Original subtitles

(DISTANT CHEERING)

(CHEERING GROWS LOUDER)

(CHEERING STOPS ABRUPTLY)

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 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 me, you know, it's part of the game.

Football's not about turning up and playing.

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

(LOUD CHEERING)

(GAME PLAYS QUIETLY ON TV)

I just felt it was time to come out, and 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.

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.

NARRATOR: In Liverpool, football is the consuming passion.

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

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

and you know you've got 28,000 mates with you there singing, you know.

COMMENTATOR 1: Liverpool scored five goals and could have scored more.

Their poor sacrificial victims were Arsenal. Southerners.

COMMENTATOR 2: And out comes the trophy,

which is awarded to the League champions.

Fairclough!

BILL SHANKLY: (OVER MIC) Since I came 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!

REPORTER: 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 one of the highest unemployment areas in Britain,

and I think football is like

a get-out for a lot of 'em from disappointment.

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.

(CHILDREN SHOUT)

Breathed football.

NARRATOR: Merseyside has dominated English football in the '80s.

Liverpool have 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: 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.

Yeah, 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 wanna go anywhere but to play football.

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.

- (WHISTLE BLOWS) - (APPLAUSE)

They say it's a gift, and he had it.

He had the gift. He was born with the gift.

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?"

I used to go, "You can't say that, you can't guarantee nothing."

And he said, "I'll guarantee you, Steven'll go all the way."

I think he was eight when he first went to Liverpool.

REPORTER: 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 straight away, as if they weren't there.

You think, "My God."

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, this kid's got a chance."

STEVEN GERRARD: I just loved playing football and supporting Liverpool.

It was all just fun to me.

...and they could lead the squad forward.

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

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

I had a chance. I didn't have a clue.

ANNOUNCER: David Smith...

STEVEN GERRARD: Maybe I was in me own little world.

ANNOUNCER: Andy Murphy, John Roberts.

STEVEN GERRARD: I just loved it. I just couldn't wait to play.

REPORTER: Liverpool going into the semi on a run of good results

and the confidence high; people saying it's a great season up to now.

But it's not over yet.

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

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

Next minute, I sees it on the telly. He went, "Oh, there's trouble there."

And I looked again and I went, "Oh my God, that looks heavy, that,

whatever that is."

REPORTER: There's total confusion there.

The police have brought in as many reinforcements...

PAUL GERRARD: 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 Semi-Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Casualty figures now stand at 94 dead.

Twenty-four of them have now been identified, including a boy of ten.

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

at seven o'clock 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 GERRARD: 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 BYRNE: 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.

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

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

cos 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.

Others want to get back on soon

because they... because they love it.

PRESENTER: John Williams is a sociologist.

He, too, was at Hillsborough

and witnessed the disaster with Rogan Taylor.

JOHN WILLIAMS: I think it re-affirmed 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.

COMMENTATOR: One minute to go.

McMahon has got the word from the Kop, obviously.

JOHN 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!

Thomas!

Right at the end!

An unbelievable climax to the League season!

Well into injury time.

The Liverpool players are down, absolutely.

PAUL GERRARD: 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.

KENNY 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...

kind of which the person has pushed himself to their limit.

JOHN 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.

PRESENTER: 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.

JOHN WILLIAMS: The most obvious signal for us that things were changing

was we couldn't win the League title.

We'd lost that vice-like hold.

COMMENTATOR: Steve Bruce lifts the Premier League trophy

for Manchester United.

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

HUGH 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!

HUGH MCAULEY: We needed that hope again.

Next one in!

And here was a little lad who just kept on going, going, going.

And he lifted you every time you went to coach.

JULIE BYRNE: Steven 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 GERRARD: 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 gotta wanna 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.

HUGH 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 gonna help him improve.

But he's very sensitive. He's a very sensitive lad.

And he kept a lot of his feelings to himself.

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.

Steven'd pick a ball up. First player he'd look for was him.

Cos 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 GERRARD: I used to go out

and I'd see a big lad in the opposition team.

I'd wanna nail him first.

I'd think, if I flatten him early,

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

PAUL GERRARD: One day the coach called 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 BYRNE: 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.

HUGH 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.

Cos 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.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 Heggem...

STEVEN GERRARD: You see the nod.

The feeling that you get is surreal and it's fuckin' scary.

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

And he's gonna be given his opportunity for Liverpool.

Promoted from the youth side. Fresh faced...

PAUL GERRARD: I've had to pinch meself and go, you know, "Is this real?

This is my lad this is happening to."

COMMENTATOR: Final minute of stoppage time. Gerrard...

PAUL GERRARD: Don't make no mistakes. Don't make no mistakes.

COMMENTATOR: To Owen. Teenagers combine.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 opens to the real game.

(CHEERING)

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

When you're out there and you're on that grass level,

you've gotta be ready, or you get found out.

You can't hide there.

MICHAEL OWEN: Everything is happening in 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.

This is not a dream. This is it.

COMMENTATOR: And Redknapp finds a way through.

Great effort by Fowler!

And Owen. And still.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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.

The opposition hate you.

There's hatred there.

And you can feel it in the challenges.

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

COMMENTATOR: And he and Westerveld have an angry clash.

And they're both gonna be in trouble here.

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

JAMIE CARRAGHER: You have to perform as a young player

when you first go on the 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 gonna happen.

I was very aggressive and Stevie was exactly the same.

COMMENTATOR: Barmby did well then for Everton.

Campbell takes a clattering challenge from young Gerrard.

And it's a red card for him.

(BOOING)

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."

We're talking about footballers' wages in the late 1990s,

it's a big-money business.

With me, Agent Struan Marshall.

STRUAN 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 club to the player.

David, how difficult has it been?

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

The players are the people that everybody comes to watch.

STRUAN MARSHALL: 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, you know.

But Stevie controlled the meeting,

and he asked the questions of me more than the other way round.

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 1: Attack might be the best form of defense for Liverpool.

Gerrard. Oh, it's a wonderful run!

(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.

Nineteen years of age.

COMMENTATOR 1: What a splendid solo goal.

It's Liverpool three, Sheffield Wednesday one.

And what about that from Steven Gerrard?

When he came into the team,

he was so unbelievably raw and whole-hearted.

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."

COMMENTATOR 1: Gerrard!

It flew in for Liverpool from Steven Gerrard!

COMMENTATOR 2: This is absolute perfection.

Here's Gerrard, on the ball again.

Oh, he's tried from a 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.

STRUAN MARSHALL: I would be so engrossed in 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,

some of the things that he's done.

(CHEERING)

There's something inside you when you're coming through

that's got such belief in yourself that you 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: Babel trying to reach it. Owen!

And Liverpool are back in business thanks to Michael Owen.

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: Liverpool!

(CHEERING)

COMMENTATOR: Hamann. To Owen. Gerrard's in space ahead of him.

A real chance for Steven Gerrard!

Two-nil Liverpool.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 see it on the TV.

I was starting to get stronger.

I was starting to become a man.

In first place and the winner...

STEVEN GERRARD: Then getting the Young Player of the Year,

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

...is Steven Gerrard.

(CHEERING)

STRUAN 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."

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

STRUAN MARSHALL: Drag Liverpool Football Club with him to success.

It was an ambition to play for Liverpool.

Now that it's here, I appreciate it very much.

Hopefully I can win a lot of trophies and stay there as long as possible.

(FOOTBALL CROWD CHEERS)

The crowd love a local lad

who gives everything for that shirt.

He is their blood in many ways.

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

Steven was a shining example

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

Here's somebody who's gonna run through a brick wall for your football club.

(CROWD CHANTS)

COMMENTATOR: A cross.

Headed away by Stubbs. It's gone back to Steven Gerrard.

Brilliant goal!

HUGH MCAULEY: But, with Liverpool supporters,

they would never rest until Liverpool won the Premier League.

And that's it.

They're continually hungry. Hungry for Liverpool to do well.

(DISTANT SIREN WAILS)

REPORTER 1: He bought Chelsea for a pound in 1982.

Now Ken Bates has sold his majority stake

for 30 million to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

REPORTER 2: Chelsea has never been able to rival the financial muscle

of rivals like Manchester United.

Now, though, that could all change.

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

and they're gonna spend a few quid and they're gonna do this and 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.

STRUAN MARSHALL: Yeah, it was different. It was for real.

JOHN 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 players who think as I think.

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

(DOG BARKS IN THE DISTANCE)

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 GERRARD: 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?

It 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 gonna 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.

STRUAN 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 Benítez

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.

I was in the room 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 wanna 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)

MICHAEL OWEN: I'd like to say a special thank you to Señor Presidente

for giving me the opportunity to play for the best team in the world.

Thank you very much. Muchas gracias.

MICHAEL OWEN: 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."

HUGH 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 gonna win with Liverpool?

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

(CHEERING)

Even though you think they're gonna play for Liverpool forever, you say,

"Well, why should we think that?"

They don't owe Liverpool anything, really.

STEVEN GERRARD: I just assumed we were going all the way to the top together.

It was always me and him.

Shit, this is gonna affect me, it's gonna affect us.

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

HUGH 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: Tokić. Makes room to shoot.

Oh, what a goal that is.

MAN ON PHONE: Steven Gerrard,

we know how powerful and how important he is to this Liverpool team.

But they cannot rely totally on him cos that's how it's starting to look.

JOHN WILLIAMS: We didn't have a great team.

And Benítez 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.

- REPORTER: You were happy with them? - With the players? Sure. They tried.

JOHN 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.

Lee in Spain says, "That was the most embarrassing night

as a Liverpool fan I've had in 30 years of supporting them."

CALLER 1: We've got no chance of wining the League or the Champions League.

CALLER 2: That was one of the worst displays of a Liverpool team I've seen.

It's... It's difficult to remember another one like it, Andrew.

STRUAN 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.

COMMENTATOR 1: 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 2: Rivaldo's having his shirt pulled by Xabi Alonso.

Still Rivaldo. Still Rivaldo.

And then Sami Hyypiä.

COMMENTATOR 3: Nineteen minutes to half-time.

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 4: Liverpool nil, Olympiakos one.

JAMIE CARRAGHER: It wasn't going well. I think he felt the responsibility more.

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 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.

COMMENTATOR 2: Mellor. Lovely cushioned header. Gerrard!

- (CHEERING) - (COMMENTATORS SHOUT INDISTINCTLY)

Steven Gerrard!

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: Scoring Liverpool's third goal of the night, Steven Gerrard!

(CROWD ROARS)

ALEX GERRARD: When I first met him,

he was just a young lad playing football, living his dream.

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

He obviously grew up a lot because of the responsibility he had.

But we were both still really young at that time.

(CHILD LAUGHS)

On the pitch, he always looked aggressive.

I'm like, "Oh God."

Daddy...

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

(CHILD LAUGHS)

He wasn't scared of showing his emotions.

He probably looked forward to just coming home and just being himself.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 gonna be one of these captains where they go, "He never won anything"?

The weight and how heavy the expectation was,

it was just a constant thing in me head.

(CROWD ROARS)

(CAMERAS CLICK)

HUGH 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 GERRARD: 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.

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.

Which team plays better than Chelsea? Arsenal?

- MAN: They might get... - Better than us.

MAN:...more critical acclaim sometimes.

- They might get more critical acclaim. - Ten points behind. Ten points behind.

(CROWD CHANTS)

JAMIE CARRAGHER: The whole Chelsea scenario was very big in the press

in the build-up to that game.

COMMENTATOR: Well, it's hard to resist the notion 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.

JAMIE CARRAGHER: The scrutiny on Steven Gerrard,

because of who he is, 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: 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.

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.

CALLER 1: Steven Gerrard was an absolute disgrace today.

Every tackle he throws in, the hand's out,

picking 'em up, shaking hands with Makélélé and the rest of them.

He's an absolute disgrace.

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.

CALLER 3: Gerrard's supposed to be the motivator, to drive the team on.

- He was an absolute disgrace. - (BEEP)

PAUL GERRARD: He was getting slated by the supporters

for having this nightmare of a game.

You wanna 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 GERRARD: 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.

JOHN WILLIAMS: You know, Liverpool is an incredibly enriching,

wonderful place to have a connection to, but it can also be suffocating.

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?"

(CHEERING)

So, that incredible run in the Champions League,

that season was really important.

It gave us something to hold on to.

PRESENTER: Liverpool's Champions League Semi-Final against Chelsea

is now just over an hour away

with a place in the Final in Istanbul next month

beckoning for the winner.

JOHN WILLIAMS: You couldn't write the fact

that we would meet Chelsea in the Semi-Final.

You couldn't write it, could you?

So, I arrive here with my ego... big.

(REPORTERS LAUGH)

You know? Now it's even higher. (LAUGHS)

They have the most expensive team in the world.

Good manager, good players.

But we have our supporters and we have the balance now.

(CROWD CHANTS)

JOHN 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.

(CROWD CHANTS)

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

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

How was this gonna work out?

(CHEERING)

(CHEERING GROWS LOUDER)

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

COMMENTATOR: Riise. To Gerrard with space.

Pumped in towards Baroš! He's beaten Terry to it.

The goalkeeper made contact with Luis García!

Was it over the line?

Gallas hooked it away!

Goal!

(CROWD ROARS)

The first goal of this Semi-Final is a Liverpool goal!

Time has come for Liverpool to play in yet another European Cup Final.

Rafa Benítez and his team have rolled back the years.

It's just like the old days.

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

They were constantly asking.

If they win this tomorrow, you know, it could change everything.

But I think if they lose tomorrow night,

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

JOHN WILLIAMS: What greater stage could Steven have?

The entire world would be watching this.

Isn't this what you and we all want?

PAUL GERRARD: 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 coming over the hills.

I've never seen nothing like it.

Nothing like it. The support.

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 GERRARD: The tension and the build-up, the magnitude of it,

it was a new level.

COMMENTATOR: This day, the 50th Final

of Europe's most prestigious club competition is under way.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 SPEAKS ITALIAN)

STEVEN GERRARD: If we win this,

it's gonna be the best night of my career.

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

COMMENTATOR: Liverpool are facing very talented players tonight, Andy.

ANDY TOWNSEND: They certainly are. Switch on immediately.

COMMENTATOR: Free kick to Milan and Pirlo lining this one up

down this nearside.

(COMMENTATOR SPEAKS ITALIAN)

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK AT THE SAME TIME)

COMMENTATOR 1: And it's in! Goal in 50 seconds for Milan.

COMMENTATOR 2: Paulo Maldini.

The Milan captain strikes first in the first minute!

ANDY GRAY: 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 GERRARD: 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.

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK ITALIAN)

COMMENTATOR 1: Here's Kaká. And here's the trouble, it's Shevchenko.

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

And itjust gets worse for Liverpool before half-time.

COMMENTATOR 2: The second goal for the Italians.

ANDY GRAY: AC Milan feel the game is over.

Absolutely certain. The dug-out's out. They all know.

They just cannot believe it.

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK ITALIAN)

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK AT THE SAME TIME)

COMMENTATOR: Crespo has scored twice in five minutes!

It's AC Milan three, Liverpool nil. And this Final is over.

JAMIE CARRAGHER: OK, they got one.

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, 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 BLOWS) - And it could get worse.

- It's only half-time. - (WHISTLE BLOWS)

JOHN WILLIAMS: Three-nil against these assassins who played for Milan.

It was, it was over.

(CROWD SINGS "YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE")

"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 ploughed field in Turkey. We're still somebody."

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

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

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

COMMENTATOR: Gattuso.

STEVEN GERRARD: So I felt that responsibility. It's up to me.

COMMENTATOR: I wonder how many Liverpool players

are appearing for the last time tonight. I wonder if Steven Gerrard is.

On to Luis García.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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.

COMMENTATOR: Alonso turns to his left.

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!

COMMENTATOR 2: Lifeline for Liverpool. Who else but Captain Steven Gerrard?

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.

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

And he does the hand gestures to the crowd.

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

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

COMMENTATOR: Hit by Šmicer. It's in! It's in!

Vladimir Šmicer!

Two goals in two minutes for Liverpool!

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK ITALIAN)

COMMENTATOR: Miracles are possible!

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK ITALIAN)

COMMENTATOR: Another attack, Baroš leaves it in the path of Steven Gerrard.

- COMMENTATOR 2: Penalty! Penalty! - COMMENTATOR 1: Penalty is given!

ANDY GRAY: I don't believe this.

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

(COMMENTATOR SPEAKS ITALIAN)

COMMENTATOR 1: Xabi Alonso's the man who has to keep his cool here.

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

This is unreal.

Liverpool, three goals down at half-time,

have pulled level within a quarter of an hour of the re-start.

COMMENTATOR 2: And this scoreline is absolutely staggering.

AC Milan three, Liverpool three.

COMMENTATOR 1: There has never been a Champions League Final

anything like this.

ANDY GRAY: 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 GRAY: Less than three minutes to go.

- (BLOWS WHISTLE) - COMMENTATOR: 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.

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK ITALIAN)

COMMENTATOR: Who misses. Best possible start for Liverpool.

Hamann to give Liverpool the advantage.

Oh, that'll do. Get in.

That'll do nicely.

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK ITALIAN)

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

- (CROWD CHEERS) - (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 GERRARD: I was terrified of losing it again.

- COMMENTATOR: Riise! - (COMMENTATORS SPEAK ITALIAN)

COMMENTATOR: Turned around! But has the contest turned around?

STEVEN GERRARD: 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.

(COMMENTATORS SPEAK ITALIAN)

The weight of the world on his shoulders.

There will be no second chances if Shevchenko misses.

He saved it! And Liverpool...

COMMENTATOR 2: The European Cup is returning to England!

And to Anfield!

Liverpool are champions of Europe again.

The most extraordinary night of football!

Most extraordinary finish!

STEVEN GERRARD: This weight of responsibility and pressure

that lifted off me, it was frightening. Frightening.

I love you!

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

Fucking hell.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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.

It was just bedlam in there. Bedlam.

People just hugging each other, kissing each other. (CHUCKLES)

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.

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 GERRARD: What you've gotta 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.

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

Surely this means you stay at this club. You'll be committed to this club.

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 wanna sit down really soon

and a decision'll 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: 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.

- FAN 1: Devastated. Devastated. - INTERVIEWER: Why?

FAN 2: He's the backbone of the team. If the engine goes, the car cuts out.

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

Steve Gerrard moves, that's when a team falls apart.

CALLER 1: It wasn't about winning trophies, it's all about money.

CALLER 2: He's shown his true colors

by the fact that he's even considered leaving Liverpool.

CALLER 3: The little scab can go. The little scab can go.

CALLER 4: Good riddance to Judas himself.

STRUAN 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.

(GULLS CRY)

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.

JOHN 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 GERRARD: 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 GERRARD: 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 GERRARD: 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."

PRESENTER: 9:38, and Johnny Sanderson with the sport.

JOHNNY SANDERSON: Steven Gerrard is going to stay at Liverpool.

REPORTER: 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 GERRARD: I think they've been the most difficult days of me life.

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...

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.

HUGH 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."

He was Liverpool. He was Liverpool.

That year, the West Ham FA Cup Final.

One man was gonna score that goal.

COMMENTATOR: Gerrard's driving shot!

What a fantastic goal!

A goal from the left side from Steven Gerrard!

Well, just when you think that he can't produce anything...

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 GERRARD: 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."

(CHEERING)

JOHN 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.

BILL 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 GERRARD: 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 GERRARD: If you wanted to play for the top six, eight teams,

you've gotta be world class.

COMMENTATOR: And Manchester United get their noses in front.

Henry!

STEVEN GERRARD: Every single club was spending absolute fortunes,

just craving that glory.

Manchester City Football Club has been bought by billionaire Arabs

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

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

Try and make Liverpool capable of competing with them sides.

First tonight, the American multi-millionaire George Gillett Jr

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 wanna assure the fans of Liverpool that we know what you want.

You wanna win, and I wanna win.

JAMIE CARRAGHER: When them owners came in,

they did what we wanted them to do,

which was to buy players in a different market.

(CHEERING)

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: Vidić lets it bounce. And Torres is all over him.

And Torres is in for Liverpool. Fernando Torres! 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.

STEVEN GERRARD: There's a force, there's a power

that comes from the crowd, and you feel it.

Fucking, yeah!

Fucking, yeah!

MAN: Steve.

STEVEN GERRARD: I needed to deliver that trophy soon,

to give them what they wanted.

COMMENTATOR: Alonso tees up Gerrard to hit it.

Steven Gerrard scores his second!

Liverpool score four, and the title race is on.

JOHN WILLIAMS: We did really come very, very close

to winning the title that season.

COMMENTATOR: Manchester United!

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

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

PRESENTER: The Hicks and Gillett era began in 2007,

when they bought the club for £219 million.

In May, a pre-tax loss of almost £55 million was announced

and Liverpool's overall debt now lies at around £280 million.

JOHN 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...

FAN 1 ON PHONE: Football is not about economics, it's about emotion.

I think things have gone too far.

FAN 2 ON PHONE: When football's about football again,

then I'll be a happier man.

HUGH 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.

OK, 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 kick-off

to mark the anniversary of the tragedy.

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

JAMIE 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)

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.

JAMIE CARRAGHER: When you're a local lad, it is completely different.

I love the fact that I played 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 GERRARD: 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 SHOUT)

JAMIE CARRAGHER: Top players left for big money.

You'd always put on a brave face,

but you've gotta keep those players to win a Premier League.

And we had a major drop-off.

(CHEERING)

STEVEN GERRARD: Thirty 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.

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

they'd be the same.

You want them to win every game 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.

MAN: This picture features in a number of the sports sections.

It's a picture of Steven Gerrard on crutches. The Liverpool talisman...

STEVEN GERRARD: 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 GERRARD: 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 says, "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 GERRARD: I was thinking to myself, this could be the end.

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."

Cos 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 wanna 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. What can I do?"

It was a nice break from driving meself insane.

And I remember thinking to meself, "Wow.

You put yourself under incredible pressure."

STEVEN GERRARD: It definitely made me appreciate

what I've got away from football because it makes you think, "Well, OK.

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 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.

STRUAN 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 gonna 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.

Celebrations for Martin Škrtel!

That season, Arsenal came to Liverpool, top of the table, and we wiped them out.

COMMENTATOR: Three-nil to Liverpool.

It's Raheem Sterling. This is simply wonderful from Liverpool!

JOHN 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 GERRARD: 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.

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.

Mis-kicks his shot. Suárez.

That's three. And that's it!

And Suárez seals a historic win.

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!

HUGH MCAULEY: This was our team again now. The football was exciting.

COMMENTATOR: Luis Suárez creates history!

HUGH MCAULEY: People were going to the match now

expecting Liverpool to win.

COMMENTATOR: Steven Gerrard is there as well.

And it is... Gerrard!

STEVEN GERRARD: 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.

The winners here today. Can they win the title?

I think so. I think if City win,

hundred percent certain I'd say they'd win the title.

Liverpool, I think are almost there.

JAMIE CARRAGHER: It was my first season as a pundit.

A lot of the time you're thinking in your head, "Why did I retire?"

I've been waiting me whole life to try and lift that trophy.

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...

JAMIE CARRAGHER: And to have the Hillsborough 25th anniversary

that day, it was just spine-tingling.

(CHEERING)

But City were the title rivals.

We still had to win the game.

COMMENTATOR 1: This now is Liverpool in with Raheem Sterling.

Great... Oh, what a goal! That's astonishing!

The composure!

COMMENTATOR 2: Steven Gerrard with the corner.

Left hand side towards Škrtel!

(CHEERING)

He scores against Manchester City yet again!

Martin Škrtel 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 finding gaps inside Liverpool here.

It's Silva! It's deflected. And it's in!

COMMENTATOR 1: Oh, it's in. It's in!

COMMENTATOR 2: Mignolet is beaten.

And Manchester City's comeback is complete.

And it's the Manchester City fans in ecstasy.

COMMENTATOR 3: Well, they got a little bit unfortunate, Liverpool.

COMMENTATOR: Critical moment of the game.

- Critical moment of the season. - (WHISTLE BLOWS)

Oh, Kompany's mis-kicked. Coutinho!

(CHEERING)

Would you believe it?

The little magician has come up with something.

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.

(DIALOGUE DROWNED OUT BY CROWD NOISE)

Yes!

HUGH MCAULEY: We were very, very close now.

I would get very emotional, to be honest, I'd 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 GERRARD: 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 of me car,

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

You know, I'd basically been like a pin cushion 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? Cos 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.

I shouldn't have played.

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

So, I had a epidural in me back

and took tons and tons of painkillers.

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

(CROWD ROARS)

JOHN 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 daren't even really think about it.

It was so close, so tangibly there, and we're gasping for air in the city.

FANS: ♪ We're gonna win the League...

COMMENTATOR 1: 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.

(FANS SING)

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?

It's Chelsea who get us under way playing towards the Kop.

That's on for Sterling. It's a lovely ball.

Johnson joining.

It's deep round the back. It's Coutinho.

- He went first time. - COMMENTATOR 2: Salah!

COMMENTATOR 1: 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.

COMMENTATOR 2: What an idiot.

COMMENTATOR 1: We're in that three minutes of added-on time

at the end of the first half.

COMMENTATOR 2: Coutinho in the center circle,

halfway line for Liverpool. On to Sakho...

COMMENTATOR 1: Oh, Gerrard slips. Demba Ba on to 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.

COMMENTATOR 2: A goal in the first half, what they wanna see.

COMMENTATOR 1: Steven Gerrard of all people.

COMMENTATOR 2: It's Chelsea.

COMMENTATOR 1: Demba Ba slipped it under the goalkeeper.

COMMENTATOR 2: And it was Gerrard. Liverpool nil, Chelsea one.

(COMMENTARY FADES)

JOHN WILLIAMS: I can still visualize that moment and the end to that season.

COMMENTATOR: Fernando Torres looking to score against his former club.

It is a horrible day for Liverpool.

It is José Mourinho...

JOHN 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 GERRARD: 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.

HUGH MCAULEY: Everybody wants to dream.

But football is a cruel game.

And now, going to see Liverpool play

was never, ever gonna be the same again,

because that number eight wasn't gonna be there.

WOMAN: Have you read much of the reaction?

I can't at the moment.

I keep switching the TV over, and...

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

To be named in the same company as some of the legends

and some of the people that I look up to, I mean, I'm going, yeah,

um, it's... it's brilliant.

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

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

This club has been such a massive part of your life.

But you've been such a massive part

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

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

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

STADIUM ANNOUNCER: Welcome your captain onto the pitch

for his final game at Anfield.

Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Steven Gerrard!

JOSÉ 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 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 stays... that stays forever.

FANS: ♪ Steve Gerrard

♪ He'll pass the ball 40 yards

♪ He's big and he's fuckin' hard...

STEVEN GERRARD: That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do,

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.

(MUSIC PLAYS OVER DIALOGUE)

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

And I think I achieved that.

PAUL GERRARD: When he left Liverpool,

he just said, "Dad, I've give it all I could."

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

I've watched it with me own eyes."

JOHN 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

has 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's 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.

(CHEERING)

CROWD: ♪ You'll never walk alone

(PLAYERS SHOUT INDISTINCTLY)

(WHISTLE BLOWS)

STEVEN GERRARD: I've had an incredible journey, I've had my time.

But I still think I've got unfinished business

and I wanna give back.

(CHEERING)

(INDISTINCT)

STEVEN GERRARD: I often say to meself,

"Why do you wanna go back into a pressure situation?

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 & THE STRANDS)

Subtitles: BTI Studios

ENGLISH (SDH)