Sometimes as football fans it can be difficult to the right thing.
Now, I don’t mean this in a ‘help an old lady across the road’ type of thing, I mean the right and proper thing on the terraces.
Tribalism in sport is at its height in football. In addition to the incredible skill and athleticism of top level sportspeople it is what makes matches or events such a great spectacle. This tribalism leads fans into being united in a dislike – I loathe to use the word ‘hatred’ – of a group of opposition or rival fans, mostly without any due cause and means that through natural discourse you take great pleasure in the misfortunes of your rivals’ star players.
Therefore, for many Chelsea fans inside Stamford Bridge on Sunday, there came this terrible dilemma.
Ever since January 2015, when Steven Gerrard announced he was leaving Liverpool FC at the end of this current season to join MLS side LA Galaxy, there has been this sense of a farewell tour to the remaining half season. The initial narrative was the romantic idea of Gerrard leading Liverpool to Wembley for the FA Cup final in May, which just so happens to be held on his 35th birthday. After their semi-final loss to Aston Villa, this ‘Steven Gerrard Farewell Tour’ has been ramped up to be the main attraction; roll up, roll up, coming to a Premier League ground near you.
Given last year’s ‘Cruellest Irony of the Year Award’ after Gerrard’s tubthumping “We don’t let this slip” speech to his teammates following the 3-2 victory over Manchester City, followed by his actual slip against Chelsea at Anfield which led to Demba Ba’s goal a few weeks later that effectively lost Liverpool the title, he has been reminded of that incident by rivals fans up and down the country.
Yet since his announcement, many fans in games in which Gerrard had started and been substituted, have given him standing ovations. Whether this is due to his achievements at International level or for being one of the Premier League’s best ever midfielders is unclear. However, this respect shown by fans has been welcomed by all within the game. The eulogistic nature of some of the media’s coverage towards Gerrard, especially in the immediate wake of his announcement, must have been a bit grating to Frank Lampard, himself in his last season in English football.
Gerrards’ final days have been used greatly to advertise live games on television, yet his great rival Lampard hasn’t really seen as much as a whisper. Although you could argue that now at Manchester City, not Chelsea, the impact of Lampard’s departure has been lessened on English fans, he is still deserving of respect as being an important and influential player in the Premier League years, as well as being a three time winner. Therefore, it was nice to see both be recognised at this season’s PFA Awards ceremony.
The internal struggle for Chelsea fans was made worse by Jose Mourinho’s high praise of the player during his pre-match press conference. Just how close Gerrard came to joining Chelsea in 2004 and 2005 we will never know. In his book Football and Gangsters, Graham Johnson says: “It is said he [Gerrard] sent a message to new Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho within hours of the fateful penalty shoot-out defeat [England at Euro 2004], saying how much he was looking forward to moving to Stamford Bridge.”
In 2005, Chelsea again showed their interest, and this time, fresh from winning the Champions League and with Liverpool stalling on a contract, Gerrard handed in a transfer request. This triggered Chelsea to make a £32million offer for the player. Scousers turned up at the training ground and Anfield burning Gerrard replica shirts and swearing to never let him enter the city again if he headed south. Eventually, with the entire furore from the fans and with a new £100K a week contract on the table, he signed to stay with Liverpool.
These historic stories of transfer brinkmanship, the eternal debate between fans over Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, and the Champions League clashes throughout the last 10 years, have made the Chelsea fans relationship with Gerrard far different than with almost any other opposition player.
Steven Gerrard’s Stamford Bridge Farewell
This all brings us back to the 80th minute at Stamford Bridge and the fans dilemma. Given the historical edge, the circus surrounding Gerrards’ last days at Liverpool, the slip at Anfield and the endless chanting by Chelsea fans who had been going through their full Steven Gerrard songbook, many individual fans start thinking, what do I do now?
As his number went up and he started to walk off, Liverpool fans sprang to their feet in appreciation of their captain. As Gerrard further made his way across the Stamford Bridge turf for the final time, a small chorus of boos rang out, before almost in total unity the entire Chelsea faithful rose as one to provide him with a standing ovation. Noticing the fans reaction, Gerrard applauded all sides of the ground as he left the pitch. This was a classy moment shown by the fans and the player alike. Supporters momentarily putting aside their tribal instincts to recognise a true Premier League legend and a former England Captain.
In the post match interview Gerrard was asked about his response to the ovation given to him by the Chelsea crowd:
“I was more happy with the ovation from the Liverpool fans, Chelsea fans have had respect for a couple of seconds today but have slaughtered me all game. I’m not going to get drawn into wishing Chelsea fans well. It was nice of them to turn up for once today.
“It was a nice touch. I know they’ve absolutely murdered me for years because I never signed here. I’ve had great support from the Liverpool fans – that’s all that matters to me.”
Therein lays the beauty of being a football fan. You can mock a player and sing songs against them yet still show respect when it’s deserved, safe in the knowledge that it will have meant something to the player, even though they’ll never admit it.
