From receiving the help of Virgil van Dijk during the coronavirus pandemic, growing up alongside Robbie Fowler and playing against Steven Gerrard at school, Grice has plenty of stories to tell.
As owner of the famous café in Liverpool, Coffeewe spoke to Anthony (Tony) Grice for the latest edition of My Liverpool Life and learned how we can help his business.
I started supporting Liverpool because…
My earliest memory of supporting Liverpool was the 1984 European Cup Final.
The whole family was sitting in front of the TV watching Liverpool. I was only four years old and it’s kind of hard to remember details because it’s so far back now. I remember the family celebrating late into the night and singing Liverpool songs.
I’d say my first real memory was the 1986 Merseyside FA Cup final where the whole city was decked out in red and blue. The buildings were absolutely enormous and the city was buzzing.
I loved Gary Lineker when he played for Everton and to this day I honestly think that if Everton had won I might have moved to them, even though I probably wouldn’t have been allowed to!
Thank God we won that day and I still remember Liverpool winning the cup. From then on, I never looked back since I was six.
My first competition was…
Alan Hansen’s testimony against an England XI.
I remember my uncles taking me because I had been asking them for it for ages. I passed the stadium on bus 27 and was amazed every time I saw the ground.
To this day I can still remember walking up the stairs at Flagpole Corner to the Kop and my uncle saying to me, ‘You will never forget this. There she is.
It was as if time stood still and the sound became silent for a moment. The brightest green grass I had ever seen, illuminated by the stadium floodlights, and I just watched in amazement. The volume buzzed back a bit and a roar from the fans took me out of the moment and I was just absorbed in that moment.
We won the match 3-2 and seeing all my heroes for the first time was one of the best moments of my life, and that memory will stay with me forever
My favorite season as a Liverpool supporter was…
This is a tough one. I loved the 2014 season where we just lost the league.
I don’t think anyone gives us credit for even being in a title race that season. We came from nowhere and the belief among the fans was that we could actually do this. I went to the domestic away games that season and it was all like traveling for a cup final.
Still, it should probably be the 2019 final. Klopp’s team was at its best; the football we played that season was magical.
That season’s European away campaign was probably the best I’ve ever done. Yes, I believed we would beat Barcelona at Anfield as we walked out of Camp Nou having seen ourselves lose 3-0 having outplayed them the whole game.
If I could relive one match it would be…
Istanbul – there is no doubt about that.
I traveled to Turkiye alone because I didn’t trust anyone with travel arrangements.
The whole day, from starting in Taksim Square, to the journey to the stadium, to Pete Wylie singing Heart as Big as Liverpool as the sun set and thousands of Reds with flags aloft about to march into our sixth European Cup final, was magical.
Tears during half time, tears during full time and if I could ever relive a day in my life, that would be it.
How has running your café, Fika, affected your life in Liverpool?
Before I had the cafe, I had a driving company.
It was perfect because I also worked for LFC, showing players, families, reserves and backroom staff. I took players’ families to home and away games, which allowed me to go to the game and get paid at the same time.
Since opening CoffeeI still go to every home game but really struggle to get to many of the domestic away games. I have also taken a step back from European Cup away games, but I try to earn at least three to five per season.
Football is a big part of my life and something I am very passionate about. I don’t care about other teams and have no knowledge of anyone or who they are playing.
I couldn’t even tell you four English players even though I’ve seen them all live. It’s just Liverpool FC.
Fika is going through a difficult time – how can we help?
Things have been a little tough at the store lately. Visits have dropped along with rising costs for inventory, utilities, rent, etc.
We feel like the end is in sight before the year is out. We need as much support as possible from everyone to visit us.
We need Virgil van Dijk to come for coffee with his teammates, in the hope that the crowd will follow.
If you could invite three Liverpool figures, past or present, to Fika for a cup of coffee, who would they be?
1. Virgil – that’s the easiest.
In my opinion he has become the best captain we have ever had and it takes a lot for me to put him above Hansen.
During lockdown the LFC Foundation contacted me because I was feeding vulnerable people in Liverpool and they had seen what I had done.
They said a current first team player wants to support your campaign. Not only will this support the public, it has also helped me survive as a business in COVID.
The player wanted to remain anonymous and donated £2,000 to help us feed everyone.
At the end of our campaign, the foundation informed me that it was the VVD that supported us. I’ll never forget what he did.
In addition, I know many charities that he supports without any desired recognition. Just a humble man, a true leader and a great human being.
2. Steven Gerard
My hero. I played football against him when I was at school – Nugent against Cardinal Heenan.
Our captain played for the Everton youth at the time (Carl Regan). He told us on the bus going to the match that there is a player for them called Gerrard and if he plays it’s game over for us.
If our best player, who was incredible by the way, said that about someone else, our heads would turn and we would have already lost.
Gerrard started the match and by half time they were 5-0 up and Gerrard had scored all five goals!
In the second half, their manager put Gerrard in goal to level the match. I remember him coming onto the pitch on his debut and it all came back to me: ‘That’s him, that’s the boy who scored five times after us’.
As far as I’m concerned, the best ever for us.
3. Robbie Fowler – my old neighbor
We played for hours every evening on the astro field across from my house. We all knew he was special.
He was extremely blue and I can still see him hitting the ball into the goal and saying ‘Sheedy’ goal.
Top, top boy and he gave everything for us. I was so happy to see him on the pitch and talk to him the day we won the Premier League last season, and he managed to take a quick selfie of us.
It would be great to discuss all the times growing up in Toxteth and being a Liverpool player.
How you can help Fika
Fika Coffee is more than a coffee shop, it is a valuable part of the Wavertree community and provides a space to discuss mental health and meet others:
“The ethos of our store is to bring people together and support those who are less fortunate, in need, lonely or vulnerable. We achieve this by offering free meals and free coffee to those in need.
“Through our Easter and Christmas appeals, feeding the homeless in central Liverpool, organizing walks and talks on men’s mental health, organizing free community events including our recent Halloween scavenger hunt, and feeding over 3,000 people during the Covid pandemic.”
If you are in Liverpool you can visit Coffee on Woolton Road, Wavertree
If you don’t live nearby, you can help by donating to Fika GoFundMe, here.
#played #Gerrard #scored