On September 11 and 12, 2001, there were due to be Champions League fixtures across Europe. Our writers — who were covering three of the matches — look back at what happened…David Seaman went into his hotel room, picked up the remote control, and started flicking through the channels, hoping to find anything watchable to pass the time before Arsenal’s first Champions League game of the season. Match-day preparations for away fixtures always followed the same schedule.
Versions of the same scene were being replicated in restaurants and bars across the city as word spread to the fans who had travelled to the Mediterranean island for the game. Miles Saward, from Sport Options, was used to arranging for groups to criss-cross Europe and beyond as a travel operator specialising in sporting events.
UEFA instructed there should be a minute’s silence at all matches but otherwise clubs were ordered to go on as normal. “We were advised there could be more security issues and problems if we postponed,” a UEFA spokesman explained. ”We took the decision that there should be a minute’s silence to show respect but recognised that, at an advanced stage of preparations, the games should go ahead.”
For the record, Arsenal lost 1-0. Ashley Cole conceded a penalty and was sent off early on. While mindful that this was an unprecedented situation with no rules about how to behave, it is bizarre to now read a match report from the time which focuses on the details of the game before mentioning the events of the day only in the final couple of paragraphs. “I bet there was not a player on the pitch who had not thought about what had happened that afternoon while they were playing,” Seaman says.
Many from Arsenal wished the same had happened when they were asked to carry on at a time when nobody really wanted to play or watch sport. “Nothing of that magnitude had happened before in our lifetimes,” says Seaman. “When they cancelled the rest of the Champions League games the next day, I wondered why they didn’t act quicker for us. It was not the right way to go about things.”For Liverpool, it was supposed to be a red-letter day.
For Liverpool’s players, the usual routine before an evening match at Anfield was to meet for lunch at a local hotel, then go for a couple of hours’ sleep and relax before meeting again for their pre-match meal during the afternoon.Some of the players drifted off to sleep quickly enough, but others turned on the TV and were stunned by the news that was filtering through from New York. Defender Jamie Carragher recalls he slept first and then, upon waking up, was directed to the news channels.
amylawrence71 OliverKay DTathletic Will always remember where I was that November day.
amylawrence71 OliverKay DTathletic Underrated kit combo
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