The Wembley Diary of a 9-Year-Old
Travelling all the way to Wembley and seeing your team lose a cup final is hard enough for an adult to take. But when you're a little kid, it can be devastating - especially for youngsters who don't yet really understand that for all the highs of supporting a football team, there's invariably a number of lows that come with the territory of being a football fan. What you are about to read is the Wembley diary of Stella Rogers, a nine-year-old football fan who happens to play for the club's Under-9 team at the LFC Ladies Centre of Excellence.
07.15: Woken up by my little sister. She's not old enough to go to Wembley yet so she's got to stay home in Liverpool with all the Everton fans. I'm only nine but in my life I've already seen Liverpool win one European Cup, one FA Cup and two League Cups. Harvey Vinue in my class is a Blue. He's seen Everton win nothing. Gutted! Imagine being a Blue? That would be such a boring life.
08.20: Just got on our minibus for Wembley. We got picked up outside the Childwall Fiveways. The bus was a bit late and it was cold but we're on the motorway now. There's loads of boxes with my name on them but they all say Artois not Rogers. The stereo is on loud playing 'Ring of Fire' and 'Heart as Big as Liverpool'.
08.36: I'm so excited I can't wait. I'm on the minibus with my friend Jack, his dad, my dad and 13 other adults. I have put my posters that I designed at home up on the window. One says, 'My school is all Red and Kenny's our teacher'. The other one is split into four quarters and says, 'Don't Buy The Sun', King Kenny, We shall Not Be Moved and We're on our way to Wembley. I might have spelt Wembley wrong though on the poster.
09.36: We're listening to cool music and shouting and cheering!
10.05: Just stopped at the service station on the M6 toll. Jack got some money off his granddad to try and win a giant lollipop on one of those electric pincher machines. He kept doing it wrong and spent loads of money. My dad wouldn't even give me a pound to try it. Not fair.
10.12: We just had a picture taken of everyone stood outside the minibus holding up our Liverpool flag at the service station. Lee, one of my dad's friends, spent ages trying to work out how to take the photo with my dad's big camera and a woman driving past had to stop and get out of her car to take the photo for him. He hadn't even turned on the camera - that's why it wouldn't work. Fool!
10.45: Opened the big pack of Haribo Football Mix my mum bought from Tesco last night.
10.50: Finished the big pack of Haribo Football Mix my mum bought from Tesco last night.
11.05: Vicky, the only other girl on our minibus, said she would have to go to toilet in the bushes by the motorway if we didn't stop soon! We just made it to Watford Gap services in time for her! It was cool as they had big rocks outside for me and Jack to climb on. There were loads of Liverpool fans there and only two Chelsea fans. I gave them the thumbs down from our bus. They looked gutted! Haha!
12.11: Just seen some fans of Shrewsbury making naughty signs at us from the windows of their coach. We're going to Wembley. They're not. Losers!
12.53: Just seen the Wembley Arch. Not seen it since February for the Carling Cup final. Someone on the bus has just given me a pack of chewing gun too. It's boss supporting Liverpool. On the stereo, they're playing 'It's a long way to Wembley Stadium'. We've played it three times in a row now.
13.21: It took ages to park the minibus but now we're heading to The Torch Pub to meet more Liverpool fans including my uncle and two of my friends – Daniel from Liverpool and Charlie who lives near my nana. Near Wembley Way, we saw one of the substitute presenters from LFC TV trying to record something to camera. As we were all watching him, I think it put him off as he kept laughing and having to start again. I think that's why he's not one of the presenters you see in the studio on LFC TV because he's not as good as Claire Rourke. He does look a bit Italian though.
13.45: Just spent 10 minutes trying to get from one side of the pub to the other side. It's the most packed pub I have ever been in and because I'm only small, people were spilling their beer on my head as I tried to wriggle my way through. Outside everyone is singing, 'Shut Up! Chelsea FC. You ain't got no history! Five European Cups and 18 leagues, that we call history!' I know the fans don't actually sing, 'Shut Up!' but that's the only version I'm allowed to sing.
14.25: Keep getting told off for running around in the beer garden playing tag with my friends Jack, Charlie and Daniel. Me and Jack were both at the Carling Cup final but it's the first final for Charlie and Daniel who are both really excited. Charlie keeps throwing himself on the ground and getting covered in mud while Dan has just got in trouble for poking his dad in the eye with his Luis Suarez flag. I thought his dad was going to cry or go blind.
16.35: Just started the 'We're all on the march with Kenny's army!' chant with Charlie. I think the adults around us liked it!
16.45: Spotted this cool Kenny poster near Wembley Way. I've seen loads of Liverpool flags and banners but nothing about Chelsea.
16.55: We've got amazing seats in the front row of the upper tier. There's no one in front of me to block my view and the pitch looks amazing. Walking into Wembley and going up the stairs and then coming out and seeing all the fans and the pitch and the players is really amazing. I can't really describe it other than to say it's just amazing. I'm so proud to support Liverpool.
18.10: I think we're going to get beat. We've come all this way and we didn't play well at all in the first half. I really thought we were going to win as we're better than Chelsea but they've been better than us in the first half. The fans around me still think we'll win and they're onlder than me so they're probably right. I hope we do. I don't want to travel all the way back home and see my mum and my school friends if we lose.
18.25: How has Didier Diver just scored? This is a disaster.
18.37: YESSSSS! I didn't really think Andy Carroll was that good but he's been brilliant today. I mean, he's good but I think Suarez is better. We're going to score again. I know it!
18.55: How was that not a goal? The referee is a Chelsea fan like that referee who had that Manchester United shirt under his black shirt. The one Ryan Babel got in trouble for. It should be 2-2. Everyone is really mad all around me.
19.12: We're going to lose but we're singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' really loudly. Everyone is singing it. I can't believe we're going to lose. I just thought we'd win. I'm trying not to cry. I can't cry in front of other people.
19.25: We've lost but everyone's singing like we've won. We didn't stay to watch the Chelsea players lift the cup. I couldn't bear to watch Fernando Torres celebrating in a Chelsea shirt. I still can't believe we've lost. Not for one minute did I think we wouldn't be celebrating tonight. It was so good seeing us with the trophy in the Carling Cup final that I wanted to see it again today. On the stairs walking out of the stadium, everyone is singing 'We love Liverpool, we do...' It's brilliant and makes me feel a bit better.
19.40: It's much quieter at The Torch now. There's lots of Liverpool fans here but no one is singing now. Everyone just looks gutted. The adults keep telling us that we're Liverpool and we need to support the team even more at times like this. They keep telling us kids that the next time we win the cup, it'll feel even better because now we know what it feels like to lose. We know they're right but we're still really disappointed. And mum, don't get mad - we were only pretending to drink beer for the photo - it tasted yuk!
19.50: We've found a new way to cheer ourselves up. We're collecting all the empty plastic beer cups and making a big tower to kick over. It's really good fun. We're all running around kicking cans over and jumping on them and seeing the beer squirt out.
21:05: I thought the bus would be really quiet because everyone was gutted we lost but it's not. Everyone seems to have cheered up and it's been singing all the way from Wembley. 'Horse with No Name' is my favourite because everyone shouts the 'Nar, nar, nar, nar, nar, na' bit really loud. The Clash, The Jam, the Beach Boys, 'Ring of Fire' and 'Heart as Big As Liverpool' keep getting played. We also keep listening to 'It's A Long Way to Wembley Stadium' even though we're actually driving to Liverpool.
22.20: I love supporting Liverpool. 'You'll Never Walk Alone' has just been played and everyone started singing it. The men at the back all got their scarves out and people were waving the flags that were left on our seats at Wembley. I wasn't allowed to wave my little flag at Wembley because my dad said only Chelsea fans wave plastic flags but I picked up two for me and my sister as souvenirs. Joining in with 'You'll Never Walk Alone' on the bus was amazing.
23.30: I think everyone on the minibus apart from me and Jack are drunk. Everyone's singing like we've won the cup. In fact, we were all singing 'We'll be running round Wembley with the cup' and then at the back they shout 'Next Year!' It was funny. After that, everyone was singing, 'Ee aye addio, we've won the cup' even though we hadn't. I think everyone's now pretending we did win it and are now celebrating. This journey home is the best trip I've ever been on. Everyone's standing up and bounching on seats and everything. My mum would never let me do this.
00.20: It's all gone dark on the bus except for the two young lads who are flashing their lights on their phones to the music. I think this is called raving. I'm still awake and dancing like mad. Everyone's cheering me because they think I'm crazy. I'm not really!
01.15: Just got home. Me and my dad walked from the Fiveways back to our house. He told me that we'll go back to Wembley and see us win the cup. I told him I believe him and I do. We didn't win today but it was amazing to go to Wembley. I've asked him to promise he'll take me again next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment