Day 5 Second Match- visit to Anfield - Premiership pre-season game in Preston

Pictures- Champions League trophy, Everton/Preston game, Tim Howard, our game, Coach Parry with Alan Kennedy, and Anfield.

Our second match of our tour ended in a 0-0 tie as we played a very good Christleton High School pretty well, but steadily improved throughout the game. The guys are beginning to implement some of the techniques they have been working on this week, playing at a much higher level than the first match. We were able to get lunch at the academy- great curry and cottage pie- which once again made the guys appreciate great food.

We went from there to Anfield, the amazing “ground” or home field, of Liverpool. Once again Frank came through for us, with an incredible guide who gave us goose bunps as he talked about the different traditions and rituals that make Anfield one of the famous grounds in all of Europe. Before we started the tour Frank introduced the team to a Liverpool legend. I’ve never seen Coach Parry so enthralled to be in a persons presence. He introduced Alan Kennedy to the team by saying he was reason he wanted to play left defense as a kid…and he’s the only English player to score twice in the European Finals.

We then entered the “Players Entrance” and our skilled guide took us to the locker room, which Coach Parry said isn’t usually part of the tour. He went into incredible detail about how the jerseys are hung to initiate conversation among the players that will be playing near each other on the field and how their “changing room” is intentionally smaller than the visitors to keep the team together. They walked us past the famous “This is Anfield” sign into the “dugout” where the players and “managers’ watch the game- to piped in crowd noise to give the guys a feel for what it might sound like on game day. Coach Parry ironically sat in Coach Benitez’s seat and we all just stared in amazement at the 45,000 seats that were so tight and compact around the field. We finished the stadium tour in front of the famous Kop, where the true “supporters” crowd behind the goal.

We then went through the LFC museum, where Frank surprised us again with access to the REAL European Champions League trophy that Liverpool won two years ago. We quickly huddled around to take a picture and the trophy was back in it’s case within a minute. Most of the guys got a chance to touch it, but Coach Parry was almost in tears later when he realized he wasn’t one of them.

After a brief (and not terribly expensive) trip through the club shop, it was straight onto the bus. We traveled an hour north up to the town of Preston, to see the local team, Preston North End FC, take on Everton FC, the other Premiership club from Liverpool.

It was a highly entertaining game, considering it was a pre-season friendly, with goals, player scuffles, and even a group of over exuberant fans coming onto the pitch after Everton tied the game at 1-1. American goalkeeper Tim Howard played the whole game along with International players from Spain, Portugal, Nigeria and England. After the game it was straight back to Liverpool and into bed to prepare for tomorrow, which brings our final training session and a trip to downtown Liverpool.

Coach Douglass & Coach Parry