Original subtitles

[crowd cheering]

[cheering slowly grows louder]

[cheering continues]

[whistle blows]

STEVEN GERRARD: It's the best thing

that can ever, ever happen to a Liverpool kid.

Being that local boy and everyone's looking to you.

I achieved things that I-I didn't dream of achieving.

I had nights and experiences

that I didn't think would ever happen to me.

I've also had some incredible,

cruel setbacks along the way, as well.

And I didn't think I'd have

to live with the feelings of them, moving forward.

But I just think it's part of it.

I mean, it's part of the game.

Football is not about turning up and playing.

It's about dealing with everything that comes with it.

[crowd cheering]

I just felt it was time to come out

of not just the club, but the city.

Go and have a break from it all.

Me brain was still frying from what happened.

Just try and find answers, and try and find reasons,

and there was none.

There was none.

[muffled crowd cheering]

The big difference here: I can escape from football.

I never played for fame.

It was in me before I knew anything about all this.

I was brought up in an environment

where I was ready for the pressure

and I was ready to be a footballer

for Liverpool, for my people.

I was born for it, I know for a fact.

[crowd cheering]

NARRATOR: In Liverpool,

football is the consuming passion.

It's hard to persuade people to talk about anything else.

[cheering]

MAN: You walk into the ground, you go in on your own,

and you know you got 28,000 mates

with you there singing, you know.

[indistinct chanting and cheering]

NARRATOR: Liverpool scored five goals

and could have scored more.

Their poor, sacrificial victims were Arsenal.

Southerners.

COMMENTATOR: And out comes the trophy,

which is awarded to the League champions.

-Fairclough! -[cheering]

BILL SHANKLY: Since I come here to Liverpool,

I have drummed it into our players

that they are privileged to play for you.

[cheering]

NARRATOR: Four European cups are proudly displayed

in the Anfield trophy room,

collected by Britain's most successful football team.

COMMENTATOR: Liverpool are European champions!

What joy!

NARRATOR: Last Saturday, Liverpool

made sure of winning the League title,

thanks to this goal from Kenny Dalglish,

keeping up a record of consistent success

for an area suffering

hard times off the football field.

It's, uh, one of

the highest-unemployment areas in Britain.

And I think, uh, football is, like, uh,

a get-out for a lot of them from disappointment.

[barks]

PAUL GERRARD: Huyton is only a small place.

It's like a pinhead on the map.

And we lived on a council estate

called the Bluebell Estate.

We were in a place where you had to look after yourself.

You know, everyone was getting finished up from work,

and, you know, it wasn't a nice time.

But the people just got on with it, you know.

And we'd go to the end of the earth to watch Liverpool.

We breathed it. Breathed football.

[kids chattering, cheering]

NARRATOR: Merseyside has dominated

English football in the '80s.

Liverpool has won the First Division championship

six times this decade.

The best-supported club in the country.

They watch a side which is often untouchable,

driven by ability, but also enormous determination.

COMMENTATOR: What a goal! A magnificent goal by Dalglish!

JULIE BYRNE: Their dad, he went to all the games.

Wembley and the Cup Finals and all that.

And then nearly everyone I know was Liverpudlian.

Everyone was close.

Everyone would watch out for each other.

Steven was a great kid.

Lovely temper.

Always laughing.

[children's laughter]

You know, they were our world.

We didn't want them to ever come to any harm,

so we liked them where we could see them.

And we were lucky there.

We never had to go hunting for them, looking for them.

They didn't want to go anywhere but to play football.

[indistinct chatter]

PAUL GERRARD: He played junior football.

And I've took him on a Saturday morning.

They've won 27-nil, and he scored 12 of the goals.

Like nothing to him.

[indistinct chatter]

-[cheering and applause] -[whistle blows]

PAUL: They say it's a gift.

And he had it, he had the gift.

He was born with the gift.

[indistinct chatter]

PAUL: I used to go and have a pint in the local pub,

and my mate who run the football team said,

"He's gonna go all the way, him, you know that, don't you?"

I used to go, "You can't say that.

You can't guarantee nothing."

And he said, "I'll guarantee it,

Steven will go all the way."

Think he was eight when he first went to Liverpool.

NARRATOR: This is Liverpool's training ground.

Like Fort Knox, the value of what's in here is incalculable.

The most successful club in England

for the past generation,

and there's no sign of it letting up.

HUGH McAULEY: He was very small.

Very small, very slight.

He was everywhere in the game.

He'd gone past one or two players straightaway,

as if they weren't there.

You think, "My God."

-[indistinct chatter, cheering] -[whistle blows]

McAULEY: At Liverpool, the winning mentality

was the all-important thing.

And he was fiercely competitive.

He looked at you and listened.

Eyes that were focused all the time.

You were looking at him, thinking,

"Yeah.

[chuckling]: This kid's got a chance."

STEVEN: I just loved playing football

and supporting Liverpool. It was all just fun to me.

MAN: If you could lead the squad forward.

That's Steven Gerrard, Phil Thompson, Kevin Hannon...

STEVEN: I think they knew from eight, nine years of age

I had a chance.

I didn't have a clue.

Maybe I was in me own little world. I don't know.

I just loved it.

I just couldn't wait to play.

COMMENTATOR: Liverpool going into the semi

on a run of good results, and the confidence high.

People are saying it's-it's a great season up to now,

but it's not over yet.

PAUL: That day, I went to put a bet on.

And I called in to see me dad in the pub.

REPORTER: Let's go now to Hillsborough...

PAUL: Next minute, I see it on the telly.

REPORTER: A major incident there...

PAUL: He went, "Oh, there's trouble there."

I looked again, and I went,

"Oh my God, that's... looks heavy, that, whatever that is."

REPORTER: There's total confusion there.

The police have brought in as many reinforcements...

PAUL: Steven was only nine, he was only a kid, and...

I was telling him, you know,

there's been people killed here.

MARTYN LEWIS: The worst disaster

in British sporting history

happened at the start of the FA Cup semifinal

between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Casualty figures now stand at 94 dead.

24 of them have now been identified,

including a boy of ten.

JULIE: Paul's mum knocked us up out of bed

at 7:00 the next morning

and said that Jon-Paul, one of Steven's cousins,

had died at Hillsborough.

It was one of the saddest days of our lives.

STEVEN: At that age, you don't understand it.

You're still a baby.

I remember going to the ground when all the flowers

and scarves were all over the Kop.

Football gets parked up.

It becomes about people and about families

and about emotions and people grieving.

JULIE: He'd ask questions like,

"What really happened to Jon-Paul, Mum?

And how did he die?"

It was just a sad thing.

Everyone knew somebody who'd died at Hillsborough.

MAN: I've stood on that Kop for getting on 28 years now,

and I've just made him throw me hat and scarf in,

'cause I'll never go again and he certainly won't go again.

In a terrible way, we've fallen off our bicycle, haven't we?

And for some of us, we'd like to, perhaps,

walk away and never ride again.

Uh, others want to get back on soon

because they-they... because they love it.

REPORTER: John Williams is a sociologist.

He, too, was at Hillsborough

and witnessed the disaster with Rogan Taylor.

JOHN WILLIAMS: I think it reaffirmed for a lot of people

that football was one of those things

that really brings people in the city together.

That helps us talk to each other

and be emotional with each other.

But the club was in complete flux.

ANNOUNCER: One minute to go.

McMahon has got the word from the Kop, obviously.

WILLIAMS: We were playing the last match of that season

against Arsenal.

And lost.

In the most dramatic possible circumstances.

COMMENTATOR: And Thomas charging through the midfield!

Thomas! It's up for grabs now!

-[cheering] -Thomas!

Right at the end!

An unbelievable climax to the League season.

Well into injury time,

the Liverpool players are down, absolutely...

PAUL: After Hillsborough, everything changed.

It was etched all over people's faces

to do with Liverpool Football Club.

It's like they'd had enough, you know what I mean?

It was just horrible to watch. Horrible.

DALGLISH: I've been in the front line for 20 years.

And it's just really a result of 20 years

active involvement in football

at a very high and successful level...

that really, um, Kenny Dalglish is a person

who has pushed himself to the limit.

WILLIAMS: Hillsborough produced that convulsive change.

Changed the stadiums.

Contributed to the remarketing and re-promotion of the game.

Sky Television came in and pumped money into football,

and football was gonna be completely different.

REPORTER: As football has changed through the 1990s

and money has become more important,

one club has been at the vanguard of those changes

both off and on the pitch: Manchester United.

WILLIAMS: The most obvious signal for us

that things were changing

was we couldn't win the League title.

We'd lost that vicelike hold.

COMMENTATOR: And Steve Bruce lifts the Premier League trophy

for Manchester United.

The third time they've won it in four seasons.

McAULEY: It was the start, really, of...

different times for Liverpool.

Different times.

Even in the times of transformation

with Liverpool teams,

the expectation level was always there,

the supporters there every time they play.

Play it again!

[voice-over]: We needed that hope again.

Next one in.

[indistinct chatter]

[voice-over]: And here was a little lad

who just kept on going, going, going.

And he lifted you every time you went to coach.

JULIE: Steve Heighway came to the house,

and he started talking about Steven to me and his dad,

saying he shines on the pitch.

"We'd like to nurture him."

They were his words: "We'd like to nurture him."

He said, "Don't ever push him into anything,

"because they can rebel.

Just be there, and he'll choose the right road to go."

And I'll never forget him saying that.

PAUL: Steven and football became my life.

I wouldn't miss it.

If he was playing somewhere, I would be there watching him.

I used to tell him, I'd say, "You've got it.

"But you've got to want to use it.

You don't get given something unless you work hard at it."

That was my motto to him.

"You get out of it what you put into it."

McAULEY: From day one, he's always been acutely aware

of what people expect of him.

And he was hungry for that information

that was going to help him improve.

But he's very sensitive.

He's a very sensitive lad.

And he kept a lot of his feelings to himself.

[indistinct chatter]

What he had to do then is learn the game at that level,

and you only learn the game by playing with the best players.

So your work is about dealing with the whole group,

but you've got your eye on the one or two.

The ones who you know got a better chance

of getting to the next level.

MICHAEL OWEN: There's an intelligence with a footballer

that you're either on that wavelength or you're not.

We had an understanding between us.

You go onto a pitch, and it's where you belong.

When I saw somebody passing the ball to Stevie,

you come alive.

I know what he was thinking.

He knows what I'm thinking.

You're like, "I can score here. I can make a run."

Stevie literally created goal after goal after goal.

[cheering]

PAUL: Steven would pick a ball up.

First player he'd look for was him.

'Cause he knows, you know what I mean? It's, like, psychic.

The two of them could run like the wind.

It was just fantastic.

STEVEN: I used to go out, and I'd see

a big lad in the opposition team.

I'd want to nail him first.

I'd think, if I flatten him early,

the rest of his teammates will know what I'm about.

PAUL: One day, the coach pulled me over.

He said, "He's tackling people, and he wants to kill them.

He just smashes them to pieces."

I said, "Well, isn't that what you're looking for?"

He said, "No, not when he's doing it to us and the staff."

JULIE: On that pitch, you've got to be tough.

But away from football, he was quite shy.

And he was very quiet if they got beat.

Very quiet.

Steven always punished himself.

And he was always honest with himself.

The only thing I could ever say to him was:

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Steven."

But it was his world.

[quiet chatter]

McAULEY: When you come across exciting young prospects,

as a coach, that is your life.

But you never know until you put them there

and you give them a go.

'Cause that is the big test.

Can you handle that stress when you step over that white line?

Can you handle it?

And that's the magic of it.

That's the wonder of it.

That's the heartbreak of it.

That's what makes football what it is.

[cheering]

STEVEN: The buzz was hard to describe.

When you actually get on the bench and you're warming up,

there's just a sea of people.

Your heart pumping.

-Butterflies. -COMMENTATOR: To Davidson.

His control allows Heggem in.

And, uh, Heggem...

STEVEN: You see the nod.

The feeling that you get's surreal.

And it's fucking scary.

COMMENTATOR: ...featured on the team sheet before.

And he's going to be given his opportunity

for Liverpool, promoted from the youth side.

Fresh-faced...

PAUL: I've had to pinch meself and go,

you know, "Is this real?

This is my lad this is happening to."

Don't make no mistakes. Don't make no mistakes.

COMMENTATOR: To Owen. Teenagers combine.

STEVEN: We only played three, four minutes of actual action,

but I remember me dad saying to me

straight after the game, going home,

"No one can take that away from you now.

You've played for Liverpool's first team."

So you almost feel like the journey's ended then.

But then, when reality kicks in, it's only the start.

Me life changed.

From that debut, it changed very, very quickly.

The door opened to the real game.

[crowd cheering]

[whistle blows]

When you're out there

and you're on that grass level,

you've got to be ready, or you get found out.

You can't hide there.

OWEN: Everything is happening at such split seconds.

No situation will ever be the same.

You are making decisions.

Tiny, little things.

Somehow understanding

what's gonna happen in five seconds time.

STEVEN: This is not a dream. This is it.

ANNOUNCER: And Redknapp finds a way through.

Great effort by Fowler.

And Owen...

And still...

STEVEN: You get blown away

by the standard of football around you.

They can move. They're skillful.

They're big. They're strong.

-It's real game. It's men. -[whistle blows]

The opposition hate you.

There's hatred there.

And you can feel it in the challenges.

[whistles blowing]

ANNOUNCER: And he and Westerveld have an angry clash.

And they're both going to be in trouble here.

JAMIE CARRAGHER: You have to perform as a young player

in the first Liverpool team.

Otherwise, you won't be seen again.

You've got to make an impact.

You can't expect ten or 20 chances.

It's not going to happen. I was very aggressive,

and Stevie was exactly the same.

ANNOUNCER: Barmby did well then for Everton.

Campbell takes a clattering challenge

from young Gerrard, and it's a red card for him!

And the Merseyside derby explodes again here.

STRUAN MARSHALL: Much as it was a bad tackle,

it stood out in a good way for me,

in that I thought, "This guy's not scared,

"this guy is up for it, and this guy is prepared

to put himself out there."

REPORTER: We're talking about footballers' wages.

In the late 1990s, it's a big money business.

With me, agent Struan Marshall.

MARSHALL: I started representing players

when I was about 20 years old.

Football was just commercializing.

Players were turning into

genuine celebrities at that point.

There's a massive shift at the moment from the...

from the club to the player.

David, how difficult has it been, from your point of view?

Well, absolutely, there's been a power change.

I mean, the players are the people

that everybody comes to watch and what sells...

[voice-over]: I saw that there was an opportunity,

but an agent is only as good as the client he represents.

You need someone with a massive talent

to take you to the next level.

There was a big buzz about him behind the scenes.

People I knew whose opinion mattered

had made it clear this guy was the real deal.

Met in the living room.

Spoke to his mum and dad.

His dad took the piss out of us. [laughs]

You know, but Stevie controlled the meeting,

and he asked the questions of me

more than the other way around.

So that got me going a bit, you know?

"This guy's gonna make it happen, whoever's beside him.

I hope it's me." [laughs]

COMMENTATOR: Attack might be the best

form of defense here for Liverpool.

Gerrard.

Oh, it's a wonderful run!

-[crowd cheering] -Oh, what a screaming goal

by Steven Gerrard!

His first ever goal for Liverpool.

COMMENTATOR 2: Talk about taking the bull by the horns.

19 years of age.

COMMENTATOR 1: What a splendid solo goal.

It's Liverpool three, Sheffield Wednesday one.

And what about that from Steven Gerrard?

WILLIAMS: When he came into the team,

he was so unbelievably raw and wholehearted.

You could see that he was emotionally driven.

Even though he was very young, we thought,

"My God, he could be the whole package.

He could do anything."

-[crowd cheering] -COMMENTATOR: Gerrard!

It threw it for Liverpool from Steven Gerrard.

This is absolute perfection.

Here's Gerrard, on the ball again.

Oh, he's tried from distance.

What a goal by Steven Gerrard.

The lay-off by Murphy,

into the path of Steven Gerrard.

What a wonderful goal that is.

Oh, bit of nastiness here.

Dennis Wise involved with Gerrard.

PAUL: I would be so engrossed with what he was doing

that you tend to slip away from what other players are doing.

Changes your whole outlook on it.

But I couldn't believe it, couldn't wrap my head

round it, you know.

Some of the things that he's done.

[cheering]

OWEN: There's something inside you,

when you're coming through,

that's got such belief in yourself

that you just think you're almost indestructible

and you're gonna play and be the best.

We used to look up to all these players and think, "Wow."

And then, all of a sudden, me and Stevie were doing it.

COMMENTATOR: Babbel trying to reach it.

-Owen! -[crowd cheering]

And Liverpool are back in business,

thanks to Michael Owen.

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: Liverpool!

COMMENTATOR: Hamann... to Owen.

Gerrard is in space ahead of him.

A real chance for Steven Gerrard.

Two-nil, Liverpool.

STEVEN: To make so many people happy

with what you can do, it's unbelievable.

You almost don't know what you've done

until you get home and you see it on the TV.

-[crowd chanting] -[whooping]

I was starting to get stronger.

I was starting to become a man.

And in first place, and the winner...

STEVEN: Then getting the Young Player of the Year,

it just almost seemed to be going up and up and up.

...2001 is Steven Gerrard.

[applause]

MARSHALL: It wasn't about what he was getting that night.

It was about the door it was opening to the next stage.

His plan was: Let's take on the world.

You know, let's get to the very, very top.

Well, I can't say I'm going abroad here, can I?

MARSHALL: Drag Liverpool Football Club

-with him to success. -[applause]

It was an ambition to play for Liverpool.

And now that it's here, I appreciate it very much.

And hopefully I can win a lot of trophies with them

and stay there as long as possible.

[crowd chanting]

[cheering]

McAULEY: The crowd love a local lad

who gives everything for that shirt.

He is their blood in many ways.

-[shouting] -[crowd exclaiming]

[whistle blowing repeatedly]

Steven was a shining example

of what they wanted to see week in, week out.

Here's somebody who's going to run through a brick wall

for your football club.

[crowd singing]

COMMENTATOR: Headed away by Stubbs.

It's gone back to Steven Gerrard.

-Brilliant goal! -[cheering]

McAULEY: But with Liverpool supporters,

they would never rest until Liverpool

won the Premier League.

And that's it.

[crowd chanting]

They're continually hungry.

Hungry for Liverpool to do well.

[siren wailing]

[helicopter blades whirring]

REPORTER: He bought Chelsea for a pound in 1982.

Now Ken Bates has sold his majority stake

for 30 million to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea has never been able to rival the financial muscle

of rivals like Manchester United.

Now, though, that could all change.

MARSHALL: There's always been talk of owners coming in,

and they're going to spend a few quid,

and they're gonna do this, and they're gonna do that,

and then they rarely do it.

COMMENTATOR: We are at Anfield, where Chelsea

have won only once in the League in almost 70 years.

It's an instant test of the new power behind them.

MARSHALL: Yeah. Yeah, it was different.

-It was for real. -[crowd cheering]

WILLIAMS: It was unimaginable that someone

could come in with huge money,

buy a club and say, "We're gonna be bigger than you are."

It was Chelsea, for God's sake.

Now, Chelsea had not won

a League title since the mid-1950s,

and suddenly they were transformed.

It's amazing how quickly

history can be forgotten in a sport like football.

[indistinct chatter]

MAN: I'm delighted this morning

to formally announce José Mourinho

as the new manager and coach of Chelsea with immediate effect.

Look, football change.

Society change.

World change.

And, um, I think football clubs,

they want success in relation to their potential.

But more important is to find, uh, players

who think as I think.

We should not be afraid to say, "We want to win."

[dog barking]

STEVEN: When Chelsea come in and start buying players

for 30 million in every position,

it's a game changer for someone like me

who's striving to win the League.

And that's tough to take when you've got

that burning ambition, that desire inside.

COMMENTATOR: It seems absolutely incredible now

that their last championship win

was 12 years ago.

That's a whole generation of fans here growing up

not knowing what it's like

to have Liverpool as League champions.

STEVEN: My natural instinct is to always defend the club,

but there was a part inside me that knew

that we weren't good enough.

So, how am I gonna win these Leagues and Champions Leagues?

Used to kill me.

It was even more hurtful

when you were in the company of them players.

You'd have conversations, and they're saying,

"Are Liverpool going to compete

over the next three, four years?"

You start questioning your own ambition.

But it can be a complex word, "ambition,"

when you're a footballer.

MARSHALL: Chelsea were buying up talent.

José Mourinho, this exciting young coach,

was coming in and was desperate to sign him.

I'm not a Liverpool fan, do you know?

I'm not a Liverpool fan.

I'm the business of Steven Gerrard's football career.

So what's the right thing for the business of Steven Gerrard?

For trophies, for medals, for achievement?

REPORTER: A huge sigh of relief on Merseyside as the arrival

of new coach, Rafael Benitez,

appears to have convinced Gerrard that Liverpool

can once again challenge for the game's top honors.

Gerrard's decision to stay is sure to upset Chelsea,

who were desperate to sign him for a reported £36 million.

Michael Owen said it would be a catastrophe

if Gerrard left Anfield.

That's been avoided.

The big question now is whether Owen

will also stay at Liverpool.

CARRAGHER: I was in the room with Mike when he got the call.

And my first words were, "I wouldn't go."

I was always a big-picture person, like,

"How will people see you at the end?"

I can get it. If I was in your position,

you may want to play with the greatest players in the world,

but it'll create a divide

that may not be able to be ever healed.

Is it worth it for that?

[applause]

OWEN: I'd like to say a special thank-you

to Señor President

for giving me the opportunity to play

for the best team in the world.

Thank you very much. Muchas gracias.

It's the lure of going and winning,

being what you've always wanted to be, growing up.

I thought to myself, "If I say no,

"I'll probably think what would that have been like

"for the rest of my life.

I've just got to try it."

McAULEY: It was a difficult time, emotionally.

We were dealing with these people

when they were very young.

Michael was an absolute superstar.

And at that point, what's he going to win with Liverpool?

It's about success at the end of the day.

-[hollering indistinctly] -Even though you think they're

gonna play for Liverpool forever, you say, "Well...

well, why should we think that?"

They don't owe Liverpool anything, really.

STEVEN: I just assumed we were going

all the way to the top together.

It was always me and him.

Shit, this is going to affect me.

It's going to affect us.

But when that whistle goes, you gotta park them feelings.

[crowd groans, applauds]

McAULEY: We've lost a player who Steven, on the pitch,

had his best relationship with.

Now he was by far the best player.

If Liverpool aren't playing well,

it's down to Stevie to fix it.

COMMENTATOR: Tokic.

Makes room to shoot.

-[whistle blows] -Oh, what a goal that is.

MAN: Steven Gerrard. We know how powerful

and how important he is to this Liverpool team.

But they cannot rely totally on him,

'cause that's how it's starting to look.

WILLIAMS: We didn't have a great team.

And Benitez felt distant.

He didn't have that kind of emotional pull.

REPORTER: Was it a mistake not to field

more senior players in there tonight?

I don't think so.

-You were happy with them? -With the players?

Sure. They tried.

WILLIAMS: And so we had, in Steven,

this weird combination of utter belief

and trust and hope on the one hand,

but a desperation that we'd win something on the other

so that he wouldn't be seduced away.

ROB McCAFFREY: Lee in Spain says,

"That was the most embarrassing night as a Liverpool fan

I've had in 30 years of supporting them."

CALLER: We've got no chance of winning the League.

-Mmm. -We're not going to win the Champions League.

CALLER 2: Well, I think that was one of the worst displays

of a Liverpool team I've ever seen.

Uh, it's-it's-it's difficult to remember

another one like it, Andrew.

MARSHALL: That season, the emotion

was a roller coaster-- day to day, week to week--

when everything started to center around him.

Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard,

is calling on the fans as the Reds seek the win

they need to ensure Champions League progress.

REPORTER: It's 20 years since Liverpool last scaled

the heights of Europe's premier club competition.

But tonight, they must win to ensure their fans

can carry on dreaming of glory in May.

Olympiakos are the visitors to Anfield...

COMMENTATOR: Rivaldo getting his shirt pulled

by Xabi Alonso.

Still Rivaldo. Still Rivaldo!

And then Sami Hyypiaä.

19 minutes to halftime.

Nil-nil at Anfield.

A chance for Olympiakos now, though.

There it goes. Played in low!

And Kirkland was nowhere.

It was hit low and into the net.

COMMENTATOR 2: Liverpool nil, Olympiakos one.

CARRAGHER: And it wasn't going well.

I think that's when he felt the responsibility more.

And I think they probably all

think the same, the other ten players.

Let Stevie have it. Let him take the penalty.

Or pass it to Stevie. He'll shoot.

And then that was timesed by 40,000 in the ground.

Stevie, it's down to you.

COMMENTATOR: Olympiakos are going through at the moment,

unless Liverpool score another goal.

Mellor. Lovely cushioned header.

-Gerrard! -[crowd cheering]

[commentators shouting indistinctly]

Steven Gerrard!

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: Scoring Liverpool's third goal

of the night, Steven Gerrard.

[crowd singing]

ALEX GERRARD: When I first met him,

he was just a young lad playing football,

living his dream.

Don't think he realized what was ahead of him.

[indistinct chatter]

He obviously grew up a lot

because of the responsibility he had.

But we were both still really young at that time.

[laughing]

On the pitch, he always looked aggressive.

I'm like, "Oh, God."

But at home, he's... you know, he's just different.

[laughing]

He wasn't scared of showing his emotions.

He probably looked forward to just coming home

and just being himself.

STEVEN: I was Liverpool captain.

Liverpool captains always deliver.

They have to.

The history, the tradition, the success.

Am I worthy?

Am I good enough?

Am I going to be one of these captains

where they go, "Well, he never won anything"?

The weight and how heavy the expectation was...

[crowd roaring]

...it was just a constant thing in me head.

[cameras clicking]

[indistinct chatter]

McAULEY: He took so much pressure

on his shoulders, playing for Liverpool.

He needed an arm round his shoulder.

Just that little bit of care shown

could make all the difference.

But Rafa was a different personality.

He's colder in that respect.

I was there, and I see the frustration with Steven.

STEVEN: I craved success,

and I wanted everything that comes with the game.

And Rafa's coldness just added fuel to the fire.

If I'm not loved here and respected,

and he doesn't rate me as much as I think he should rate me,

the thought of leaving Liverpool starts creeping in.

[crowd cheering]

Mourinho liked me as a player,

and everyone knew that he was a serial winner in the making.

That was what started to grip me thoughts

and grip me ambition.

MOURINHO: Which team plays

better than... than Chelsea?

Arsenal?

INTERVIEWER: They might get more

-critical acclaim sometimes. -Better than us, huh?

-Yeah. -They might get more critical acclaim.

Ten points behind. Ten points behind.

[crowd singing]

CARRAGHER: The whole Chelsea scenario

was very big in the press in the build-up to that game.

COMMENTATOR: Now, it's hard to resist the notion, isn't it,

that Steven Gerrard's future is interlinked

with what happens here today.

Lose, and another approach from Chelsea

might prove hard to resist.

Win, and if Chelsea's season disintegrates,

the move to Stamford Bridge suddenly looks less attractive.

CARRAGHER: The scrutiny on Steven Gerrard,

because of who he is, he-he can't hide.

And because of who he is, he's always getting watched.

There's cameras always on him in the game.

COMMENTATOR: ...for the last 12 minutes of the game.

Paulo Ferreira playing it in.

Oh, it's got a deflection and gone in!

Oh, what an unlucky break.

And of all people.

Stevie Gerrard has equalized for Chelsea.

And there is so much irony in that goal.

Gerrard, many believe, has just scored

his first of many goals for Chelsea.

-[whistle blowing] -There is the final whistle!

And Chelsea enter a new era

under José Mourinho and Roman Abramovich.

They've beaten Liverpool.

And Steven Gerrard is beyond consolation.

-[beep] -CALLER: Steven Gerrard was an absolute disgrace today.

Every tackle he throws in, their hands out picking 'em up,

shaking hands with Makélélé and the rest of them.

-He's an absolute disgrace. -[beep]

CALLER 2: I do think he's got his mind on other things.

I don't think he's got his mind on Liverpool Football Club.

-[beep] -CALLER 3: Gerrard's supposed to be the motivator

to drive the-the team on.

-He was an absolute disgrace. -[beep]

PAUL: He was getting slated by the supporters

for having this nightmare of a game.

You want to jump up and go,

"Have you got a short memory or something?

He loves Liverpool. He's doing it for the club."

I knew that would affect him, but what could you say to him?

STEVEN: That's the first time as a player I'd felt lonely.

And that smacked me right bang in the face.

You feel the responsibility for all them people.

It's your fault, you're telling yourself.

And you feel like you're on your own.

I realized at that moment

that the highs are gonna be the best days of me life

and the lows are gonna be the worst.

[crowd singing]

WILLIAMS: You know, Liverpool is an incredibly enriching,

wonderful place to have a connection to,

but it can also be suffocating.

[crowd groans]

It can also be a place that strangles you.

Because people want it so much

and want you to feel what they feel.

That must be an incredibly emotionally troubled thing

to have to be responsible for.

He understood why it mattered so much to people

that he'd played for this club, but he always had,

at the same time, this real problem of,

"Am I gonna be a great player who's not gonna win enough?"

[crowd cheering]

So, that incredible run

in the Champions League that season

was really important.

It gave us something to hold on to.

REPORTER: Liverpool's Champions League semifinal

against Chelsea is now just over an hour away,

with a place in the final in Istanbul next month

beckoning for the winner.

[helicopter blades whirring]

WILLIAMS: You couldn't write the fact

that we would meet Chelsea in the semifinal.

You couldn't write it, could you?

MOURINHO: So, I arrive here

with my ego... [makes whooshing sound]

-...big. -[laughter]

[laughs] You know?

Now is even higher.

[laughter]

BENITEZ: They have the most

expensive team in the world.

Good manager, good players.

But we have our supporters,

and we have the-the... the balance now.

[crowd singing]

WILLIAMS: The crowd got the message

that we were gonna have to help with this.

The whole stadium was in an utter state of madness.

And it did feel we were doing something that was impossible.

[whistle blows]

[crowd cheering]

How was this gonna work out?

[cheering slowly grows louder]

[whistle blows]

COMMENTATOR: Riise.

To Gerrard with space.

Pumped in towards Baros.

He's beaten Terry to it.

The goalkeeper made contact with Luis García.

Was it over the line?

Gallas hooked it away.

Goal!

[cheering]

The first goal of this semifinal

is a Liverpool goal.

[cheering continues]

[cheering]

COMMENTATOR: Time has come for Liverpool

to play in yet another European Cup Final.

Rafa Benitez and his team

have rolled back the years.

It's just like the old days.

STEVEN: There was a massive part of me

going into that final of wanting to win it so much,

just to lift that burden

and add to the history and take the weight.

REPORTER: Everyone's asking if Liverpool

really can win a fifth European Cup.

Whether successful or not,

will Steven Gerrard stay at Anfield next season?

STEVEN: The media wouldn't let go of the rumors.

They were constantly asking.

If they win this tomorrow,

you know, it-it could change everything.

But I think, if they lose tomorrow night,

I still wouldn't be surprised to see Steven Gerrard leave.

WILLIAMS: What greater stage could Steven have?

The entire world would be watching this.

Isn't this what you and we all want?

PAUL: There was a gang of us went.

One of the lads turned round, he said, "Look at that."

And you looked over, it was, like,

just sheets of red walking over the hills.

I've never seen nothing like it.

Nothing like it.

The support.

[crowd singing]

COMMENTATOR: The 21 years since Liverpool

last lifted this trophy have dragged.

Tonight is the chance to make up for lost time.

But against a star-studded Milan team,

many of whose individuals have been here before.

And Steven Gerrard stands on the threshold

of legendary status at Anfield.

STEVEN: The attention and the build-up,

the magnitude of it, it was a new level.

COMMENTATOR: On this day, the 50th final

of Europe's most prestigious club competition is underway.

STEVEN: We'd punched way above our weight in what we'd done.

We'd punched well above our weight to get there.

But don't get this far and fuck it up.

[commentator speaking Italian]

STEVEN: If we win this, it's going to be

the best night of me career.

If we lose it, could struggle to recover from it.

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: And Liverpool are facing

some very talented players tonight, Andy.

ANDY: Yeah, they certainly are.

Switch on immediately.

COMMENTATOR: Free kick to Milan.

And Pirlo lining this one up down this nearside.

[commentator speaking Italian]

[Italian and English commentary overlapping]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: It goes up.

It's in and it's in!

A goal in 50 seconds from Paolo Maldini.

-And would you believe it? -The Milan captain

strikes first in the first minute.

ANDY: The worst possible start for Liverpool.

COMMENTATOR: What a body blow to Liverpool.

How do they come back out of this one?

Liverpool are gonna need their supporters.

STEVEN: It was panic stations in my head.

I felt like the occasion was too big for me.

I was struggling to cope.

I felt lost.

[commentator speaking Italian]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: Here's Kaká.

And here's the trouble. It's Shevchenko.

It's Crespo! It's two-nil Milan!

And it just gets worse for Liverpool

-before halftime. -It's the second goal for the Italians.

ANDY: AC Milan feel the game is over.

Absolutely certain. The dugout's out.

They all know.

They just cannot believe it.

[commentators speaking Italian]

[crowd cheering]

COMMENTATOR: Crespo has scored twice in five minutes.

It's AC Milan three, Liverpool nil.

And this final is over.

CARRAGHER: Okay, they go one-nil up.

That happens in a game.

But when it went three-nil,

it was almost someone had ripped your insides out.

You've had all these dreams and thoughts

of how the game's gonna go.

Is Stevie gonna lift the cup?

That's what he's dreaming of. We're all dreaming of that.

And you're just there, and it's like the realization of:

"This is not happening."

People all over the world watching.

And you're involved in something

that's this embarrassing.

-[whistle blowing] -And it could get worse.

It's only halftime.

WILLIAMS: Three-nil.

Against these assassins who played for Milan,

it was... it was over.

[crowd singing]

"You'll Never Walk Alone" that people sang at halftime,

it was just a message to say,

"Look, we haven't done ourselves proud,

"but we're still here.

"We can still bring 40,000 people

"to the middle of a plowed field in Turkey.

We're still somebody."

But no one believed we were gonna get back into this match.

[singing continues]

STEVEN: We had 45 minutes to try and get some pride back.

And I think the fans, at least, deserved that.

COMMENTATOR: Gattuso.

STEVEN: So I felt that responsibility.

-It's up to me. -Stopped by Traoré.

COMMENTATOR: I wonder how many Liverpool players

in this squad are appearing for the last time tonight.

I wonder if Steven Gerrard is.

On to Luis García...

STEVEN: I felt like I had to take more risk.

If these risks don't work out, who gives a fuck?

I'll take the moans from Carragher.

I'll take the shit on the chin.

COMMENTATOR: Xabi Alonso.

Hamann.

ITALIAN COMMENTATOR: Hamann. Xabi Alonso.

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: Alonso turns to his left.

-Riise. -Plays it through to Riise on the left side.

Riise hits it against Kaká, and it comes back to him.

Riise puts it back into the box! Header a goal!

-Goal! -Lifeline for Liverpool!

-Who else but Captain Steven Gerrard? -Captain!

Steven Gerrard with a header

breathes new life into Liverpool.

And he waves to the fans over on the far side.

Come on, believe.

Milan three, Liverpool one.

And maybe a route back through Steven Gerrard.

WILLIAMS: Somehow, you know, guess who scores a goal.

And he does the hand gestures to the crowd.

[cheering]

It makes us realize that he thinks this is no consolation.

It starts to make us think, "Actually, you never know."

COMMENTATOR: Hit by Smicer.

It's in! It's in!

Vladimir Smicer!

Two goals in two minutes for Liverpool.

[commentator speaking Italian]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: Miracles are possible.

[commentator speaking Italian]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: Start of another attack here.

Baros leaves it in the path of Steven Gerrard!

-Penalty! Penalty! -Penalty is given!

[cheering]

ANDY: I don't believe this.

I have not seen anything like this in a major final, ever.

-[commentator speaking Italian] -[whistle blows]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: Xabi Alonso's the man

who has to keep his cool here.

Oh, it's saved! It's going for the rebound!

[cheering]

This is unreal!

Liverpool, three goals down at halftime,

have pulled level

within a quarter of an hour of the restart.

And this score line is absolutely staggering.

AC Milan three, Liverpool three.

There has never been a Champions League Final

anything like this.

ANDY: You know, he epitomizes the difference, because...

there's a spring in his step, there's an urgency in his play.

Skippers have to influence.

Skippers have to inspire.

And I think he's done that second half.

COMMENTATOR: Now, these are nervous times.

Fingernails being bitten right down to the edge.

Can they find it within themselves

to try and encourage their team on?

But there's danger here!

Good save!

Wonderful double save from Dudek.

ANDY: Less than three minutes to go.

That's outstanding.

-[commentator speaking Italian] -[whistle blows]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: And the last chance passes.

We are going to a penalty shootout.

For the eighth time in the 50-year history,

it will be decided by Russian roulette, the penalty shootout.

Somebody is gonna be a hero,

and somebody is gonna be a villain

in the next five minutes.

[commentator speaking Italian]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: He misses!

Best possible start for Liverpool.

Hamann to give Liverpool the advantage.

-Oh, that'll do. -[cheering]

-Get in. -That'll do nicely.

[commentator speaking Italian]

STEVEN: From the halfway line, the goal was shrinking.

-[crowd cheering] -[whistle blows]

If it doesn't go right,

people won't remember the goal you scored

or your performance in the second half and extra time.

They'll only remember it

if you and your team get over the line.

COMMENTATOR: They're so close now.

STEVEN: I was terrified of losing it again.

-COMMENTATOR: Riise. -[commentators speak Italian]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: Turned round.

But has the contest turned around?

STEVEN: I'm thinking, "This is gonna come down to my penalty."

You can't be under any more pressure, ever.

COMMENTATOR: If Milan miss this,

then Liverpool win the trophy.

Andriy Shevchenko knows now

that there is no margin for error.

[commentator speaking Italian]

ENGLISH COMMENTATOR: The weight of the world on his shoulders.

There will be no second chances if Shevchenko misses.

He saved it!

The European Cup is returning to England

and to Anfield!

Liverpool are champions of Europe again!

[cheering]

The most extraordinary night of football,

the most extraordinary finish...

STEVEN: This weight of responsibility and pressure

that lifted off me, it was frightening.

Frightening.

[indistinct shouting]

I love you!

I fucking love you, boys! I fucking love you, boys!

Fucking hell!

[indistinct chatter]

STEVEN: I don't think anyone on this planet

has ever felt what I felt when that happened.

I see pictures of me leaning

into the fans at the end of the game.

You-you're gone.

You're gone.

PAUL: It was just bedlam in there.

Bedlam.

People were just hugging each other.

[laughing]: Kissing each other.

But I-I just couldn't speak.

I stood up, trying to get to him.

I never had a chance.

I just sat down.

And I was just numb.

WILLIAMS: When we won, you know...

I'm thinking about it now.

Crying.

Being there.

Just the joy of seeing that happen.

Seeing Steven at the heart of it, saying,

"We can still do this," when no one believed we could.

No one believed we could.

And he's saying to all of us, "I believe."

This felt a kind of pure thing.

This felt like a victory for spirit.

And Steven as the central character in all of this

is why he was so important to us.

STEVEN: What you've got to understand is this is my life.

When you've got the armband on and you're in them boots

and you're that person, it's real.

INTERVIEWER: You wanted nights like this, with this club.

Surely, this means you stay at this club.

You'll be committed to this club.

STEVEN: For me, at that time,

I'm thinking all the speculation.

Surely, now Rafa will be in a different place with me,

and I'll sign a long-term deal and we're done.

I'm sure the manager and Rick Parry

will want to sit down really soon

and a decision will be made, but...

how can I leave after a night like this?

But from my point of view, there was just no urgency.

I felt like it was real.

I felt like Rafa wanted to cash in on me.

I felt like I was getting pulled from pillar to post,

and there was just so much shit that was going through me head.

What I was giving to the club, it was me life.

I gave everything.

But maybe I deserved to play in a better team

for a manager that loves me.

Maybe it might be better for me to move on.

My head was spinning, and I was lost.

I was lost in that spin.

GEORGE ALAGIAH: Now, he says it's the hardest decision

he's ever had to make.

The Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard,

has told the club he wants to leave

just weeks after he led the team to European Cup glory.

REPORTER: Six weeks ago, he woke up on top of Europe

and seemingly staying put.

This morning, he woke to back pages

apparently paving his way out of Anfield and into Chelsea.

His agent says contract talks have broken down.

The papers say, so has Gerrard's relationship

with his manager.

-WOMAN: Devastated. Devastated. -INTERVIEWER: Why?

MAN: He's the backbone of the team. That's what it is.

If the engine goes, the car cuts out.

-That's true. -And that's about the Liverpool team.

-Steve Gerrard moves... -That's true.

...that's when our team falls apart.

CALLER: It wasn't about winning trophies.

-It's all about money. -[beep]

CALLER 2: He's shown his true colors by the fact

-that he's even considered leaving Liverpool. -[beep]

CALLER 3: Tell you what, the little scab can go.

-The little scab can go. -[beep]

CALLER 4: Good riddance to Judas himself.

MARSHALL: It brought to life how people feel

about the football club,

and people made it clear how they felt.

Notes posted up on the gate at the end of the road.

Phone calls, text messages.

"You're not going." "Fuck off."

"You're one of us." "You better not fucking go."

Direct threats made.

[birds screeching]

I'd been around him enough in Liverpool

to realize what a bizarre hotbed of pressure that is

to be him in that city.

I wouldn't change places with him.

He's held the Champions League trophy above his head.

I'd love to do that,

but I wouldn't change places with him.

And that's what I've thought as I've sat with him

and watched his shirt getting burnt on a television screen.

WILLIAMS: Players like him come around

maybe every 40 or 50 years.

You get them in a lifetime.

If he goes, all of us can go.

All of us can find a more successful club to support.

Why not?

The game just dissolves then.

STEVEN: I was a young lad who was a bit lost.

There was so much going on,

it was difficult to think straight

and try and make a huge decision

that you're not sure whether it's gonna be right or wrong.

So it takes someone close

to maybe remind you what you've got.

PAUL: He didn't know where he was.

I could see it in him. I remember watching him.

He just said, "You know, Dad, I've had these offers."

And I did say to him, "At the end of the day,

"it's gonna be your decision.

"But them people won't love you

"the way these people love you here.

"You can't change what you are, the way you've been brought up.

You're a Scouser." That's what I said to him.

STEVEN: He was saying to me, "These fans adore you.

"You're everything to them.

"You're their hope, you're their dreams

"every single day.

"Liverpool is in your heart. Forget what's in your head.

"If Chelsea are in your head, that's just a noise.

"That's just a noise.

"Remember where you're from.

"Remember who made you.

Liverpool's your team."

-[beep] -REPORTER: It's 9:38,

and Johnny Sanderson with the sports.

SANDERSON: Steven Gerrard is going to stay at Liverpool.

REPORTER 2: Gerrard's set to put pen to paper

on a new four-year contract on Friday.

And it was clear the last few days had taken their toll.

STEVEN: I think they've been the most difficult days of...

of me life, really.

I'm not proud of them.

I've been really confused. It's been difficult.

I wouldn't wish it on any other player or any other person...

[voice fades]

The best thing that happened to me was that conversation.

If I didn't have me dad and me brother,

I could have made a mistake.

Now, I think there's a lot of people in the game

that believe I made the wrong decision,

but they don't know my feelings.

Nine times out of ten, maybe the right thing

might have been to go.

But I'm not one of the nine.

I'm the one.

[crowd singing]

McAULEY: Steven showed that he was human

and he was devoted to his club and his city.

He put the shirt on the next game

and said, "Whatever I have to do to carry this team

as far as I can, then I'm going to do it."

[cheering]

He was Liverpool. He was Liverpool.

That year, the West Ham FA Cup Final,

one man was gonna score that goal.

COMMENTATOR: To Gerrard. Gerrard's driving shot!

[commentators shouting indistinctly]

What a fantastic goal.

[commentators continue indistinctly]

...for Steven Gerrard.

Well, just when you think

that he can't produce anything...

STEVEN: The FA Cup was one of the best days of me life,

because I know what I did for my own people.

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: FA Cup Final winners, Liverpool!

STEVEN: I'd committed the best years to the club,

and it was nice to get the relationship back strong.

Me head felt free.

I felt awesome.

You know, it was, "Bring it on, anyone."

[crowd cheering]

WILLIAMS: He really belonged to us now.

But for most supporters, it's not the end of the story.

It's just the beginning of what it is we really need to do.

Because the thing we really need to do

is to win the Premier League, and he has to take us there.

SHANKLY: Well, we really would like to win the League,

because I think that's the ultimate in English football,

to win the First Division championship.

STEVEN: I was one trophy away.

But the Premier League was getting better

and faster and stronger.

COMMENTATOR: Drogba on the turn.

-Oh, what a goal! -STEVEN: If you wanted

to play for the top six, eight teams,

you've got to be world-class.

COMMENTATOR: And Manchester United

get their noses in front.

-Henry! -[cheering]

STEVEN: Every single club was spending

absolute fortunes, just craving that glory.

REPORTER: Manchester City Football Club

has been bought by billionaire Arabs

who say they'll make the club the biggest in England.

REPORTER 2: We don't know exactly how much money

is behind the Abu Dhabi royal family.

We know it's billions of pounds,

which would dwarf the wealth of the owners

of Liverpool, Manchester United,

even of Chelsea.

STEVEN: So, that's what we had to do.

Try and make Liverpool capable of competing with them sides.

REPORTER: First tonight,

the American multimillionaire, George Gillett Junior,

is poised to take over Liverpool Football Club.

If Gillett's bid were to come good,

he'd be the third American

to jump into the Premiership of late.

We've already had Malcolm Glazer

at Manchester United

and Randy Lerner at Aston Villa,

all promising swift returns to glory.

And glory is what people on the Kop want more than anything.

TOM HICKS: I want to assure the fans of Liverpool that...

we know what you want: you want to win.

And I want to win.

CARRAGHER: When them owners came in,

they did what we wanted them to do,

which was to buy players in a different market.

We signed Fernando Torres for 25 million.

Mascherano comes along, 20 million.

This team is getting better and growing.

2008, we have the best team I've probably played in.

COMMENTATOR: Vidic lets it bounce.

And Torres is all over him.

And Torres is in for Liverpool.

-Fernando Torres! -[crowd cheering]

Wonderful!

And Steven Gerrard just about

squeezes it past Edwin van der Sar.

It's a kiss for the badge.

It's a kiss for the camera.

-Liverpool... -STEVEN: There's a force,

there's a power that comes from the crowd,

and you feel it.

[shouting indistinctly]

-MAN: Steve. -MAN 2:Stevie.

STEVEN: I needed to deliver that trophy soon,

to give them what they wanted.

COMMENTATOR: Alonso...

Gerrard towards it!

[cheering]

Steven Gerrard scores his second.

Liverpool score four.

And the title race is on.

WILLIAMS: We did really come

very, very close to winning the title that season.

COMMENTATOR: Manchester United.

WILLIAMS: And it felt it was only a matter of time.

But, as it turns out, we were all duped.

REPORTER: The Hicks and Gillett era began

in 2007 when they bought the club for £290 million.

In May, a pretax loss of almost £55 million

was announced, and Liverpool's overall debt

now lies at around 280 million.

WILLIAMS: The owners turned out to be

the antithesis of what this club is about.

It was an utter betrayal.

REPORTER: Now, I think Liverpool fans

have to be realistic at this time.

With the current state the club is in financially...

CALLER: Football is not about economics; it's about emotion.

I think things have gone too far.

CALLER 2: When football's about football again,

then I'll be a happier man.

McAULEY: The Hicks and Gillett thing,

that was a change in the dynamics of the club

that was gonna change people's lives forever.

It's a massive, massive business enterprise now.

Okay, we all have to change and be open-minded,

but for me, the heart of the club was being ripped out.

We used to be unique.

Liverpool used to be about the Liverpool way.

Well, it's not the Liverpool way.

I knew the Liverpool way.

REPORTER: So, these are the scenes this morning

around the ground as fans make their way to Anfield.

But to be honest, today's game

feels like it is overshadowed by the memories

of what happened 20 years ago at Hillsborough.

And there'll be a minute's silence just before kickoff

to mark the anniversary of the tragedy.

[whistle blows]

CARRAGHER: Liverpool's not just a football club.

It's an institution.

But sometimes reality hits you of how important it is.

This is our club, this is our life.

[whistle blows]

[cheering and applause]

COMMENTATOR: It's a week to stop and reflect.

Wednesday is the 20th anniversary

of the Hillsborough tragedy.

Anfield will be home this week for families, friends

and the wider Liverpool family

to come and remember, to come and grieve

and, of course, to celebrate lives.

CARRAGHER: When you're a local lad,

it is completely different.

I love the fact that I play for a club where it mattered.

I'd hate to play for a team where it didn't.

But at times, did it get on top of us

when things aren't going well,

how much you feel it being a local player?

You feel like you're letting people down.

And with Stevie being the captain, that doubled for him.

STEVEN: When the fans stick together

and they want something, they're very, very powerful.

And I think that shows what people from the city are about.

Forget footballers.

They're always gonna fight till the end

to get what they want, and that's what they did.

And to be part of that

makes you feel proud of coming from this city.

I wanted to help the people that I love.

My family, my supporters.

To try and make people happy.

But I knew I was running out of time.

So, Torres, when he left for Chelsea

was a big, big disappointment, and it was a low.

-[reporters shouting] -[cameras clicking]

CARRAGHER: Top players left for big money.

You always put on a brave face,

but you've got to keep those players

to win a Premier League.

And we had a major drop-off.

[chanting, cheering]

STEVEN: 30 years of age,

there's so many miles on the clock at this point.

And I'd go through anything to get out on that pitch.

Stress fractures in me back,

steroid injections in every part of me body.

To keep pushing above the limit, above the limit.

MARSHALL: The club was stagnating

and unable to move forward.

And he'd spent a lot of energy

trying to keep the place together.

He wanted to have that responsibility,

but when it went on month after month,

year after year, it took its toll

physically and mentally on him, and did a bit of damage.

When he walked down a corridor after games,

you saw the weight of the world on his shoulders.

PAUL: Every man out there who's got a son who plays football,

they'd be the same.

You want them to win every game,

you know, because you know what it means to them.

But, unfortunately, you don't win every game, do you?

Nobody.

You get beat somewhere along the line.

REPORTER: This picture features

in a number of the sports sections.

It's a picture of, uh, Steven Gerrard on crutches.

-The Liverpool talisman... -STEVEN: Me body give up.

The groin just packed in

and snapped and come off the bone.

There was an infection, which made me pelvis split.

At that point, I thought I might have been done.

ALEX: This infection just kept coming in different places.

At the time, you just think, "It's not right."

We were in the hospital, and the surgeon said,

"We need to do an operation." All he kept saying was,

"How long until I can play again?

How long?"

And I just remember him being on the floor.

STEVEN: I was thinking to meself,

"This could be the end," and it was breaking me.

I wasn't sleeping at night.

I was no good to no one.

I needed help.

I wasn't in a good place on the way up to that meeting.

Me foot's in a boot, it's minus two,

I'm crutching it up a snowy path to see a psychiatrist.

And I'm thinking, "How has football brought me here?"

And the first two minutes of our conversation,

I'm thinking, "I'm out of here."

'Cause the first thing he said to me was,

"Well, what if you are done?

"What if it is over? What are you gonna do?

How are you gonna handle it?"

The crazy thing about it, I didn't want to hear it,

but it actually helped.

He was just taking me to a place

where probably no one around me would take me to,

or that I'd never been to.

And I almost felt like I was done

and actually thought, "Well, if I am, I am."

[chuckles] What-what can I do?

[crowd cheering]

It was a nice break from driving meself insane.

And I remember thinking to meself,

"Wow, you put yourself under incredible pressure."

[indistinct shouting]

It definitely made me appreciate

what I've got away from football,

because it makes you think, "Well...

"okay, football's important, and it is your life,

"but it's not everything.

"Family is everything.

People that care about you are everything."

But it's a drug.

Football's a drug.

You-you want more of it.

And that pressure, you crave for it back.

The chance of getting the one that eluded me,

it gripped me again.

COMMENTATOR: The Blues are silenced.

The Reds are raucous. One-nil.

MARSHALL: He looked into the abyss,

saw how close he was to the end,

which he wasn't ready for.

Of course he wanted to believe they were going to compete,

but I think that was more hoping

than genuinely believing, you know.

He had Suárez now

to help him do what he wanted to do,

and he could be a leader to his young team.

COMMENTATOR: Can Liverpool topple Arsenal

and further strengthen their hopes of a top-four finish?

And Liverpool load the box.

-Oh, and Liverpool lead! -[cheering]

Celebrations for Martin Skrtel!

WILLIAMS: That season, Arsenal came to Liverpool,

top of the table, and we wiped them out.

COMMENTATOR: Three-nil to Liverpool.

-It's Raheem Sterling. -Raheem Sterling!

This is simply wonderful from Liverpool.

WILLIAMS: The League is a process.

It's a journey.

And that season, the bits and pieces

kind of came together.

If we could wring out from Steven the last dregs

of what he's been giving us all of these years,

and if Suárez can stay fit, this might yet be possible.

We might have a miracle here.

STEVEN: I don't think anyone believed it

around Christmas, January, February time.

The journey sort of gathered momentum.

You start thinking, "Can we get in this?"

COMMENTATOR: Gerrard.

Oh, what a pass that is.

Sturridge is in here for Liverpool.

-And it's in off the post. -[crowd cheering]

Steven Gerrard has been perfect with these all season.

And it doesn't change here!

Manchester United nil, Liverpool one.

Scenes of ecstasy in the away end.

And Steven Gerrard mobbed by all his teammates.

Sturridge brings it to the edge of the penalty area.

Miskicks his shot.

-Suárez... -Goal!

That's three! And that's it!

And Suárez seals a historic win against Manchester United.

McAULEY: Steven always had a relationship

with people on the same wavelength as him.

Fantastic goal scorers.

And he had that relationship with Suárez.

COMMENTATOR: That's from distance.

Oh, my word!

McAULEY: This is our team again now.

The football was exciting.

COMMENTATOR: Luis Suárez creates history.

McAULEY: People were going to the match now,

expecting Liverpool to win.

COMMENTATOR: Steven Gerrard is there as well.

And it is Gerrard!

STEVEN: You get the best feelings in the world.

You feel incredible.

But, like, become obsessed.

Watching TV around it,

reading about it, talking about it.

Letting all the emotions build up and build up.

It dominated me life.

COMMENTATOR: The winners here today.

-Do they win the title? -I think so.

I think, if City win, 100% certain

I'd say they'd win the title.

Liverpool, I think, are almost there.

[voice-over]: It was my first season as a pundit.

A lot of the time, you're thinking

in the back of your head, "Why did I retire?

"I've been waiting me whole life

-to try and lift that trophy." -[crowd singing]

But it was exciting.

And for Stevie to have that moment, that coming together,

it just felt it was meant to be.

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: Please now join us in observing...

CARRAGHER: And to have the Hillsborough 25th anniversary

that day, it was just spine-tingling.

-[whistle blows] -[cheering and applause]

But City were the title rivals.

We still had to win the game.

[indistinct commentary]

And this now is Liverpool in with Raheem Sterling.

-Oh, what a goal! -[crowd cheering]

That's astonishing!

The composure.

Steven Gerrard with the corner this time.

Left-hand side towards Skrtel!

[cheering]

He scores against Manchester City yet again.

Martin Skrtel has brought the Anfield house down.

This is Milner.

It's a lovely ball by Fernandinho.

It's a classy Manchester City goal.

It's a wonderful goal from a really good side.

It's David Silva who scores, and it is...

Beats his man. Gives to Milner.

Milner into the box for Silva.

They're just finding gaps inside Liverpool here.

It's Silva. It's deflected.

-And it's in. -Oh, it's in! It's in!

-Mignolet is beaten. -Oh, my God!

-And Manchester City's comeback is complete. -Unbelievable.

And it's the Manchester City fans in ecstasy.

It looked like he was falling backwards.

Well, they got a little bit unfortunate, Liverpool,

but you have to say...

[commentary continues indistinctly]

Critical moment of the game.

Critical moment of the season.

Oh, Kompany's miskicked.

Coutinho!

Would you believe it!

The little magician has come up with something.

[crowd cheering]

It's ten out of ten for Liverpool.

It has been a Sunday to remember at Anfield.

Liverpool lengthen their lead in the title race.

What celebrations here.

They have just cleared a massive hurdle.

Hey. This does not fucking slip now!

Listen to me!

This does not fucking slip now!

Listen! Listen!

This is gone!

We go to Norwich-- exactly the same!

We go again!

[indistinct shouting]

[crowd singing]

Yes!

McAULEY: We were very, very close now.

I would get very emotional, to be honest.

I get very tearful.

You know, here's a man at the top of his career,

but I didn't see the man.

I see the boy.

I see Steven Gerrard, nine, ten years of age.

He felt everything to do with Liverpool Football Club.

STEVEN: I don't know, it just had to come out.

It must have had to come out, and it did.

Because I'd never got that close.

But then, 48 hours before this huge game

against Chelsea, I was panicking,

thinking I wouldn't be available.

I couldn't get in and out me car.

I was so stiff and sore and painful in me back.

You know, I'd basically been like a pincushion that season

to get out and play in the amount of games that I did.

Patch me up, do whatever's needed.

How can you get me pain-free?

What do I need to do to get pain-free?

'Cause I need to play in this game.

I have to play in this game, no matter what.

Realistically, what I had at the time,

I shouldn't have played.

Shouldn't have played.

But the way I am, it's everything to get out there.

So I had an epidural in me back

and took tons and tons of painkillers.

That's what happened in the build-up to that game.

[crowd cheering]

WILLIAMS: Manchester City had

all God's gold to build that team.

And when we beat them,

I think everybody in the ground felt,

"My God, this is gonna happen."

But you-you daren't even really think about it.

It was so close, so tangibly there,

and we're gasping for air in the city.

CROWD: We're gonna win the League...

COMMENTATOR: The time is now for Liverpool.

Destiny awaits the men in red if they can see the job home.

But today, Chelsea and José Mourinho roll into town.

-[crowd singing] -What a reception.

What an atmosphere.

It already feels like

one of the big occasions in this football club's

unique and illustrious history.

Anfield is electric.

Anfield expects.

Can Liverpool produce for them like they have

-on so many occasions this season? -[whistle blows]

It's Chelsea who get us underway,

playing towards the Kop.

That's on for Sterling.

It's a lovely ball.

Johnson joining.

It's beat round the back.

It's Coutinho.

Well, he went first time, and he just couldn't...

Salah. It's just run too far ahead of him.

And then José Mourinho picked it up.

And Steven Gerrard and Flanagan both went running into him

and almost grappled it out of the palms

-of José Mourinho. -What an idiot. What an idiot.

We're in that three minutes of added-on time

at the end of the first half.

To Coutinho in the center circle,

halfway line for Liverpool.

On to Sakho.

Oh, Gerrard slips.

Demba Ba onto it.

Ba against Mignolet here for Chelsea.

Demba scores! Chelsea have the lead!

Liverpool nil, Chelsea one.

Steven Gerrard, the captain, slips,

and Demba Ba has popped up with another crucial Chelsea goal.

Chelsea lead at Anfield.

Great football in the first half that they want to see.

-Steven Gerrard of all people. -And it's Chelsea.

And Demba Ba slipped it under the goalkeeper.

And it was Gerrard who made it Liverpool nil, Chelsea one.

[commentary continues indistinctly]

[crowd singing]

WILLIAMS: I can still visualize that moment

and the end to that season.

COMMENTATOR: Fernando Torres looking to score

against his former club.

Time's run out, and it's a horrible day for Liverpool.

And it's José Mourinho...

WILLIAMS: And losing the title to Manchester City.

It does hurt. It hurts now.

You know, but that's what football is.

That's why you know it's important.

But to think and remember that, of all people,

he'll blame himself for that moment,

that slip.

That's too cruel.

ALEX: When the goal went in, I seen him look up,

and I just thought, "Oh, my God, it's the end."

I just thought, "He's gonna be broken."

And he was.

He just didn't speak.

And there was nothing I could say

to make it any better, because you can't.

McAULEY: Everybody wants to dream.

But football is a cruel game.

And now, going to see Liverpool play

was never, ever going to be the same again,

because that number eight wasn't going to be there.

INTERVIEWER: Have you read much of the... the reaction?

STEVEN: I can't at the moment.

I keep switching the-the TV over, and...

um, I'm replying to messages and stuff, but it's tough.

Uh, to be named in the same company

as some of the legends and some of the p-people

that I look up to-- I'm nearly going here--

um, it's-it's brilliant.

Especially for, you know, me dad and...

and me brother and stuff.

You're allowed to be emotional about it, though.

It's-it... this club has been

such a massive part of... of your life,

but you've been such a massive part of...

of all of our lives and all the supporters' lives.

Yeah, I mean, it's-it's been a... a fantastic relationship.

So strong, and, um...

I'm one of the luckiest people in the world to have that.

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: Raise your scarves now

to welcome your captain onto the pitch

for his final game at Anfield.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the one and only Steven Gerrard!

MOURINHO: I tried to bring him to Chelsea.

I tried to bring him to Inter.

I tried to bring him to Real Madrid.

And he was always a dear enemy,

so I-I want to honor him.

Because, in the end, I think it's an amazing career

and an amazing feeling with his people

that he refused to play for other big clubs,

to play only for Liverpool.

And I think this is a feeling that-that stays...

that stays forever.

CROWD: Gerrard, Gerrard

He'll pass the ball 40 yard

He's big, red and fucking hard

Steve Gerrard.

STEVEN: That was the hardest thing

I've ever had to do, is... is come away from the club.

Still now, it hurts to step away from it.

I think it was only fair on me family

that I come out of that pressure situation.

Over here's given me a chance to breathe,

to finish me career with a smile on me face.

[indistinct shouting]

I played wanting people to be proud of what I give.

And I think I achieved that.

PAUL: When he left Liverpool, he just said to me,

"You know, Dad, I've given it all I could."

I said, "You didn't have to tell me that.

I've watched it with me own eyes."

WILLIAMS: I feel incredibly honored

to have been able to see him play.

But there are lots of ways in which people could say

Steven Gerrard's career, it's not measured up

to what a player of his talent ought to have had.

I think he'd have to accept that.

But the thing that he has, which very few players have,

is the deep love and respect

of people from the city in which he was born.

And he is an emotional person,

like many people in the city feel themselves to be.

And so he's part of that order which says,

"How I feel is more important than what I win

or what I can earn somewhere else."

And that's a big message.

[crowd cheering]

[crowd singing]

[indistinct chatter]

[chatter continues]

[whistle blows]

STEVEN: I've had an incredible journey.

I've had my time.

But I still think I've got unfinished business,

and I want to give back.

[indistinct chatter]

[players and coaches groaning and exclaiming]

[indistinct shouting]

I often say to meself,

"Why do you want to go back into the pressure situation,

and why do you want to go through all them emotions?"

But I don't feel that my journey's complete.

We'll see.

["The Prize" by Michael Head and the Strands playing]

I'm safe and submerged in my submarine

And the bells from the town strike three

And it's happening to me

And I grab the prize

The prize was a song and a lullaby

And I think that my voice agrees

And you're taking the west from me

Like the other day

And you're taking the east from me

Like the other day

Now the race to the dark is a lonely one

But the things that pertain to me

For the power that you bring

Onto thee...

[song fades]