Post by Webster on Nov 29, 2019 22:38:10 GMT
Liverpool FC: 'I could have run forever that night at Anfield'
Andy Kelly
--"My dad's dream was always to see one of his three sons play at Anfield in Liverpool red – and it turned out to be his daughter. It was one of his proudest moments, seeing his daughter lead out the team as captain."
When Sophie Bradley-Auckland leads out Liverpool FC Women for the first ever Women’s Super League game at Anfield (on 17 Nov. 2019), one person more than any other will know how she will be feeling. The pride is still evident in Julie Griffiths’ voice as she recalls the moment on December 9, 1997 when she and her teammates made history by running out for the first women’s derby at Anfield.
Julie, now 50, was the team captain and still remembers every moment of that night under the Anfield floodlights.
“When I heard about Sunday’s game, I was so excited for the players,” she says. “As a Liverpool player there is no better honour than to walk out on that pitch and hopefully with a big crowd. I want everyone there.
“Anfield will give the team inspiration. I know it did for me, that night I could have run forever. I was on adrenaline all night. The only advice I have for the girls is to take in every moment, from the minute you walk in the changing rooms, enjoy it, but when you get on that pitch it’s just another level on how you will feel. There’s no better stadium in the world, I just love the place.”
Julie, from West Derby, was born into a family of fanatical Reds and versed in the club’s culture from a very young age.
“I was six when I stood on the Kop for the first time with my brothers. They’d lift me up on the barriers. I grew up with this wonderful team winning everything in the ‘80s, it was massive in our family life.
“Never in a million years when I started playing did I believe it would come to playing for Liverpool as captain. We were still amateur and I was working full-time at the shipping company where I still work now 32 years on.
“To get a derby in 1997 played at Anfield, with no social media and very little press coverage, was all down to our chairman, Sylvia Gore, and the great Brian Hall.”
Only the Main Stand was open for the game but a crowd of 5,000 turned up, though Julie wasn’t able to fulfil one of the traditional parts of an Anfield game for a Liverpool player.
“I didn’t touch the ‘This is Anfield’ sign – I couldn’t reach it at 4ft 10-and-a-half! But it was incredible,” she smiles.
“Leading the team out as captain in a Merseyside derby knowing all my family were in the stand, I could talk about it forever.”
--"My dad's dream was always to see one of his three sons play at Anfield in Liverpool red – and it turned out to be his daughter. It was one of his proudest moments, seeing his daughter lead out the team as captain."
When Sophie Bradley-Auckland leads out Liverpool FC Women for the first ever Women’s Super League game at Anfield (on 17 Nov. 2019), one person more than any other will know how she will be feeling. The pride is still evident in Julie Griffiths’ voice as she recalls the moment on December 9, 1997 when she and her teammates made history by running out for the first women’s derby at Anfield.
Julie, now 50, was the team captain and still remembers every moment of that night under the Anfield floodlights.
“When I heard about Sunday’s game, I was so excited for the players,” she says. “As a Liverpool player there is no better honour than to walk out on that pitch and hopefully with a big crowd. I want everyone there.
“Anfield will give the team inspiration. I know it did for me, that night I could have run forever. I was on adrenaline all night. The only advice I have for the girls is to take in every moment, from the minute you walk in the changing rooms, enjoy it, but when you get on that pitch it’s just another level on how you will feel. There’s no better stadium in the world, I just love the place.”
Julie, from West Derby, was born into a family of fanatical Reds and versed in the club’s culture from a very young age.
“I was six when I stood on the Kop for the first time with my brothers. They’d lift me up on the barriers. I grew up with this wonderful team winning everything in the ‘80s, it was massive in our family life.
“Never in a million years when I started playing did I believe it would come to playing for Liverpool as captain. We were still amateur and I was working full-time at the shipping company where I still work now 32 years on.
“To get a derby in 1997 played at Anfield, with no social media and very little press coverage, was all down to our chairman, Sylvia Gore, and the great Brian Hall.”
Only the Main Stand was open for the game but a crowd of 5,000 turned up, though Julie wasn’t able to fulfil one of the traditional parts of an Anfield game for a Liverpool player.
“I didn’t touch the ‘This is Anfield’ sign – I couldn’t reach it at 4ft 10-and-a-half! But it was incredible,” she smiles.
“Leading the team out as captain in a Merseyside derby knowing all my family were in the stand, I could talk about it forever.”