Liverpool FC Tour 2014

Tour 2014 program cover

The Liverpool program for the 2014 tour of the US. Includes features on each of the teams they are facing (Manchester City, AS Roma, Olympiacos and AC Milan) the cities they are playing in (New York, Chicago, Boston and Charlotte).

An Interview with Brad Friedel, the first American to play for the Reds. Stories on three Liverpool players who came to the US to play "They Crossed the Pond" - Steve Heighway, Kevin Kewley and Steve Nicol. Past tours of North America - 1946, 1948, 1953, 1964, 2004 and 2012.

Player profiles, very nicely done with a small photo and paragraph on each (6 to a page). Stories on Brendan Rodgers and the city of Liverpool. A very nicely done souvenir program for the US tour....

2014 - International Champions Cup

Liverpool FC v Manchester City 2014.07.30 Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Both teams played an exciting game trading goals to reach a 2-2 tie. With seconds remaining it appeared that Liverpool would win when Sterling placed the ball in the top corner, only to be called offsides. 

Liverpool would win on penalty kicks, when the first 3 players could not find the net. Kolarov (MC) missed the net, Sturridge (LCF) missed the net, Yaya Toure's (MC) shot is saved by Mignolet. Emre Can (LFC) hits the first for Liverpool. Navas (MC) hits the equalizer. Henderson (LFC) scores. Iheanacho (MC) scores. Lucas (LFC) scores the winning shot...

My first visit to the new Yankee Stadium. Very impressive from the outside and yet it still holds the memories of all the past Yankee memories. Excellent crowd, very much a Liverpool crowd. Stood for the entire game with many fans from England singing and cheering on Liverpool...

The International Champions Cup returns for a second year, with a two groups of four in a round-robin format played in 12 cities across the US and Canada.

Jul 24 - AC Milan 0 - Olympiacos 3 - BMO Field, Toronto (originally scheduled for Citi Field, NY)
Jul 26 - AS Roma 2 - Manchester United 3 - Sports Authority Field, Denver, Co
Jul 26 - Inter Milan 1 - Real Madrid 1 (Inter 3-2 PK)- Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, Ca
Ju 27 - Manchester City 5 - AC Milan 1 - Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pa
Jul 27 - Liverpool FC 1 - Olympiacos 0 - Soldier Field, Chicago, Il
Jul 29 - Inter Milan 0 - Manchester United 0 (ManU 5-3 PK)- FedEx Field, Washington DC
Jul 29 - AS Roma 1 - Real Madrid 0 - Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Tx
Jul 30 - Manchester City 2 - Liverpool FC 2 (Liverpool 3-1 PK)- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
Aug 2 - AS Roma 0 - Inter Milan 2 - Lincoln Field, Philadelphia, Pa
Aug 2 - Manchester City 2 - Olympiacos 2 (Olymp 5-4 PK) - TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Mn
Aug 2 - Real Madrid 1 - Manchester United 3 - Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mi
Aug 2 - Liverpool FC 2 - AC Milan 0 - Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Final -
Aug 4 - Liverpool FC 1 - Manchester United 3 - Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Fl

The Aug 2 game in Michigan set a US record for attendance with 109,318 fans watching Real Madrid and Manchester United

Again there are a number of international friendlies, which is great for the American audience:
Jul 19, 2014
 - Tottenham Hotspurs 3 at Seattle Sounders 3
Jul 23, 2014
 - Liverpool FC 0 -  AS Roma 1 - Fenway Park, Boston, Ma
 - Tottenham Hotspurs 3 at Toronto FC 2
 - Crystal Palace 2 at Columbus Crew 2
 - Manchester City 4 at Sporting KC 1
 - Aston Villa 2 at FC Dallas 0
 - Manchester United 7 at LA Galaxy 0
Jul 25, 2014
 - Crystal Palace 1 at Philadelphia Union 0
Jul 26, 2014
 - Arsenal 0 at NY Red Bull 1 - 2014 NY Cup
 - Fulham 3 at DC United 0
 - Tottenham Hotspurs 2 at Chicago Fire 0
 - Aston Villa 1 at Houston Dynamo 0
Jul 27, 2014
 - Atletico Madrid 0 at San Jose Earthquakes 0 (Atletico 4-3 PK)
Jul 31, 2014
 - Bayern Munich 1 - Chivas Guadalajara 0  - 2014 Audi Football Summit, Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ
Aug 6, 2014
 - Bayren Munich 1 at MLS All-Stars 2 - Portland, Ore
Aug 12, 2014
 - Club Tijuana 1 at Real Salt Lake 1

Hillsborough 96 Commemorative patch

2014

To help mark the 25th anniversary of Hillsborough, Liverpool FC is launching the official commemorative iron-on patch, available to fans all over the world.

On Sunday April 13, 2014 Liverpool players will wear the patch against Manchester City and for the final three home games of the season. Fans are encouraged to purchased the patch which costs about $3US. The patch measures 2' in diameter, ships very quickly and comes with instructions for ironing. The patch is not embroidered.

All profits from the sale of the patch will be donated to the Hillsborough families...

Liverpool FC

2014.04.17 update - Throughout the English Premier League, teams paid tribute to the Hillsborough Disaster. Rivalries are put aside to remember the fans. Outside of the league the fans of Borussia Dortumnd sang You'll Never Walk Alone in tribute.

The Philadelphia Union and their supporters the Sons of Ben paid tribute to the memory of the 96 fans who lost their lives in the Hillsborough tragedy. During the 7th minute of their April 12 game against Real Salt Lake the game was stopped for a moment of silence. The names of the 96 were scrolled across the PPL park video board in the north end of the stadium...

Never Forget

1989 Hillsborough Disaster Charity Record

I received a text from Mike, who is away at college, asking if I knew about the Liverpool 96. I had some idea but not enough. Now the news was breaking that the truth the British police and other public agencies covered up and misrepresented how 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death due to overcrowding at Hillsborough...

In April 15 1989 Liverpool was playing Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, Sheffield, England. Shortly after kick-off, an influx of Liverpool supporters caused a barrier to break resulting in a massive crush of people. 96 supporters would die from the resulting crush, only 14 were admitted to the hospital. At the time of the incident the blame was placed on the unruly fans. The Taylor report from 1990 concluded the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control...

2012 Hillsborough Independent Panel reported that 41 of the 96 might have been saved, due to failures by emergency services and public bodies which contributed to the death toll

In May 1989, a charity version of "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey", written by Gerry Marsden, was released in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster. the song was recorded by Liverpool artists The Christians, Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood), Paul McCartney (The Beatles), Gerry Marsden (Gerry and the Pacemakers) and Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, Pete Waterman (SAW). The single held the #1 spot in the UK for 3 weeks.

I searched ebay to find a copy, which I was lucky enough to do. The 45rpm record arrived today. Although this has nothing to do with American based soccer, I wanted to share this amazing piece of soccer history...

The reverse side features the song "Abide with Me" - Terence Duffy on organ, Philip Duffy, master of music. Sung by the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Choir.  Liverpool and Everton football teams and representatives were in the congregation..April 16, 1989 Sunday evening mass at Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral...

2012.12.17 A new charity single was released to assist the Hillsborough families' fight for justice. Participating in the recording sessions of the song "He Ain't heavy He's My Brother" were Kenny Daglish, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Glenn Tilbrook, Holly Johnson John Bishop, Alan Hasen, Robbie Williams, Beverly Knight, Mel C, Paloma Faith, Rebecca Ferguson, Peter Hooton, John Power, Dave McCabe, Robbie Williams, Eliza Doolittle, Ren Harvieu, Jon McClure, Shane MacGowan...

Daglish hoped the single would provide tremendous reassurance to the families, if the public got behind the single...the families have suffered enough...

Originally posted 2012.10.22, updated 2013.01.13

2012 Liverpool FC v Tottenham Hotspurs

2012.07.28 M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md

Liverpool faced the Tottenham Hotspurs at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. 

In a 0-0 draw Fabio Borini made his Liverpool debut, while Stewart Downing made his first pre-season appearance.  Borini had his best opportunity to score as Jordan Henderson swung a deep cross to the back post where Borini was waiting. Unfortunately Borini could not get his shot on target.

Taking the pitch for Liverpool were: Brad Jones, Jamie Carragher, Jon Flanagan, Jonjo Shelvey, Martin Skrtel, Adam Morgan, Joe Cole, Jay Spearing, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Jose Enrique

Second half changes: Steven Gerrard, Danny Wilson, Lucas Leiva, Jack Robinson, Fabio Borini, Stephan Sama, Andy Carroll, Nathan Eccleston, Peter Gulacsi, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom

8x6 card picked up outside the stadium at one of the VIP party tents

(Steven Gerrard and Pepe Reina)

Hotspurs: Brad Friedel, Kyle Naughton, William Gallas, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Younes Kaboul, Jermaine Jenas, Jake Livermore, Aaron Lennon, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Gareth Bale, Harry Kane.

Second half changes: Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, Sebastien Bassong, David Bentley, Tom Carroll, Jan Vertongen, Adam Smith

Liverpool Tour 2012

July 21 - Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada - Liverpool 1 : Toronto FC 1

July 25 - Fenway Park, Boston, Ma - Liverpool 1 : AC Roma 2

July 28 - M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md - Liverpool 0 : Hotspurs 0 

Tottenham US Tour 2012

July 24 - Home Depot Center, Los Angeles, Ca - Hotspurs 1 - LA Galaxy 1

July 28  - M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md - Hotspurs 0 : Liverpool 0

July 31 - Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ - Hotspurs : Red Bull

NBA star Steve Nash, wearing a Tottenham jersey, being interviewed before the game.

Nash grew up playing soccer, his siblings played college and professional soccer, has also practiced with the NY Red Bull an participated in Showdown in Chinatown an 8v8 charity soccer game. Nash's father was born in Tottenham and are both lifelong Hotspur fans...

Sea of Red as seen from our seats...

Logo used at Fenway, when Liverpool met AC Roma. Liverpool was sold to the Fenway Sports Group in 2010...