Welcome to the fourth blog in our series, where we dive into the stories behind football’s most viral meme moments. So far, we’ve covered Drogba’s famous outburst, Mourinho’s furious sprint, and Pep’s shocked reaction.
But today, we’re revisiting a moment that sent shockwaves through the football world and became an enduring meme: Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip.
For Liverpool fans, it’s a moment they’d rather forget. For rival fans, it’s one they’ll never let go of.
If you are a Liverpool fan, Sorry Not Sorry, its too iconic to not be in this series.
But what really happened on that fateful day in April 2014? Let’s go back to Anfield, where Gerrard’s slip changed everything.
The Story Behind Steven Gerrard’s Slip
The Setup: Liverpool’s Title Charge
April 27, 2014, was a day of massive importance for Liverpool. The Reds, under manager Brendan Rodgers, were leading the Premier League and seemed on course to claim their first league title in 24 years.
They were five points clear of second-placed Chelsea and were riding high on an incredible 16-game unbeaten streak.
Liverpool had just come off the back of two crucial victories. First, a dramatic 3-2 win against title rivals Manchester City, followed by a hard-fought 3-2 away victory over Norwich City. Confidence was sky-high.
Anfield was buzzing with the belief that this was finally their year.
Next up? A match against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. A win would all but guarantee Liverpool the title. But as we all know, football has a cruel way of turning dreams into nightmares.
The Slip: Disaster Strikes
As the first half of the match drew to a close, the score was locked at 0-0. Liverpool were controlling possession, and while Chelsea were sitting deep, the Reds seemed to have the upper hand.
Then, it happened.
In stoppage time of the first half, Liverpool’s defender Mamadou Sakho played what should’ve been a routine pass to Steven Gerrard. But instead of controlling the ball, Gerrard lost his footing and slipped.
The ball rolled away from him, right into the path of Chelsea striker Demba Ba.
Gerrard scrambled to recover, but it was too late. Ba was through on goal with acres of space. He calmly slotted the ball past Simon Mignolet, sending Chelsea into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead and leaving Liverpool stunned.
It wasn’t just a slip—it was a seismic shift in the title race.
Gerrard’s fall seemed to symbolize the unraveling of Liverpool’s title hopes, and it was a moment that would haunt him, and the club, for years.
The Aftermath: Liverpool’s Slip in the Title Race
Despite their best efforts in the second half, Liverpool couldn’t break down Chelsea’s rock-solid defense. Mourinho’s side, known for their defensive prowess, frustrated Liverpool’s attack. Rodgers later quipped that Chelsea had “parked two buses,” but the damage had already been done.
In the dying moments of the game, Chelsea added another goal through Willian, sealing a 2-0 victory. It was a crushing defeat for Liverpool and a devastating blow to their title ambitions.
After the match, rival fans and the media were quick to seize on Gerrard’s misfortune. Headlines mocked Liverpool’s “slip up” at home, and despite still being two points ahead of Manchester City, the psychological blow had been dealt.
City had games in hand and a superior goal difference, meaning the title was now out of Liverpool’s hands.
Liverpool’s fate was sealed in their next match against Crystal Palace. After taking a 3-0 lead, they dramatically collapsed in the final 10 minutes, drawing 3-3. City went on to win the rest of their games and clinched the Premier League title, leaving Liverpool to finish second.
The Reaction: A Moment That Became a Meme
As heartbreaking as it was for Liverpool fans, Gerrard’s slip became a source of endless ridicule for rival supporters. It wasn’t just about the slip itself—it was the context that made it so iconic.
Two weeks earlier, after their win against Manchester City, Gerrard had gathered his teammates on the pitch and delivered a passionate speech: “This does not f*cking slip now!”
The irony of his words, followed by his literal slip, was too much for rival fans to ignore.
Social media exploded with memes, GIFs, and chants mocking the Liverpool captain. The moment took on a life of its own, becoming one of the most widely shared football memes of the decade.
Even Tottenham Hotspur’s official Twitter account got in on the act, though they later had to apologize for their ill-timed joke.
Fans from rival clubs—especially Manchester United, Chelsea, and Everton—would bring signs to games and sing chants mocking Gerrard’s fall.
The Gerrard Slip Chant
The chant that fans adopted to troll Gerrard is sung to the tune of one of Liverpool’s most famous chants. Here are the lyrics:
Steve Gerrard, Gerrard,
He slipped on his f*cking arse,
He gave it to Demba Ba,
Steve Gerrard, Gerrard.
It’s been sung at Premier League grounds across England, and even today, nearly a decade later, it’s still a favorite among rival fans.
Gerrard’s Reflection: Coming to Terms with the Slip
The slip wasn’t just a momentary lapse for Gerrard—it was something that haunted him for a long time.
In his autobiography My Story, Gerrard opened up about the pain he felt after the defeat to Chelsea, admitting that it left him in tears.
“I sat in the back of the car and felt the tears rolling down my face. I hadn’t cried for years but, on the way home, I couldn’t stop. The tears kept coming. I felt numb, like I had lost someone in my family,” he wrote.
For a player who had given everything to Liverpool over a 25-year career, it was a moment that cut deep.
But in recent years, Gerrard has made peace with the incident, acknowledging it as a moment of “bad luck” rather than a defining failure.
Conclusion
For Liverpool fans, Gerrard’s slip represents a painful chapter in their history, but for rival supporters, it’s a moment of schadenfreude that will never die.
The meme, the chant, and the jokes surrounding the slip have become part of football culture.
But for all the memes and mockery, it’s important to remember that Steven Gerrard was, and remains, one of Liverpool’s greatest-ever players. His legacy at the club is untouchable, and while the slip will always be part of his story, it doesn’t define him.
As Gerrard himself has said, it was just “bad luck.”
Football memes have a way of immortalizing moments that transcend the 90 minutes on the pitch. In Gerrard’s case, his slip will live on in internet history, but so too will his legacy as a footballing legend.
Stay tuned for our next blog in this series, where we’ll explore another viral football moment that became a meme. Because in football, the drama never stops—even when the final whistle blows.
