Anfield’s favourite son Steven Gerrard celebrated his 700th game for Liverpool with a 2-1 defeat of Bolton yesterday in the FA Cup fourth round.
Gerrard has been an integral part of two coveted FA Cup final wins during his stellar career – a 2-1 win over Arsenal in 2001-02, and a penalty shoot-out over West Ham in 2005-06.
He dearly wants to hoist a third before he leaves at season’s end to play for Los Angeles Galaxy.
Gerrard’s 700th puts him in the elite company of Ian Callaghan’s 857 caps, and Jamie Carragher’s 737 for Liverpool.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers was unstinted in praise of his captain:
“It’s an incredible achievement, I’m not sure it will ever happen again at the club.
“He is a remarkable player who lives his life for football.
“He played his 700th as just another game”.
Gerrard has scored 182 goals in a career that kicked off in November 1998 against Blackburn Rovers. He took over the Liverpool captaincy in 2003, and the captaincy of England in 2010.
Gerrard has long passed Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs’ 672 matches between 1990 and 2014.
For some footballers, their longevity is extraordinary to make one club their career:
817 – Lars Høgh playing for Odense Boldklub (Denmark) between 1977 and 2000.
802 – Henrik Rydström for Kalman FF (Sweden) between 1993 and 2013.
770 – John Trollope for Swindon Town between 1960 and 1980.
764 – Jimmy Dickinson for Portsmouth between 1946 and 1975.
Former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton earned the record of 1005 caps playing for 11 clubs between 1966 and 1997 – 31 astonishing years.
Next best Tony Ford had 931 caps for nine clubs between 1975 and 2001.
To put Gerrard’s record in perspective among the giants of the round-ball game:
Brazilian Pele, the greatest of them all, played 638 games for Santos between 1956 and 1974, scoring 619 goals. He also played 56 games for New York Cosmos from 1975 to 1977, scoring 31 goals – a total of 694 games for 650 goals.
Argentine Diego Maradona played 491 games for seven clubs between 1976 and 1997, scoring 259 goals.
Modern giants Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will both be on duty for a long while yet, barring injury. Argentine Messi (27) has played 298 games for Barcelona, scoring 265 goals. Ronaldo (29) has played 404 games for three clubs, scoring 292 goals.
But for the moment, all attention is on Steven Gerrard as he winds down his one-club EPL career with Liverpool.
Winning the Premier League looks out of the question, but the FA Cup can be a farewell reality.
And fitting.
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