I’m a Liverpool fan. If you know anything about football you will be aware of the intensity of rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United - it borders on hatred, but thankfully, there have not been any major incidents or flashpoints between fans for a decade or more.
Unfortunately for me and my team, “we” got beaten by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday by a last minute header from the laconic, but indispensable Rio Ferdinand. He misses drug tests, but manages to turn up for the last minute of a crucial game to win it for his team. Fair enough.
A lot has been made in certain quarters of Gary Neville’s apparently over the top goal celebration. Some people are ccalling it an incitement to violence. (Maybe he could be prosecuted under the new ant-terrorist legislation). Did he spit at a fan? Did he punch the referee? Did he urinate on a Liverpool mascot? No. He ran almost the lenth of the pitch to the Liverpool end to kiss his shirt.
Look, I dislike Manchester United as much as the next person. OK, maybe not the next person, because the next person is a Londoner and those who haven’t jumped onto the Chelsea-turncoat-bandwagon are invariably Manchester United fans. The point is, I probably detest Manchester United as much as any scouser. When “we” were beaten in the 1977 F.A. Cup Final, 2 goals to 1, when we could have won the ttreble of European Cup, League Division 1 title (those were the days!) and F.A. Cup, but ended up with the only slightly less noble double of Division One Championship and European Cup, I cried. Yes, I cried.
So it will come as a source of profound disbelief to other Liverpool fans to find me siding with Neville on his recent escapade. His team won. He gets stick. What did he do that was so wrong? It’s not like he kung-fu kicked some fan in the head in the style of his erstwhile Gallic comrade. Do we want all our footballers to behave like Michael Owen? I didn’t think so.
Let him celebrate. It’s football. Passion should not be bled out of the game.
“They” still won’t finish above “us” in the Premiership. And they finished bottom of their group in the Champions League, thus eliminating them from any further part in any European contest this season. So it’s not all bad news Liverpool fans, is it?
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