Football legends roll back the years
by Clarence Lim
The highly anticipated pop up match between legendary former players of Liverpool and Manchester United played out to a packed stadium on 14 November, leaving fans thoroughly fulfilled by the end of the match.
Some 30, 000 turned up to witness Liverpool Masters do battle with Manchester United Masters, in a match made possible by The Castlewood Group. A star-studded line up on both sides included household names such as Louis Saha, Lee Sharpe, Dietmar Hamann, Luis Garcia, Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler.
Fans turned up in full force, with a red wave sweeping over the National Stadium before kick-off. From scarf to homemade banners and masks, these were paraded as both sides relished the battle with their most “hated” footballing rivals. To add to the full immersion experience, classic anthems like the “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Glory Glory Man United” were chorused in full voice, making for an electrifying atmosphere. Fans, regardless if they knew each other or not, joined in the chants as they supported their respective teams in unison and as one for the night.
As the match got underway, it felt like a throwback to nostalgic yesteryears as the stars on the 80s and 90s went back to doing what they did best – playing football and delighting fans. Despite the pot bellies and greying hair, the stars did not hold back and went in hard for tackles on some occasions, much to the delight of the fans.
Though the Merseyside Reds were the dominant side for most of the game, with Luis Garcia and Dietmar Hamann providing the clinical touches to seal the win, all the fans were delighted by the display for the night with majority of them staying back to take in the trophy celebrations, as both sets of fans gamely applauded with Ian Rush and Co. soaking in their well deserved victory. At the end of the day, besides selfies, autographs, pictures and signed memorabilia being the physical takeaways, the mere presence of these fine talents all together on the pitch made it for a night to remember.
