Steven Gerrard’s old schoolteacher, Steve Monaghan, shook his head in disbelief during the 2005 Champions League comeback – he’d seen it all before
Thirteen years after inspiring one team in red to cup glory, Steven Gerrard was at it again!
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard is on the brink of giving Glasgow Rangers their first Scottish Premier League title since 2011. And more crucially, Rangers’ imminent triumph will deprive fierce rivals Celtic of the chance to celebrate a mythical ten in a row – a feat neither of the Glasgow giants has ever achieved.
To mark the moment the Daily Record, Scotland’s national daily newspaper, has produced a special pull-out celebrating Gerrard’s impact as Rangers’ manager.
They have kindly allowed us to reproduce some of their content – starting with the match which predicted the glory of Istanbul in 2005, 13 years earlier! For more Steven Gerrard stories go to the DAILY RECORD
LONG before the Miracle of Istanbul, Steven Gerrard inspired his team to a three-goal second-half comeback that hinted at the Champions League glory night which defines his playing career.
It arrived at the end of his first year of high school. The trophy was the Liverpool Cup rather than the Champions League, the team Cardinal Heenan and not his beloved Liverpool, the opponents Blue Coat as opposed to the mighty AC Milan.
And the venue was the Penny Lane council pitches – a world away from the 76,000-capacity Ataturk Olympic Stadium. The man barking the instructions from the touchline was Gerrard’s former PE teacher Steve Monaghan instead of multiple major winner Rafa Benitez.
But while the elements of the stories – 13 years apart – are vastly different, they sum up the drive, desire and talent that made Gerrard the legendary player he was.
Monaghan said: “I joined Cardinal Heenan in 1991, the same year as Steven. I was told my team had a ‘good one’ and that much was clear from his very first game.
“It was Under-12s and we played against Savio in Bootle where Jamie Carragher attended.
“Steven scored one in a 4-0 win. He played in midfield and was one of the smallest on the pitch but I remember phoning my dad Frank that night and said, ‘Dad, next time you come down you’ve got to watch this lad. I’ve seen nothing like it’.
Steven Gerrard, in the captain’s position (naturally) with the cup which his performance had just helped Cardinal Heenan win. A decade-and-a-half later memories came flooding back for teacher Steve Monaghan (back left) as Gerrard reprised that display in a Champions League final
“I said if he didn’t make it then I didn’t know who could because he was phenomenal. At that time I also played for an amateur team and I was raving about this young lad to my team-mates and said they had to come and see him.
“But a lot of them watched Liverpool on a Saturday and didn’t get a chance to come along. But at the end of that first year we played in a final against another local school called Blue Coat in a cup final and they agreed to come along.
“I was excited for them to see him but we had a crap first half and were losing 3-0 at half-time. I was thinking I’d end up with egg on my face.
“But Steven took the game by the scruff of the neck and scored two, one a header and one a volley, and we came back to win 4-3.
Another final, another monumental performance from Steven Gerrard for Cardinal Heenan, ends with another piece of silverware
“And when I watched him in the 2005 Champions League Final memories of that day came flooding back.”
Away from school, Gerrard honed his skills in the tough Bluebell Estate in the close-knit, working-class Huyton area of Merseyside where Peter Reid and Joey Barton grew up.
He learned in the school of hard knocks, holding his own against boys years older, friends of his brother, Paul. The family home was No.10 Ironside Road which was outside the catchment area for Cardinal Heenan but dad Paul and mum Julie were keen for him to attend the school in West Derby.
Monaghan, a native of the north east village of Consett in County Durham, kept in touch with Gerrard when he became a Liverpool star and tickets would be left in his name at St James’ Park when the Reds played against his beloved Newcastle.
Steven Gerrard meets up with his old Cardinal Heenan manager/mentor again, Steve Monaghan
Gerrard also made frequent trips back to his old school, including one with former Rangers manager Walter Smith when he was in charge of Everton, to open a sports complex.
Retired Monaghan, 67, said: “I last met Steven when he took the Liverpool youth team and had a chat with him. If it hadn’t been for the pandemic then I’d have gone to Ibrox to watch a game.
“I had mates who were Liverpool fans and we went back up to my village in the north east when they were playing at St James’ Park and Steven would leave tickets in an envelope for ‘Mr Monaghan’. The lads loved that.
“Steven wasn’t an angel at school but he was never in major trouble. He was well liked. He wasn’t a big head and that’s what I liked about him.
Steven Gerrard was destined for glory but was never a big head at school says Steve Monaghan (Image: Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“I was also year head and I probably tried to keep his feet on the ground and not let him get big-headed. There were 170-odd pupils in the year and you had to treat each lad the same.
“You don’t put anyone on a pedestal but he didn’t show off or denigrate anyone who wasn’t as good as him. The school is in West Derby and he was from neighbouring Huyton so wasn’t in the catchment area. But his cousin had been to our school and also Steven played Sunday League football with the son of another PE teacher, Mr Chadwick.
“Steven’s dad used that connection to get him in. The family wanted him to go to Heenan as it was an all-boys school and the system was good.
Steven Gerrard visiting his old Cardinal Heenan School, when he was a young Liverpool player.
“The school was accused of poaching him but the family wanted him to go there for the education, as well as the football team.
“He was small until he got the growth spurt and even then he was a year behind. He didn’t really fill out until Under-16s so he was always one of the smallest ones on the pitch.
“But his tackling was ferocious, his distribution was exceptional and the thing that stood out was that cross-field ball that became his trademark. Tom Culshaw, now a coach at Ibrox, was the year above. He went to the FA School of Excellence at Lilleshall but Steven missed out on England Schoolboys.
Steven Gerrard visiting his old Cardinal Heenan School, when he was a young Liverpool player.
“I remember going down to watch him in a trial and I was confident he would get picked but he didn’t and I later heard through the grapevine it was because the coach felt he didn’t get box to box. I had to laugh at that years later.
“When he made his England debut against Ukraine in 2000 I sent a text saying, ‘It’s long way from Penny Lane to Wembley’.
“Sky Sports called me up to do an interview and I said he would be England captain one day.
“I was proved right and I’m so pleased he’s going to bring success to Rangers as a manager.”
