Claudia Rose Maguire has opened up about the poignant moment when he felt the presence of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva during the minute’s silence held in their honour last weekend.
The Irish singer, and wife of former Preston North End striker Sean Magure, also revealed how she got the call to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone at a packed Deepdale ahead of the pre-season friendly.
Tributes were paid to the two brothers, who passed away earlier this month in a car crash in Spain, before and during the game between Preston and Liverpool.
As Maguire sang, Lilywhites captain Ben Whiteman laid a wreath in front of the away fans, and a minute’s silence was held ahead of kick-off.
Recalling the day, Maguire told Newstalk’s Lunchtime show: “They had the Preston North End captain, he presented the Liverpool fans with a wreath in the Preston colours, just to honour them and let them know, yeah, okay, it’s a pre-season friendly game, but there is a much bigger meaning behind it, and we are all treating it as a game to pay our respects to Diogo Jota and his brother as well, and all the players as well.
“For the Liverpool players, it must have been the most emotional thing for them to have to step onto the pitch for the first time knowing he is sadly not with them on the pitch. So it was a big build up before the game.”
Then she revealed the moment she felt that the late Liverpool striker’s presence on the pitch.
“They had the minute’s silence. During the minute’s silence I was being taken back to my seat,” she said.
“Obviously we stopped to pay our respects, but there was a white butterfly just flying around the pitch, near the players. I was trying to signal to the photographer, can you get that. But because it was a minute’s silence, I couldn’t say anything.
“But that, to me, I felt like that was their presence, to let his teammates know, I’m here and I’m with you on the pitch.”
Claudia Rose Maguire (Image: Dave Howarth - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Maguire added that her husband, capped 11 times for Ireland, took the call from his former club that led to her flying over from Cork to sing in front of the Preston and Liverpool fans.
“Ben Rhodes, I don’t even know what his job title is because that man is absolutely amazing, he runs Preston North End, he does everyone’s job, he gave Sean a call,” she said.
“We’ve always kept in touch, so we just thought maybe, I don’t know, there was a reason for calling. We weren’t thinking of anything like that.
“Then Sean hung up and said, ‘I have a major thing to ask you’. I thought he was going to tell me we have to move again. I was like, ‘No way, I’m sorry, the answer is no’. He was, like, ‘No, it’s about you’.
“He explained what the match was for and he said they want you to sing Can’t Help Falling in Love With You. Even then my legs went like jelly when he said it to me. But I knew that song and because I had sung it there before, I thought, okay, of course I’m not passing up that opportunity.
“It wasn’t until Friday that Ben Rhodes called me himself. We were just chatting and he said, ‘You do know you are singing the two songs, don’t you?’. And I was like, ‘No, Sean left that little detail out, that I was singing You’ll Never Walk Alone as well’.
“So, he said, ‘Yeah, we want you to sing both, is that okay with you?’. I wasn’t going to say no, of course, so I was like, ‘Yeah, I know it so well’.
“I do know the song, but I wouldn’t have known it to stand on the spot and just belt it out in front of however many fans.
“I said, ‘Yeah, no problem’, and I hung up the phone. Then for two days straight, You’ll Never Walk Alone was played over and over. My neighbours were probably pulling their hair out of their heads, I was singing it so much. But I didn’t want to mess it up.”
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