07 Oct 2021 17:14:40
After the great response to the thread where the op is looking for who the eldest members are I was wondering if anybody has any stories of meeting players. Good stories or bad. The first time I ever spoke to a player was when me and a mate went to watch the reserves at Anfield. I don't remember who we were playing but we sat by the press box and Collymore scored then looked up at the press and shouted a load of abuse even tho there may have been 2 hacks at the most. Also there was the king as Paul Dalglish was playing. What a gent. He spoke to us the whole game and even came back to the seat he was sitting in after half time and was next to us again. This was before everyone had mobiles so when I was bragging about it in school on Monday nobody believed me.

{Ed0666's Note - you’re right what a super thread.

My favourite memory of meeting a Liverpool player(s) was hanging out with John Barnes at a nightclub called Hanover Grand in London. I say hang out I hardly spoke to him because he had a plethora of the most aesthetically pleasing women on the planet vying for his attention. What an absolutely wonderful character that man is as I got to find out on subsequent occasions.

Also meeting Phil Thompson and his lovely family on a desert safari in Dubai. We were all Arabic dancing and eating bbq under the moonlight it was an epic night. This was the time he was managing liverpool or was the assistant to houllier.

Thanks for bringing back pleasant memories everyone.

07 Oct 2021 18:14:03
I met Rafa and David O'Leary in the player's lounge at Villa Park. Rafa was in a bit of a hurry to get on the coach as it was due to leave, but still gave us some kind words and his autograph.
David O'Leary was an absolute gentleman, made sure we had drinks and were comfortable.

07 Oct 2021 18:18:29
Me and a few mates went to a sportsmans dinner with Barnsie at the Sandon pub a few years ago. It was a pleasant night and was made even better when we found out our seats were at his table. I found some people very rude tho. Asking for photos while he was eating. I know they had paid there money but at least let the falla have a scran. One fir Ed 25 here but in 95 Brazil played a friendly against Japan and goodison. As I was on my way back to school at lunch time I saw the queue for tickets was quite small so decided to wait in it for a couple. All of a sudden Stuart Barlow walks past. There were a few murmurs but generally the poor bloke was ignored. I would've felt sorry for him if he weren't a blue.

07 Oct 2021 18:24:41
This might not be popular given his reputation but met Luis Suarez in a bar in Liverpool not long after he joined, he was with a couple of the other players.

Was good fun and a real gent, nothing like he is portrayed.

Also had lunch with John Barnes at the millennium stadium 2003 league Cup (won a competition! ) great guy! And his wife was very nice as well.

07 Oct 2021 19:19:25
Met Milan baros and smicer about 2003 in a club I was working in southport. Didn't realise how big baros was.

07 Oct 2021 19:56:47
Met Marcus babbel outside anfield once, lovely guy, such a shame about his sickness. Also, met rooney just after he hit the scene with Everton. My dad is a blue nose and his company had a box at Upton Park, so begrudgingly tagged along to watch WH v Everton. After the match we were walking back and I literally walked into rooney as he was getting into a van with a bunch of his mates. Turns out the club was sneaking him out the back and not putting him on the coach so he could avoid the media. Had a good chat with him and an autograph.

{Ed025's Note - i have worked on ryan babels and jermaine pennants houses and they were both very nice guys, jermaine was living with amii grove at the time and she was stunning, i have also had a bevy with sammy lee and aldo..

07 Oct 2021 20:10:13
Back in 1982 - I was 12, my mum managed to somehow get me a tour round Anfield, I think it was her boss knew someone at LFC who could wangle it. Anyway, we got shown round by Robbie Savage, who also managed to get me all of the then current squad's autographs in my autograph book (including his - I didn't know who he was) . He did take us to the trophy room and I got pictures taken with the League trophy, Charity Shield and European Cup - sadly, I have no idea where they are. Anyway, I saw King Kenny and met Howard Gayle and Steve Ogrizovic in the hallways.

07 Oct 2021 21:01:59
The nicest gesture a footy player ever did for me was Sammy Lee in the bear and staff pub. There was only one bar staff on and I was waiting my turn while Sammy got served. I thought nothing of it as he was in there a lot but he was getting a big order of food and drinks in. It probably only took 5 minutes tops but when his order went thru he said to the bar maid to put whatever I was having on his next round. Even tho he was a member of Evertons staff at the time I have been bragging about it ever since.

07 Oct 2021 21:26:03
Went out with a girl who used to babysit Dalglish s kids mid 80s. He came home one night to find me sitting on his couch.
Who are you? He asked
Me, I'm nobody
You got that right son, he said

I know he's not popular, but sat next to Owen on a flight to Dubai, he was going on to China, me back to Aus. Was a really nice bloke, happy to chat and went downstairs a couple of times to sign autographs for kids.

07 Oct 2021 22:25:16
Ed666 - Last time I was in the Hanover grand I got chucked out! Not saying what for though 😂😂

Remember that club well, on Hanover Sq just off Regent street, the top end.

{Ed0666's Note - mate I can’t remember much about the place as it was about 23-25 years ago but to my recollection they let a lot of things slide in that establishment so you must have done something extra special to get booted out 😂

My mate was a dancer there in the metal cages and he used to wear tight shorts and knee length boots and we used to rip the piss out of him but boy did he date some delectable ladies.

07 Oct 2021 22:50:52
When I was In the Army I was based in Dhekelia, Cyprus. We played some charity matches and Ronnie Whelan who was managing a Cypriot team played in our team as a guest.
I got chatting with him telling him I was an LFC fan and recall his magical driving header at Old Trafford and saying I was in awe playing with him.
We won one of the games, 2-1 against Middlesbrough FC, who had pre season training and I scored both goals, one assisted by Ronnie.
Whelan then, being the polite gentleman that he was, collared me and thanked me for playing with him. What a down to earth true Liverpool legend.

Baz.

{Ed0666's Note - wow what a story that is…good for you Baz! Ronnie Whelan what a player man..

08 Oct 2021 01:54:57
He might not be the most popular on here but i met Mario Balotelli about 3 years ago in France and he was very nice. Said he loved that he got to play with Gerrard but it just wasn’t the right club at the time for him, and the circumstances were difficult, but he always remembers the fans singing Mario magnifico, thought himself and Sturridge should have had more games together in a two he always felt they played well together. He did very well at Nice 43 in 66 his two full seasons there. Maybe he didn’t have the greatest attitude towards football and done some stupid things when he was a kid, people forget he was only 19 when City signed him, but he couldn’t have been nicer to us. Gerrard in his book said on talent alone he’d take Balotelli over Kane anyday. It’s a shame he never hit the heights he should have. Still won a treble with inter and a PL with City mind.

08 Oct 2021 07:20:48
I've been fortunate to meet a few players over the years.

My mate was "on the books" at Rangers so we were lucky to be at a few parties back in the day, Ian Durrant (meet him a few times, drinks to much), McCoist, Ian Ferguson and a few of the English players too. To be honest they were all dead on especially the Scottish boys, except for one player (Chris Woods, goalkeeper, complete bell end)
Alas it all came to an end when Souness gave my mate his marching orders while having a bath 🤣

Meet John Barnes at Centre Parks, just like he is on TV. Nice chap, very easy to talk to.

The best I've met was Dwight Yorke down in Dublin in a pub on an early Sunday, Judge Roy Beans springs to mind but this was years ago. Sent over a few drinks to Dwight and his mate who might have been a footballer too but I didn't ask. He eventually came over about 20 minutes later brought a few rounds and spent about 40 minutes in our company. He was spot on, very laid back and friendly.

08 Oct 2021 08:40:30
Back in 2006 I was at the John lennon Airport waiting on a flight back to Belfast after a youth trip with a local youth club. Was down playing the one arm bandits and a few mates came running telling me stevie G was walking through I laughed it off. A few seconds later a few more of them came running so I took my chance and ran up and there he was heading to the pfa awards along with alonso and riise (not that I paid much attention to the others)

I had no phone or pen etc and security wouldn't let me near him but he told them to let me through so one of the leaders took a pic and the lovely lady in the coffee shop kindly threw over a marker and piece of paper for the autograph. Was a lovely memory of the man.


Also back in 1998 after thumping arsenal 4-0 which was my first game I was at the stadium and the squad pulled up on their way to Chester racing. Lovely bunch of lads all let us get pics and signed allot of different belongings including shirts and photo frames.

On that day god was in the best of moods and told my cousin to f**k up and stop calling him fowler that his name was Robbie lol he was the pinnacle of football to me back then and still is what a guy.

08 Oct 2021 10:41:14
Only one I have ever met was Ian Rush.

I am a financial auditor by profession and was on a course at a hotel in Cardiff and he was sat in reception with his full Wales tracksuit on, think he was coaching the under 21’s at the time.

Think I was annoying him by asking for a photo but he obliged. Can’t say he was friendly either but he is Ian Rush so all is forgiven!

08 Oct 2021 11:07:00
As i’ve lived in Formby my whole life and because of where i work, i’ve been very fortunate to meet a lot of the players over the years. Most of the interactions are fairly innocuous, the likes of Hendo, Gomez and Fabinho coming into work and having a mooch in the village with their wives and kids, or just seeing Moreno kicking about in Tesco and stuff like that. Klopp also lives in Formby but tends to stick to Freshfield ways so i’ve never been fortunate enough to meet him!

I do have a few humorous anecdotes from recent years however. I’m not entirely sure he still lives there but until very recently Bobby lived in a house on the road adjacent to mine. Some of our neighbours closer down that end of the road said that on weekends Bobby would regularly hire Samba bands that would play in the evenings, apparently the noise was horrendous!

Balotelli also lived on that same road next to mine but a bit further down. He’d regularly be seen whipping round in his camouflage Mercedes, although the chances were you’d hear it from miles away before you’d see it. When he first joined Balotelli also walked into the bar round the corner (which was where all of us 6th formers would go because they didn’t give a toss if you were under age) and bought a round of shots for the kids in my 6th form. In that same bar i also saw Glen Johnson grab a lad in my class by his collar and put him up against a wall because he believed he’d shouted some abuse at him, which he hadn’t.

Stevie is one of the more interesting ones because you see him out having a bevvy or a coffee in the village all the time, even though he now works in Scotland. After Rangers won the league i scarcely think there was a night i walked past Sorrento’s and he wasn’t there! Heard a few stories about people meeting him out on the lash the validity of which i cannot confirm so i will not share here. I was once lucky for him to invite me into his house as i was delivering an order, which was very cool.

A shoutout to God, who while i unfortunately didn’t get to say hello to him i watched him play an amazing round of golf at Formby a few weeks ago - he came second in a tournament behind John Parrott who is a member there, he was really bloody good - and also to Leighton Baines, who is always in Formby village and is a genuinely lovely down to earth guy who doesn’t mind having a conversation with you. Also saw Barnes on a night out in town a few weeks ago out of the blue which was surprising, but didn’t bother him because he was on the phone.

08 Oct 2021 12:22:01
Had a pint with Fowler years ago in the Living room in town, he had left Liverpool just at the time, really good bloke. John Arne Riise surprised me how tall he was, spoke to Redders on the Docks, really nice and Keegan, met him twice, what a really nice fella and very talkative asking about me and the family like he knew me.

08 Oct 2021 12:41:06
Ronaldo ran over my foot with a trolly case at the airport. Lol.

09 Oct 2021 01:16:16
Neil Ruddock burped in my direction and made me vomit once does that count.

09 Oct 2021 02:02:58
In 93', my dad took me and my 3 older sisters to Fulham away in the league Cup and on Fowlers debut.
Before the game, Mcmamaman was standing next to us away fans and signing programmes and having a chat. I was only 7 so assumed it was the norm!

Then, me and my dad went to the 96/ 97 semi at home to PSG. Lost the 1st leg 3-0 and then won the 2nd leg 2-0 with a late Mark Wright header. Next day, we done a stadium tour and bumped into Micahel Thomas outside the ground. Was clearly in a rush and managed to get away from a few fans rapid but my dad managed to get us a quick pic and autograph (old disposable kodak camera haha! )

Was lucky enough to go to Istanbul in 05'. Anyone here who went will remember the madness at the airport the day after the game. Huge Gazebo set up outside the airport with mini bars and food stalls. Met John Aldridge in there who was happy to have a quick chat. Unbelievable trip and memories!

More recently, I took my son and nephew to Anfield for the game against Watford during 'the beast from the east' snow storm. We got tickets from a Facebook group we had used before but, on this occasion, he had done a runner when we went to get tickets leaving us and about 30 others stranded. Managed to get 3 tickets from a few family members at the last minute. Got in the ground and Dejan Lovren came over to us and had some pics etc.

Even more recently, took my Dad to the city game last weekend for his b'day present with the boot room hospitality. Bruce Grobelaar was the ex player doing the rounds. Had an interesting chat with him, what a guy!

Nice to have a topic on here we can all chip in with :)