Shaun Whalley will be without his lucky charm this weekend for what the boyhood Liverpool supporter reckons will be his final visit to Anfield as a player. Whalley, who grew up idolising Michael Owen and was in attendance for Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League final win in Istanbul, says he usually scores whenever 10-year-old son Jude watches him in action.
The Accrington winger’s goal celebrations are a nod to his child, who Whalley credits for helping him turn his life around following problems with alcohol and gambling earlier in his career. But Jude, who has nonverbal autism, will be cheering on his father from home when Stanley travel to take on the Premier League leaders in the FA Cup third round in a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday.
“My little boy Jude and football, they’re the most important thing in my life,” Whalley told the PA news agency. “Having a kid has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. “He has been to a few games and I normally score when he comes as well. He’s not going to come to Anfield because it’s a bit too much for him sometimes.
“I told him I was playing there. He actually went with his school not so long ago on a trip there. “I always show him my goals and my celebration is always a ‘J’ with my hands for Jude. He’s always there with me.”. You never know in football. But Liverpool are an unbelievable team and it's going to be really tough for us.
