Stephen Killen speaks to former Liverpool goalkeeper Daniel Atherton, who lived every fan's dream by playing for the club they adored. However, his debut will go down in history.
BIRKENHEAD, ENGLAND - JULY 11: Daniel Atherton of Liverpool during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Tranmere Rovers and Liverpool at Prenton Park on July 11, 2019 in Birkenhead, England. (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)
Goalkeeper Daniel Atherton plays outfield for Liverpool during their friendly win over Tranmere
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp stands on the touchline before turning to his substitutes. He looks at youth goalkeeper Daniel Atherton and says: ‘Can you play?’
The Reds are newly-crowned kings of Europe and building up to the Premier League season with a pre-season friendly at Tranmere Rovers when, in the dying embers, striker Paul Glatzel suffers a serious injury, forcing Klopp to assess his options.
Sitting on the bench are James Milner, who has just played 45 minutes with the first XI at Prenton Park, alongside goalkeepers Vitezslav Jaros and Atherton.
It may only be a friendly but this is the moment that Haydock-born shot-stopper Atherton, a lifelong Liverpool fan, has been dreaming off: His debut for the Reds, albeit in a non-competitive match.
But, instead of between the posts, it's up front.
“I said yeah and I don’t know where the confidence came from,” says the 26-year-old of that evening at Tranmere in July 2019 . “Next thing you know, he (Klopp) tells me to run inside to the kitman and get a kit and I think: ‘S***’.
“I’m running on smiling, pointing to Divock Origi instructing players saying: ‘You go there, it’s me and Div up front’. I think I played well to be fair.”
Atherton now plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of England’s football pyramid, for FC United of Manchester, a club founded by disgruntled Manchester United supporters in response to the Glazer family takeover.
But he is still connected to Liverpool as he plays for Daniel Sturridge’s Deportrio, also managed by Micah Richards, in the Baller League.
Atherton left the Reds in search of first-team opportunities in the senior men's game but found it difficult, given his search coincided with the outbreak of Coronavirus.
However, there are no regrets from Atherton, as he remembers his time in Liverpool's academy before progressing to train with the first team fondly, after joining the club at an early age.
Atherton went from being a hardcore fan, where he was left crestfallen at times watching the Reds’ near-misses during the era of Steven Gerrard, to training with the iconic midfielder.
And he credits goalkeeper Simon Mignolet as one of the people who helped him settle among players he idiolised.
"I'd go up and train with the first-team but I had a stinker for the first few so I didn't go back for a couple,” he says. “I'm training with like Steven Gerrard, Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson, I've cried watching them.
“I'm 15 thinking: 'I'm having a stinker in front of my idols here'. I was starstruck so I found it really hard.
“Simon Mignolet was massive in the switch, I used to joke all the time and if I made a mistake, I'd play it down.
“He could have easily f***** me off, he’s preparing for teams like Manchester City and big games, Premier League matches, European football, but if I was doing something in training, he’d take time to look at positioning, decision-making.”
There would also be some humbling lessons for Atherton, whether it was from former Liverpool captain Henderson or further punishment from Milner.
"My first session, I couldn't have been 15 for long and Henderson bullied me, small-sided games, he must've scored nine,” he says.
“He chipped me on the line, megged me, gone round me. I remember saving James Milner's penalty and he made me stay out then scored 10 straight after it.
“In the moment, I'm just having a laugh with Milly, it's mad to say, it's only after you think: 'I've just saved his pen'. It's nuts.”
There would be times when Atherton would be playing table tennis with first-teamers, sharing dinner and stories or having three training sessions in one day, going from the under-21s to the first team before making the move to a nearby sports complex to train with Marine during his loan spell at the non-league club.
As any budding first-team footballer would, Atherton tried to make an impression. Growing up just 13 miles away from Anfield, he would go that extra mile.
Even in the bitterly cold winter months, when Alisson Becker or Adrian would seek warmth through layers, snoods and other trainingwear, Atherton was prepared to go out in short sleeves and shorts in the grim elements.
After his cameo against Tranmere in pre-season, he would be introduced against Bradford City at Valley Parade, this time as a goalkeeper.
With an injury to Caoimhin Kelleher, Atherton was then afforded a place on the plane for Liverpool’s pre-season tour in America. Milking it as best as he could, he looked to make an impression from the first moment.
He says: “The first place we went was Notre Dame, you’d get a time schedule - between eight and 10 was breakfast, I wanted to be first down. I got down dead on 8am, there’s about six of them there; Robbo, Milly, Henderson and so on, they’re sitting there watching the golf, eating their breakfast.
“The next day, I went down at half 7, Robbo, Milner and Henderson were down there. The next day, I’d got there at 6:45, an hour and 25 minutes early, knackered because of the time difference, I walk down and Milner’s just sit there having a coffee: ‘Morning Dan, want a coffee?’ I’d have to get down there for 5 and Milner will come down thinking: ‘What’s this weirdo doing?’”
There aren’t many goalkeepers in the football pyramid who can say that they’ve been brought on up front by Klopp or chewed the fat on all things cricket with Milner or even deployed a tactic during the pre-season tour to closely follow some of the Liverpool stars for easy Instagram post opportunities.
Still, with the highs of travelling the world with Liverpool, come those small humbling moments.
“At the open training sessions, the kids don’t know who you are,” he says. “One took a ball off me for a signature to give to Gini Wijnaldum, his mum gave him a clip around the ear.
“I’d have done exactly the same, I’m decreasing the value.
“There’s people with shirts up in boozers and pubs, in the basements or man caves and my name is on it next to Van Dijk, Gini, Divock Origi, Alisson. Then you’ve got Dan Atherton from FC United.”