Why Noughties were great

Tony Barrett, Times football correspondent and lifelong Liverpool fan, looks back on the Noughties and argues that despite not landing No.19, it was still an incredible decade to support the Reds...

Forget the title itch that irritates so much it sometimes dominates your waking hours and can even rouse you from your slumber with the coldest of sweat dripping onto your pillow, the Noughties was not just a good decade in which to be a Liverpool fan, it was a great one.

Sure, the sight of a Liverpool captain clutching the League Championship trophy in his right hand and tossing it to a teammate, a la Souness, on a sunny May afternoon remains a dream when everyone so desperately wants it to be a reality but given the wonders that we have seen in the past 10 years, dwelling on what we don't have would be akin to a billionaire moaning that the riches he has are all well and good but he won't be happy unless he has some more.

Ask yourself one question - if you could swap everything that has happened in the last decade for a single league title to end the drought, would you do so? I can't imagine that any Liverpool supporter would.

Give up Istanbul? Not a chance in hell. That wasn't a once in a lifetime event, it was a once in football history fairytale that will probably never be repeated. No journey from outright despair to all consuming joy has ever been so incredible or, let's face it, illogical.

And that's without even mentioning the magical mystery tour we took to get there.

What happened on May 25, 2005 defined Liverpool's decade. It told a story of defiance and unshakeable belief and created a legend against which comebacks in any sport will always be measured.

It left an indelible emotional mark on the heart and soul of every Liverpool supporter who was lucky enough to be there - and even those who weren't - and it proved to every single one of us that there really is no such thing as a lost cause even when faced with the kind of deficit that logic suggests should be insurmountable, especially against one of the world's greatest teams.

Pick your moment - be it Dudek's miraculous save from Shevchenko during extra time; Carragher defying the kind of pain that would bring most to their knees and inspiring his team through sheer force of will; Gerrard getting the comeback going and going on to play like a man possessed; Smicer putting the fear of God into Milan with a glorious strike from 30 yards; Alonso slotting home at the second attempt to prompt pandemonium in the Red hordes; the instant realisation that Big Ears was coming home for good when Dudek kept out Shevchenko's spot kick; Gerrard getting his hands on that beautiful piece of silverware and thrusting it into the Turkish sky. Whichever one is your favourite, you can guarantee that whenever it comes to mind it brings you out in goosebumps and sets your heart racing and that's why the Noughties will always be recalled with incredible fondness by all Liverpool fans.

If Istanbul was the only great thing that happened it would still be enough, that's how special and how unique it was. But it wasn't, there is a whole list to look back upon. 

In no particular order, and with apologies for any that have been left out, we've had - that never to be forgotten night against Chelsea in 2005; the repeat two years later; Michael Owen - forget his current employers, just bask in the glorious memory - winning the cup in 2001; Gary Mac's unforgettable derby winner; United being smashed 4-1 at Old Trafford; a hat-trick of wins at the cathedrals of European football - the San Siro, the Nou Camp and the Bernabeu; the greatest ever UEFA Cup final in Dortmund; the greatest FA Cup final ever in  2006; Gerrard's sensational last gasp equaliser in that game; the return of 'God', aka Robbie Fowler, to Anfield; Luis Garcia's volley against Juventus and the mayhem that greeted his goal against Chelsea; beating Barcelona in 2001; always winning in Rome and Wales (well, almost always); having a better record in Merseyside derbies than in any other decade, including the 70s; Gerrard's thunderbolt against Olympiakos; you really could go on and on.

Liverpool may not have been the most successful club of the decade but it has undoubtedly been the most magical. To paraphrase the Gallagher brothers, we've seen things that no one else will ever see. They are things that will live with you forever, acting as a benchmark for what it possible whilst also stirring the soul and firing the imagination.

Trophies may not have been delivered with the kind of magnificent monotony that they were in the 1970s and 80s but when they did come along they were delivered in the most wondrous of circumstances, with places like Dortmund, Cardiff and Istanbul being added to the glorious map of Liverpool's history.

It isn't just the occasions or the venues, either. It is the players we have been fortunate enough to see wearing the red shirt. I grew up on tales of Liddell, Hunt, St John, Hughes and Keegan, the heroes of my father and his generation of Liverpudlians. I used to wonder at their achievements, thrive on their triumphs and dream of having my own legendary tales to pass on. But having seen Steven Gerrard in his prime, Jamie Carragher become one of the finest defenders of his generation, Sami Hyypia display the kind of class that this club should always be synonymous with and Fernando Torres establish himself as the best forward in the world, sparking a love affair with the Kop in the process, I know that in the future I will be able to talk of them in the same way that my father speaks of his heroes.

This, in itself, is a truly special blessing and one which will only grow in importance and increase in meaning with the passage of time.

The Noughties may not have been perfect and it could certainly have been better but this doesn't mean that the decade was not a fantastic time to be a Liverpool supporter - because it was. Only the scratching of that league title itch would have improved things and there were more than enough incredible moments to make up for that.