Labels

Wednesday 8 January 2014

A family day out at Liverpool Football Club Part One

Do you ever wish you had filmed a moment in your life? I wish I had filmed telling my husband and boys that they were going to go and watch Liverpool play West Ham at Anfield, not only were we about to watch a very exciting game but we were to tour the stadium and visit the Museum and family park. I will possibly never forget 7th December 2013 for all the right reasons, we had an amazing day. 
Our day started of with a bump when our sat nav failed to work, thankfully my husband knew where he was going, I was very pleased to see all the sign posts for the stadium just as I was starting to think we were going to be late, so if you don't know where you are going just follow the signs. 
Stadium Tour
Bronze Bill Shankly statue at Liverpool Football Club Anfield
We arrived just in time for our stadium tour, I was excited that the boys and my husband were excited too. My husband has been to Anfield before and also done the tour but for me and my boys it was a new experience, however my husband was just as excited as we were. We all gathered at the Bill Shankly statue to wait for our tour to begin, I snapped a picture of the men in my life whilst waiting as did other fans. Considering how many people were in the vicinity everyone was respectful and waited for you to take your treasured shots. Our two tour guides greeted us and took us on our way. Once we passed through security we entered the players entrance, this amazed the boys that the players a few hours later their favourite team would be walking down the same corridor. At each point of interest throughout the tour our guides were very informative, even a football novice like me found it fascinating. 
Anfield tour the kop
We couldn't have a peek in the dressing room with it being a match day but this did not take away from the experience. We were given plenty of time to soak in the atmosphere and take pictures & I took lots of those. Two things surprised me whilst stood outside the players dressing room, one was how tiny the recesses are where the players or managers have their interviews, they are oh so tiny. Secondly was how narrow the corridors are, whilst the players are waiting to go out onto the pitch they must be literally touching shoulders. I bet the atmosphere in this corridor as the players are waiting is tense, adrenalin pumping, all hoping to go out and win. The away team in this corridor will see the This is Anfield sign, it is sign that is hard to miss.
Anfield sign
It is here at the This is Anfileld sign where I took my favourite picture of the day, it is the moment my husband proudly lifted his son so he could touch the sign as many have done so before him & many will go on to do so. I am so pleased I snapped this moment as I am sure every father that supports Liverpool footbal club would be proud to lift their son or daughter to reach the sign for the very first time. Maybe one day my son will be lifting his child proudly in the same way his Daddy did. 
Once outside we Sat in the dugout and listened to the guides giving us information on the stadium, the stadium is pretty impressive empty as it is full. We also got to take a seat in the Kop stand, here we were given the history of how stadiums have changed over the years along, whilst sat here you can really appreciate the size of Anfield, rows upon rows of red seats that wiould soon be filled with all the fans ready to cheer on their team. I loved every part of the tour and would do it again, my boys also enjoyed the tour thoroughly.
Museum 
Interactive museum

On our way up to the museum after the tour the first thing I notice was the huge Hillsborough mosaic, this was created and placed here as a lasting memorial for all of the 96 Liverpool fans who lost their lives, it really does make you stop and think. In the museum you will be see more memorabilia than one football fan can take. You can choose to wear a headset which enables you to listen to commentary or you can just wander around the museum and take in the LFC story at your leisure. You can look back at the history of the club & view the cups that Liverpool football club have won. On display you will see the 4 replica UEFA Champion leagues cups and because Liverpool Football club have been so successful, they went on to win it for a fifth time in 2005 and got to keep the trophy permanently and claimed a multiple-winner badge, seeing this cup in all its glory is fantastic and something every Liverpool fan should see, it is the only place in the country you will see the actual trophy and not a replica. Along with the trophys I loved seeing the old boots and kits, beside each item you will find a plaque that gives a description of each item in that display case.  
Towards the end the boys started to get hungry so we knew there was only one thing for it, we headed to the Family park to refuel.


Stay tuned for part two, I will be sharing all of the fun we had at the Family Park and all the details of one amazing match we watched.

The tour and the museum is reasonably priced, a family ticket for them can be bought for £43.00 which I think is great value. I will return and do this tour again with my family. We were given free access for the purpose of the review, all images and opinions are of my own. 



No comments:

Post a Comment