94-year-old nan’s VIP trip to Anfield to hear You’ll Never Walk Alone one last time

There was plenty of singing at Anfield last night as the Reds beat Southampton 3-0 in the fifth round FA Cup Match – but there was one special guest who was singing louder than anyone!

94-year-old grandmother and great-grandmother Irene Pollitt was at the game with granddaughter Meghan as a guest of the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association who’d made her dream come true:

To hear You’ll Never Walk Alone sung live one last time.

And Irene says: “It was absolutely wonderful, it was just so surreal to be back there again after so long.

“I just couldn’t believe my eyes.”

She adds: “Everyone was so nice and made me feel so special – they really looked after us, I was very impressed.”

‘Long’ retired hairdresser Irene has been a fan of Liverpool for more than 50 years and was a season ticket holder until 2012.

Meghan explains: “My auntie Margot started going to the game when she was a teenager.  She took my nan, and then my nan started taking my dad.

“Nan gave up her season ticket in 2012 because she and the friend she used to go with were in their 80s and their health wasn’t as good as it was. After hip replacements my nan’s in a wheelchair so her mobility isn’t great.

“But it was a really hard decision for her to give up her season ticket and ever since, although she watches every game on TV, she’s said it’s not the same and that she misses everything about going to the live game and being part of the crowd and the atmosphere. 

“She just wanted to hear You’ll Never Walk Alone one last time, and be able to join in.”

After seeing how a 92-year-old Forest fan was welcomed to a game, Meghan contacted LDSA and asked if they could help her nan get to a Liverpool game again.

“She was dying to go to a game,” says Meghan. “Every time we watched it on the TV she’d say ‘I would love to go to Anfield one more time for a match’.

And her wish was granted.

Ted Morris, chair of the Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association, says: “When Meghan asked if Irene could attend Anfield one last time to hear the Kop singing YNWA, and after hearing about her lifelong love and support for the club, we were only too happy to help. 

“Seeing the joy it brought Irene and Meghan was beautiful, and showed what supporting our fantastic team is all about.”

Meghan says: “I couldn’t put into words what it meant to us both and how grateful we are to Ted and the association for giving us such precious memories.

“It was an incredible match and the kids coming up at the moment are just amazing. In fact, I went round to my nan’s a couple of months ago and she was watching one of the Academy games and she said then, ‘Jayden Danns, he’s going to be one brilliant player’ and she was really singing his praises. Then, as luck would have it, last night he scored two goals right in front of us!

“She knows her stuff. It’s ridiculous. I bought her one of those front page newspapers and she’d be reading stuff from 1976 and she’d say ‘oh such-a-body scored in that match’ and ‘so-and-so was manager’.

“I’ve never known anyone like her for her football memories.

“I took her on the Anfield Tour in 2022,” continues Meghan, 26, who like her nan is from near Wigan. “There was a Q&A with John Aldridge and she got chatting to him about loads of games and I took her photo with him which is now pride of place on her mantlepiece – I think some of the grandchildren got booted off for it,” she laughs.

“But last night was more special than anything. Her very first words were how surreal it was to be back at a game after so long, and she was just beaming from cheek to cheek.

“She just absolutely loved it. She was singing and waving her scarf in the air, and singing You’ll Never Walk Alone with the crowd – and she just loved Klopp’s fist bumps in the air at the end. He’s her favourite ever manager, although she liked Gerard Houllier too.”

Meghan says: “Whether nan ever gets to another game I don’t know, but if this was to be her last game, it was a great one to be at – especially on the back of the Carabao Cup win on Sunday.

“LDSA posted a Tweet (X) and seeing the response to that has been so heart-warming, and to get all the well wishes and seeing my nan pop up in everybody’s feeds has been incredible.

“I know you hear it all the time, but the motto You’ll Never Walk Alone says it all, it’s absolutely what the club is about.

“And it has meant some very precious memories for me and my nan that we’ll both treasure forever.”

Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association aims to ensure disabled supporters enjoy the same matchday experience as non-disabled supporters at Anfield and beyond; and give hope to disabled children that they can have the same dreams and aspirations as non-disabled children when supporting and following LFC.

For more info on Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association click here.

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