A night with a very special guest.....
Billy organised a truly special night to remember for both the boys and their parents last week when Peter Beardsley came to the Riverside to meet the team. Peter came in to the sound of local hero and left to the Liverpool anthem you’ll never walk alone.
Billy introduced Peter as arguably the best player ever to wear the the black and white shirt, and likened him to a genius who played for Newcastle many years ago by the name of Hughie Gallagher, a player who people said we would never see the likes of again.
50 years on we did see a player of wizardry and magic - Peter Beardsley.
Peter Beardsley MBE a man with god given talent, and renowned former footballing
Superstar of the 80’s and 90’s,who once smashed the British transfer record when he signed for Liverpool from Newcastle. He represented his country 59 times and on one occasion was made captain against Israel. Billy went on to talk about his stats and honours,ie which teams he had played for, honours he received in the game and his appearances for England in 2 world cups. Points were made on what made Peter a special player, and to summarise it was said of Peter “ Everyone who had the fortune to see him play came up with the same conclusion, he was a world class midfield maestro with a bagful of tricks.
In his 2 spells with Newcastle Beardsley became a geordie god,and was idolised and adored by the passionate toon army, infact he still is. And on Merseyside he soon became the darling of the famous kop, playing in the most exciting forward line in Liverpool’s illustrious history, as they stormed to the title in his first season.
Quotes about Peter from Garry Lineker Spurs and England Legend,
Kevin keegan Liverpool, Newcastle, Hamburg, England, reiterating what a remarkable talent he was. The speech ended by saying we have talked about to exceptional players ie Gallagher and Beardsley, who have been installed in folklore,” but you boys out there are the next generation,and who knows we might have a new budding Beardsley in our midst.
Peter then give his talk about the current game and stories about the clubs he had played for and give the boys some very interesting tips how to improve their game. Peter then took part in a talk in ,with some very excellent questions being fired by the boys from the floor.One that springs to mind was about his visit to hq to see the queen to receive his MBE for services to football,he enlightened us to what she said to him.
The boys were introduced to Peter on an idividual basis,and posed for photos. He then signed all their memrobilia ie shirts books footballs. It has to be said, no matter whether you are black and white or not, Peter was one of the nicest, humble men any of us will ever meet. Thanks Billy for a wonderful night to remember and thanks to Peter for sparing his time to come along to meet us.
Under 8's Crossbar Challenge - As seen on Soccer AM