Liverpool's Homecoming
Sunday, 20^th May 2001

18 League Titles 6 FA Cups 6 League / Milk / Coca-Cola / Worthington Cups 4 European Cups 3 UEFA Cups + Number of Charity Shields

This Season 2000/2001 FA Cup Winners Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal Worthington Cup Winners Liverpool 1-1 Birmingham City (Liverpool won on pens) UEFA Cup Winners Liverpool 5-4 Alaves (AET - Golden Goals)

It was a triumphant season for Liverpool, Worthington Cup winners, FA Cup Winners, UEFA Cup Winners, and Champions League qualifiers. Would any fan have thought that Liverpool would have come so far this season.

The homecoming was a magnificant display for the city.

On the way to Liverpool, Radio City 96.7 were building up the hype of the occasion, running through all the cup matches and the goals. Reports were coming through that the Strand was already full and that anyone wanting a spot there would need to be in the City in a few minutes, we were about 20 minutes away. No one said anything but we all wondered what would happen, would we get there in time(?). The team were due to leave West Kirby at 3pm, and reach the Strand at between 4pm and 4.30pm. on their way around the city.
I arrived before 2.45pm, when the cities streets was almost full. Outside the tunnel the layers of car parks were overflowing with red, as fans packed them. Then we headed towards the Strand. As we drove down there, with scarves out of the windows, everywhere Liverpool fans were cheering as we headed towards Albert Docks. Batty (the driver and Kop Season Ticket holder) had to shout out of the drivers window to people to mind their toes as we drove down the Strand. As we passed the Liver Building the the central reservation was packed, and for as far as we could see Liverpool fans stretched along the road on all sides.
Entering the Albert dock car park we were confronted with thousands of cars, and no obvious spare places. So with no option Batty parked up onto one of the curbs. Out we got, and myself, Pete, and Matty, helped a fellow Red to push his car over a curb and into a spare spot. We had made it. Liverpool the home of football.
We walked toward the mass of people, and tried to judge the right spot to see the team go passed. The central reservation gave us best chance, so we headed over the dual-carriage-way. We joined the hundreds of people already there. The flag, and scarf sellers, and whistle and hooter sellers paced up and down the road, "scarves £5, flags £4", "whistle and horns £1", they made a fast buck that day. I got a flag from one fella as the tension mounted. Over the road a dog dressed in the kit of Micheal Owen was milking the fans attention (the picture of him appeared in the Daily Post the next day), the city was out to welcome its heros. The fans were painting the town red.
Across the road from us the fire brigade were getting prime position on there cranes, and helping people onto the fire station. Further down the Red All Over The Land crew were on the Yellow Subramine, which was draped in the famous "Wine for my men, We ride at dawn" banner. And chants of "Hou led the Reds out, Hou, Hou-li-er" were building up and dieing down all through the crowd.
The sky filled with Police helicopters and private airplane. At one point two planes came very close to colliding, and this was only saved when one of the pilots pulled away. The police copters were following the bus, and the fans further up the route. One hovered over us for a few minutes as we must have obviously been acting suspect, along with the other 10,000 imediatly around us.

It was aproaching the time; 3.35pm (ish), a police bike goes down the Strand on the wrong side. Myself, and Pete, realise that they plan to take the bus down the wrong side of the road. The people on the left side didn't realise. Tension was building as the police sirens built up, and further down the Strand, where the team was coming from, the flags were starting to go mad. The cheers grew. Then murmours were growing that people could see the bus, the people on the traffic lights were fueling the expectation. Then suddenly we saw the first bus, and some genius decided that the first bus would be a press bus. So the team bus, was imediately behind. The chants "Liverpool, Liverpool, Liverpool" went up. Cameras went off, Sander had his camcorda out, and two others on there where on their mobiles, the bus went passed. And finally Micheal Owen was leaning over the back of the bus. And screams from the girls, and men, went up. Off they went into the distance. The three cups had been slightly hiden by the brilliant positioning of the press bus. But the feeling wasn't going to be beaten.

We headed off, as the crowd mingeled. The pubs immediately near the roads were packed, so we headed to the Albert dock bars, and managed to find one, we had a bottle then had to go, passing one fan already unconscience on the pavement before 5pm. The car park was full, and there was no prospect of getting out, so Batty's football came to the rescue. The clearing near the car became a footy pitch as the four of us had a kick about, with "You'll Never Walk Alone" blaring out of the radio on City FM. After a while we got tired and retreated into the car, and headed out of the car park. Merseyside (and McDonald's) had a reason to celebrate and how they did celebrate. What a season!!

But what a season next season will be! Liverpool FC; FA BarcleyCard Premiership 2002, Worthington Cup Winners 2002, FA Cup Winners 2002, European Champions League Winners 2002, UEFA Super Cup Winners 2002 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

This season has proved that anything is possible when Houlier leads the Reds out!!

(21/05/2001 - Jonathan Morris)

The Route that the tour took * Watch the Official website coverage *

Good luck to Patrice Bergues at Lens !