Anfield painting honoring Phil Neal and Ian Callaghan, two Liverpool legends

Near Anfield, a mural honoring Liverpool icons Phil Neal and Ian Callaghan was unveiled.

The finished piece of art, which is located on Randolph Street just steps from the Reds’ stadium, has pictures of both former players along with the nicknames “Neal & Cally,” and the players have also signed it.

The official former players organization of Liverpool FC, Forever Reds, is thrilled to sponsor the debut of the painting in L4.

Neal, who is still the club’s most decorated player, won four European Cups and eight First Division championships in his 11 years at Liverpool from 1974 to 1985.

When it comes to appearances, Callaghan owns the club record with 857 for the Reds, all of which came during his 18-year playing career at Anfield between 1960 and 1978.

He was also a member of the 1966 England team that won the World Cup, and in 1974, he became the first Liverpool player to receive the FWA Footballer of the Year award.

John Aldridge, the chairman of Forever Reds, said it was “absolutely brilliant” to see these two true giants honored with a mural. The two greatest Liverpool footballers of all time are Cally and Nealy.

Forever Reds was established to make sure former players always feel like a part of the LFC family by offering support, involving them in significant community service projects, and keeping them up to date on club news.

Earlier this month, three charities in Merseyside received a £75,000 donation from Forever Reds as a result of their fundraising efforts.

Also.. 

Why Liverpool has an academy “car clause” “You ought to have to work for it”

Opinions about young footballers doing too much too soon are well known. However, at Liverpool they have a ‘clause’ to ensure they can pass the first team audition.

Academic football is fierce and there are certainly no guarantees of success. But under Jürgen Klopp there is at least one known way.

There are many boxes a young player has to tick before he gets the chance to train with the club’s first team. And the Reds’ academy director is keen to ensure nothing trips them up on their journey, including the car they’re driving.

Liverpool are trying to keep their prospects on the pitch – and while this primarily affects their young professionals’ salaries, there is also a ‘car clause’ in place, as revealed by Alex Inglethorpe.

Inglethorpe, who became academy manager in 2014 after being promoted from his role as Under-21 manager, explained the reasons to Robbie Fowler during the club’s We Are Liverpool podcast.

“There’s a balance [to be had], isn’t there? What we’re doing now is players signing a ‘car clause’,” Inglethorpe explained of the cars youngsters drive players. “What you don’t want is for them to come in with a Range Rover.

“The reason you don’t want them to lead something too big, too big, too ambitious is because it’s not just the manager and staff who have an opinion on you, but also the senior players.

“If you think about James Milner, Jordan Henderson or Andy Robertson, the first cars they drove there would have been an element of humility.

“I use it in a presentation I do with the guys, I have their first cars.

“Firstly, you can’t enter a race that you will never win – and I don’t mean in the car, I just mean in terms of life. “You can’t think, ‘I’m a first-team player because I have a better car’.

“We could afford to pay them a bit more, but we don’t because I don’t think it’s fair.

“There’s something about delayed gratification rather than instant gratification, I think you should kinda earn it.

“The players know very well that if I don’t agree with their car, they can park it in David Lloyd’s car park, but it won’t be in the academy.

“I don’t want to be an idiot, I just don’t want them working 10 years for an audition and failing before they even set foot on the court. “I want them to be safe. There are a lot of choices based on safety and based on [being] a young player responsible for two tons of metal, you have to make sure that responsibility is something you take seriously.”

It is clear that Inglethorpe’s reasoning is rooted firstly in safety and secondly in a desire to see academy players make a lasting impression for all the right reasons after years of hard work.

It’s the little things that turn promising talent into first-team options.