Here’s a confession… I spent most of the 1980s really hating Liverpool Football Club.
Entitled, arrogant and always getting the rub of the green they were everything I disliked about football.
Then in the 1990s Manchester United picked up the baton and were even more entitled, even more arrogant and got even more rub of the green.
So, I start watching with a degree of scepticism this video of Liverpool FC defender Virgil van Dyke who surprised Ian as he worked as a trolley collector and drove him to a surprise trip to Melwood training ground.
His brother David had written to the club asking to see if they could do something special for his brother because as he didn’t have a partner or his own family Liverpool FC was his world.
.@VirgilvDijk surprises a lifelong Red, who has had some challenges in his life. A day David will never, ever forget ❤️
Dear Liverpool FC, presented by @NIVEAMENUK… pic.twitter.com/lqtgK39kek
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 26, 2019
It’s a five minute video and it flashes past. It’s just the most beautiful thing.
“I’ll see you Wednesday, mate,” says Ian to Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp as he heads to the door of the club’s training ground to go home.
I often talk about the need for there to be an 80 to 20 per cent split in content on social media. The majority human, interesting and engaging. That buys you the right for the rest of the time to issue your calls to action.
This video is purely human. It’s a multi-layered love story. A love by a man of his brother. His brother’s love of his football team and the football team’s love reciprocated.
It works because the players, too, are human and interact with Ian in a very down-to-earth way.
From a video perspective, it does the trick of opening with the best shot and then cutting back to the start. So you see the Liverpool player surprise Ian in Asda car park.
I’ll never stop being a Stoke City supporter but I won’t mind too much if Liverpool win the league this year.