Justice for the 96

Hillsborough - 24 years on

Monday April 15th sees the 24th anniversary of that terrible day when 96 of our fellow reds went to a football match and never came home.

  

We received a measure of justice back in September when the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report definitively absolved the Liverpool fans of blame and then hours later the Prime Minister stood up in Parliament and issued a blanket apology to the families of the 96 for the "double injustice".

We are closer now than we have ever been and hopefully we will soon see Justice followed by accountability for the police, media and Thatcher's government for the lies and cover ups.

Whatever you are doing on Monday morning at 10.06 EST please try to spend a moment in silent thought to remember the 96.

JUSTICE FOR THE 96.

The Toronto Branch Exec.

Crimbo Party December 2012

 

Our Crimbo party is approaching fast, anyone who still hasn't purchased tickets can still do so at Scallywags on Sunday at our game against West Ham. You can also email me at  m.humphrey@lfctoronto.com to reserve tickets.

*** WE MUST GIVE OUR FINAL NUMBERS TO JEFF AT SCALLYWAGS BY FRIDAY DECEMBER 14th, SO PLEASE EITHER SEE MIKE OR ANY OTHER TORONTO BRANCH EXEC MEMBER ASAP.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   

The Annual Christmas (Crimbo) Party for LFC Toronto Branch Members and their guests will be held at Scallywags on Saturday December 15th.

Doors open at 6:30pm and a self-serve Buffet from 7.30pm with the following items.......

• Chili with garlic bread
• Caesar SaladFried Calamari
• Chicken Wings
• Homemade Pulled Pork Sliders 
• Veggie wraps
• Devilled Eggs
• Vegetable Platter w/dip, Fruit Platter
• Cheese and Biscuits
• Pastries
• Tea/Coffee

Entertainment will be supplied by DJ (The Wee Man) and our very own Benny on Guitar.

This is the one night of the year when we all get together to have a great time with other Supporters of our Club!

  

 

 

Ticket prices: $15.00 paid-up Members and $20.00 for Guests.

 
Tickets will be available at all upcoming games or from any member of the Executive prior to the event.

Please try to secure tickets well in advance to avoid disappointment as space is limited.

Please make a real effort to attend this fun evening!...... With a chance to win a door or some great LFC autographed raffle prizes!

UPDATE: a special thanks to Scallywags for the following: A freepint of domestic beer or glass of wine for all members attending the party!

    

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    

Scallywags Annual "Regulars" Party

Scallywags will be holding their annual "regulars" party on Wednesday December 19th. Jeff has asked me to forward on the invitation to all our members.

They will be passing out some beers and food.

See you there if you can make it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disappointing Loss in Season Opener

10-man Liverpool suffered a disappointing loss away to West Brom. Steve Clarke's men were good value for their win, although Brendan Rodgers was unhappy with "harsh" refereeing from Phil Dowd. It's only the first match in a long season, so let's not get carried away. Patience will be key as Rodgers and the team adjust to the new system and tactics.

Some things observed in this game:

• Allen looks to be the player we all hoped him to be;
• Liverpool achieved 89% successful passing completion, our highest in years;
• Our usually solid defence suffered from poor communication and the change of Johnson on the left and Kelly coming in on the right. The new system will take our defenders time to adjust for;
• Lucas is still getting into match fitness and will need some time to get to top form;
• Gerrard will struggle unless we find an attacking role for him, where he's strongest;
• Downing was disappointing, as usual; 

It's going to take several games to grow into a new style of football. We all know the old football cliche: "it's a marathon, not a sprint". 

Next up is Hearts away on Thursday in the Europa League.

Match Report on Liverpoolfc.tv 

LFC v TFC Practice Session on Friday July 20

On Friday July 20th Liverpool FC will take place in a closed practice session at the Rogers Centre.

The practice will start at 5.00pm and go on to approximately 6.30 pm.

 All Liverpool supporters who purchased tickets through the Toronto branch will have access to this practice.

• Doors will open at 4:30pm
• Please present game day ticket at Gate 5 for entry
• General admission - you are not required to sit in your assigned game-day seats
• Food and beverage (including alcohol) will be available for purchase 

Please note, for anyone travelling down to Boston and Baltimore, we have a limited amount of tickets for the closed practice sessions the day before both of these games. If any members want to attend please let me know ASAP at m.humphrey@lfctoronto.com. Let me know which games you are attending and how many members you have in your group. As I've said, our allocation is limited so they will be given out to members on a first come first served basis.

Graham Wignall Memorial Evening

Please join us at Scallywags on Friday May 25th 2012 to celebrate the life of our dear friend Graham Wignall. We will be getting together to raise a few glasses, tell a few stories and of course sing a few songs in memory of Graham.

Our own Benny will be providing the entertainment and we will be raffling off some great autographed Liverpool FC merchandise.

We'll be starting around 7.00pm and going on until chucking out time.

Wear your Liverpool colours and let's make this a great evening. 

 

TFC talks to LFC Toronto at Scallywags!

TFC has a video promotion filmed at Scallywags where they talk to LFC Toronto President Mike Humphrey and LFC Toronto member Dave Ferrisey about the upcoming LFC vs TFC friendly in July. Watch the video here!

Reds kick off tour in Toronto!

It's official! Liverpool Football Club will be kicking off their North American pre-season tour in Toronto with a match against Toronto FC on July 21. 

Check out the official announcement here on liverpoolfc.tv

A message of thanks from Alison

Dear LFC Toronto Supporters,

How do I start to thank you all?  It has been a tremendous shock to lose Graham, as you can imagine.

I have to tell you that your support has enveloped and helped me, and your cards and messages have given me such strength.

The flowers you sent were just lovely - thank you very much.

There were so many of you at the service on Tuesday, and afterwards at Scallywags, and many people confirmed what I had thought - Graham would have loved it!

Thank you to those who were unable to attend, but called or sent messages - greatly appreciated.

As you know, he was the life and soul of the party, and there was nothing more that he liked to do than talk about his beloved team. Everywhere I look around our home are reminders of his love of the Reds. From his cap he wore when he went to Wembley, the football he caught at the game on January 1, 1983 (Liverpool 5 - Notts 1), the Fez he wore for the Istanbul game on May 25, 2005 (his birthday!), to the Toronto LFC Supporters membership binder.

He spent hours on the memberships and would keep immaculate records from previous years. It gave him a real kick to get someone else to join, and he would usually send a ‘Junior membership card’ to a new baby!

Many an early morning he would walk down to Scallys with extra scarves (just in case!), and then come home and watch the game again, because he wanted to see each kick, pass and goal again!  I have many memories of him reading the match report or listening to Kenny, and then he would phone one of you to talk about the game and worry about the stats!!

And so - thank you again, very much.

Alison

YNWA

http://www.lfctoronto.com

You'll Never Walk Alone Graham!

It is with great sadness that we announce that LFC Toronto Branch executive, lifelong Red, and great friend Graham Wignall has passed away. Graham suffered heart failure earlier in the week and lost the battle the afternoon of March 24. Rest in peace, Graham! We're going to miss you mate. YNWA!

Listen to Lindsay O'Conner and Peter Irvine's short announcement on the International Sport Report on the Fan590 here. 

Footsteps of our Fathers by Dave Kirby

Liverpool poet Dave Kirby with a brand new poem for Wembley

LFC Supporters at Scallywags

We have the best supporters in the world! Scallywags was packed wall-to-wall, including the patio upstairs!

Celebrating the win after the last penalty is missed.

You'll Never Walk Alone!

Photos have also been added to the 2012 Carling Cup Final photo gallery. If you were at Scallywags and have photos or videos, please share! Send them to webmaster@lfctoronto.com

Liverpool are the 2012 Carling Cup Winners!

Liverpool lifted the 2012 Carling Cup after an exciting final at Wembley! Lots of respect has to be given to Cardiff, who never gave up, even when they went down 2-1 with minutes to go in extra time. They forced a second goal in the final minute, to take us to penalties. One thing you can't say about Liverpool FC and cup finals is that we are boring! Liverpool were not great but did enough to pull it out in the end. Skrtel, Downing, Johnson and Kuyt were immense and made up for off days by others. We finally ended a six year drought of silverware, and this is just the beginning. Onwards to the FA Cup!!!

Match Report on Liverpoolfc.tv

Own Goal nets a hat-trick!

It looks like Own Goal, often Man United's best player for the past couple of seasons, has made a January move to LFC! Three own goals, one of which was a comical keepy-uppy classic by unfortunate Brighton defender Dunk, joined goals by Skrtel, Carroll, and Suarez in a straightforward win at home. Next up in the FA Cup quarter-final is Stoke at home in March. A Wembley double this season, perhaps? 

Match Report on Liverpoolfc.tv

Liverpool were poor at Old Trafford

Liverpool had to contend with handshake controversy and played poorly for most of the match. For all of their dominance in the game, United could only win by a goal. Liverpool were dismal and the less said about this match, the better. Onwards to the FA Cup fixture at home versus Brighton.

Match Report on Liverpoolfc.tv

Spurs "Parkered" the Bus to Play for a Draw

Another draw at Anfield. We looked composed and had most of the attack but we couldn't break through in the final third, which is turning into the story of our season. Suarez made his return after a long suspension and had a chance to win it when he was alone in front of goal but he could only head it directly at Friedel, who was excellent all game. Carroll had another promising performance and is slowly showing his potential. We had a great turnout at Scallys for this one, so it was unfortunate we didn't get a chance to celebrate. This was definately two points dropped but we're still in the hunt and have Man United to look forward to next. My Man of the Match was the cat that strolled across the pitch in the first half, causing a delay of a few minutes. Sign him up, Comolli!

Match Report on Liverpoolfc.tv 

Carroll Scores!!! LFC win first league match of 2012

After a fairly even first half, Liverpool break through Wolves in the second with goals from Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy, and Dirk Kuyt. It was a fairly routine win, which is exactly what Liverpool have failed to do for most of the season against weaker opposition. Are we turning the corner? Suarez is back for the match on Monday vs Spurs, which is a must win if we have any hope of top four this year. Onwards and upwards!

Match Report on Liverpoolfc.tv 

Kuyt wins it in the 88th!

Dirk Kuyt came off the bench and scored the game winner in the 88th minute to knock Man United out of the of the FA Cup. Liverpool looked knackered all game - understandable since we played a tough match against City in the midweek - but we had enough to see out United. Can we play Manchester clubs every week?

Match Report on Liverpoolfc.tv

We're going to Wem-ber-lee!!!

What a night! Gerrard and Bellamy scored to get Liverpool the draw that we needed to take us through to the Carling Cup Final against Cardiff at Wembley on Sunday February 26, our first trip to the national stadium since 1996. Anfield was rocking and if you didn't know that it was the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final, you'd think we were playing in one of our many famous European nights under the floodlights. Bellamy was outstanding, but the whole team battled to the very end. Now bring on United!

 Match report on Liverpoolfc.tv