On Tuesday, July 5 2005, Steven Gerrard rocked Liverpool - and the very foundations of the Premier League, for that matter - by slapping in a transfer request at his boyhood club in a bid to push through his move to Chelsea. Just two months ago, fans were singing his name as he inspired his club to a famous Champions League win over AC Milan in Istanbul, but come the summertime they were burning shirts with his name on them on the streets of Merseyside. In his autobiography, the midfielder described the day he handed in his request to leave as "the most emotional" of his life and, as fans protested outside Anfield and at the club's Melwood training complex, he was holed up at home "eating paracetamol like Smarties" while watching the fallout from the incident unfold on rolling news channels. The very idea of losing their captain, their leader and their inspiration was too much for some fans to bear and it was one of the most difficult and trying times to be a Liverpool supporter. However, after handing in his transfer request - or as the midfielder later put it, "a hand-grenade rolled into the Liverpool boardroom" - Gerrard later backtracked on his decision and ended up staying at the club, where he today remains.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
