Gerrard and Carragher played alongside eachother in Liverpool's first team for over fifteen years
Steven Gerrard (left) and Jamie Carragher in Sydney Harbour on January 7, 2016.
Steven Gerrard (left) and Jamie Carragher in Sydney Harbour on January 7, 2016.(Image: 2016 Liverpool FC/Getty Images)
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Steven Gerrard has sent a message to former teammate Jamie Carragher as the legendary Liverpool FC defender celebrates his 48th birthday. Carragher, who was born in Bootle, made the second-highest number of appearances in the history of the club. He claimed nine major trophies in 857 appearances with the Reds before retiring.
Gerrard and Carragher played alongside each other in Liverpool's first team for over fifteen years. Carragher was in the Liverpool side when Gerrard made his debut in 1998 against Blackburn Rovers. The former players have remained friends through the years after experiencing the highs and lows of the game together.
The iconic former Liverpool captain posted a picture of Carragher holding the Champions League trophy in Istanbul after they completed an incredible comeback against AC Milan in 2005, he captioned it: "Happy birthday la" alongside a confetti emoji.
Carragher's son, James, also sent a supportive message. He posted a picture of the them attending a concert together and captioned it "Happy birthday to me da and me best mate. Thanks for everything you do for me", alongside a red heart emoji and fist emoji. The official Liverpool FC account posted "Happy birthday, Carra."
Gerrard previously spoke about his admiration of Carragher, he told the ECHO: "My favourite player would always have to be Carra. I always felt more secure, I felt more invincible being in front of him because I always knew what I had behind me, I knew I had a leader and, well, a mouth!
"Everybody knows I'm not someone who shouts much on the field, as a captain I was more of a one-to-one speaker and more one to talk at the right time.
"Carra, though, did love a good shout. And I always felt better when he was behind me, I felt we had a better chance of success."
Liverpool's Jamie Carragher celebrates with the fans inside the Stadium after the dramatic match against AC Milan,
25th May 2005
Liverpool's Jamie Carragher celebrates with the fans inside the Stadium after the dramatic match against AC Milan, 25th May 2005(Image: Mirrorpix)
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Carragher has spoken about Gerrard through the years, including his "inspirational performance" in the iconic Istanbul final, 2005. He told Sky Sports: "At half-time he was head in hands to start with like the rest of us, but of course being skipper he had to rally the team along with the staff.
"His second-half performance was inspirational, he didn't just lift the players, he lifted the fans inside the stadium. You saw his reaction when he got the first goal back."
Ahead of Gerrard's retirement in 2016, Carragher said: "That's what I'm sure he'll be remembered for, he carried us to the trophy. He played three different positions that night.
"It's very fortunate [Andriy] Shevchenko missed because he was on the next pen! But listen, there's no doubt he would have stepped up and put it away as he always did."
Fans of Liverpool and Carragher have flooded the comment section of Liverpool FC's birthday message to the former centre-back, with their own well wishes. One comment said: "Happy Birthday to Carragher you absolute scouse legend!"
Further responses were: "Happy birthday faithful servant. YNWA" and "Happy birthday Jamie Carragher. Mate, you absolutely top legend hope you have a beautiful wonderful boss birthday."