Search the site

  

Grab my RSS feed | (What's this?)

About...

ECHO feature writer and Kop season ticket holder Tony Barrett....

Tag cloud...

Sponsored links

Recent comments

Recent Posts

Feeds

Categories

Useful links

Archives

Sponsored links

August 2007 Archives

Makes It All Worthwhile

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 30, 2007 2:36 PM

From tonight's Liverpool Echo:
Rhys’s parents praise amazing Anfield night

RHYS JONES’S parents said Liverpool had done the city proud after rival football fans put their differences behind them in memory of the 11-year-old.
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard today joined the appeal to catch the schoolboy’s killer, after an emotional European night at Anfield on Tuesday.

Simply Brilliant

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 29, 2007 11:29 AM

This has just been posted as a comment on my blog by an Evertonian called Greg Murphy.
To be honest, it is far, far too good to be a simple comment and I think it deserves a thread of its own because the more people who read it the better.
Here you go:
Well done, Tony: not only for last night’s Z Cars tribute being chiefly down to your efforts (yes, it was) but for also putting this link up.
If there’s any silver lining to come from this whole tragic affair, it may be that it starts to dilute the poison that’s infiltrated cross-park (soon to be cross boundary, ahem) relations, which, IMO, is chiefly down to two similarly ignorant camps that exist on both sides of the divide: 1) those too young to remember the period between March 24th 1984 (first Milk Cup Final) and the 1989 FA Cup Final; and 2) those whose recollective abilities have either conveniently faded to suit their own agenda or perhaps never kicked-in to begin with.

Thank You

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 29, 2007 10:26 AM

They said it couldn't happen and then when it did they said it would fail spectacularly.
Thankfully, "they" were wrong on both counts.
The theme from Z Cars was played at Anfield and it was treated with nothing but the respect it deserved.
The idea may have started on here but that is all it was - an idea.
From that point on Liverpool Football Club were inundated with requests from fans who wanted to hear Z Cars played in honour of Rhys Jones.
Quite understandably, there were those who had misgivings about it, after all Z Cars isn't just any old song, it's the battle cry of our biggest rivals.

It's Not The First Time There's Been Solidarity Between Reds and Blues

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 28, 2007 11:24 AM

This doesn't need any further comment, you'll have to cut and paste the link tho:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYjJy_YyWQE

Z Cars At Anfield Tonight

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 28, 2007 8:02 AM

Liverpool Football Club have agreed to hold a moving and unique tribute to murdered Liverpool youngster Rhys Jones.
The club have been inundated with requests from fans for them to play the Z Cars theme tune in honour of the 11-year-old prior to tonight's Champions League clash with Toulouse.
Chief executive Rick Parry has been in talks with the Jones family following the suggestion and following that the club have decided that Z Cars - or Johnny Todd, to give it its proper naem - will be the best way forward.
It is totally unprecedented but Liverpool FC have gone out of their way to facilitate the requests of their own fans and to honour the memory of a local child who died in such tragic circumstances.

Z Cars Ringing Out At Anfield

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 24, 2007 10:02 AM

Z Cars - a tune which lets Kopites know you're in the home of the enemy and you're not welcome there.
The song which greets the Everton players as they charge onto the Goodison pitch in front of the blue and white hordes.
The song which, thankfully, I only usually have to hear once a year unless Sky are late cutting to the adverts before kick-off.
It is to Liverpudlians what You'll Never Walk Alone is to Evertonians, the song that you most associate with your most bitter rivals and one that I could never contemplate being played at Anfield.
Until today.

Leave Styles Alone

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 21, 2007 9:52 AM

Rob Styles made a mistake on Sunday, admittedly a bad one, but when it comes down to it all he committed was a human error.
I've got no doubt that Liverpool will benefit from similar human errors this season, as will every other team that plays football.
In my opinion, Styles is not a very good referee but he is certainly not biased or bent and he doesn't deserve to be the victim of crass innuendo simply because he is "on the board of a company which once did some work on Roman Abramovich's driveway".
The hysteria which now greets every single high profile mistake made by a Premiership referee is now well out of control.

Steven Gerrard - Captain Marvel?

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 21, 2007 8:25 AM

WHEN Steven Gerrard was made Liverpool captain in October 2003 he had played barely 100 league games for his club.
The then Reds boss Gerard Houllier had decided the time had come to reward his most talented player with an honour and responsibility which would reflect his growing influence on the pitch.
That decision was welcomed almost universally by Liverpool fans, many of whom felt the deposed Sami Hyypia was a bit too nice to be captain and with Gerrard being very inch the local hero Houllier seemed to have pulled off something of a masterstroke.

Are There Any Wedding Songs Left?

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 20, 2007 1:55 PM

Shamefully lifted from Toffeeweb, written by the always excellent Greg Murphy:

News from the front
Here’s a little pick-me-up vignette for a gentle Sunday. A close mate of mine (a “yes” voter — and guess what? we still speak, shock horror, even though I’m a “no”) went to a wedding last night. Like many “dos” up and down the UK, it can’t be deemed a proper shebang unless the DJ slings on “New York, New York” at the end to signal just how classy the whole affair really has been.

Block 1892

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 20, 2007 8:21 AM

"IT'S not a singing section," insisted everyone from the newly formed Block 1892 in the run up to yesterday's opening league game against Chelsea.
And then they spent the entire first half singing!
Every Other Saturday, We Don't Carry Bottles, The Reds Are Coming Up The Hill Boys, Red and White Kop and Liver Bird Upon My Chest all got an airing and, at long, long last, Poor Scouser Tommy was sung properly with no-one racing away with the lyrics.
The decibel levels were undoubtedly raised and it contributed to a cracking atmosphere which only fizzled out in the second half after everyone became increasingly bewildered by one of the most erractic refereeing performances you will ever witness outside the Liverpool Sunday League.

Best Liverpool Free Kick Of All Time?

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 13, 2007 8:56 AM

There have been some truly great Liverpool free kicks.
Ones that have defied the laws of physics, ones that have won derby matches and even one that has ended more than a decade of pain.
But I honestly don't think I've seen a better free kick by a Liverpool player than the one Steven Gerrard scored at Villa Park on Saturday.
As he stepped up to take it I turned to my mate next to me in the Doug Ellis stand and said "No chance".
But instead of being proven right as I had been earlier in the game when I said "Row Z" as Riise stepped up to a similar dead ball situation, on this occasion I was proven gloriously wrong.

One of the Most Moving Bits of Video Footage You'll Ever See

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 7, 2007 11:25 AM

I can remember seeing this clip at the time but I've never seen it since.
It was just four days after Hillsborough and AC Milan were playing Real Madrid in a European Cup semi-final at the San Siro.
As the match is going on the referee blows his whistle and the whole ground falls silent before a ripple of applause rings out.
Then, and this is the bit which will never fail to move me, the Milan supporters start singing You'll Never Walk Alone in honour of the Liverpool dead.
I'd always wanted to see it again because I think it is one of the most magnificent displays of solidarity between fans that there has ever been.

Big Duncan Does The Off

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 7, 2007 10:13 AM

I was out in town on Friday night, having something to eat at the fantastic Sir Thomas Hotel.
On the table next to me was a gang of fellas having a meal together and enjoying more than the odd pint.
Among them was ex Everton star Duncan Ferguson and it turned out the party was in his honour as he is soon to quit Merseyside to move to Majorca.
God knows what he is planning to get up to over there because I get the feeling he is one of those people who needs to be occupied all the time.
But I'm sure every Red will wish him well because despite the legendary status he somehow earned, a four goal total in Merseyside derbies tells us he never really did us that much damage.

What Would Make This Season A Good One?

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 7, 2007 9:47 AM

In some people's eyes only the league title will do, particularly after an 18 year wait.
Having been to two Champions League finals in three years I think most of us would be happy if the league was our priority this time around (especially as I'd imagine even the friendliest of bank managers are probably getting tired of us turning up with the begging bowl every other May).
But what would you be happy with this season?
Would a significant closing of the 21 point gap which left us well adrift of Man United last season make you content?

Fighting Spirit

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 6, 2007 2:19 PM

Pre-season is alway dull as friendly matches tend to be about as exciting as a night in with Trevor Francis.
This pre-season has been no different to any others with Liverpool going through the motions against teams they could hammer if it mattered.
Improving fitness and team bonding is the main thing at this time of year so it would be foolish in the extreme to expect flowing football and games that keep you on the edge of your seat (maybe someone should tell Sky!).
But last night something different happened, something I can't remember ever seeing at a Liverpool friendly in all my life - the lads got involved in a bit of a scrap.

Liverpool Will Not Win The League This Season

Posted by Tony Barrett on August 6, 2007 10:40 AM

Sorry to burst the bubble of optimism that so many Liverpool fans will have at this time of year but I just can't see any way that Rafa Benitez's men will win the title this time around.
We will close the gap but that shouldn't be difficult seeing as last season we finished a whopping 21 points behind Man United.
But winning the league takes more than a few good signings and even if the likes of Torres, Benayoun and Babel turn out to be outstanding recruits I still expect us to fall short of scooping the biggest prize.

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Red Shirt Diaries in the August 2007. They are listed from oldest to newest.

July 2007 is the previous archive.September 2007 is the next archive.

Many more can be found on the home page or by looking through the archives.