Star of Derry Girls Tommy Tiernan talked about the emotions he felt after watching Steven Gerrard slip in the 2013/2014 season on Off The Ball’s Friday Night Interview.
In the third last match of the season, Liverpool lost 2-0 to Chelsea, which would see them lose their seat at the top of the table.
In that match, Liverpool legend Gerrard slipped while receiving a pass, allowing Chelsea’s Demba Ba to score his side’s first goal in an open net.
“I always felt the sorrow and real sadness,” said Tiernan.
“I was at the Chelsea game when Gerrard slipped, and I remember meeting fellas the following week and they were talking to me saying, ‘it will be a while getting over this.’
“I still can’t watch it on television any time it comes up in a retrospective of Gerrard’s career or great Premiership moments. I can’t watch it.”
The moment has lived in infamy for Liverpool supporters like Tiernan.
“In a lot of churches in Liverpool it is one of the stations of the cross,” Tiernan said.
“They’ve taken out the Jesus falls for the second time and they’ve put a little wooden replica of Gerrard slipping and Ba dressed as a Roman soldier running up Calvary.
“It’s such a perfect tragedy.”
He suggested that he could not write a better tragedy for the drama of it all, particularly because it happened to Liverpool’s home-grown hero.
“If he was an import, like Ronnie Rosenthal booting the ball over the bar, you’d kind of go, ‘ah grand’,” Tiernan said.
“There was something so pure, even though he was tempted to leave at one stage, there was something so pure about his connection with the club.
“It’s a weird one, I guess like a lot of Liverpool supporters in the back of your head you’d be thinking, ‘I wonder will he manage someday, and I wonder will he lift it then’.
“It is pure drama of an operatic nature and it’s perfect in its execution, the tragedy of it.
“If I wasn’t a Liverpool supporter, I’d almost say it was beautiful.”
Steven Gerrard of Liverpool dejected following Chelsea's second goal - Barclays Premier League - Liverpool v Chelsea - Anfield Stadium - Liverpool - England - 27th April 2014 - Pic Simon Bellis/Sportimage/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA.Despite the loss to Chelsea not directly resulting in Liverpool losing the Premier League that year, Tiernan sees it as the defining moment of the season.
“I remember Suarez when Crystal Palace came back from 3-0 down, I remember [Luis] Suarez pulling the jersey over his face and Gerrard kind of traying to rally him round,” he said.
“My memory of it was that once we lost to Chelsea we were done, more or less, even though City still had to win their games.
“My sense was it was done; it wasn’t in the balance going to Crystal Palace really.”
Tiernan remains a die-hard Liverpool supporter, but says that he is uncomfortable with just how passionate about his favourite club he is.
“I’ve always felt that it’s an inorganic sadness, and I felt that the sadness you feel when your county loses or your local parish team loses, that’s almost a sadness that’s much better for you.
“I’ve always been uncomfortable with the level of emotion I have invested in Liverpool.”
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
