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Men's Football Jeremy Goss relives THAT goal against Liverpool

“IT’S the proudest goal I’ve ever scored in my whole life.”

You might be thinking that former Norwich City midfielder Jeremy Goss would be reminiscing about his stunning volleyed strike against Leeds United at Elland Road which won Match of the Day’s Goal of the Month in August 1993, or one of his two goals scored in each leg of The Canaries’ famous Uefa Cup victory over Bayern Munich. 

However, as his former club prepare to kick off the Premier League season away to European champions Liverpool, it is his goal in that fixture 25 years ago which he recalls.

“I’m lucky enough to be remembered by something I did good instead of something I did bad. I went through some wonderful times.

“I’ve got some great memories, big games, big stadiums, wonderful goals, not least at Anfield … I’ve got great memories at Anfield.”

It remains the last time Norwich City won a match against Liverpool, but it will be remembered forever by fans of the home side. 

The Merseysiders’ last home match of the 1993-94 season was also their final game in front of a standing Spion Kop. 

For 66 years, the fabled stand at the Walton Breck Road end of the ground had been the largest covered terrace in the country, holding up to 30,000 fans.

With its capacity already having been reduced to 16,480 by 1994 due to safety regulations, the recommendations of the Taylor report left Liverpool with no option but to demolish it to make way for a single-tier seated grandstand holding 12,390 in order to comply with new Football League rules requiring that every club in the top two flights of English football play at an all-seater stadium by the start of the following season.

After a disappointing season in which former captain Graeme Souness had resigned as manager, Roy Evans’s Liverpool were on course for their lowest finish to a league season since 1962. 

At the end of a trophyless campaign the symbolism of the occasion therefore took on added significance.

A souvenir programme was produced and a parade of former heroes culminated with Joe Fagan coming out onto the pitch alongside the widows of Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. 

Having already lost their last European match the previous season to Spartak Moscow, their last FA Cup match to Bristol City and their previous home match to Newcastle, each time without scoring themselves, Kopites were desperate to see their team win their last ever match in front of the terrace. 

In the circumstances, mid-table Norwich, themselves in the midst of a late-season slump which had seen them win just one of their 18 matches since New Year’s Day after manager Mike Walker had left the club for Everton, seemed like the perfect opponents.

As was tradition, Liverpool were to attack the Kop End in the second half but in a match which went from end to end, it was the away side who scored first, 10 minutes before half-time. 

As Goss recalls: “The ball came across from a set-piece, so was there was basically a wall of red shirts coming at me. I didn’t have any time in which to bring it down, control it and look for a pass.

“All I could do was control it and half-volley it at goal and luckily for me it spooned in past David James’s left hand into the top corner. 

“I ran away and celebrated and couldn’t believe it.”

Liverpool failed to equalise in the second half and Goss went down in history as the last goalscorer in front of the most famous standing terrace in the world. 

“We had other chances to score in that game, Liverpool had other chances to score in that game. I was playing against Ian Rush who was my Welsh teammate at the time. 

“I don’t think he spoke to me at the next game that we played! I gate-crashed the wedding basically because it should have been Ian Rush who scored that last goal, he’s a legend for the football club.”

Goss, who since retiring has worked as a fundraiser for the Norfolk and the Norwich Association of the Blind, is now an ambassador for a new scheme launched by Aviva, aimed at tackling social isolation in Norfolk.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be part of the campaign bringing awareness to loneliness in Norwich and the difficulties people face. 46 per cent of people in a survey admit to being lonely or experiencing social isolation in Norwich. It’s a remarkable statistic that shouldn’t be accepted.”

After his historic goal at Anfield, Goss remembers how Liverpool fans wrote to him in the days after.

“In the next 10 days, I received so many letters of congratulation from Liverpool fans on my achievement, it was unbelievable. It was really remarkable to see.”

Now he hopes that by offering free football tickets to people suffering from social isolation, Aviva can help tap into the same spirit of community and cohesion that the Kop is famous for. 

For each of Norwich’s two pre-season friendlies at Carrow Road played last week, Aviva distributed 250 pairs of tickets to competition winners for nominating someone they knew suffering from loneliness who would not normally get to a game, such as a 92-year-old woman who recently lost her husband, a dad unable to watch matches after developing an eye condition and a fan suffering from learning difficulties.

Goss hopes that by connecting with others through football, these people will gain the confidence to change their lives.

“Each of those people is bringing with them someone they think is experiencing loneliness. That’s 500 people coming together to be inspired, to enjoy the match, be motivated by what they see, link with other local organisations and become closer-knit and friends with each other. 

“Aviva really want to make sure they progress this and the momentum carries forward. They want to bring 10,000 people together. This is a serious issue in Norwich and it is being overlooked.”

Twenty-five years on, Goss is hoping to be at Anfield today to watch his old team try to emulate the class of ’94.

“It’s one of the best stadiums in the world, the pitch is always unbelievable. The fans are second to none, it really is a truly inspirational stadium to play in.”

Despite being most people’s favourites to go straight back down to the Championship, Goss has high hopes that Norwich can survive in the top flight. 

“I don’t think they’ve ever been more suited to go in the Premier League. Their style of play, the ability of the players, the formation that they play, the leadership that they’ve got behind them in terms of managers and football directors. The whole football club has moved forward considerably in the last several years or so.

“They’re going to go out and enjoy every single moment of this Premier League [season] and they’re not going to be scared, they’ll play with confidence and belief because they are underdogs and that’ll make them deliver more. I’ve got real expectations about them remaining in the Premier League and I think they’ll surprise a few teams this year.”

Jeremy Goss was speaking as an ambassador at the launch of Aviva’s campaign The Friendliest Friendlies to bring 10,000 people together in Norwich to tackle loneliness.

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