PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 3 LIVERPOOL 0 #psg #paris #parissaintgermain #liverpoolfc #audiobook

"When Liverpool drew Paris St Germain from the pot of three other available teams in the Semi-Final of the 1996/97 European Cup Winners Cup it was greeted, almost unanimously, as the best available draw. They’d avoided crack Italian outfit (footballing cliché defiantly and blatantly used) Fiorentina and Spanish giants Barcelona. Paris St Germain (PSG) were the cup holders but seen as the easier of three very difficult opponents, and the song of the time “Rotterdam” by The Beautiful South was lyrically twisted and heartily sung at every game. Rotterdam was the destination of the Final in just over a month, and “Steve The Taxi Driver” and I were desperately hoping we’d get to experience our third European adventure together with Liverpool this season alone after going to Switzerland for the 2nd Round, 1st Leg encounter with Sion.

Switzerland, France and possibly now Holland, all in the same season. We were on the travel operator’s “list” after our sojourn to Switzerland, and now France, so there was a very good possibility we’d be attending a European Final in Holland. The Reds just needed to dispose of PSG first and the “Two Steve’s” would be Rotterdam bound.

Steve and I were reunited with Dover and our pick up spot after our journey to Switzerland earlier in the season and safely met with the coach which was a lively one to say the least! And much more so than the wheels that rolled us to Switzerland six months before and after only a few hours, half a dozen at most, we were on the outskirts of Paris and in search of our hotel.

Safely decamped and checked in, the itinerary was simple: After arriving at the crack of Dawn the day was to ourselves to explore Paris if we wished, lunch at 1pm and coach departure to the ground at 4.30pm due to safety concerns. Our safety! We made some friends on the coach (names sadly are now a long ago lost memory) and we duly explored Paris in two bursts and had a beautiful day enjoying and exploring Paris in the springtime".

The above is an extract from a chapter entitled "Heartbreak in Paris for the Two Steve's" and is the 2nd personal story of 8 that wind their way among the match reports from the past two seasons in the storied history of Liverpool Football Club.

The book linked immediately below is the book on Liverpool FC I've always wanted to write and which I duly self-published at the beginning of August 2023. There are also other ways and means of supporting me, if you are able, to thumb the eye of the traditional publishers who refused to even read my original manuscript!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6W6TYCL

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

Thanks for watching!

Please "like" and subscribe!

Thank you.