Liverpool supporters with sharp memories might believe they are able to recall Jamie Carragher's Anfield debut - an otherwise forgettable 0-0 draw with West Ham United in January 1997.

But, in fact, the Bootle-born defender had already made his bow at the famous ground in different colours nearly a decade earlier.

And, on that occasion, he did something he only went on to do a further five times across 737 appearances for the Reds: score a goal!

"It was at the Kop end and I was 11," Carragher remembers.

"It was for Bootle Boys playing against Liverpool. I think we lost but Liverpool is such a bigger area than Bootle, so we took that as a little consolation. 

"I scored at the Kop end and it was from outside the box as well, top corner!"

At that point, Carragher was a young Everton fan who no doubt dreamed of representing the Toffees when he made the step up to the professional game.

Little did he know that, by the end of his career, he would be a bona fide Reds legend, a supporter of the club, and a man who understands the special bond between the team and its fans better than most.

As such, he is well placed to comment on what it is that makes Anfield a unique place to play, and was only happy to do so for LFCTV's forthcoming documentary 'This Is Anfield'.

The 38-year-old witnessed the power of the club's passionate home support as he played his part in several historic victories during his trophy-laden career.

And he expects the tradition of creating white-hot atmospheres to continue at a ground that now houses an extra 8,500 supporters per game thanks to the redevelopment of the Main Stand.

"The people of Liverpool have something about them and they want to roar their team on," he enthuses. "I think it's been built up now over the years, the atmosphere. 

"There's obviously different supporters there now but I think every set of supporters and every generation of supporters want to live up to what has been done in the past.

"They want to show they are as good as those supporters or even better and make the best atmosphere, and it's a snowball effect."

Carragher insists it is up to every player who pulls on the red shirt to give each generation of fans their taste of a famous Anfield occasion.

And he describes last season's run to the Europa League final, which included memorable wins over Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund, as a strong start for Jürgen Klopp and his squad.

"I think everyone has their own [favourite] nights and I think for our generation of supporters we gave them something with the Champions League run and the both years we got there [to the final]," he adds.

"I think the lads did it under Jürgen Klopp last season and that will be never forgotten that Borussia Dortmund night, the Manchester United game as well.

"So I think that it is for the players now to give every generation of Liverpool supporters their Inter Milan, their Saint-Etienne and that's what we did when we played."

When asked to sum up Liverpool's ground in one word, Carragher simply replies: "Home". 

And, even for a Scouser who spent his entire career with the Reds, the regard in which he holds the stadium he graced on countless occasions is in many ways remarkable.

"You feel that you are safe there, you are confident there when you used to go to play," he explains.

"I played there that much that I felt like every time I played at Anfield, when I was with the ball it's a strange thing to say this but things would happen so quickly in half a second, it would be like deja-vu.

"I played there that much and played in every part of the pitch that much that every time I got the ball in a certain position I felt like I had been there before or done something, or played a long ball from there or won a header there. 

"Sometimes things would flash through your mind in half a second. It's hard to explain but you just knew that wherever you were on the pitch you always felt comfortable, you always felt you knew where you were. 

"Something Thierry Henry said to me, and I thought 'Yes, he is spot on' [was] when he went to the Emirates, he didn't know the pitch.

"People might say it's just a football pitch but when he was at Highbury he knew all the angles. Every pitch feels different and that's the way it was at Anfield for me. 

"Every time I was there I always felt like I was safe, I had been here before or something had happened before and I always felt in control."