7 European trips following the Mighty Reds of Liverpool
Volume 5: Deportivo Alaves, UEFA Cup Final, 2001. A Cup Final Special Edition!
Volume 5: Deportivo Alaves, UEFA Cup Final, 2001. A Cup Final Special Edition!
It was not long past midnight when my travelling companions and I went in search of the luxury coach that was going to propel us from the city of Liverpool to the German city of Dortmund and back again, and hopefully with the prized European UEFA Cup trophy too. Charlie was the senior of the three of us travelling together and with his Germanic roots (and surname) proudly spoke the language and lived the pragmatic Germanic way of life too. His son Peter, as big a Liverpool fan as you could wish to meet travelled with us, and to say we were more than a little excited at the prospect of what lay ahead of us over the next few days would be a world record shattering understatement. As we passed one coach after the other in a huge train stretching as far as the eye dared see, we couldn’t wait to board, settle in for the journey and while away the many hours to our Dover ferry crossing and then on through Europe via the borders of Holland, Belgium and France before entering Germany and a small town by the name of Schermbeck, and the site for our one night overnight stay before the transfer into Dortmund on match day.
As we finally reached the ending of the train of coaches awaiting their departures for Germany, all seemingly luxurious and kitted out with multiple television screens, card tables, ample room and the height of early 2000’s luxury, we found our coach and, well, suffice to say it wasn’t quite as luxurious as all the others seemed to be! In fact it wasn’t luxurious in any way, at all, and perfectly encapsulated as we dumped our bags in the hold and upon finding out we couldn’t close the antiquated lock the driver simply jumped down from his cab and kicked it firmly shut! It was not the most auspicious of starts to say the least and nor was the driver’s decision, at the very first junction he approached, to go in the opposite direction of the motorway and so we circled around the Anfield stadium and joined the back of the departing queue we were, until then, at the very front of.
“Turn the heat up!” became the mantra of 60+ disgruntled and cold Liverpool fans aboard our particular charabanc ghost of the 1960’s and soon Charlie and I had nicknamed our rolling ice cube on wheels “Ice Station Zebra”. The toilet (singular) immediately overflowed. The television (singular) had next to zero volume and the card tables and spacious room of the other coaches was severely absent on ours. I don’t recall the coach being a particularly rowdy or loud one as we were all no doubt huddled together trying to retain some bodily warmth, but when our esteemed driver ignored the Police Outriders on the edge of Dortmund a couple of days later, and guiding us directly to the stadium, before he veered off in a completely different direction, I rather think he was on borrowed time by then.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.
Ice Station Zebra safely arrived at the quaint German town of Schermbeck on the afternoon of the 14th May and my immediate reaction on arrival would be borne out throughout our albeit brief, stay. Picture in your mind the town depicted in the 1998 film The Truman Show and aside from the lack of a coastline, Schermbeck had the surreal feel and quality of the town in the Jim Carrey classic film of the late 1990’s. Nothing, and I sincerely mean nothing, was out of place. No litter or rubbish, quiet, residential, quaintly picturesque in its own way and very functionally and stereotypically German. The locals and residents were pleased if a little bemused at our collective presence and I’d guess at a couple of hundred Liverpool fans scattered around their tiny hamlet, all of whom incredibly respectful of their hosts. Charlie, Pete and I decamped into our large family room and enjoyed a rather pleasant stroll around our German toytown before settling into the one main tavern the town had to offer. Whilst I won’t embellish this evening any further than I have to, I remember it fondly as one of the happiest evenings of my life as the three of us simply relaxed into the night before a European final drinking Schnapps and consuming vast quantities of Schnitzel. Quietly, and amongst some very merry fellow Reds crammed into this small bar we sang, made jokes and generally had a good soulful laugh. The owner was a fan of FC Schalke 04, spoke no English but conversed at length in German with Charlie and I distinctly remember his demonstrative and flat refusal to take any cash at the point of sale. He’d simply etch a mark upon a beermat every time we ordered and as if by magic he provided a full-time tab which we paid. Accepting a good night Schnapps from our genial host, we headed for our brief stroll back to the hotel.
Following breakfast we had a couple of hours to ourselves before the coach transfer into Dortmund so we treated ourselves to a couple of bizarre memories that I can recall as clear as the football that was to follow many drunken hours later. First we stopped at the local War Memorial and paid our respects before ambling around our very own Truman Show and stumbling upon the town’s one and only sports shop.
And there it was ladies and gentlemen!
On central display in the shop’s window was that pleasingly old fashioned blue and yellow halved shirt of the famed Argentinian football team Boca Juniors. I’d long had a borderline fetish for retro or rare overseas football shirts and whilst in 2001 you could get such an item online it was nowhere near as easy as it is today. So this was a borderline rarity of its time and very definitely stood on a shop window dummy in a German toytown. Charlie made the necessary Germanic gestures as we entered the shop and a smiling owner immediately handed me this blue and yellow coloured wonder. He only had the one he explained, the one he’d retrieved from the window display for me, but it was a large size. Ecstatic, I passed the shirt back to the shop’s owner and proffered my VISA card.
And that’s when I didn’t buy the iconic blue and yellow home jersey of Boca Juniors.
“NOT HERE!” was apparently the owner’s exclamation in German which Charlie translated and to which we probably both laughed. But the laughs didn’t last long as the owner was adamant, via Charlie’s translations, that he would not accept a VISA card. Wouldn’t accept it! In 2001! Between the three of us we only had enough cash for the matchday necessities of Schnapps, Schnitzel and memorabilia and I don’t recall there being anything remotely like a “hole in the wall” cash machine. Regardless, and with much surreal consternation we left, boarded our very own Ice Station Zebra to depart from toytown and a Truman Show that flatly refused a simple credit card payment in the 21st Century! A wrong turn on the outskirts of Dortmund was met with genuine hostility on our placid yet excitable coach and we all disembarked into a grey, cold Dortmund relieved to be no doubt slightly more warmer than when on the coach.
The proposed main hub of pre-match celebration was deemed to be an Irish Bar near central Dortmund and from where a popular radio show on the UK’s Talk Sport network were broadcasting live. I never saw hide nor hair of the show’s presenters Andy Jacobs and Paul Hawksbee and although I was a regular listener to their show at the time, there was far too much else going on any and everywhere around us that afternoon. I remember standing by the bar the entire time as frankly there was nowhere else to go! The beauty however was that the bar itself soon became a virtual free one as, without malicious intent, drinks were simply passed back and forth in a vain attempt to reach the thirsty recipient. If that failed, well, here’s another one, try that! Bottles of spirits would often gently pass by and if you didn’t fancy the vodka on offer, well a bottle of rum would soon flow past on the alcohol river. I distinctly remember just laughing uproariously with and probably at, Charlie, and finding the whole experience all rather drunkenly surreal. Before we escaped for good we had one last quiet drink on the balcony that overlooked the main street leading into central Dortmund and were caught in the shortest and sharpest of thunderstorms. This was another surreal moment and a perfect departure point as we headed into the centre of Dortmund.
Here, there was an outdoor carnival setup but it mattered not as for as far as the eye could see it was a Red swathe of footballing humanity. However, rare yellow and blue dots could be seen in the distance and on the periphery of this huge mass of humanity, but surely that was a mirage, the effects of far too much alcohol or my continuing yearning for that Boca Juniors shirt from earlier? But slowly these yellow and blue dots became larger, more rounded and definitely more human. Their shirts, those yellow and blue shirts, looked oddly familiar and when now up close and laughing with our new footballing friends from Spain it was clearly apparent their home shirt mirrored that of the Boca Juniors shirt and that particular irony is still, suffice to say, not lost on me all these years later. Before we departed the carnival everyone seemingly had their picture taken with ex Liverpool striker Erik Meijer who as a lifelong Red was simply there to cheer on the team he’d only recently left. “Mad Erik” was mobbed constantly and I rather believe he bloody loved the adoration and genuine warmth afforded him, and after the dangerously overcrowded and worrisome tram ride from hell, we arrived at the venue for the 2001 UEFA Cup Final, the Westfalenstadion and home of Borussia Dortmund.
As the 3 of us wandered around the huge stadium 3 became 4 as I bumped into “Steve The Taxi Driver”, my long time travelling companion and star of the first two volumes of these series of articles (linked below). We drunkenly reminisced and no doubt the new romantics in us both chuckled with pride that we were both at a European final following the Reds. Thinking of the two of us, watching a re-run of the humiliating 3–0 defeat in Paris in our hotel room after watching it in the Parc Des Princes hours before makes me smile broadly as I pen these words now. We travelled thousands of miles together Steve and I, and it was perfectly in order to randomly bump into him on this of all nights. Steve no doubt predicted a huge Liverpool win (he usually did) and we went our separate ways into different parts of the stadium and Charlie, Pete and I had drawn lucky with our tickets as we were on the front row of the top tier of what Borussia Dortmund term as their “Yellow Wall”. This evening, Charlie his son and your humble narrator had the most incredible seats for an even more incredible game of football, and one that would become instantly termed as the “Greatest European Final of All Time”.
The Final itself became an instant classic and the very opposite of what a tense, drawn out high stakes European cup final is supposed to be. Bookings galore, two sent off and this gruelling yet spectacular game finished as 11 v 9 with Deportivo Alaves running on empty. Early goals, late goals, comfortable leads relinquished in almost instant surrender before God and perhaps a Godlike son levelled an incredible game at 4–4 and the final went into extra-time before a “Golden Goal” heralded the end of a pulsating game that befuddled far more than me who was completely and utterly unaware of this new extra-time rule. First team to score wins, but I was ignorant of such a change, but all this was to come. First, the goals, and with added iconic BBC commentary from long time stalwart Barry Davies:
GOAL! Liverpool 1 Deportivo Alaves 0 (Markus Babbel 4 minutes)
“And the opening goal is scored by the German! Markus Babbel”.
With only 4 minutes on the clock Gary McAllister curled a beautiful free-kick from in front of the 7,000 or so Spanish fans in the far corner of the ground and the Reds centre back come versatile play anywhere defender Markus Babbel, headed Liverpool into an early cup final lead. It was an unremarkable goal in that the Deportivo Alaves defenders simply left Babbel totally unchallenged to powerfully head the Reds into an early lead and a real early game dominance too. It was no surprise whatsoever when the Reds doubled their lead 12 minutes later.
GOAL! Liverpool 2 Deportivo Alaves 0 (Steven Gerrard 16 minutes)
“Real chance for Steven Gerrard! It’s two”.
Deportivo Alaves are all at sea in defence as they gift an easy giveaway ball to another of Liverpool’s German players tonight (and particular favourite of mine) Didi Hamann. His quick pass to Michael Owen is then cleverly reversed perfectly into the imposing stride of their future captain Steven Gerrard who drives the ball under the onrushing Martin Herrara in the Deportivo Alaves goal, and in just over a quarter of an hour’s play the Reds have taken a commanding 2 goal lead and are as dominant as the score line suggests. But not for long.
GOAL! Liverpool 2 Deportivo Alaves 1 (Daniel Alonso 26 minutes).
“A real chance! That’s beautifully taken”.
Just 6 minutes after going 2 goals behind, Deportivo Alaves’ Manager Jose Manuel Esnal brings on substitute striker Daniel Alonso and within 4 minutes the striker has reduced the score line to 2–1. Cosmin Contra delivers a perfect far post cross from which Alonso places his header out of the reach of a flat footed Sander Westerveld in the Liverpool goal.
GOAL! Liverpool 3 Deportivo Alaves 1 (Gary McAllister 41 minutes).
“Scored against Barcelona. Brought them to the Final. Now he can restore the 2 goal advantage. Which he does!”
Didi Hamann was again instrumental in the third Liverpool goal and which would see the Reds hold a 3–1 half-time advantage. His inch perfect through ball was seized upon by Michael Owen who tried to skip around the advancing Martin Herrera in the Spanish goal but was brought down for an obvious and clear penalty. Gary McAllister, hero of Barcelona and of free kick fame with recent goals against both Coventry City and Everton was now on penalty duty and he rammed his penalty low into the bottom of the Deportivo Alaves net with great and very demonstrative delight.
GOAL! Liverpool 3 Deportivo Alaves 2 (Javi Moreno 48 minutes).
“That’s a fine goal! This time it’s Moreno!”
Just 3 minutes had elapsed into the 2nd half before Deportivo Alaves reduced the lead once more to just 1 goal on a night that was now beginning to resemble that “Greatest European Final Ever” moniker more and more. From a curling cross to the far post Moreno easily outjumps Steven Gerrard and guides his header out of the reach of Sander Westerveld in the Reds goal and just 3 minutes later Javi Moreno would score all over again.
GOAL! Liverpool 3 Deportivo Alaves 3 (Javi Moreno 51 minutes).
“And he scores! Through the wall!”
As jointly described by both Barry Davies and co-commentator Trevor Brooking, this was an innocuous “grubber” free kick that was tamely scuffed but very deliberately kept low and under the jumping Liverpool defensive wall, and with fully 40 minutes of play still remaining the Reds had let a 2 goal advantage slip and the score was already 3–3. Utter madness!
GOAL! Liverpool 4 Deportivo Alaves 3 (Robbie Fowler 73 minutes).
“Would you believe it! Oh that’s fairy tale. That’s boy’s own stuff!”
With 17 minutes left surely this moment, indeed this God given moment, would be the winning goal? A sweeping move that saw the ball never leave the green grass of the Westfalenstadion, Gary McAllister’s perfect pass found Robbie Fowler in stride who with three short touches with his Godlike left foot transferred the ball to his weaker right before burying a beautiful shot into the bottom corner of the net. Fowler leapt into the arms of substitute Nicky Barmby and right in line and directly below Charlie, Pete and I. I can’t recall their reactions, but I was leaping like a lunatic as surely God would have the final say in this of all European finals?
GOAL! Liverpool 4 Deportivo Alaves 4 (Jordi Cruyff 89 minutes).
“Cruyff! Unbelievable! It’s 4–4 with less than 2 minutes remaining”.
As the estimated 35,000 to 45,000 Reds in the crowd began a loud if nervous rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, goalkeeper Westerveld luckily gets away with a possible penalty and instead concedes a corner. Karma is on the Spanish team’s side as Jordi Cruyff rises unchallenged for an easy header at the near post and it’s 4–4 and against all odds, the final is going to extra-time.
GOAL! Liverpool 5 Deportivo Alaves 4 (Delfi Geli own goal 117 minutes).
“It’s an own goal! It’s a golden goal!”
With Deportivo Alaves hanging on for a penalty shoot out with only 9 men left on the field, a beautiful free kick from Gary McAllister is glided off the top of Delfi Geli’s head and into the empty Spanish net and despite my not knowing of the new rule (and now sobbing on my knees and praying we’d now hold on to the lead for the remaining 3 minutes of extra-time), I rose to my feet to see the Reds celebrating on the pitch and Charlie grabbing me with tears in his own eyes. THE most incredible European football final ever at that point in time had finished, via the “Golden Goal” rule of first team who scores wins, and Sami Hyypia and Robbie Fowler would jointly be hoisting that beautiful UEFA Cup trophy high into a German night sky.
The vast majority of our Ice Station Zebra coach were asleep before we hit the German motorways in earnest but a light sleeper at best I was awake for a long time into the dead of a dark morning, but absolutely glowing on the inside. The return to Liverpool was slow and unremarkable, as was our own journey home after reaching the Liverpudlian eternal city. Peter’s flag flew mightily on the return journey as cars throughout our 90 minute drive beeped and honked their horns at every opportunity. Although not covered here, the winning of the UEFA Cup on this mad and surreal night in Germany was the third trophy lifted by this odds defying Liverpool team this season after defeating Birmingham City in the League Cup Final and Arsenal in a famous comeback in the FA Cup Final. I missed the Arsenal final (an Usher at a lifelong friend’s marriage ceremony) but was at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to see the Reds lift the League Cup, yet the season as a whole was still not over. Just days after this miraculous and ridiculous European final the Reds travelled to London and beat Charlton Athletic 4–0 in a brilliant second half display that guaranteed them European Cup (now branded as the “Champions League”) football the following season. Before they kicked a ball in earnest in the European Cup (it’ll never be the “Champions League” for me!) the Reds triumphed in Europe yet again as they won the European Super Cup against a lacklustre Bayern Munich and started the 2001/2002 season by defeating Manchester United in the Charity Shield.
Of the six competitions the Reds entered in the 2000/2001 season, they held five of those trophies in their Anfield home. It was quite some season! Topped off by arguably still the greatest European final ever?
Regardless, these were a very special few days that will forever hold a permanent place in my heart forever more and I hope I’ve painted a picture worthwhile of capturing that and you’ve enjoyed this rambling footballing tale too. What follows are images from some newspapers of the time and all within my own collection and kept in a dusty box in a cupboard beneath the stairs. I’ve also added links to all four previous articles in this series, and I hope I’ve piqued your interest and enjoyment enough to consider taking a trip along memory lane with these personal stories too:
7 European trips following the Mighty Reds of Liverpool
Volume 1: FC Sion, 2nd Round, 1st Leg of the 1996/97 European Cup Winners Cup, 15th to 18th October 1996.medium.com
7 European trips following the Mighty Reds of Liverpool
Volume 2: Paris St Germain, Semi-Final, 1st Leg of the 1996/97 European Cup Winners Cup, 9th to 11th April 1997.medium.com
7 European trips following the Mighty Reds of Liverpool
Volume 3: AS Roma, 4th Round, 1st Leg of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup, 15th and 16th February 2001.medium.com
7 European trips following the Mighty Reds of Liverpool
Volume 4: Barcelona, Semi-Final, 1st Leg of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup, 4th to 6th April 2001.medium.com