Newly-crowned champions Liverpool will be granted a guard of honour prior to their remaining Premier League matches this season, much to the chagrin of Rio Ferdinand and Peter Crouch.
The tradition has been in place for many years in the English top flight, with title-winning teams being granted that show of respect whenever they clinch the prize with games to spare.
The Reds were afforded that gesture on no fewer than seven occasions when they last finished top of the table in 2020 (unless you’re Bernardo Silva), but one of their former players isn’t too fond of seeing it being replicated over the coming weeks.
Ferdinand and Crouch slam ’embarrassing’ guard of honour tradition
Crouch and Ferdinand both voiced their displeasure over the guard of honour when speaking on TNT Sports on Saturday morning, with the ex-Liverpool striker strongly opposed to the tradition.
The 44-year-old said: “I don’t like it. Maybe it shows respect but I just don’t get it. It’s embarrassing for the team that comes out and it’s entirely embarrassing for the team that claps them on the field. It’s not for me.”
The former Manchester United defender concurred: “I didn’t like it. I’ve been fortunate to receive the guard of honour and be on the receiving end of it. Both are quite awkward. Crouchy’s exactly right.”
Liverpool have earned their guard of honour and should enjoy it
It was inevitable that Ferdinand wouldn’t be fond of seeing Liverpool receiving a guard of honour in their upcoming games given his allegiances, but we’re surprised that Crouch is so vehemently opposed to seeing it being granted to his former club.
The first instance of it will be seen at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca graciously insisting that the Reds ‘deserve’ that show of respect from his team prior to kick-off.
In the very same fixture 10 years ago, it was us giving the Blues a pre-match guard of honour after they clinched the Premier League title the previous week, and it’s not the only instance of us clapping a newly-crowned league-winning team onto the pitch, having also done so for Arsenal in 1998.
We’ve done it for other clubs in the past, so it’s only right that we now enjoy being on the other side of it, especially when Liverpool fans of this generation haven’t had many opportunities to enjoy being the recipients of such a gesture.
Put simply, the Reds have earned their guard of honour over the next four games and ought to savour it. Ferdinand and Crouch are perfectly entitled to disagree with it, but the LFC playes would also be quite right to revel on it!
