After breaking into the first team as a fresh-faced 17-year-old, the Huyton-born Academy graduate went from strength to strength, firmly establishing himself as the best English footballer of his era and one of the finest in Europe.
A boyhood Red who fulfilled the dreams of every Liverpudlian, his Herculean efforts from the heart of midfield so often helped rescue seemingly lost causes.
No one player had exerted such an influence on the Liverpool team since Billy Liddell in the 1950s and pundits ran out of superlatives to describe this talismanic midfield powerhouse.
Lifting the Champions League trophy in 2005 and his spectacular brace of goals in the following year’s FA Cup final were the obvious standout moments of a glittering career that Liverpool fans will forever eulogise about.
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