Liverpool FanZoner Rich Garnett looks back at the career of Steven Gerrard following the announcement of the Anfield legend's summer exit.
The date is Wednesday 8th December 2004. In the dying minutes of Liverpool's crucial Champions League group stage match against Olympiacos at Anfield, the home side are seemingly about to be dumped out of the competition.
Having started the second half 1-0 down thanks to a Rivaldo free-kick, the Reds need to score three goals to go through and the chances of that happening look pretty slim.
Goals from unlikely heroes Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Neil Mellor give Liverpool a chance but as time ticks away the Greek side are still going through.
With just four minutes remaining enter the fray Steven Gerrard, who with one swipe of his blessed right foot, blasts a thunderbolt past goalkeeper Anatolskis into the Kop goal sending Anfield delirious with a state of euphoria.
In doing so, he kick-started a run to unimaginable glory that will be spoken of long after we have all left this mortal coil.
As Gerrard darts to the Kop end in ecstasy with his delighted team-mates in hot pursuit, a supporter can be seen scampering down the steps to join in the celebrations, followed by many more.
That supporter was me at 25-years-old and this is what Steven Gerrard did. He made the fans happy and gave them belief. That's what football should do to you.
When people wax lyrical about Gerrard, inevitably the same big games come up - Olympiacos, Istanbul, the FA Cup final against West ham - they are the successes that elevated him to football icon status.
They say players are remembered by what they won. Although Gerrard can leave Anfield with a satisfactory haul of trophies including a European Cup, it is not just his tendency to perform on the big occasion that makes him, for my money, Liverpool's greatest player of all time.
The reason he is the greatest is because he was the best player on the pitch in almost every game he played for 16 seasons.
To be the best a player must perform to the highest level, week in week out and no one has done that better than Huyton's finest.
A player can only hope to achieve such standards if he is motivated to win. Even more so in this day and age of unpalatable wages and disdain for club loyalty.
Captain of Liverpool at 22, he has lead by example with his performances on the pitch rather than overzealous vocal chords.
One particular occasion that sticks out for me was a rather inconsequential Europa League match against Napoli at Anfield during the doomed reign of Roy Hodgson.
Following a miserable first 45 minutes, which ended with the vastly superior Italians 1-0 up, Gerrard was introduced as a half time substitute.
He immediately took control of the match, bullied the visitors into submission and smashed in a second half hat trick as Liverpool ran out 3-1 winners.
That was Gerrard at his very best, dictating the play and weighing in with goals when it mattered.
Of course, to date, a Premier League winners' medal has eluded him. In his heart he must have believed that objective would be realised last season as his free-scoring side steam rolled to within 3 points of a 19th top flight championship.
Gerrard's decision to leave his boy hood club at the end of the season has been greeted like a death in the family. But there are two reasons why I believe this should not be the case.
Firstly, his decision to leave is the right one. Throughout is entire career he has been the best player on the pitch but his ageing legs no longer allow him to be that man.
Brendan Rodgers has tried to accommodate him in a deeper midfield role but it has not benefited the team and at times has hampered them.
Steven Gerrard and bit-part player don't go in the same sentence so hopeful suggestions that he may accept reduced involvement at the club beyond this season were never likely to materialise.
But perhaps most importantly, Liverpool FC does not have time for an obituary on a player who still plays for them.
The captain my not play every game from now until the end of the season but his contribution to ensuring his team retain a place in the Champions League will be as vital as it ever was.
Fans of my generation have grown from teenagers into fathers during Gerrard's Liverpool career - just like him - and we can thank him for giving us many a memorable night in our twenties.
But he can admire his own work at the end of the season. Until then there is important business to be done making the current Liverpool team successful.
The blueprint of his career might provide some answers.
By Liverpool FanZoner Richard Garnett. Follow him on Twitter here, and don't forget you can follow @FanZone too!
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