Thank you & farewell Steven Gerrard

Thank you Steven Gerrard.Thank you for you honor,your loyalty,your dignity,your respect,your gentlemanship,your quality and consistency.All applied to 1 club.You could have left countless of times,won countless more trophies,but you stuck with us,through thick and thin.A true example of a real man,a real player.An extremely rare specimen in this day and age of relentless ambition and glory and money-hunting.

Reminds me of Bellamy leaving the club with a year left to go on his contract,to help his hometown club reach the big league from the Championship.Impressive. Then I think of Sterling or all those players that leave for Barcelona/Real Madrid without a second´s thought to go play in the least competitive league in the world just to rack up easy league titles and CL spots.The current money-based systems employed by Real Madrid,Manchester City and PSG are disheartening for any true football fan,and Gerrard,an academy product,leaving the PL makes that all the more deep.Thank you for everything Steven,and I know you won´t read this but there are still some of us that will carry your legacy of values into the uncertain future,thank you for your shining example.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PYrjDLJDwXs

I wonder if the skipper watched this from Darren Farley, I be he did, its hilarious and Farley I believe is quite popular with some of the Players. Plenty of home truths in there. It's the list of shoddy players at the end which really brings home the loyalty of the skipper all these years.

Fookin gutted.

Steven Gerrard has published a heartfelt letter of thanks to Kopites in today's Liverpool Echo ahead of his departure this summer – here is the text from the Reds captain in full…

To all my fans,

Saying goodbye hasn't been easy.

Liverpool Football Club has been such a massive part of my life since I was eight years old and I know how much I'm going to miss it.

It's been an emotional time for my family and I with my final game at Anfield against Crystal Palace and then my last appearance away to Stoke City.

But I've been blown away by the send-off I've been given by the supporters and I'd like to thank every one of you. It's been very humbling and it's something I'll cherish for the rest of my life.

It's been an absolute privilege to represent this football club for so long.

When I was a kid, kicking a ball around in Ironside Road in Huyton, all I ever wanted to do was play for Liverpool. I dreamed of pulling that shirt on just once.

I never thought I'd get close to achieving that so to be able to look back on a first-team career of 710 appearances spanning 17 years I'm immensely proud.

I've loved every minute of playing for the best supporters in the world.

It's been an amazing journey. There have been some glorious highs and some crushing lows, but throughout you have given me fantastic support and I'll never forget that.

The highs have been all the sweeter because they have been achieved with my boyhood club. We have shared those special moments together.

Of course the pinnacle of my career arrived in Istanbul 10 years ago. That was the best night of my life. When I lifted the European Cup, there was no prouder man on the planet.

It meant so much to me to deliver that trophy for you. The supporters played such a big part in helping to inspire that famous comeback against AC Milan. I'll never forget how they helped to lift our chins off the floor after that nightmare first half.

People have often asked me about the pressure on my shoulders to deliver for Liverpool but I've never seen that as a burden. There's been huge responsibility on me but I've always loved and embraced that.

It's been a massive honour to be captain of this club for so long. I've always given my best and tried to lead by example.

I've been very fortunate to play alongside some incredible players and for managers who have all helped me to improve and develop. I'm proud of what I've given back - the sacrifices, the dedication and the loyalty over the years.

But more than anything I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to play in front of these fans for so long.

Liverpool is my home and I love this city. But I believe the time is right to open a new chapter as I prepare to move to America.

I want to keep playing every week in the final few years of my career and I'm looking forward to embarking on a new challenge with Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS.

I'll be away for the next couple of years but this isn't the end of my long association with Liverpool FC. I've been a supporter all my life and that will continue.

I hope to get the opportunity to come back and serve the club again one day. I feel that I can make a contribution in some role in the future.

But today is all about looking back and saying thank-you to the fans for the magnificent support you have given me over the past two decades. You have helped me to fulfil my dreams over and over again and given me memories I wouldn't swap for anything.

Thank you.

Steven Gerrard

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/185915-gerrard-pens-letter-to-liverpool-fans

 

Well he's certainly going out in style. This might belong to the Kolo thread, but couldn't help posting this here purely 'cos how much of a legend Stevie is for doing this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ZtZOY3STI

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/185915-gerrard-pens-letter-to-liverpool-fans

 

You know what got me in that was when he mentions the highlight of his career being the night he raised the CL and that being a decade ago

I'll be honest I thought that was the start of a massive period for us and the fact that since then he has only won two more medals and one since 06 shocks and saddens me

You know what got me in that was when he mentions the highlight of his career being the night he raised the CL and that being a decade ago

I'll be honest I thought that was the start of a massive period for us and the fact that since then he has only won two more medals and one since 06 shocks and saddens me

well it could have been,05CL 06 Fa Cup final 07 Cl Final and then runners up in the league and then cataclismic fuckups.
We must have had the basis of a very very good side between 05 and 09 and when you look at the squad he just left its mindblowing how we got to be so very very average. When you sack a legend like Rafa and appoint Roy and then sack an even bigger legend like Kenny for an inexperienced man like Brendan then I guess its not a surprise we find ourselves here today in meltdown

On the BBC, Steven Gerrard's goal against West Ham in the FA cup final 2006, was awarded the best FA cup goal for the last 50 years.

 

On the BBC, Steven Gerrard's goal against West Ham in the FA cup final 2006, was awarded the best FA cup goal for the last 50 years.

 

Hard to argue with that.
I might be biased, but it's definitely the best goal I've seen in a cup final.

YNWA. Stevie Lad. Enjoy your 18 months sabatical playing fun footi with the yanks, then come back at take us to glory as manager.

Hard to argue with that.
I might be biased, but it's definitely the best goal I've seen in a cup final.

Yep.

On the BBC, Steven Gerrard's goal against West Ham in the FA cup final 2006, was awarded the best FA cup goal for the last 50 years.

 

Too f***ing right it was. That FA cup final, that CL final and that UEFA final in 2001 have been the best finals in the history of each of those competitions. That's something to be proud of. How I wish he got just 1 league mdeal...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32628391

BBC Link.

Too f***ing right it was. That FA cup final, that CL final and that UEFA final in 2001 have been the best finals in the history of each of those competitions. That's something to be proud of. How I wish he got just 1 league mdeal...

We're still on his mind, it seems...

http://gfycat.com/DismalGlitteringHuemul

He's only on loan to LA Galaxy 

As Arnie said....He'll be back !!

He's only on loan to LA Galaxy 

As Arnie said....He'll be back !!

And he has several threads in which to say goodbye in, even if its only for the short term