Hull City go to Liverpool this weekend for a Premier League game. The clubs haven't been in the same division since 1960, so a smattering of Cup ties are all the clubs have in common over for almost 50 years. The last such occasion was nine seasons ago, when the League Cup pitched Warren Joyce's heroic escape actors with Gerard Houllier's squad of gifted underachievers. Boyhood Dreams asked JAMES RICHARDSON to reminisce...
It may have been mentioned elsewhere but City are in Liverpool this weekend and the last time the team strode out beyond the "This is Anfield" sign, some nine years ago, it was a game to remember for one crazy five-minute period of the second half.
Let me set the scene. September 1999 and City drew Liverpool in the second round of the League (then known as Worthington) Cup. It was the draw to get, as Liverpool had failed to qualify for Europe and therefore had to take part in the competition one round earlier than they'd normally expect. What was even better was that the game was played when the League Cup was still a two-legged affair in every round and we got the chance to travel to Anfield as well as host Michael Owen and Co at Boothferry Park.
Owen, making his return after the first of many hamstring injuries, was the star attraction for the first leg at home and more than 10,000 people, along with the Sky cameras, saw his comeback. They didn't see Owen score - he was marked superbly by Justin Whittle - but they did see City get comfortably beaten 5-1 by a mixture of Liverpool's occasional first team players and reserves. David Brown grabbed a toe-prodded close range consolation with City already 3-0 down. Ho hum.
So to the second leg and 5,000 members of the Tiger Nation crossed the Pennines and were shoehorned into the lower tier of the Anfield Road end, in attendance more for the sense of occasion than realistic hope of getting any kind of result. The ground itself was only just half full and as a result the fabled Kop wall of sound welcome was lacking the punch I suspect it'll have this weekend.
For the first thirty minutes City were dogged in defence and tried to utilise the three-pronged attack of Brown, Colin Alcide and Jamie Wood. Wood was included after an impressive showing in the previous league game against Swansea, scoring from 20 yards with his first touch after coming on as a substitute, although later showings that season would suggest he was attempting to trap the ball rather than shoot.
Unfortunately for Wood, he was to be withdrawn shortly after Danny Murphy opened the scoring for Liverpool. Rigobert Song's long pass caught the City defence out and Lee Bracey's cavalier-esque charge outside his area to clear the ball led to him handling it before knocking it away. Bracey was shown his second red card of the season, Wood was withdrawn and rookie keeper Matt Baker stood between the sticks. Down to ten men, at Anfield. Oh dear.
Chubby, ginger never-seen-again winger Layton Maxwell scored Liverpool's second immediately after half time and then things went a little bit odd. A City attack draw a foul and a penalty in front of a grinning away end. John Eyre runs up and lobs the ball straight down the middle of Brad Friedel's goal, it is the perfect penalty.
A man down, City have scored at Anfield and five minutes later, they did it again. A long punt from Baker finds Alcide running through on goal, a frantic Traore flattens Friedel and Alcide chips the ball over them both and into the net. Cue massive hysteria amongst the massed black and amber ranks. 2-2 at Anfield? With ten men? Yes, so we were 7-3 down in the tie but who cares, we'd drawn level on the night. Chants bellowed out as we gleefully reminded our hosts of our numerical disadvantage and a well-worn alternate version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" was sung heartily.
The level scoreline only lasted for another ten minutes, Karl Heinz Riedle scoring from close range and then right at the death adding a flattering fourth for Liverpool on the night and a crushing 9-3 aggregate win. It didn't matter. You can't ask for much more than pride and passion in such a game and City managed that. For ten surreal minutes it felt like we were on top of the world.
James Richardson is a contributor to Amber Nectar.
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