Week 240 was posted by Charanjit Chana on 2022-06-03.
My post this week extremely late all thanks to a family trip to Liverpool. A much needed break for the four of us and a chance to join in the celebrations of a fairly successful season for Liverpool FC. Our trip coincided with both my wedding anniversary and an end of season parade to celebrate both the men’s team winning two trophies in the 2021-2022 season and the women’s teams promotion back to the top tier of football.
I remember wanting to rush up to Liverpool for the 2005 Champions League parade and again in 2019. We’d had kids in between the two so I felt I’d missed the opportunity presented to me 14 years prior but things lined up pretty well for me this time.
I was of course hoping to see three trophies being paraded around the city. Unfortunately, the loss to Madrid meant it was just the two. I’m still not sure what to make of the final in which it felt like Liverpool dominated without doing quite enough. They had chances. Couirtois was immense. It just wasn’t meant to be.
Because of the result I wasn’t sure what to expect the next day but I shouldn’t have worried. By midday the city was already buzzing for the parade which wouldn’t stay for another four hours. While I’d have loved to be in the thick of it my kids are too young and would have been restless by the time the bus would have made it round to The Strand.
We made our way closer to the start of the parade and the atmosphere was fantastic. Vuvuzelas, flags, flares and forfeits everywhere.
My son got to see his favourite player, Luis Diaz, and Klopp. I think his reaction to that moment made my day more than anything else. He had sat underneath the number 23’s shirt just a few hours before as we took part in the stadium tour.
As parades go it felt epic even in the small section we got to be a part of. On our way back to the hotel in the late afternoon fans were still lining the streets waiting for their turn to revel in the team's success. We’ve yet to make it to a Liverpool match as a family but to see so much red was a special experience.
I hope we get the opportunity to do it again. My daughter is fully on board with Liverpool now, especially after seeing the women’s team achieve some success.
I couldn’t enjoy the final itself as much I wanted to, the stream was terrible and then the result just didn't go our way. Being in the city the next day though, thanks to the successes we had already enjoyed in the 2021-2022 season, more than made up for it. I only watched the highlights for the first time yesterday and still wonder how more wasn't made of the opportunity. It felt like Liverpool were playing Atletico Madrid, not Real.
I’ve only had a chance to edit three photos, which I shared on Instagram. I’ll get around to some more soon.
Despite making it to the front of the crowd, we didn’t make it into any of the parade footage but I’ve seen our section featured in almost every video the club have released. Feels like we were right at the point that the party really got started.
Now that we’ve done it once I cannot wait for the opportunity to do it again.
Update
Stumbles across an article in The Echo with a photo of the main bus in the exact area we were stood in.
Tags: football, liverpool fc