Subbuteo football with Mes Que Un Club

A recounting of my 4th personal story (in a total of 8) that wrap around the main body of my self-published book on Liverpool Football Club entitled "Chasing the Impossible and a Sword of Damocles", and a story of my achieving a footballing dream of watching the Mighty Reds in the Camp Nou of Barcelona in the Semi-Final of the UEFA Cup in 2001.

This was recorded on 8th September 2023 and on the banks of the River Severn in Ironbridge as a "tester" for future episodes.

But just look at that backdrop!

Here's the self-published book and pride and joy I'm incredibly proud of together with an extract from the chapter being read here and other ways and means of supporting me (if you're able) to thumb the eye of the traditional publishers who refused to read my original manuscript!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6W6TYCL

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

"Liverpool’s semi-final 1st leg trip to FC Barcelona’s famed Camp Nou stadium on 5th April 2001 was their most momentous and indeed important European cup tie in 4 years, and since that horror strewn debacle in the Parc Des Princes in Paris, home of Paris St Germain.
On that occasion, a Roy Evans managed Liverpool were heavily defeated 3–0 and it could have been far more on a disastrous European semi-final night.

Four years later, Gerard Houllier had built a far more robust defensive side that also had pace and attacking threats through the English trio of Emile Heskey, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. Defensively, Houllier had recruited Marcus Babbel, Sami Hyypia and Stephane Henchoz to form a solid defensive unit alongside Liverpool native Jamie Carragher. So it was no surprise that Houllier’s Liverpool battled here to a 0–0 stalemate in the magnificent cauldron of the Camp Nou and the 90,832 lucky enough to say that we were there.

For this 1st leg cup tie was a stalemate, the Camp Nou was as glorious as it had been in my dreams, and although watching the game from the very last row of this magnificent history filled footballing arena was akin to watching a faraway game of “Subbuteo” or table football, it was a magnificent joy nonetheless.

The all in white Reds of Liverpool smothered an underwhelming Barcelona in their traditional blue and red halved shirts, not that you could pick these intricate details out a thousand miles from the playing surface! The last row of the top tier after the steep hikes up the gantries and walkways of the Camp Nou is a long way from the pitch, but that’s getting ahead of ourselves.

The Reds of Liverpool were akin to the all white of Real Madrid, Barcelona’s fiercest rivals, but the game as a whole never lived up to the hype or indeed the Real/Barca comparison either.

That again is getting ahead of ourselves.

But what is clear and will remain clear at the denouement of this brief trip back in a time machine is that Liverpool battled, smothered and dare I say bored Barcelona into a 0–0 draw and the team, as well as the two hardy bands of fans at either end of the stadium stationed next to the two ginormous overhead scoreboards were absolutely blooming thrilled with the result!"

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