The 10 most influential captains of the modern era: Steven Gerrard

Liverpool Legend!

Here’s an exhaustive list of clubs Steven Gerrard has played for:

1.) Liverpool

That is why he is loved by football fans the world over. And that, in turn is one of the reasons he is adored by fans of Liverpool Football Club.

But unlike other Liverpool legends such as Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Jamie Carragher (all of whom grew up supporting Everton), Steven George Gerrard’s heart beat in sync with the Spion Kop from the time he was born on the 3rd of May, 1980.

Football in England is considered to be a working-class sport, and a majority of fans at football games do come from that background. It was an upbringing Gerrard was familiar with. A football-obsessed teenager at Cardinal Heenan School in the Liverpool district of West Derby, Gerrard’s first memories of playing with a football reside on the cul-de-sac in Huyton, a town on the outskirts of Liverpool where he grew up.

And like most of the Liverpool legends of his generation, Gerrard caught the eyes of his scouts at an early age. It is not uncommon for clubs in England to scour the immediate surroundings for talent, and those who spotted him playing for local side Whiston Juniors said he was destined to do great things.

Gerrard, a born Kopite, had dreamed of one day captaining Liverpool. Small wonder then that he did not hesitate before signing on with the club’s youth academy in 1987 at the tender age of eight. But although Gerrard is revered as a Kop hero today, his first senior appearance in the sacred Red of Liverpool was one that was ignominious and forgettable at best.

“Who is this skinny little tw*t”, wondered the Liverpool fans who were occupying the Kop end during their Premier League game against Blackburn Rovers on the 29th of November, 1998 when Gerrard was about to come off the bench for his senior debut.

Gerrard – who now brings with him an assured confidence whenever he steps out onto the pitch – was shot with confusion when he was warming up on the touchline. All the other substitutes had been given a generous round of applause as they were going through the motions but Gerrard’s presence brought with it confusion and question marks.

His début was the one one remembers for all the wrong reasons. With all fairness to him, though, he was only on for a minute.

This was a Liverpool side that was a shadow of the legendary outfits that Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish had led to glory so many times in the past. The alliance between Gerard Houiller and Roy Evans had fractured, the Reds had lost at home to Derby, had been dumped out of the League Cup and were ninth in the league before entertaining Blackburn. The sun was fast setting on Liverpool’s infamous Spice Boys and David James, Steve McManaman, Jason McAteer, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp and Co were quickly reaching their sell-by dates.

“We knew from the age of 14 they were both going to make it. We took them both on an under-18 tour of Spain when they were 13 or 14, which I never did before or since. And their parents knew that I knew they were special. Sometimes you don’t tell the parents because you don’t want to affect their behaviour. But there was no danger with those two.”

- Steve Heighway, who mentored Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen at the Liverpool School of Excellence

The fans, however, did not have to look far for a new dawn that was rising over Anfield.

Unlike Michael Owen, however, who endeared himself to the fans almost immediately after he had graduated from Liverpool’s School of Excellence (like Gerrard) and had been named BBC Sports Personality of the Year at the age of 18, Gerrard’s first steps in Red were a lot more slippery.

His full début came on the right flank at White Hart Lane where he was to keep an eye on the deadly David Ginola. However, nervousness on that day meant he was on the receiving end of an earful from Paul Ince.

But that awkwardness was soon cast aside as he saw more and more minutes on the field and the baptism of fire that is the Premier League began the metamorphosis of Gerrard from nervous teenager to future world-beater.

By the time his second season began, Gerrard was a regular in midfield, partnering Jamie Redknapp in the centre of the park. By the time 2000 came around, he had made 50 starts in all competitions, and the arrival of silverware that season meant that the Liverpool faithful now had the same opinion of him as the club had when they had first spotted him all those years ago.

Liverpool signaled the start of a new dawn at Anfield with a treble that season. The UEFA Cup, the League Cup and the FA Cup all came to Anfield.

In winning over his doubters, Gerrard set the foundations to bring back the glory years to Anfield and once he was made captain in 2003, there was no looking back. Every time he took to the pitch, he had the unwavering support of the Liverpool faithful and he repaid that support in kind.

“He has become the most influential player in England, bar none. More than Vieira. Not that Vieira lacks anything, but I think that Gerrard does more for his team than Vieira does, and has way more to his game.

“I’ve watched him quite a lot. To me, Gerrard is Keane. Everywhere the ball is, he seems to be there. He’s got that unbelievable engine, desire, determination. Anyone would love to have Gerrard in their team.”

- Sir Alex Ferguson

He has often been called the heartbeat of the Kop and judging by the way he puts in performance after electric performance at Anfield, one would think that the Kop supplies him with a manic energy that helps him turn the tables for Liverpool when they need rescuing.

Gerrard to the rescue, like always

Some of his most famous goals have come when all else has seemed lost for Liverpool. That searing drive against Olympiacos in 2005 when Liverpool needed three to ensure they would go through to the knock out stages, which was only a prelude to a much bigger spectacle by the Reds.

Everybody remembers that most memorable, superbly scintillating of comebacks against AC Milan that year and Gerrard took centre stage in that second half as he scored the first of the three goals that signaled Liverpool’s return and it was his man-of-the-match contribution in the middle of the park that wrote Liverpool into the annals of history.

Not that what transpired at the Ataturk Stadium in the Turkish capital was ordinary in any way, but that game was of memorable significance even in the grander scheme of things. Their 3-2 penalty shootout win was their fifth European Cup triumph, which meant they joined a very select clique of clubs who had the honour of donning a multiple-winner badge whenever they took to the field to face Europe’s elite. It also meant that the trophy they lifted that year would permanently reside at Anfield

Gerrard was later awarded the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year prize for his contributions to Liverpool’s achievements.

“Is he the best in the world? He might not get the attention of Messi and Ronaldo but, yes, I think he just might be. If you don’t have a player like Steven Gerrard, who is the engine room, it can affect the whole team. He has great passing ability, can tackle and scores goals, but most importantly, he gives the players around him confidence and belief. You can’t learn that – players like him are just born with that presence.”

- Zinedine Zidane

It is glittering performances like that which have inducted Gerrard into the Liverpool hall of fame. It was he who opened the scoring in the UEFA Cup final in 2001 (Liverpool beat Alaves 5-4 after extra time), his superb brace against West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup final when it looked like the trophy would be heading to London (Liverpool won 3-1 on penalties), and so many other memorable performances in a Liverpool shirt that make him the player he is today.

Gerrard’s loyalty to Liverpool over the years seldom wavered. The phone did ring several times when he was at Anfield, with Chelsea so famously nearly snapping him up and Real Madrid wanting to add him to their clutch of Galacticos, but there was little doubt as to where his heart truly lay.

For while Gerrard’s happiest memories will surely be at Anfield (he has made 645 appearances for the club), one of his saddest will also be associated with Liverpool Football Club.

On the 16th of April, 1989, just a day after the Hillsborough disaster had taken place in Sheffield, eight-year-old Gerrard ran to to open the door when he heard the doorbell ring. Standing on the other side was his grandfather, Tony, with a sombre look on his face. John-Paul Gilhooley, Gerrard’s elder cousin, had died in the stampede that had occurred at the stadium and his grandfather was one of the first to know. It was a moment that would shape Gerrard’s childhood.

John-Paul was ten years old.

And that is why, to this date, Gerrard has not opened the files of the Hillsborough Independent Panel. He does not wish to open the Pandora’s box of emotions that will surely swirl around him as he delves into the tragedies that befell his club so many years ago. And that is why he does not give up the fight to find justice for the ninety-six.

That is why there is an unspoken, impenetrable, everlasting bond between Steven Gerrard and the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. Their pain is his pain. Their suffering is his suffering. His triumphs are their triumphs. His victories are theirs, their victories are his.

He even stamped his authority on England

And that is why he is loved not just in England, but throughout the world. When Liverpool recently visited Australia, the MCG was filled with 95,000 fans, singing as one, a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone that made the hairs on the back of one’s neck stand up. When they were in Indonesia, a fan broke down on seeing him in the flesh. Therein lies the global appeal of Liverpool.

Therein lies the global appeal of Steven Gerrard.

His dedication on the pitch for his club is matched only by the hard work he shows in the white of his country. His first goal for England came in their famous 5-1 drubbing of Germany in Munich and he was named captain of his country on the eve of Euro 2012, having kept it throughout the Three Lions’ qualifying campaign. He made his debut in 2000 and has been a regular part of his country’s team ever since.

“This club is all about winning trophies and we’ve got a chance of bringing the greatest trophy of them all back to Anfield, so it means a great deal obviously.”

- Steven Gerrard, Liverpool and England

Gerrard brought back to Liverpool the glory days of success at the highest level. But England’s finest trophy eludes him. On the first of May, 1990, the last of Liverpool’s First Division titles was paraded through the city. The applause sounded complacent, the attitude about the players was one of arrogance. But Gerrard bowed his head in presence of that famous trophy: he was not worthy to look at it until he lifted it himself.

Given that his hunger for the Premier League remains unsated, it would be poetic justice for a man who has given his all for the club he has loved. He recently signed a two-year contract extension with the club and his first target will surely be to return Liverpool to the top four. And when the Champions League nights do return to Anfield, the anthems that ring around the stadium will bring with them an emotion so powerful you cannot help but tear up.

Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool seems to have in place a long-term strategy to restore the club to its halcyon days. Whether silverware in the league will return to the club in the next two years and whether Gerrard will play on after his 35th birthday is not clear now. But one thing certainly is: Steven Gerrard is Liverpool through and through.

And for that reason, whenever the time, wherever the place, he will never walk alone.