular match, Evans had the gall to make Ron Yeats look average by using his quick turns, sudden changes of direction, and flicks and tricks, and even managing to score against the mighty reds. When Shankly found out that he was later available for transfer, he made sure that there was only one place that this promising youngster was going to end up – Anfield.

Alun Evans was signed in September of 1968, making his debut at Anfield and scoring after only ten minutes against Leicester in a 4-0 win on September 21st. At the same time, plenty of teenage girls were squealing with delight looking at pictures of this golden haired teenager who had suddenly been thrust into the limelight. Even one of the girls at my school who was a Manchester United supporter - because of her infatuation with George Best - was swooning over the gorgeous young Alun. Coincidentally (I’m sure), this was also the time when my sister’s interest in football, and Liverpool FC in particular, was aroused once more.

At that time, my sister was going out with a guy (Davey) who was a dedicated Wolves supporter. She had no idea how much it must have seriously irritated him when she talked of how she adored this golden haired boy. I had my share of fun by repeatedly showing him pictures of Shankly and the rest of the team with various trophies, and delighting in pointing out how long it had been since Wolves had won anything.

It was inevitable that Wolves would play Liverpool at some point during their relationship, but nobody could have predicted what would happen. It was only a week after Evans’s debut at Anfield that he returned to Molineux on September 28th 1968 to face his old club. My sister’s boyfriend Davey was there in the crowd that day after looking forward to it all week. It was not a good day for him as Liverpool won 6-0 with Evans scoring two. To make matters worse, my sister had no idea what was going on that afternoon, but had made arrangements the day before the big match to meet her boyfriend for a night out later on the Saturday evening. Before she left, I couldn’t resist telling her to ask Davey if he had enjoyed himself at the match, without letting on what the score was. As she was somewhat gullible at that time, she went out and actually did ask him about it, and of course he strongly suspected that both of us were gleefully rubbing it in (oh, the mere suggestion of such a possibility!)

I wouldn’t say that Wolves’ loss to Liverpool was the end of their relationship, but I can be sure that it was a part of the cause of their eventual break-up. Just imagine if you were going out with a girl who turned out to have a crush on Wayne Rooney. Okay, perhaps that’s too far-fetched but you probably get the idea. I couldn’t live with something like that, and neither could he.

That should have been the beginning of a glorious future for Alun Evans; but that’s not the way the script was written for him. Instead, that first season at Anfield was his best ever, even though he could only score a disappointing seven goals in all. The following season, things went from bad to worse with first a string of injuries causing him to be sidelined for much of the season, and then an attack with a broken glass to the face in a nightclub in Wolverhampton left him scarred both physically and emotionally.

Alun Evans returned to the side late in the 1970-71 season, appearing in eight out of the last ten fixtures for that campaign, and played in the 1971 FA Cup final, earning a runners-up medal. After that, it was a slow start to the following season, with only a handful of appearances in October and November. At least he can be remembered for a hat trick against Bayern Munich, which came in the European Fairs Cup in March of 1971. His transfer to Aston Villa came in January of 1972, where he played for two seasons. Following that it was a couple of seasons at Walsall, and then off to Australia to end his playing career only twelve years after it had started. Since retiring from football, he has worked as a delivery driver, and as a painter and decorator.

The story of Alun Evans is a sad one, really. After having so much promise in the early years, it seemed to vanish when he went to Liverpool. It can’t have been easy to be told that he was supposed to be taking Tony Hately’s place in the squad, and then later realising that he was also expected to be the new kid to replace Roger Hunt. Perhaps it was the pressure of trying to live up to expectations that brought him down, or it was possibly that he was Midas in reverse - transforming anything he touched from golden to ordinary through a series of misfortunes that were beyond his control.

Video Clip:
87 - Alun Evans

What do you think? Give Keith your comments at keith [at] lfcvancouver.com.

Benitez fines fifteen players - ESPN Soccernet

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez prepared for Wednesday night's Champions League clash with Barcelona by fining 15 of his players for their part in the squad's headline-grabbing, boozy end to their trip to Portugal last week.

More here.

Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers are ready to hand Liverpool bad-boy Craig Bellamy a lifeline after his latest indiscretion cast serious doubt on his future at Anfield.

More here.

A Liverpool source has told the Liverpool Echo that the club feel as though striker Craig Bellamy has been made a scapegoat in the national press for the shenanigans in Portugal at the end of last week.

More here.

Rafael Benitez has confirmed Liverpool's interest in Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin. Reports over the weekend claimed that the Reds have agreed terms with the Bayer Leverkusen forward.

More here.

Liverpool FC finally completed the signing of Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano earlier today.

More here.

Arguably Liverpool's greatest ever manager, and certainly English football's most successful, Bob Paisley was certainly just as worthy of a knighthood as most of sports’ other winners of the honour. Yet, for reasons unknown, he never became a "Sir".

More here.

SIR BOBBY ROBSON has warned former club Barcelona of the threat posed by Liverpool, who the Champions League holders host tomorrow in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

More here.

The takeover of Liverpool by George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks may herald a new dawn for the club, but it is unlikely to do so for Harry Kewell.

More here.

Liverpool hero Craig Bellamy admitted he was "gob-smacked" after the Reds overcame a turbulent week to defeat champions Barcelona in their Champions League last-16 first leg at the Nou Camp.

More here.

The two men at the centre of a tabloid feeding frenzy this week stuck two fingers up to their tormentors tonight when they buried Barcelona at the Camp Nou in a game that many ‘experts’ saw, without question, as being the Reds’ second last game in the 2006/7 Champions League campaign.

More here.

More here.

Plans for Liverpool Football Club's new stadium and the regeneration of Stanley Park are to go on show.

More here.

THEY say a leopard cannot change its spots, but at least it doesn't pose for photographs in the Daily Spot or hand out business cards saying Spotty the Leopard, the Spottiest Thing on Earth.

More here.

Craig Bellamy: Misunderstood goal-hunting genius or a manager's uncontrollable nightmare?

More here.

William Hill, the bookmakers, were left counting the cost of Craig Bellamy’s golf-swing goal celebration.

More here.

YNWA/JFT 96,
Andy Neumann

Standings as of 22 February 07.

Rank	Member	Points
1	Ste	27
1	Kevin	27
3	Kevin	26
4	Lance	25
4	Mark Aston	25
6	Keith	21
7	Andy	18
8	Glenn Whyte	10
9	Quentin	5
9	Chris Cole	5
11	Glenn Whitt.	1

To enter the members contest see the rules below.

RULES:

• Only open to paid LFC Vancouver Members.
• You list the names of the players you think will start the next LFC match.
• You must submit your list to lfcvancouver [at] gmail.com at least 12 hours before kick-off.
• This contest will include every match that LFC plays this season. Starting with Blackburn.
• The member(s) that correctly guess the starting XI will be awarded 5 points.
• At the end of the season the player with the most points will win the prize.
• What is the prize? It is a surprise!
• The standings will be included in each week’s newsletter.

Scoring System:

• 11 Correct picks = 5 points.
• 10 Correct picks = 3 points.
• 9 Correct picks = 1 point.
• 0-8 Correct picks = 0 points.

YNWA/JFT 96,

Andy Neumann