By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 03 May 08.

The final whistle at the end of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final effectively signalled the end of the season for us. We won’t be off to Moscow for the final, and we’ve been out of the two domestic cups for months. We have two Premier League matches left to play, but the results won’t affect our league position. We can’t catch up to Arsenal in third place, but then we’re secure in the knowledge that no matter if we lose our last two then we cannot fall down to fifth place. It’s been a roller-coaster of a season with ups and downs, highs and lows, times to celebrate and times to commiserate.

We started off brightly with good results in the pre-season friendlies, with our new players showing plenty of promise for the upcoming season. If it wasn’t for a slightly sub-standard performance in the Asia Trophy, losing on penalties to Portsmouth, then we would have had a trophy to begin the season with. No matter, it was only an exhibition type contest which was mainly intended to build a following in East Asia more than a serious competition. That was followed by the two game Port of Rotterdam Tournament, where we again finished second, this time behind Porto on goal difference.

The Premier League season began at Villa Park, with Rafa picking up his first win in the first fixture of the season for the first time since becoming manager. New players Voronin, Babel, and of course Torres all played their part, and of course there was the magic free kick by Stevie G. that won the match in the 87th minute. That was an excellent start and was followed by a trip to Toulouse in the Champions League qualifying round, ending with a 1-0 win (Voronin) and a comfortable lead to take back to Anfield for the second leg. That second leg was a 4-0 demolition job, putting us easily into the Champions League group stage.

By the time we had played our first six competitive matches, we’d won five and drawn one. The one that we didn’t win was against Chel$ki at Anfield, where Torres opened his account in spectacular style and we were robbed in broad daylight by the referee giving away a non-penalty. The sixth of those matches was a laughable 6-0 win over Derby, which was enough to put us in first place in the league. That was the highest we would ever get as the next few were disappointing results following an international break which seemed to take away our momentum. Portsmouth, Porto, and Birmingham all held us to a single point before we got back to winning in our home match against Reading. At least we were still up with the leaders at that point, but then our fortunes fell dramatically in the Champions League as we lost at home to Marseille and then away to Besiktas. That gave us a single point at the half-way mark of the Champions League group stage, which left us in a desperate state of having to win all three remaining fixtures to have any chance of progressing. Meanwhile our Premier League form was inconsistent with dropped points at home to Tottenham, Arsenal, and Blackburn. We were starting to see the entire season gradually go downhill. Fortunately the turn-around came with convincing wins in the Champions League with an 8-0 win over Besiktas, 4-1 over Porto, and a final 4-0 win in Marseille to secure second place and progression to the second round.

Meanwhile back in the Premier League, we put together a few wins to put us back up in the upper part of the table, and also got past Reading and then Cardiff in the League Cup, which put us in the last eight of that competition. The only real disappointment at this stage was the loss at home to Man Ure, which was immediately followed by a League Cup quarter final loss to Chel$ki. Our Premier League form continued to be inconsistent, with more points dropped against Man City, Wigan and Middlesbrough. It looked like we just couldn’t win a match when we were also held to a 1-1 draw at Luton in the FA Cup, but at least we were able to show our true form with a 5-0 win back at Anfield in the replay. Momo Sissoko ended his Liverpool career with a transfer to Juventus, while Liverpool paid a record £6m sum for a defender to bring in Martin Skrtel to strengthen the defence. Javier Mascherano was finally signed to a long term contract, ending his “loan” spell at Anfield since leaving West Ham last year.

Spring time came around and at least we could look forward to the prospect of returning to Champions League action. We were drawn against Italian Serie A leaders Inter Milan, who finished their group stage in first place and so would have the advantage of the second leg at the San Siro. This was a daunting task, but we won the first leg with two late goals at Anfield (Kuyt and Gerrard), and then won 1-0 (Torres) in the San Siro. This match marked the 100th appearance in Europe for Jamie Carragher, who also celebrated his 500th Liverpool appearance this season in the 5-0 FA Cup win over Luton. The FA Cup was a different story though, as we had just been dumped out by Barnsley only a few days before the 2-0 win over Inter in the Champions League. Such were the ups and downs and the unpredictable nature of this season.

The Premier League form began to improve at this time, with a string of wins over Middlesbrough, West Ham, Bolton, Newcastle, and Reading, before being robbed again with a 3-0 loss at Old Ratford. We were now at least favoured to finish in the top four, and consolidated that position with a home win over Everton before travelling to the Emirates Stadium to meet Arsenal in the Champions League quarter final. We also had a trip to the Emirates a few days after the first leg for a Premier League match, with both ending in 1-1 draws. The return to Anfield for the second leg was one of the all-time best European matches, with a thrilling 4-2 victory in a match that could easily have gone either way. The win put us into the semi-final where we were to meet Chel$ki (yet again), but this time with the second leg to be played at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea were well and truly beaten at Anfield in the first leg until a fluke own-goal in the last minute gave them an advantage at 1-1 going back to Stamford Bridge. This was considered to be an impossible match for us to win as we haven’t won there in several years, and haven’t even scored there since Bruno Cheyrou’s lone goal winner in 2004. We’ve played there twice every season up to this point without ever scoring in any of the eight visits. But, on the other side, Chel$ki have not beaten us in a semi-final in each of their three previous attempts (two Champions League, one FA Cup). The only thing to be sure of is that at least one of those streaks must come to an end as we must score to win. We did score, not once but twice to put an end to that run of blanks, but it wasn’t enough as Chel$ki scored three and went through to the final with a 4-3 aggregate, meaning both streaks came to an end. It was yet another European thriller and one where we could easily have won.

That leaves us with no trophies for this season, the second in a row, but we can look back with a good deal of pride on what we did achieve. We finished in the top four in the Premier League, which puts us back in the Champions League again for next season. That makes it five times in a row, with four in a row for Rafa. That’s an achievement in itself, and one that we should be proud of. We also made it to the last four in Europe, where two of the other three (Man Ure and Chel$ki) were above us in the Premier League. We also beat the remaining Premier League club above us (Arse-nil) in the previous round. That shows the high level of competition that we are faced with in our domestic league compared to other leagues in Europe. We’ve only lost three matches all season, which is less than Man Ure in first place. If only we had won our home matches against the other “big three,” even if it meant losing away to them, then we would have an additional five points while the top two would have a few points less. If we could also turn a few of those other draws into wins, giving us a few more points, then we could easily be in first place at this stage.

Along the way we managed to beat Marseille who have never lost at home before to an English club, after setting a new record for goals scored in a Champions League match with our 8-0 win over Besiktas. We also spoiled Inter’s undefeated record, and got our revenge for the European Cup semi-final fiasco of 1965. In the domestic cups we never looked convincing in the FA Cup, but we did manage to make it to the last eight of the League Cup. All four of the top Premier League clubs missed out on those two trophies, so we shouldn’t feel too bad about that, although we would have taken either one rather than end the season empty handed.

Our new players looked good for the most part, with Torres definitely being the most successful new player in many years. Benayoun, Voronin, and Babel all played their part during the season, and Skrtel looks like a player who will be here to stay. Other players who may have been coming to the end of their Liverpool career, such as Sami Hyypia played outstandingly enough to be offered an extension on their contracts.

So now we’ll play out those last two matches, and then we can take a rest over the summer. For a few players there’s Euro ’08 to consider, but otherwise it will be a chance for most of them to take a break from competition for a change. There will be plenty to talk about though as speculation begins to grow over who we may or may not sign for next season, as well as who will be leaving the club. We all have our own players in mind (in both ways) but we’ll have to wait and see. Before we know it we’ll be talking about the pre-season schedule, and waiting to see the new Reds in action.

One thing to keep in mind is that no matter what happened this past season, it’s over now and there’s nothing we can do to change any of it. The best thing to do is to look forward from now to the beginning of next season, knowing that we can build on our success. As Shankly and Paisley used to say at the end of each season, “Tomorrow we start again.”

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

By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed, 28 April 08.

First of all I want to thank everybody who came along for the big game last Saturday night. I was shocked but over the moon to see 26 guys ready to play. I had a hard job managing to keep all 26 players happy and make sure you all got to play a part. Hopefully I was successful in ensuring everybody got a fair chance. I just wish I could have played myself, but hopefully after four months of physio I'll be back.

Before the game I was absolutely convinced we would be in for a big win. We had looked good in the recent practises and I felt positive about the starting eleven. There were rumours going around that the Chelsea Supporters were struggling to field eleven players, never mind subs as well. When I arrived at the Eric Hamber pitch I saw a great sea of red shirts with only a small puddle of blue shirts. My sense of a crushing victory only got stronger with this notion.

The game started well for us when Adam scored a great goal. This was followed by a hilarious celebration that involved mock swimming on the Astroturf. The first half was back and forth as both teams battled hard. The Chel$ki boys put some pressure on towards the end of the first half and won a corner. Unfortunately for the Red Men, Jay forgot which end we were shooting at and managed to put the ball into our net for an own goal. It was a bad way to end the first half, but fortunately Jay was still in good spirits and he knew he’d done well in the first half.

At half time Kev started cracking open the beers and the camaraderie in our team was strong. In hindsight maybe we should have left the ale until the end because Chelsea came out strong in the second half. They began to pile on the pressure before taking the lead with a headed goal from a set piece. Within minutes things got worse for us when Wolfgang went down and landed on his wrist. With a suspected break, he was out for the rest of the game. Chelsea then went for the kill, threatening further goals, but Paul Chapman in goal was top quality with a couple of big saves.

As the game headed towards the end the spirit of Liverpool came on strong and the ball was barely out of the Chelsea half of the pitch. We were helped by the referee seemingly waiting for us to equalise before he blew for full time. Actually the ref had a smashing game keeping the game rolling along nicely and allowing us time for plenty of changes. Every time we attacked I was thinking it was our last chance and then we’d come back at them again. In the last minute Chelsea was saved by a dramatic clearance off the line and then it was all over.

Unfortunately we lost the game 2-1 but the most important part was that we all had such a great time. I am pleased to officially announce that we will have our chance for revenge against the Chelsea Supporters Club. The rematch has been arranged already and will take place on Saturday July 5th at 6pm. This time the pitch will be a grass one in Port Grey Secondary School on 37th Ave. There was plenty of quality in this game to show me we can avenge this defeat in the rematch.

Thanks again to everybody who attended last night and made it such a great night. Thanks to Pat Lewis for helping me with the coaching, thanks to Adam for his advice and a huge thanks to Kev Parnell for providing us with beers to keep us from dying of thirst!!

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

By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed, 30 April 08.

Like every other Reds supporter all around the world I was feeling pretty low at the end of the semi final second leg against Chelsea. Our superb second half performance left me feeling really positive for the extra time. When Essien’s goal was disallowed for offside the sense of destiny got even stronger. Then in the space of a few minutes we went from having an advantage to being 3-1 down. Sami Hyppia’s pace let him down when he gave away the penalty and with Frank Lampard inspired by his late mother he was never going to miss. Then Riise (in surely his last big game for Liverpool) completely went to sleep looking for offside and an uphill struggle became a climb up Mount Everest. Ryan Babel’s thirty five yard goal gave us hope for the last two minutes, but with no Torres on the pitch it was never going to happen for us.

It was after the game had ended that I once again found out just what Liverpool fans are made of. Within minutes of the final whistle, instead of crying and complaining, there was a mass and impromptu singing of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ in the pub (G Sport). In a reminder of last May’s defeat in Athens, a group of us stayed behind in the pub. For about four hours we loudly and raucously sang LFC songs over and over again until we were hoarse. It is this type of spirit that makes Liverpool fans the best in the world, in my opinion. I’ve lived in a few countries and experienced many big sporting events from test match cricket, to various international rugby events. I can honestly say that I doubt that there are many fans of any team of any sport around the world that can match us Reds for passion.

The owner of The G Sport pub, Dave, said after the Chelsea game that the cheers for Torres’s goal were the loudest he’d ever heard before. After the second leg versus Arsenal, he said to me that he wished the fans of the local ice hockey team (Vancouver Canucks) had even a half of the passion that us Liverpool fans show.

I’ve watched Liverpool games with Reds fans all over the world in many places including Merseyside, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and Canada. I have discovered that no matter where you are in the world and no matter where the fans come from, the spirit of Liverpool seems to bring out an intense passion in those afflicted with a Kop fever. It doesn’t matter where you go in the world, if you are with Liverpool fans you are guaranteed to be with some of the greatest people you will ever meet.

There have been many occasions this season during which I have felt proud to be a Red, and this has been because of our great fans. The Champions League run was great and the atmosphere at the G Sport for each game in the knockout stage was brilliant. The huge turnouts for the Everton games and the recent game against Man Utd were all memorable too. Having the Vancouver Liverpool Supporters Club and having such great fans to share these games with makes me feel so happy. It is the wonderful group of Reds fans over here that have cured the homesickness that I felt after first leaving Merseyside to move to Vancouver. Even though I am thousands of miles away from Merseyside, the terrific group of people I get to share my weekend mornings and midweek lunches with make me feel part of a big extended family. A big family of Reds no matter where we all come from.

As long as I’m a Liverpool supporter I know that I will never walk alone.

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

Standings as of 03 May 08.
Congrats to Dennis who correctly guessed Rafa's Birmingham City starting eleven!

Rank	Member	Points
1	Dennis	75
2	Pat	45
3	Dan	42
4	Glenn	34
5	Mark	33
6	Richard	29
7	Ste	16
8	Keith	15
9	Kevin	11
10	Andy	3
11	Luvdeep	1
11	Chris	1
13	Blake	0

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.
• 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