Five Mins on RED

A little boy, sits on his own in the sitting room.  His eyes are shut and he is lost in a world of his own.  His looks small and fragile but his face tells a different story.  His blond hair cut in a bob, his red football scarf wrapped round his neck and his feet sticking out over the seat. The record player is sending out the chants from the Kop.
"Wouldn't it be great!" he said, his eyes still shut.
"What would be great?", I said,
"If I was Kevin Keegan and I was walking on to the pitch right now. Listen to the Kop, my heart is pounding and I just can't imagine what being there would be like."
I left him in the world of his own to savour the moment. He was seven years old and Liverpool were his team.  He would watch them on Match of the Day, lying out quietly behind one of the chairs so that no one was aware that he was still up.  I remember my dad having to pick him up and carry him to bed every Saturday, often before the programme had finished but he would have been asleep for quite a time.

Forty three years later he is still a red supporter, his heart still pounds when his team plays.  Hopes are invested in the team, ambition and statements like "This will be the season" are regularly made and the day he listened to the Kop album often referred to.  Family memories are made of things like this.