Symbol of the fiasco of the Champions League final organized in Paris at the end of May, the young Maxwell returned to the stadium, accompanied by his father on Sunday.
His image, in tears, horrified, his nose planted in his Liverpool scarf facing the closed gates of the Stade de France, had gone around the world. She had become the symbol of a fiasco and a state scandal: the Champions League final at the Stade de France between Liverpool and Real Madrid, Saturday May 28.
Maxwell and his father Jade in Saint-Denis, May 28.
© REUTERS/Fernando Kallas
Paris Match had found, in Leigh on Sea, on the English Riviera, its unfortunate hero, Maxwell Pearce, eleven years old.
The front page of Paris Match of June 16, 2022.
© DR
His father, Jade, had spent nearly 1,500 euros to afford a father-son trip to Paris. But the sweet dream had not lasted long, shattered by tear gas from the French police who had sprayed English fans, children, people, the elderly and the disabled, whoever better.
“I didn’t understand anything, Maxwell explained to us, we had done nothing wrong. And all of a sudden I had this terrible pain in my eyes. I didn’t think a football match could be that. I will never go back to France again. It’s a terrible country. I want my dad to take me to Anfield again to see Liverpool play.”
Father and son have returned to the stadium, invited by the club
Sunday, invited by the club, on the occasion of the friendly match Liverpool-Strasbourg, the father and the son returned to the stadium “without any apprehension”, assures Jade. “It feels great to see nice police officers, happy to see the fans coming back to the stadium. They recognized and congratulated us”. The proof: the young Maxwell, all dressed in red, posing proudly in the middle of hilarious bobbies, the helmet on his head.
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The Pearce family was able to sing, in a 90% full Anfield, all the hymns to the glory of the six-time European champions such as “Red and White Cop”, “Go! Go! Go!” -and of course “You’ll never walk alone”. The young Maxwell could not see his heroes, Mohamed Salah and the side Trent Alexander-Arnold who had played and won the Community Shield (Champions’ Trophy) the day before against Manchester City. The Reds lost 3-0. But Maxwell was able to come to terms with football and the magic of a peaceful yet fiery stadium.