Born and brought up in a middle class family in the Whiston area of Merseyside, Steven Gerrard has gone on to become one of England's finest football players. When Gerrard was nine, he lost his cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley in the Hillsborough disaster. This loss of a "family member" spurred Gerrard to tackle football in a very sentimental sense and become the footballer he is today. Gerrard ends his autobiography with the words - "I play for Jon-Paul."
While playing for Whiston Juniors, he caught the eye of the Liverpool scouts. He was drafted into the Liverpool youth setup. He made his Liverpool debut on 29 November 1998 when he came on as a last minute substitute for Vegard Heggem. He has not looked back since. Over the next decade, he has played 355 games for Liverpool scoring 76 times. He has won two FA Cups, two League Cups, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool. The only medal that has eluded him is the Barclays Premier League Winners' medal.
Gerrard made his international debut against Ukraine on 31 May 2000. After that, he has gone on to represent England on 77 occasions scoring 16 times. He made a solitary substitute appearance at Euro 2000. He scored his first goal in the famous 5-1 rout of Germany in the 2002 World Cup Qualifying rounds. He went on to captain England during Steve Mclaren's reign as manager. But England suffered back to back losses against Croatia and Russia under his leadership and hence did not make it to Euro 2008. Capello also gave Gerrard a run of games as captain of England, but later settled on John Terry.
At 30, the World Cup in South Africa in six months' time will be Gerrard's final chance to win the sport's biggest trophy. And if he is able to do the same, his name will be etched forever in the annals of English football.
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