Liverpool (16-05-2015)

Liverpool 1 - 3 Crystal Palace (Premier League), Saturday 16th May 2015


Bus singles x2 (Sheffield) = £3-60
Baguette = £3-19
Drink = £1-99
Tea = £1-90
Train = £19-15
Merseyrail day pass = £3-70
Pie & tea at ground = c£5
Sundry snacks = £4
Train single to centre = £3-45
Breakfast = £8-75
Programme = £3
Tea = £1-90
Match ticket = £47
Total = £106-63

The hour is upon us. After months of media discussion and debate Gerrard is finally playing his last game at Anfield. Amazingly we'd been able to get tickets for this thanks to our attendance in 2014-15. As it was a 5.30 kick off we decided to stay in a hotel on the Saturday, in anticipation of the Anfield goodbye and the larger than usual crowds (outside the ground that is).

I have again tried to record all outgoings for the trip, which included food, travel and copious drinks & tea. Costs are a curious aspect of groundhopping and football trips in general as they are not always clearly defined - I've included everything here but you could argue that the 'expenses' should only include stuff specifically relating to the day itself.

After a pie inside the Main Stand, we soaked up the prematch build-up, with cheesy pop songs wistfully bidding lovers farewell. This set the tone for the game, which was almost a sideshow today. The players rightfully formed a guard of honour for Gerrard before those great anthems echoed around the Kop - 'Steve Gerrard, he'll pass the ball 40 yards...' 'Steven Gerrard is our captain / Steven Gerrard is a Red'.

The game from Liverpool's perspective was hardly a fitting goodbye. Crystal Palace came here as a decent mid table team, which was a massive contrast to their previous outing here in Autumn 2013. Today they looked handy and pacey in attack, with Jason Puncheon and Bolasie causing Liverpool's back line all sorts of problems. There is no sentimentality in football and Palace had clearly come here to win. At the end it was a comfortable 3-1 win, with the only bright spot for the home side being an Adam Lallana goal when he showed great pace and strength to latch onto a loose ball. They are rapidly becoming a bogey team for Liverpool having beaten them 3-1 earlier this year and snatched that famous 3-3 draw at Selhurst last year.

Still the songs rang out around the ground for Gerrard, making me recall the adage that form is temporary class is permanent. There was naturally disappointment at the final whistle but today wasn't really about the game. The players reemerged from the tunnel wearing Gerrard 8 shirts before he did the obligatory speech and lap of honour. To be fair to the Palace fans, many stayed behind to pay their own tribute. The ground began to empty as it was nearly 8pm, and a chilly wind was cutting through Anfield. This was the final home game of the season, and the end of an era. As we headed across Stanley Park and away from the shell of the new Main Stand, this felt like a definite break from the past. 2015-16 will see the start of a very different time for this football club.