Brighton winger Craig Noone has worked his way from Non-League (semi-pro) soccer all the way to playing for a team that sits third in the League Championship standings. He worked construction jobs to support himself during his ascent and even did a project at Chez-Gerrard.
"It’s true," Noone told the Daily Express. "He was getting a conversion done. He was getting a gym and a games room built on the back of his house and we did the roof and the panels on the side.
"My boss picked me up one morning at 7 a.m. and said, 'We're working on Steven Gerrard's house today.' I didn’t believe him, but when we got there I recognised it from the papers. We were working there for a month, but I didn't get to see him. He is understandably quite private."
Noone has supported Liverpool since before he was born. He was in the stands at White Hart Lane to see Tottenham thump LFC 4-0 on Sunday. The matchup against his boyhood heroes will undoubtedly be a significant one for the 23-year-old.
"To get Liverpool at our stadium is unbelievable. All my family are Reds, both on my dad's side and my mum's. Most of my mates are Liverpudlians too … Some of them will be coming down for the game and I've had to try to get 20 tickets, though one or two of them are talking about trying to get into the away end. I was joking, 'What if I score the winner? Are you going to jump up and cheer?'"
He will get a chance to answer the question when Brighton host his heroes on Wednesday.
Gerrard hopes to see his first action for Liverpool since March. He had surgery on his groin in April and has returned to full training in recent weeks.
Photo courtesy of Flick.r/the_junes
