Heads up with Big Dunc

Hey.
10 days to go and I’m currently in the home city of The Beatles. The Mekka of football for many millions of fans worldwide; City of Liverpool. The big derby game is coming up, Everton vs. Liverpool. Blue against red, one of the tastiest derbies in Europe. I have seen derby games both at Everton’s home ground Goodison Park and at Liverpool’s Anfield. Great atmosphere, I can tell you that! A strong rivalry between the two clubs, but there’s also a lot of banter. The local people of Liverpool, the Scousers, are known for their great sense of humour and witty comments. I remember a game back in 2003. Liverpool were 2-0 up early in the 2nd half, and David Moyes told home crowd favourite Duncan Ferguson to get his arse up from the subs bench to start his warm up. Big Dunc in action, matchfit or not, that always gave the Evertonians a big energy boost. The whole stadium off their seats: ’Come on, lad!’ ’Fuckin’ get in!’ ’Yeah, Big Dunc!’. He has always lifted the crowd, the big Scottish fella - for short periods though. You know, the ex Rangers and Newcastle striker picked up some hefty salaries throughout his career, but he was certainly never shy for injuries. He retired after the 2006 season, scoring in his last game of the career. I think during the last 5 seasons the controversial striker played an average of 5 games a season! No, maybe a few more – but let’s go back to the local derby 30th of August 2003 – he was definitely part of the action that Saturday afternoon. He entered the pitch in the 71th minute. As soon as he came on, the thousands of Liverpool fans in the away supporters section started singing: IN FOR A WEEK – AND OUT FOR A MONTH – IN FOR A WEEK – AND OUT FOR A MONTH – DUNCAN IS A TAMPON! Hilarious. I think that ’song’ even brought a few smiles on the faces of some of the Everton fans. The result didn’t. 3-0 to the Reds.

I admit I liked Duncan Ferguson; he was a good old centre forward – and the supporter’s man on the pitch. The player who is willing to sacrifice the whole lot to make sure his team comes out with 3 points after 2 x 45 mins.
Big Dunc was actually the first football star I ever met on my trips to Liverpool. It was back in March 1996. Together with my dad, my debut trip to Liverpool and Anfield. We watched Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0, and Robbie Fowler & Mark Wright on the score sheet. We stayed at the famous Moat House hotel right in the centre of town, and I wasnt aware it was a popular place also for the football players. On Friday night, we met Duncan Ferguson in the hotel bar. Wow! I was dead nervous, asking him for a picture and autograph, he was a huge star in football and I didn’t want to hassle him too much. However, he was a smashing guy. Quite a sight for a shy Norwegian country boy like myself; Big Dunc was holding a whiskey glass, and had another glass of whiskey in front of him, while at the same time he was enjoying the biggest cigar I have ever seen. He told me to sit down next to him, smile to the camera as my dad was ready to take the picture – and of course, the camera didn’t work! Arrgh! After three unsuccessful attempts, Big Dunc had a look at my dad’s camera. ”Nooo..., I’ve no idea what’s wrong with your camera.” My quick question to him was: Dunc. Everton play Leeds away on Sunday. You injured, eh? The answer from the Scot was short: Oh nooo.
We stood up, said thanks for his autograph and went back to our seats in the bar. A few hours later we went to bed, while Big Dunc was still keeping the bartenders busy. Top man, brilliant to all the LFC supporters who asked for pics and autographs and he was knocking down drinks like there was no tomorrow.

I watched the Sky’s Sunday game in a local Irish bar. Norwich vs. Everton drew 2-2. And Duncan Ferguson? In Sky’s match report it said: Duncan Ferguson played the full 90 minutes for Everton after being doubtful because of a nagging groin strain... Everton’s penalty goal came after a push on Ferguson. The Scot was unbeatable in the air all afternoon and showed some nifty touches and pace.

By the way, rumours say that Superman has a Big Dunc pyjamas... I'm not surprised.

Allan
www.10KingsPoker.com