It’s Hard Being An Evertonian - Reflection by Canon Bob

I need to begin with a confession that I have waited over 40 years to get off my chest. In 1977 I was in a small smokey bar in Oxford when Liverpool were playing in the final of the European Cup. The match was being shown live on a small black and white television around which a large number of us were gathered.  As far as anyone in the bar knew I was Bob from Liverpool and therefore everyone was very happy for me as Liverpool were winning. Near the end Tommy Smith ( a particular villain amongst Evertonians) crashed in a spectacular header and the pub erupted. I was slapped on the back and drinks appeared from nowhere.

In my defence I never actually claimed to support Liverpool but shamefully I accepted the drinks without mentioning that my heart was in fact blue!

When I was nine my best friend’s dad had season tickets for Anfield. An illness in the family meant that for a number of months there was a ticket going spare. In those days and at that age going to a match was a really big deal and so I was thrilled to be asked to go along. However after the second game my friend’s father said to me on the way home that unless I started supporting Liverpool he would not take me again. I have often wondered how life would have been if I had taken him up on the ultimatum. Of course even for a nine year old it was completely out of the question and he was as good as his word never asking me again.

It’s not that I haven’t tasted the thrill of my team’s success. I went to every home game in the 1969 - 70 season when we won the Championship and gloried in the similar successes in 1984 – 85 (when the European Cup Winners Cup was also won) and 1986 – 87. There have been FA Cup wins and compared to most supporters I should be content with my lot.

However there has always been Liverpool in the background waiting to outdo and surpass any success that my team might achieve. More Championships (and now Premiership); more FA Cup victories; much more European success; more sensational comebacks; more triumphant bus journeys through town. For what it is worth I offer congratulations once again for this latest achievement.

Being an Evertonian may not be easy but I hope it is good for the soul and you never know we are not too far away from next season……………
 
Canon Bob

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