Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘We wanted to create a legacy for when Madiba passed on’
IN 1994, Nelson Mandela was photographed wearing a Liverpool Football Club jersey, surrounded by the club squad.
The picture, re-published worldwide, was taken during the English football club’s post-season trip to South Africa in May that year .
It was the club’s first trip to South Africa and the team and staff were fortunate enough to brush shoulders with the icon.
But was Mandela really a Liverpool fan?
One of the club’s most prolific goal scorers, Robbie Fowler, thinks so: “Of course he was, he had the Liverpool top on didn’t he?”
A star footballer in his day, Fowler met some of the most influential people in the world, but meeting Mandela ranks as one of the highlights of his life.
“I think we’ve been blessed with what we do. We travel the world and meet all sorts of famous people, from movie stars, to athletes, but meeting Madiba was on a completely different level.
“One of the first things I remember is when Nelson Mandela walked into the room, I felt incredibly awestruck. We all knew who he was and when he walked in, you could feel that you were in the presence of greatness, it was a really special moment.”
The 42-year-old has a picture of himself and Mandela in his home in Liverpool.
“The picture is absolutely priceless. Each time I see it, I get shivers down my spine. I saved a special place for it in my home .”
Fowler, with former teammates Steve McManaman and John Barnes, were in South Africa this week to commemorate Mandela’s 100th birthday. He would have turned 100 in July.
The LFC Legends together with the Mandela 8 team from the UK also announced the City of Liverpool plans to honour the Struggle stalwart by placing a permanent memorial in the city.
The memorial artwork, which will be created on the lake island of Toxteth Park and launched in June, will be known as Mandela Island and the bridge linking the island with the park will be called Freedom Bridge.
Barnes, Fowler, and McManaman were in the country for three days and hosted a gala dinner for fans, with part of the proceeds from the dinner going to several charitable causes, including The House Group in support of young girls who are survivors of human trafficking.
The former players also hosted a coaching clinic for 250 underprivileged children at the Metrostars Football Development Centre in Benoni, Johannesburg.
Fowler was particularly delighted that the memorial will be at Toxteth Park.
“I spent most of my time as a young boy playing football with my mates there, so I am really excited that the Mandela memorial will be created there.”
Barnes, who spends a substantial amount of time in South Africa working as a pundit for Supersport, said he was honoured to have met Mandela during his time as captain.
Jamaican- born Barnes interviewed Mandela while on tour with the Reds in Africa in 1994.
“I was very fortunate to sit down and interview the great man. I was the captain and was asked to do a documentary on South Africa, while the rest of the squad went sightseeing.
“I went around with a camera crew to Pretoria, first to interview FW de Klerk. It was in a very formal setting.
“Later that day I was asked to introduce the squad to Madiba, which I was incredibly excited about.
“When I met him I asked him if it would be okay if I interviewed him for a short while. I was expecting Madiba to say come to my office and chat. Instead, he invited me to come over to his home for the interview.
“It was an enormous privilege because it was a oneon-one interview. I liked his passion and commitment. He was a great world leader and politician, but he had humility. He had compassion and forgiveness. He was just a great human being.”
Barnes said what had impressed him the most about Mandela had been the fact that the icon was so humble.
“What really stood out for me was how he was such a humble person – for not saying how great a person he was for what he achieved.
“He was just an incredible man. When you were around him you could feel that you were in the presence of greatness.
“He kept telling me that there were greater people than him who hadn’t lived to see the day.”
Barnes, who won both of English football’s 1987- 88 player of the year accolades while at Liverpool, said Mandela had told him that he was a Liverpool supporter.
“Mr Mandela said that he loved Liverpool and that he supported Liverpool. I gave him a signed shirt and it’s in the Mandela museum. He admired Liverpool and he liked me.”
McManaman, who played for Liverpool and Real Madrid, said he was delighted to be back in South Africa, and fortunate enough to be part of a tour that commemorated Mandela.
“I’ve been to South Africa many times. I have come here with Liverpool on tour and for the World Cup.
“I always jump at the opportunity to come back to see the people.
“This whole experience, and what we are trying to achieve and do, is incredibly uplifting and very enjoyable.”
McManaman also paid tribute to Liverpool’s South African fan base, saying it is one of the biggest and best in the world.
“Having played for a club as big as Liverpool with its rich history, we enjoy support from all corners of the world. But the support we have in South Africa blows me away each time I come here.”
“We played a game in Durban many years ago and there were over 30 000 Liverpool fans wearing their kit and singing You’ll Never Walk Alone. It was breathtaking to see.
“Some of the foreign players who were touring South Africa for the first time could not believe the size of support we have in the country,” McManaman said.
Lynn Collins, chairperson of the Mandela 8 project, said she was thrilled their plans for a memorial for Mandela have come to fruition.
“Liverpool’s relationship with Madiba and South Africa goes back a long time.
“As a city that fights for social justice, we really associate with the people of South Africa and those other countries that are struggling across the world to obtain social justice,” said Collins.
“Once Mr Mandela became president of South Africa , he was given freedom to the City of Liverpool, which was really important to us and once we gave that freedom, we didn’t want that to be a gesture.
“We wanted to create a legacy.
“When Madiba passed on, we put our heads together to figure out how we would create a legacy for this great man.”
Collins said her organisation was working with the city of Liverpool so that children in Liverpool could learn about Mandela at their schools.
“Our hope is that by July this year, every school in Liverpool will have a copy of A Long Walk To Freedom and every child will be introduced to the life of Nelson Mandela,” she said.