'An elegant, proud Liverpool lady' - remembering Lily Black
“That’s Lily’s place,” they said. And, truly, Anfield was.
For more than eight decades, Lily Black and Liverpool FC were blissfully entwined, her face familiar and welcoming to anyone fortunate enough to meet her – fellow fans, players and managers alike.
A season ticket holder since 1964, president and founder member of the Liverpool Supporters’ Club, a match-goer into her 90s, Lily – who sadly passed away last month – was born, bred and forever Red.
She saw it all, from wartime football to life in the Second Division and back, Bill Shankly’s revolution, dominance throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, and into the modern era as Jürgen Klopp returned Liverpool to the very top.
And she will be missed by all those who knew her. “She was a real local gem,” said her niece, Victoria Pearce. “She was a great role model and she is just inspirational.
“Liverpool Football Club was her life. I live in Norwich but I visited her regularly and I feel so blessed for all our shenanigans. She had a brilliant sense of humour – dry wit, but so very kind.
“She was profoundly deaf since birth and because of that she was indeed loud. She will be very missed and we are sad she is gone, but she would say to us: ‘Shake yourself, life goes on, be honest and everything will be OK.’ My goodness, Lily was very honest.
“She loved to chat, and she had a genuine interest and care for people. And would go above and beyond for anyone. She was an elegant, proud, Liverpool lady.”
Born on January 11, 1929, Lily attended Major Lester school – a stone’s throw from her beloved Anfield, where she began to watch matches as a 10-year-old with her father, standing on a stool to see the action unfold.
Those earliest experiences ignited a passion that lasted a lifetime, and directly led to Black – née Gemmell – meeting one of the other loves of her life: husband Ted.
A coach trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers in February 1949 saw Liverpool lose on the pitch, but Lily and Ted find each other off it, and they were later married in September 1951.
They travelled everywhere together, following the Reds domestically and in Europe, though her favourite destination was Jersey.
On one such trip across the English Channel, in 1964, she was on the same flight as a Liverpool pop group enjoying worldwide acclaim and success.
But even being on a plane with The Beatles didn’t faze Lily, whose famously matter-of-fact attitude to life extended to the innumerable Reds players and bosses she crossed paths with down the years.
“Liverpool FC means everything, it’s my only hobby,” she said during an interview with the club in 2019. “We went to the Second Division, we still followed them. We followed them down and we followed them back.
“We saw the difference when Shanks came. You knew what was going to happen once he came. He was one of us. He was just a person, like a supporter.”
Lily, who cited Roger Hunt as her idol, ran the Liverpool Supporters Pensioners Club in later life and continued to attend Reds matches beyond her 91st birthday earlier this year.
Her last trip to Anfield was for the final game before behind-closed-doors restrictions were implemented as the Reds faced Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Lily spent a short period of time at Rowan Garth Care Home before she sadly passed away on September 12. “Lily was an original, so funny, and just an absolute legend in her own right,” said Victoria.
Hear, hear.
Rest in peace, Lily Black 1929-2020