By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed, 24 May 07.

We deserved to win the European cup for the sixth time today. We dominated the game and every single player can hold their heads up high. Pennant had the game of his life. Stevie G was fantastic, especially in the first half. Mascherano was awesome, the proof is in the fact that Kaka was missing for the majority of the game. These are just three players I’ve singled out but everyone was great. We were beaten by a suspicious handball, a rare lapse in defence and a referee who didn’t give us a thing all night. The referee also blew up for full time a full minute too soon. We’ll never know if we could have had just one more attack and drew level.

I didn’t feel upset after the game though. This was because of the phenomenal fans I was surrounded by at Library Square Pub. As soon as the game ended, rather than people complaining and getting depressed everybody launched into a loud and raucous version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ at the top of their voices. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it sung before (in person) with such spirit and heartfelt passion.

There were over two hundred Reds fans at the pub today. The majority of whom I’d never met before. Where has everybody been hiding all season? After the game ended, a large majority stayed behind at the pub. The game ended at around 1:30pm. I was there until after 3pm and there were still almost one hundred people there consistently breaking into songs over and over again. Who else could behave like this after such a heartbreaking defeat? Only Scousers and honorary Scousers that’s who.

We are the greatest fans in the world and today made me prouder than I’ve ever been before to be a Liverpool fan. I’m now really looking forward to August and starting all over again. I watched the interview on the BBC website yesterday with Tom Hicks and George Gillette. I am extremely impressed with them as businessmen and people. I truly believe with these guys teaming up with Rafa, good times are on their way. I truly believe we are now in a position to make a genuine challenge for title number nineteen sooner rather than later.

I want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to every single person, members or non members, who have made this season so much fun from me. From a personal standpoint this has been an extremely rewarding year and being able to meet fellow Reds all the time just makes living so far from home so much easier.

See you in August guys and gals, and remember as long as you keep the faith with Rafa’s Reds, You’ll Never Walk Alone!

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

By LFC Vancouver member Andrew McFee, 24 May 07.

It was Tuesday 22nd May 2007, at 3:30pm. I was at the train station about to start the first leg of a journey that would take me all the way to Athens and hopefully to European glory with Liverpool. To say the few days ahead were daunting was an understatement! I arrived at my destination at 6pm, and met with my buddy Carl who would be coming to Athens with me. We hung around at his house until 1:30am on Weds 23rd May – it was time to head to Liverpool John Lennon airport for check in on our charter flight to Athens!

We arrived at the airport and were greeted with the sight of hundreds (maybe thousands!) of excited Reds, all queuing to check in on planes, having a bevvy in the bars, buying papers, and in a few cases singing. Everyone was in high spirits and looking forward to the trip. There were a few folks around asking for tickets – some hope!

We checked in to our flight with no problems and had the first stint (of which there would be many!) of hanging around with nothing to do. Eventually at 05:45 our flight was called for boarding and we got on buses and were driven out to the aircraft. Once on board you had to pick your own seats (first come first served) and we managed to get two seats. I took the window of course – hoping to get some good shots of Athens as we came in. The flight was basic and the meal was even more basic – a croissant and a bread roll with butter and strawberry jam! I was feeling pretty tired as we got on the plane and admit I grabbed an hour’s sleep as we flew over Germany towards our final destination.

We landed at 10:30am local time, and were bussed from the plane to a marquee where the Greek airport staff were happy and smiling. As we left the plane, we were given coloured wristbands which would indicate our pick up time after the game to come back to the airport. It all seemed well-organised and boded well for the return trip. After about an hour’s drive on the coach (with various Greek lorry drivers beeping their horns and waving at us as they passed us on the motorway) we arrived at the drop off point near the Olympic village and the Liverpool FC fans area. The sun was bright and it was very hot and humid – good signs for the rest of the day! The tiredness we all felt evaporated as we got our first glimpses of the stadium in the distance and the reds fans milling around.

After a short walk along the perimeter of the Olympic Vilage (OAKA) we arrived at Irini metro station. From here we could get into Athens town and meet up with other Reds in Syntagma Square. Irini metro was also very near to the entrance to OAKA – there were police there guarding the gates. We hopped on the metro and had a 40 min ride through the suburbs of Athens before getting off in the town – into a small square that was overlooked by the famous Acropolis landmark. The next job was to find the way to Syntagma and meet up with our fellow Reds. At this point, there were a lot of Liverpool fans around, and also some AC Milan fans singing on the street corner. There was no bad feeling and fans were happily mixing and swapping scarves – something I would continue to see all day.

We had a walk around the town and tried to follow the sounds of singing to find the majority of other Reds fans in Syntagma square. Soon enough we came across them but not before the sky had opened and a really heavy rainstorm had hit us! After a few phone calls we managed to meet up with my friend Scott in the subway station underneath the square. It was very busy and there were Liverpool fans everywhere – the local population must have been put out but all the Greek locals I saw seemed amused by the fans and were joining in with the party atmosphere despite the rain – good airings of “Fields of Anfield Road / Oh Campione / Ring of Fire / Rafa Benitex” etc were ringing out across the Greek capital for most of the morning! Every bar and place to eat was packed with Reds fans. It seemed as though most of them didn’t have tickets and were waiting around to meet a contact to try and get hold of some. Prices mentioned on the day were 1500 to 2000 euros per ticket.

After an hour or so there didn’t seem much point in staying in town – we couldn’t find anywhere to eat as all the places were full due to the weather. Carl wanted to get back up to the stadium as he didn’t fancy trying to get back to the Olympic village any later – it would have been so busy what with all the fans who were in the city centre. We left our friends in the town and headed back to the train station – not before sampling a Greek McDonalds!

We found ourselves outside the Olympic village at about 3:30pm, almost 7 hours before kick off. In the absence of anything better to do, we decided to go through the security cordon – which was right outside the metro station. There weren’t many fans around and we approached and a riot policeman blocked my way and asked to see my ticket. We showed our tickets, and had them scanned by a reader to check they weren’t fake. Then my backpack and pockets were searched and I was frisked and the Greek policeman thought it was funny to ask if I had a gun in the bag!

So, we had entered the complex at the Irini metro station. The stadium was a fair walk away. It’s worth pointing out that most of the complex had the look of being disused. The walkways were ok, but mostly there was just bare gravel around, no fixed toilets, and no seating areas. It was all very sparse. The refreshments were an absolute con as well – bottles of pepsi etc for £3.50 (about $7 CAD) and the food was even more expensive. There was very little to do. We went to the so-called “Fan Zone” (much talked about in Istanbul) and it was little more than an inflatable football pitch, a tiny little stage, and a Vodaphone stand. Again, there was no seating, and no covered area. Luckily the rain was holding off after the earlier downpour. There were refreshments stands but they weren’t well run – you had to queue to order and then queue again to collect the food and it seemed to take forever and the stuff you got was poor quality to be honest! Although here the food was cheaper than the other stands outside the fan zone I guess.

We soon got bored of the fanzone and decided to head to the stadium to take some pictures. It was really exciting to walk up and see the stadium up close and from the outside at least it looked like it would be a good venue.

As you can see from the picture there weren’t many people around – although the Greek police were just starting to park their coaches up (on the right near Carl’s shoulder). By the time the turnstiles opened, the coaches would form a bottleneck forcing all fans down a narrow walkway to the gate which you can see in the distance (yellow banners). Our gate was around to the left so we did not have to endure this. We walked around to find the area we would enter the stadium at, and sat down to contemplate the day ahead. There was very little to do and nowhere to sit so we ended up taking refuge on a small wall which surrounded a planted tree!

After a while, a few more people started to appear and queue near the gate to enter the stadium. It was only 6pm and the gates weren’t due to be opened until around 7pm, almost 3 hours before the kick off. We decided to try and walk around and take some pictures of the stadium. I noticed there was a small fence (no higher than 7ft) which surrounded the stadium itself and actually made a joke that it wouldn’t be difficult to jump it if needs be… Little did I know that in around an hour’s time, some Liverpool fans would be doing just that!

So, we killed time by sitting around talking about the game, who we thought would play, the starting 11, and all that. There really wasn’t much to do other than sit and contemplate things! The turnstiles opened, but we didn’t go in right away because I wanted to wait and meet my friends who were also going to the game. That changed when we saw a gang of about 50 Liverpool fans (who had obviously got through the first cordon with fake tickets or had snuck in) make a run for the perimeter fence (in the picture above) and try and jump it! Most of them got over. The riot police came running over and gave those that didn’t make it a few swipes with the baton. After seeing this – we decided the situation would only get worse as more and more fans arrived at the game. Carl wanted to go in, and I thought he had the right idea – so we set off for the final cordon / checkpoints.

In the queue for entry to the game, it was advisable not to have your ticket on show. We had heard (but not seen) that so-called fans were snatching tickets from those who had them in their hands. There was quite a lot of congestion even at this early stage, and the people in the queue around us all shared their disbelief at the way things were being handled. We were getting manhandled through the checkpoints, there were people still trying to jump the fence, and people in our queue were trying to get into the stadium with false tickets. One guy just in front of me tried to get in, and the chief police officer turned him away, but did not confiscate the ticket. The guy who was not allowed in turned round, and gave the ticket to his mate, who then walked up to the same officer a few mins later and was let in. Unbelievably the ticket was also scanned by a small female steward with a barcode scanner. She looked scared to death (there were people all around her and the atmosphere was quite bleak) and she waved him through. At this point me and Carl had become separated – the cops had let him through for a ticket and bag check but had not let me through. I told the cops that he was my friend and I wanted to stay with him and they let me leave the holding area to go and get my ticket checked. I got it checked and scanned and proceeded to the last cordon before entering the stadium! Almost there!

The last cordon was brutal – much the same as the first one, but there were people here with fake tickets arguing with police that they weren’t fake. I was grabbed by a policeman and forced into a gateway where my ticket was checked and the stub ripped off (finally), and my rucksack was emptied out on the floor. The police took 2 ballpoint pens, my bottle of water, and tried to take my door keys (as “I might throw them at the pitch”). After a few mins of remonstrating that I wasn’t going to throw my own door keys away, they let me have them. They checked my pockets and got my camera and mobile phones out – cue another couple minutes hassle about why I had two cellphones (one for work, one for personal, have to have the work one with me at all times) and again it was hard to communicate that “no I wasn’t a hooligan or criminal”, I just needed 2 phones.

I eventually got all this sorted and repacked my bag and went through the final check into the concourse. I saw Carl and we headed through the gate and up the ramp into the stand. There were no turnstiles and only 1 food stand and 1 set of toilets for the entire upper tier right of the goal as you looked at it. Things did not bode well! We got to our seats and discussed the problems outside with the lads sat either side of us.

We were still really early for kick off. It was about 19:30 local time, and kick off wasn’t until 21:45! Luckily we had a lot to talk about! The guys around us were as worried as us getting in, and one of them in particular was a bit shaken and said he was glad he wouldn’t be trying to get in with the thousands of others that would be turning up at the metro station an hour before kick off! I had to agree. I was glad I listened to Carl on this one. At least we were in our seats and despite the slightly dodgy experience of getting into the ground, we were in now, and could concentrate on the match. Or so we thought! There was more drama to come.

Not 15 minutes after we had gotten into our seats, there was a commotion on the ramp, and at least 50 to 100 fans came running out of there and up onto the stands. This was around the time the Liverpool squad were out on the pitch looking at the stadium before they went in and got changed, so it tells you how early it was. The fans were running and jumping all over the seats and scattering. It seems a gang of them had rushed the final police cordon before entry to the stadium and the police had been taken by surprise and most of the lads had got in. This happened a couple more times before kick off and the end result was that as the game began, there was serious overcrowding in the stadium and the gates had been shut so no more fans could get in. The row of seats in front of us was pretty much doubled up and there were fans sat all across the front of the tier, and up the stairways etc. The pic below is of a lad who was sat on the top of the support pillar of the stand itself. He watched the entire game from this spec and I’m certain a slip or a gust of wind would have been the end of him!

About 20 mins before kick off, I wanted to go to the toilet and tried to get down to the toilets from my seat. It took me ages to get down there as I had to force my way through people and you had lads coming the other way trying to go and look for some seats or a spec to watch the game from. I eventually got down to the ramp and went towards the gate to go to the toilets only to find it locked and guarded by riot police who pushed me away when I walked towards it. There was nowhere else to go so I had to actually have a piss on the concrete floor of the ramp (in view of people in the lower tier) and there was a cascade of piss flowing down to the bottom of the ramp (and who knows where after that? Not onto the people in the bottom tier I hoped) but you really had no choice in the matter… I fought my way back to my seat and tried to get in the mood for kick off!

That’s all for now, I’ll update with the match and the “after match action” in the next few days!

YNWA

What do you think? Give us your comments and we’ll make sure Andy gets them. webmaster [at] lfcvancouver.com.

By LFC Vancouver member Paul Gill, 31 May 07.

It was a great turnout for the big final, as expected. We made a hell of a racket, and I am immensely proud and privileged to support this fantastic football club. There were two Chel$ki fans beside me taking pictures of us, they must have been dead jealous of us. When asked where they watched the FA Cup snoozefest, they replied "at home". Pathetic, isn't it? Supporting a football club has such a community aspect to it, and it's great to see LFC Vancouver doing so well with our masses turning up for the matches.

We've had a frustrating season in the league. I don't see us as needing a striker as much as someone to create chances for our strikers...maybe we need both, actually. But we've had a theme of dominating the game and not getting what we've deserved in too many matches. Creating chances, finishing chances, too many long-range hopeful shots, packed opposition defences, we've faced a lot of problems that were on my mind on the way in to the final. I was still optimistic we could shut down Milan and that we'd put away the chances on the biggest stage of them all as we always seem to do.

So it looks like our usual party trick didn't work out this time. We gave Arsenal a goal in the 2001 FA Cup final, let Alaves back in the game mere days later, let AC Milan have a 3 goal head start in Istanbul and even let West Ham have a couple goals in last season's FA Cup final. So when AC Milan scored their deflected free kick (a la our luck with Chel$ki over the last few seasons in the league) we were 1-0 down at half time and there was an attitude of "we've bested them so far, we'll take this 2-1 as we usually do, we don't lose finals".

But there was something after that goal that put a bit of doubt in some of us, surely we couldn't have yet another miraculous win? Of course, it wasn't to be and we were faced with an unusual feeling of losing a final (barring the odd Charity Shield or League Cup). Just like I'll never forget the Istanbul game as it was the second best day of my life, I'll never forget that feeling of shock that was in the air afterwards. Tears were shed, we were all shaken and just couldn't digest it. But then came the defiant YNWA from most of us at the pub. I was choked, I could barely sing the words at first and had an urge to bury my head in my scarf.

But then the song took over, the thought that we were unlucky for once instead of lucky (and let's be honest, we've been lucky more often than not in a lot of finals). The fact that we showed Milan on the world stage that we can play some football. Their guard of honour was class, and as we continued singing and chanting some of us started to celebrate anyway. Why the hell not? That match showed me what good losers we can be as well, and a good number of us stayed at the pub and kept going. Someone said to me that he couldn't believe how different this was compared to the England- Portugal match last year when the pub emptied after the match. I think LFC fans are a class apart and we've been through a lot as a club, this defeat will only make our side stronger down the road.

There's no shame in losing how we did, though later on events would be revealed that made me angry. Angry at a percentage of our supporters, the idiotic minority outside the stadium crushing others on the gate and nicking tickets from their fellow fans...have these muppets learned anything from our history? Anger also at the whole debacle of the events around the match itself (screwy UEFA) and how it overshadowed our team that day. Anger at that bloody ref. And anger at Inzaghi, I hate that little diving cheat. It says it all that after his expertly taken second goal that he was rolling around on the pitch after blocking a Kewell cross...pathetic.

Roll on the summer, and Rafa's bulging wallet (for once) and we're looking very good for this experience we've had. I'm alternating from feeling up about our future and our tremendous grace in losing, and down about actually losing (because losing sucks, let's face it!) and the whole Athens crowd problem issue.

What do you think? Give us your comments and we’ll make sure Paul gets them. webmaster [at] lfcvancouver.com.

By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed, 21 May 07.

“Jan was simply the best foreign player ever to come to England”, Ian Rush.

“Jan was a very, very talented player, with a great knowledge and appreciation of how to play football”, Kenny Dalglish.

High praise from two of Anfield greatest ever players and for a lot of us who saw Jan Molby in action it’s hard to disagree with their words.

Jan started his football career in Denmark with his hometown club, Kolding in 1981. After just one season he moved to the great Dutch side Ajax where he played alongside the legendary Johan Cruyff and future greats such as Frank Rijkard and Marco Van Basten. Cruyff spent time on the training ground with Jan teaching him the art of passing and it was at this stage of his development when he started to become what he later became, the best passer of the ball in the business.

In the summer of 1984 Liverpool were still celebrating the treble from the previous season of the League Cup, First Division Title and the European Cup. Team captain Graeme Souness was lured by the Lira and moved onto Italian Serie A side Sampdoria. Liverpool manager Joe Fagan then spent £225,000 on bringing the 21 year old Jan Molby to Liverpool as Souey’s replacement.

Jan became a firm favourite on Merseyside very quickly after his arrival at Liverpool. Off the pitch he shared a similar sense of humour with the Scouser’s and he immediately settled into life on Merseyside. He also developed a distinctive Scouse accent and has been seen as an honorary Scouser ever since.

Jan’s first season at Liverpool was a rare one without winning any silverware for Liverpool as Everton swept to the First Division title. It was during his second season that he really made his name on the pitch. The double winning season of 1985/86 was undoubtedly Jan’s finest in a Red shirt. He scored eighteen goals that season and many of them were classics. In November 1985 Man Utd came to Anfield for a League cup match. It was during this game that Jan scored what many of those present regard as the greatest goal they’ve ever seen. He took the ball from Norman Whiteside in the Liverpool half and then went on a run beating three or four players before unleashing a rocket shot from twenty yards that flew into the top corner. Gary Bailey, the Man Utd keeper at the time, still insists it’s the hardest shot he ever faced. Unfortunately at the time there was a television dispute and no football games were being recorded for television. Therefore there is no video record of this amazing goal.

It was also during this season that Jan became the official penalty taker, replacing Phil Neal who moved to Bolton near the start of the season. Jan Molby scored sixty goals for Liverpool of which forty-two were penalties. In twelve years he only missed two penalties and that is an incredible record and I doubt there has ever been a better penalty taker. He scored some very important penalties including a very late equaliser in the FA Cup quarter final against Watford on the way to the final in 1986. In November 1986 he wrote his name into the record books by scoring a hat-trick of penalties in a League Cup game against Coventry City.

Jan’s finest moment for Liverpool came in the first ‘all Merseyside’ FA Cup Final in 1986. He ran the second half setting up the first and second goals and then having an important hand in the third goal too with a sublime blind pass to Ronnie Whelan who chipped it over the defence to Ian Rush. He almost scored himself when he went one on one with the Everton keeper Bobby Mimms, but unfortunately he hit his shot straight at Mimms.

Unfortunately he was never able to hit these heights on a regular basis again and he was never able to maintain a regular place in the first team. He was beset by a number of problems and every time it seemed that Jan was about to go on a run back in the side he would be struck down by injury and somebody would come in and take his place. Jan freely admits that while he was out injured he would eat too much and not keep himself as fit as he should have done. This would cause him problems when he was free from injury as he was often overweight when he was put back in the side. Regardless of how much he weighed, Jan was still always able to completely dominate the midfield and his passing was always sublime. There is a quote from Alan Hansen that sums this up perfectly.

“Right up to the day that he left Anfield, you knew that whenever he was on the ball it was going to a red shirt, no matter what his weight was. He’s probably the only player who was sixteen stone (224 lbs) but could play so well. The problem was he couldn’t get up and down, so he’d stand in the middle of the park and be given the ball. Then he’d play. If he’d been playing at fourteen stone, or something, then I think we’d have been talking about the best of the best.”

Jan seriously injured his foot during pre-season training and ended up missing almost the entire 1987-88 season. It was during this layoff in February 1988 when he was arrested for reckless driving after outrunning a police car chasing him from a nightclub. He had quite a record of speeding fines and when the case came to court six months later, Jan was sentenced to six weeks in prison. The headlines in the media were urging the club to sack Molby for bringing football and the club into disgrace. However with the backing of manager Kenny Dalglish, the club decided to forgive him and within weeks of his release from prison, Jan was back in the first team.

He wasn’t in the side for the FA Cup semi final at Hillsborough in April 1989 but he was in the stands as part of the travelling party. Jan witnessed the chaos in the Leppings Lane end before being taken into the dressing room with the rest of the players when the game was abandoned. Merseyside holds a special place in Jan’s heart and he was deeply affected by the Hillsborough tragedy. Along with the rest of the players he attended many funerals and devoted a great many hours of his time to speaking with and comforting the grieving families of the ninety-six who lost their lives.

Jan was back to full fitness at the start of the 1989/90 season and was in and out of the side as we won our eighteenth league title. Jan was uncomfortable with the way Kenny Dalglish was rotating the side, this was very unusual back then in the days before continental managers began introducing this system into the English game. It was during this season that he almost joined Barcelona. The Barcelona sweeper Ronald Koeman got seriously injured and the manager, Jan’s former team-mate Johann Cruyff, got in touch with Liverpool as Molby was his first choice. Jan sold his car, gave up his house and signed release forms and was all set to sign for the Spanish side when he received a phone call from Kenny Dalglish telling him the deal was off. Apparently Liverpool wanted a fee for Jan but Barcelona wanted to take him on loan instead.

After Kenny Dalglish resigned Jan fell out of favour with new boss Graeme Souness, the man he had been bought to replace seven years earlier. Souness dropped him for the first half of the 1991/92 season and Jan came close to signing for Everton. Then just as he was about to move across Stanley Park, Souness put him back in the starting line-up and the move never happened. Molby was superb for the remainder of the season and was instrumental in the FA cup victory against Sunderland in 1992. It was a shame that he was denied the chance to score in the final when Liverpool were wrongly denied a blatant penalty in the first half for a foul on Steve McManaman.

Souness never really got along with the senior players who resented him changing things too quickly and bringing in expensive players who just weren’t good enough. He also sold some fantastic players such as Beardsley, Gillespie and Saunders without buying adequate replacements. After almost three poor seasons Souness resigned in early 1994 and was replaced by long time coach Roy Evans.

It was under Evans that Jan played out his final two seasons at Liverpool. He was never a regular in the side due to more niggling injuries and he also spent loan spells at Barnsley and Norwich City. After being overlooked by Roy Evans for a European game because Roy simply forgot about him, Jan decided his future lay elsewhere and it was time to call an end to his time at Anfield.

In 1996 he moved to Swansea City where he became the player manager. At the time Swansea were struggling at the bottom of Division Two (now Division One) and despite his best efforts they were relegated. In his first full season as a player manager, Jan came within a minute of taking Swansea back into Division Two when they lost the playoff final at Wembley to Northampton Town with the last kick of the game. After a bad start to the next season, and turmoil in the boardroom Jan was sacked as manager. He then began a career in the media with various newspaper columns and his own nightly show on the Manchester based radio station Century FM. He had two more spells in management with Kidderminster Harriers and Hull City from 1999 to 2004 and now currently works back in the media. He can often be heard commentating on Liverpool games for the BBC Radio Five Live and he regularly plays for the successful Liverpool senior side along with Ian Rush and others in the indoor six-a-side tournaments held around the world.

Despite struggling with injuries, weight gain and off the field indiscretions, Molby still managed to make a massive impact in his twelve years with Liverpool. His 16th placing in the ‘100 Players Who Shook the Kop’ series is proof of just how highly he is still regarded by Liverpool fans.

Video Clip:
16 - Jan Molby

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

CARRA: I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE - Liverpool FC

Jamie Carragher has given Liverpool fans the perfect pre-Champions League final boost by insisting: "I never want to leave."

More here.

Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko has been talking about his commitment towards improving the lives of the people living in his family's home village. His parents were originally from the village of Bendougou in Mali before they moved to France, and although Momo's never been there before he's been helping out financially since he made it as a player.

More here.

Javier Mascherano started the season as an unwanted player at a club in turmoil. Signed by West Ham just before it fell into new ownership, the then coach barely used him. That may well have been due to a discovery that trouble was looming because of the way Mascherano and his compatriot Carlos Tevez had been "bought" by West Ham. Both players were signed contrary to Premier League rules on third-party interference, a breach of rules that cost West Ham £5.5m and according to some, should have cost them points.

More here.

Full-back Stephen Warnock has said his move from Liverpool to Blackburn Rovers in the January transfer window, has proved to be the master stroke in terms of blossoming as a player.

More here.

The regulars gazing up at the big screens in a bar in Hvidovre will be hoping to reap immediate rewards from the Champions League final, all courtesy of the publican. "My uncle owned that place, my father worked there and I spent a lot of time there when I was growing up," said Daniel Agger, who is now joint owner of the Center Pub on the outskirts of Copenhagen, which should be heaving by kick-off time on Wednesday. "It will be busy that night but the beer won't be free. Unless, of course, I score."

More here.

MARSEILLE president Pape Diouf wants Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse to stay at the French club next season.

More here.

Liverpool's two most important players, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, have asked the club's American owners to bring Michael Owen back to Anfield. George Gillett and Tom Hicks are keen but Rafa Benitez, the Liverpool manager, is less enthusiastic and any deal is unlikely.

More here.

Peter Crouch has been reassured about his Liverpool future by manager Rafael Benitez.

More here.

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry says that the Reds' new American owners will back manager Rafael Benitez in the transfer market this summer.

More here.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is hoping to conclude an £8m deal for Lyon's French international winger Florent Malouda 'before the end of the week'.

More here.

Football is full of baffling paradoxes and grand ironies. Or in other words, sometimes it just plain sucks.

More here.

UEFA was today facing growing pressure for a total rethink on future European cup finals in the wake of the Athens fiasco.

More here.

YNWA/JFT 96,
Andy Neumann

Final Standings.

Rank	Member	Points
1	Ste	46
2	Kevin	40
3	Lance	37
4	Dennis	36
5	Mark Aston	34
6	Andy	26
7	Keith	24
8	Glenn Whyte	10
9	Chris Cole	6
10	Quentin	5
11	Glenn Whitt.	3

To enter the members contest see the rules below.