19th May 2012

'I never regret joining Liverpool'

No one would ever try to claim Julian Dicks and goalkeeper Paul Jones are Liverpool legends but the pair proved today in Bangkok that although their Anfield careers were brief, their time at the club certainly left a mark on them.

In Thailand as part of the Liverpool squad for Sunday's EPL Masters Football tournament, the pair gave up their afternoon today to coach local children at a training clinic organised by Standard Chartered.

In between putting the kids through their paces, the pair happily posed for photographs with the children and their Liverpool-supporting parents and stayed for an hour after the clinic to sign every item thrust towards them.

"One of the little kids just came up to me and said, 'I love Liverpool with all my heart'," Dicks, who played 28 games and scored three goals for the club, told Liverpoolfc.tv.

"Words can't describe that passion. It's priceless. Liverpool are so popular over here in Asia and that's why it's important that we spend time at events like these coaching the kids. These kids don't know who we are but they know we played for Liverpool and we were once a small part of something they love. They see Liverpool players on TV so to come here and meet and be coached by ex-players means a lot to them.

"I know it didn't really work out for me at Liverpool but I always look back and think to myself, for a year, I played for one of the greatest clubs in the world. I got to sign for the mighty Liverpool and while I'll always probably be most associated for my time at West Ham, I don't ever regret joining Liverpool.

"I would have liked nothing more than to have been a success at Anfield but it wasn't to be. I still scored the last ever Liverpool goal in front of the old standing Kop and that will be in the record books for ever. No one can ever take that away from me."

Jones's Liverpool career amounted to just two appearances as an emergency goalkeeping signing in 2004 by Gerard Houllier, but that was enough to realise a boyhood dream.

"I was a fanatical Liverpool supporter growing up and I still am a fan today," he told the official website. "Everyone in north Wales supported Liverpool when I was younger so to get the chance to emulate my boyhood hero Ray Clemence and play in goal for Liverpool was a real dream come true.

"I'd played at Anfield as an opposition player loads of times but to run out at Anfield that first time was unbelievable. I'd never touched the This is Anfield sign when I was an opposition player - I think that tradition should be reserved for Liverpool players - so to get to touch it and know that I was touching it as a Liverpool player meant everything.

"Just to be involved with Liverpool over here in Thailand is great.

"This is my fourth time in Asia with Liverpool and it never ceases to amaze me just how popular we are in this part of the world. The kids here who support Liverpool do so because their parents loved the teams from the '70s and '80s and they've passed that passion down a generation.

"That's why when we're here, we need to repay that support and conduct ourselves in a manner befitting of the club. If that means smiling and being polite whenever someone approaches you, making time for fans of all ages or never turning down an autograph request, it's a small price to pay and it costs nothing."