Live a Life of Purpose and You’ll Never Walk Alone
I have supported Liverpool Football Club since the early 80’s – through many ups and downs!
Growing up in England, I loved football (“soccer”!) I played often and watched my hometown team Bristol Rovers. I remain a life-long supporter of the poor old Pirates!
Once our sons were getting interested (did they have a choice?!), it made sense to encourage them to find a top team to support. Ben wisely chose Liverpool and I soon followed. Kevin, on the other hand (or foot!), was a rebel and picked Watford, then Chelsea.
After moving to the USA in 1987, for a footie fan, the first 10 years were tough – no footie on TV, no internet at first, and virtually no news to keep up with the sport. Fortunately the growing popularity of the “Beautiful game” paid off. Now we can watch every Premier League match, including those 3pm UK kickoffs that are still blacked out over there.
One huge benefit of our move to Dallas was the discovery that “soccer” was immensely popular there. Pitches (“fields”) everywhere with all ages and both genders playing passionately.
At the advanced age of 42 I started playing again and continued for another 10 years. I also had the privilege of coaching both Ben and Kevin and their teams. That was a BLAST! Since then Ben & Kevin grew up and married up. Ben’s three sons are also avid ‘ballers, coached at times by their Dad. All four of them are qualified Football Referees, giving back to the game we all love.
Once those three grandsons were old enough, they too became inspired by You’ll Never Walk Alone (read the amazing history of the song!) and we made several pilgrimages to Anfield together.
Even my better half, Jenny (a Bournemouth fan), has come to love The Reds and came with me twice to Anfield including to watch the last one in the 2024/25 season where we lifted the Premier League trophy.
What a day that was! More than a million fans turned out to watch the parade through the streets of the City, in spite of the weather!
