It took me at least six months to watch the replay of Steven Gerrard’s second equaliser against us in the 2006 FA Cup final.
The heartbreak that followed is something I don’t think I’ll experience as a West Ham fan ever again. Not even the pain of two relegations during my lifetime come close to the sheer pain I felt that day.
But Steven Gerrard has always remained something of a hero to me. His heroics for Liverpool in Istanbul are probably what did it for me – the way he lifted his team up as captain and dragged them to victory against all the odds is something not many players in the world could’ve done in that situation.
Ever since then, even after breaking our hearts in Cardiff, Gerrard is still seen as something of a hero in my eyes.
His efforts for both Liverpool and England over the years deserve the utmost respect.
He leaves Liverpool and the Premier League as a legend, and he has admitted that West Ham will always have a place in his heart.
He wrote that in his autobiography, which came out a couple of years after that final in Cardiff. Read the excerpt of what he said about West Ham and us fans below…
How about that, eh? Not only is it nice to have someone like Gerrard speak about our club in that way, but it’s also says a lot about us as fans of West Ham and how, after all the emotions we felt on that day, we realised that we’d played our part in the greatest FA Cup final ever.
So from everyone here at WestHamWorld.co.uk, I’d like to wish Stevie G all the best in the States. Hopefully one day we’ll get our own back for that day in Cardiff if he ever returns to Liverpool as manager.
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