You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
2 posters
Bruce Crew :: Off topic :: Sports :: Soccer
Page 1 of 1
You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
Eel Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:30 am
So the battle is on with Manchester United to win the title. I guess we have to win as many games as possible and hope Man U drop some games.
Eel- Bruce Crew Obesessed
- Posts : 197
Join date : 2009-04-23
Re: You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
Jake Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:16 am
Very interesting article I found:
The true story of one Liverpool fan's incredible Istanbul experience is set to take to the stage next week.
Written by Radio 4 playwright and former Hollyoaks star John Graham Davies, 'Beating Berlusconi' is based on the bizarre tale of Kopite Mark Radley's altercation with Italian Prime Minister and AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi at the 2005 Champions League final.
His astounding, and rather impromptu, meeting with Berlusconi is now set to be retold to audiences in theatres across the North West this spring.
Speaking to Liverpoolfc.tv at the Anfield press launch of the play, Mark takes up his personal account of that momentous evening: "Despite it being such a struggle to get there, I went to Istanbul and my whole experience was simply unbelievable.
"Obviously I don't want to spoil the plot of the play, but in a nutshell, I ended up sitting in three different parts of the stadium that night.
"At first, I was sat in the seat for my ticket. But, with us 3-0 down, I decided to go for a wander at half-time, like a lot of people did.
"I was searching for something to drink, preferably alcoholic because I was quite distraught at the scoreline, and also a match programme, which were in short supply."
A pretty routine evening so far, but events soon started to take a dramatic twist both on and off the field.
"I stumbled into a room where there was champagne being drunk," continued Mark. "I later found out it was the AC Milan hospitality suite. They were celebrating at half-time, a bit prematurely in hindsight.
"I could see the pitch through the bodies of the people gathered in the room, so I headed towards it and realised it was a much better view than where my seat was.
"When the game was about to restart, I was asked to sit down because I was blocking people's view.
"I sat down, but was told to move as it was someone's seat, so I shuffled along and found an empty space.
"Someone tapped me on the leg and indicated it was okay to sit there. I didn't know who he was at the time.
"The people around me seemed quite important, but I wasn't sure where I was. I thought it was perhaps a neutral section or something."
Steven Gerrard headed Liverpool back into the game and Mark soon quickly realised he was the only one cheering the goal in the vicinity.
"When Gerrard scored, I jumped up to celebrate with my fellow supporters, but I realised there were none around me," he said.
"I decided to sit down quite quickly and on my hands, but obviously it was a slightly difficult not to react when the second one from Smicer went in."
Everyone of a Liverpool persuasion went into raptures as Xabi Alonso incredibly drew the Reds level and Mark was no exception, although his celebrations had something of an extraordinary consequence.
"When Alonso scored, I leapt up to celebrate, but I was shoved by a man, who I later found out was the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi," he recalls.
"I didn't know who he was at the time. It was only when the steward who pulled me away from him and sent me to another room I realised he was obviously someone of importance.
"The stewards said 'you can't upset this man'. I tried to explain I hadn't done anything other than celebrate a goal and they told me he was the president of AC Milan.
"When I later got back to Taksim Square, I was told Berlusconi was also the Italian Prime Minister and probably could have done something quite serious to me!"
Mark's dreamlike story didn't end there: "The stewards gave me a hospitality band and sent me to a Liverpool area where I saw many famous faces and ex-players.
"They gave me a bag with a programme in it, which I was pleased with because they had been difficult to get hold of, and I didn't have to worry about food or drink once I got in there.
"It was just unbelievable and I was in there for the climax of the game, which was incredible.
"Apart from the day I married my wife and the birth of my two kids, Istanbul is one of the best days of my life.
"Emotionally it had everything. I cried when we lifted the cup like I did when my son was born.
"What we did in the game was fantastic and I will never forget what happened to me."
Mark's astonishing yarn has since been adapted for stage and ex-Brookside baddie Paul Duckworth, who played Jack Michaelson in the soap, takes the lead role as Kenny Noonan in Beating Berlusconi.
Kenny is a middle aged Red who, despite threats from his wife and bank manager, travels to Istanbul. What happened to Liverpool at the Ataturk Stadium that night is legend, but Kenny's experience is stranger than fiction.
So, out of the thousands of Reds who made the trip, just how did Mark's anecdote become the inspiration for a play that was long-listed for this year's prestigious Manchester Royal Exchange Bruntwood Playwriting award?
"Mark and I knew each other slightly because I used to go into his shop just off Allerton Road to get keys cut and shoes repaired, so obviously we used to chat," explains author John, who played the character of Les Hunter in Hollyoaks for four years.
"After the final, I went in we discussed the game. He told me he was in Istanbul and explained something very strange had happened.
"When he described it, I couldn't believe it. It sounded unreal, but I thought his story would make the most fantastic television drama so I originally wrote it up as a TV idea and sent it off.
"ITV expressed an initial interest, but in the end they decided it would be too expensive to make in recreating the match, so I turned to theatre."
Mark's story is incorporated into the culmination of the play, which is described as a panoramic view of the last twenty years as seen through the eyes of an irreverent and mouthy Scouser.
"I've used Mark's amazing tale as the climax to a story about ordinary Liverpudlian - Kenny Noonan," continued John.
"It's taken an age to come to fruition. I completed the first draft two years ago.
"The last two years has been an odyssey of questions such as 'where's it going to go on', 'am I going to produce it myself or is the theatre going to do it', 'how do I raise the money' - all those kind of things running through my mind.
"Eventually, I had a meeting with Stephen Done, the LFC museum curator, and he loved the idea. He had heard a bit about Mark's story, but didn't know the full details.
"I made a proposal about how the club could help and Stephen was very supportive about it and took it to Rick Parry, who agreed to put a little bit of money in and help with publicity.
"I think the play will appeal to anyone who is a Liverpool fan and anyone who loves football.
"It's the original boys own football story, the team that comes back from the dead to win the biggest prize in world football.
"I'm also hoping it's going to appeal to people in the city. It's got human aspects to the story about Kenny and his wife and the ups and downs of that relationship as well as the one he has with his Dad.
"If people want a good night out and a good laugh they should come and see it. The main feedback I've had is that it is very, very funny. There is a lot of humour and passion in it."
Conceived partly as an extended piece of stand-up, partly as multi-role storytelling, and interweaving political histories of Liverpool FC and the city itself, Beating Berlusconi is a story of hope and triumph that is sure to appeal to Reds fans everywhere.
"It's been a long road," added Mark. "You start to think 'is anything going to happen?' - John's had work to do in between so it's been a bit of a stop start process.
"It's hard to believe that my story is actually on stage now. It's fantastic, I almost feel like a player having interviews and photos done!
"I think if you're a true Liverpool fan you'd be a fool not to come and see this because it will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up by bringing back good memories.
"We can't watch Liverpool 24/7 so if we're not going the game or watching them on TV, why not come and see a play?"
Beating Berlusconi premiers at the NOVAS Contemporary Urban Centre, Jamaica Street, on Thursday May 7.
Check the Beating Berlusconi website for further tour dates, although please note that the scheduled performance at Anfield on Thursday May 14 has now been switched to June 4.
The true story of one Liverpool fan's incredible Istanbul experience is set to take to the stage next week.
Written by Radio 4 playwright and former Hollyoaks star John Graham Davies, 'Beating Berlusconi' is based on the bizarre tale of Kopite Mark Radley's altercation with Italian Prime Minister and AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi at the 2005 Champions League final.
His astounding, and rather impromptu, meeting with Berlusconi is now set to be retold to audiences in theatres across the North West this spring.
Speaking to Liverpoolfc.tv at the Anfield press launch of the play, Mark takes up his personal account of that momentous evening: "Despite it being such a struggle to get there, I went to Istanbul and my whole experience was simply unbelievable.
"Obviously I don't want to spoil the plot of the play, but in a nutshell, I ended up sitting in three different parts of the stadium that night.
"At first, I was sat in the seat for my ticket. But, with us 3-0 down, I decided to go for a wander at half-time, like a lot of people did.
"I was searching for something to drink, preferably alcoholic because I was quite distraught at the scoreline, and also a match programme, which were in short supply."
A pretty routine evening so far, but events soon started to take a dramatic twist both on and off the field.
"I stumbled into a room where there was champagne being drunk," continued Mark. "I later found out it was the AC Milan hospitality suite. They were celebrating at half-time, a bit prematurely in hindsight.
"I could see the pitch through the bodies of the people gathered in the room, so I headed towards it and realised it was a much better view than where my seat was.
"When the game was about to restart, I was asked to sit down because I was blocking people's view.
"I sat down, but was told to move as it was someone's seat, so I shuffled along and found an empty space.
"Someone tapped me on the leg and indicated it was okay to sit there. I didn't know who he was at the time.
"The people around me seemed quite important, but I wasn't sure where I was. I thought it was perhaps a neutral section or something."
Steven Gerrard headed Liverpool back into the game and Mark soon quickly realised he was the only one cheering the goal in the vicinity.
"When Gerrard scored, I jumped up to celebrate with my fellow supporters, but I realised there were none around me," he said.
"I decided to sit down quite quickly and on my hands, but obviously it was a slightly difficult not to react when the second one from Smicer went in."
Everyone of a Liverpool persuasion went into raptures as Xabi Alonso incredibly drew the Reds level and Mark was no exception, although his celebrations had something of an extraordinary consequence.
"When Alonso scored, I leapt up to celebrate, but I was shoved by a man, who I later found out was the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi," he recalls.
"I didn't know who he was at the time. It was only when the steward who pulled me away from him and sent me to another room I realised he was obviously someone of importance.
"The stewards said 'you can't upset this man'. I tried to explain I hadn't done anything other than celebrate a goal and they told me he was the president of AC Milan.
"When I later got back to Taksim Square, I was told Berlusconi was also the Italian Prime Minister and probably could have done something quite serious to me!"
Mark's dreamlike story didn't end there: "The stewards gave me a hospitality band and sent me to a Liverpool area where I saw many famous faces and ex-players.
"They gave me a bag with a programme in it, which I was pleased with because they had been difficult to get hold of, and I didn't have to worry about food or drink once I got in there.
"It was just unbelievable and I was in there for the climax of the game, which was incredible.
"Apart from the day I married my wife and the birth of my two kids, Istanbul is one of the best days of my life.
"Emotionally it had everything. I cried when we lifted the cup like I did when my son was born.
"What we did in the game was fantastic and I will never forget what happened to me."
Mark's astonishing yarn has since been adapted for stage and ex-Brookside baddie Paul Duckworth, who played Jack Michaelson in the soap, takes the lead role as Kenny Noonan in Beating Berlusconi.
Kenny is a middle aged Red who, despite threats from his wife and bank manager, travels to Istanbul. What happened to Liverpool at the Ataturk Stadium that night is legend, but Kenny's experience is stranger than fiction.
So, out of the thousands of Reds who made the trip, just how did Mark's anecdote become the inspiration for a play that was long-listed for this year's prestigious Manchester Royal Exchange Bruntwood Playwriting award?
"Mark and I knew each other slightly because I used to go into his shop just off Allerton Road to get keys cut and shoes repaired, so obviously we used to chat," explains author John, who played the character of Les Hunter in Hollyoaks for four years.
"After the final, I went in we discussed the game. He told me he was in Istanbul and explained something very strange had happened.
"When he described it, I couldn't believe it. It sounded unreal, but I thought his story would make the most fantastic television drama so I originally wrote it up as a TV idea and sent it off.
"ITV expressed an initial interest, but in the end they decided it would be too expensive to make in recreating the match, so I turned to theatre."
Mark's story is incorporated into the culmination of the play, which is described as a panoramic view of the last twenty years as seen through the eyes of an irreverent and mouthy Scouser.
"I've used Mark's amazing tale as the climax to a story about ordinary Liverpudlian - Kenny Noonan," continued John.
"It's taken an age to come to fruition. I completed the first draft two years ago.
"The last two years has been an odyssey of questions such as 'where's it going to go on', 'am I going to produce it myself or is the theatre going to do it', 'how do I raise the money' - all those kind of things running through my mind.
"Eventually, I had a meeting with Stephen Done, the LFC museum curator, and he loved the idea. He had heard a bit about Mark's story, but didn't know the full details.
"I made a proposal about how the club could help and Stephen was very supportive about it and took it to Rick Parry, who agreed to put a little bit of money in and help with publicity.
"I think the play will appeal to anyone who is a Liverpool fan and anyone who loves football.
"It's the original boys own football story, the team that comes back from the dead to win the biggest prize in world football.
"I'm also hoping it's going to appeal to people in the city. It's got human aspects to the story about Kenny and his wife and the ups and downs of that relationship as well as the one he has with his Dad.
"If people want a good night out and a good laugh they should come and see it. The main feedback I've had is that it is very, very funny. There is a lot of humour and passion in it."
Conceived partly as an extended piece of stand-up, partly as multi-role storytelling, and interweaving political histories of Liverpool FC and the city itself, Beating Berlusconi is a story of hope and triumph that is sure to appeal to Reds fans everywhere.
"It's been a long road," added Mark. "You start to think 'is anything going to happen?' - John's had work to do in between so it's been a bit of a stop start process.
"It's hard to believe that my story is actually on stage now. It's fantastic, I almost feel like a player having interviews and photos done!
"I think if you're a true Liverpool fan you'd be a fool not to come and see this because it will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up by bringing back good memories.
"We can't watch Liverpool 24/7 so if we're not going the game or watching them on TV, why not come and see a play?"
Beating Berlusconi premiers at the NOVAS Contemporary Urban Centre, Jamaica Street, on Thursday May 7.
Check the Beating Berlusconi website for further tour dates, although please note that the scheduled performance at Anfield on Thursday May 14 has now been switched to June 4.
Jake- Bruce Crew Obesessed
- Posts : 242
Join date : 2009-04-19
Re: You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
Jake Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:38 pm
I can hardly wait till Stanley Park Stadium gets built. Don't get me wrong, I like Anfield but I can hardly wait to see SP Stadium.
Jake- Bruce Crew Obesessed
- Posts : 242
Join date : 2009-04-19
Re: You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
Eel Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:40 pm
We'd better make the most of this weekend's game v Newcastle. Our games v Newcastle are often beauties. But with Newcastle going down this may be our last for a while.
Eel- Bruce Crew Obesessed
- Posts : 197
Join date : 2009-04-23
Re: You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
Jake Mon May 04, 2009 12:57 am
We won 3-0 and we hit the cross bar 3 times. I'd say reasonable performance. Still 6 points behind Man U
Jake- Bruce Crew Obesessed
- Posts : 242
Join date : 2009-04-19
Re: You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
Eel Mon May 04, 2009 4:42 am
Jake wrote:Still 6 points behind Man U
I hate Man U.
Eel- Bruce Crew Obesessed
- Posts : 197
Join date : 2009-04-23
Re: You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
Eel Tue May 19, 2009 3:29 am
We must win the title next year I can't comprehend Man U overtaking our record. Good win over the Baggies, we sent them down 
Eel- Bruce Crew Obesessed
- Posts : 197
Join date : 2009-04-23
Re: You'll never walk alone - The Liverpool Thread
Eel Mon May 25, 2009 12:25 am
Well we now have finished 2nd.
Eel- Bruce Crew Obesessed
- Posts : 197
Join date : 2009-04-23
Similar topicsBruce Crew :: Off topic :: Sports :: Soccer
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum|
|
|