Anfield Tour
Anfield Tour
For as long as I’ve known the Palk’s, they have always been staunch Liverpool FC supporters and, given I’ve never really held any interest in football, I seem to have got past the ‘who do you support’ round of questioning early on without incident. Had I said Everton I suspect I might not have been invited around to quite as many family meals but it was only when I got to know them a little better that it started to make sense.
Rachel had told me a little about her late Grandad Stanley Palk, playing for Liverpool during the war but I kind of assumed back then everyone also had a day-job, not as something he could actually do to make a living but it turned out I was very wrong. Stanley (who Adam is named after) played professionally for Liverpool between 1940-1947 whilst also serving with the Royal Navy in Mombassa during the second world war. He transferred to Port Vale in 1948 but Gary grew up in Maghull where the family eventually settled.
It was only when we were planning our wedding and our honeymoon to Kenya that I learned he had served in Mombassa and gave us a light-hearted run-down of his experiences over there and his work-hard, play-hard ethos.
So, with the Anfield Tour Tickets in hand, Gary took great pleasure in showing the grandkids around the stadium and seemed to enjoy the tour himself too.
Oliver, one of my nephews is a Liverpool super-fan and has been able to reem off players stats since he was tiny so I imagine most of the history wasn’t all that new to him but getting to show it off to his younger brothers and cousins will have given him a bit of a kick.
Rachel knows about as much about football as I do so she was just happy to be spending time together but later, she did confess it was a bittersweet day, knowing the reason behind the tickets.
Gary has been tiring more easily recently so we were hoping for a good day where he could enjoy the walking tour properly without assistance, as he isn’t one for asking for help. On finding the floor plaque referencing Stan everyone seemed to get a bit of a lift and the day was enjoyed by everyone.
It was a great day out for them all and is a testament to the great work being done by Liverpool to help families struggling with terrible news, to spend more time together.