A tale of two cities and there’s much more than pride at stake

AN IMPORTANT part of the work of a responsible, professional journalist such as myself is research. Or, as we like to call it in the trade: Talking To A Local Taxi Driver On The Day Of The Game.

The man who drove me from the John Lennon airport into Liverpool city centre last Tuesday was a gem, the kind of quote-worthy character who almost makes you break the glass marked ‘For Emergency Use Only’ and extract the pen and notebook.

The airport itself was buzzing with the Spanish Armada just in off a fleet of planes from Madrid, while my own early morning flight from Dublin had been heavily speckled with the shirts and scarves of Irish Reds.