Today, on March 23, Liverpool Legends took on their Ajax counterparts as part of a charity match for Sven-Goran Eriksson as the former England manager lived out a lifelong dream to coach Liverpool.
However, the headlines were stolen by a young Liverpool fan who invaded the pitch during the game and was remarkably rewarded with a selfie by none other than club legend Steven Gerrard.
Young Liverpool fan steals the headlines at Sven-Goran Eriksson charity match
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Pitch invader reaches Steven Gerrard
After bursting onto the pitch, the stewards were unsurprisingly quick to engage the fan, attempting to remove him from the turf as quickly as possible. With it looking less and less likely that the young supporter would reach his idol in time, Gerrard intervened, instructing the advancing stewards to allow him to take a selfie with the fan.
We are of course not endorsing the behaviour of the fan, after all not all pitch invasions end well – take for example the moment a fan stormed the pitch and violently attacked Jack Grealish when the winger was playing his football for Aston Villa. But, in this instance, no one got heart, the fan got his wish and Gerrard played his part in what was a truly heart-warming moment for everyone watching.
Why did the charity match take place?
A true legend of the game, iconic coach Sven-Goran Eriksson recently announced that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer – news which deeply saddened everyone in the football world. But, this charity match was a joyous occasion as it saw the 76-year-old act out a lifelong dream of taking charge of Liverpool football club.
Ahead of the game, he said: “When I was a manager I always dreamed about [managing] Liverpool but it never happened … It was close once. There were some discussions once, many years ago.
“It’s like a dream. I could never have dreamed of it. It must be the best atmosphere in the world and part of that is the song when the players walk out, You’ll Never Walk Alone. When they asked, I thought it was a joke. Of course, I would come to a Legends match. It is for charity, which makes it even more lovely.”