InterviewSanjeev Bhaskar: I loved The Beatles and now I've been a Red for 53 years

When the actor and comedian was a child growing up in west London, he was surrounded by classmates at school who supported Chelsea.

They suggested in chorus he should follow suit but their insistence only stirred a rebellion in Bhaskar, whose quick decision to pick a different team to his peers was followed by another choice.

This one would spark a lifelong love affair that continues to this day.

“I knew that Liverpool played in red and I always loved The Beatles and I knew they were from Liverpool, so I said Liverpool,” he tells Liverpoolfc.com.

“I was about five or six years old so that makes me now a fan for 53 years. It was just before the glory days of the ’70s so people try to throw that at me and I go, ‘Actually, it was just before’!

“I remember when I was about nine or 10 you had to do a ‘What did you do this weekend?’ thing and I still remember I drew a picture, it was Liverpool v Newcastle in the cup final and I remember drawing Keegan from the back.

“That’s been dead set since then. It’s the colour red and The Beatles that brought me to the club.”

Bhaskar has therefore had the pleasure of toasting the Reds’ glories across multiple generations.

From the revolution under Bill Shankly during his formative fandom to domestic and European dominance, right through to the modern successes overseen by Jürgen Klopp.

But one miraculous night when Liverpool were crowned Champions League winners against all the odds stands above any other entry in his football memory bank.

“The feeling of watching Istanbul in 2005 was extraordinary,” he begins recollections of Rafael Benitez’s side’s penalty shootout win over AC Milan after coming from three goals down to draw 3-3.

“I was watching it on my own at home and at half-time I thought, ‘Can I bring myself to watch the second half?’ And I thought, ‘Do you know what? Once you’re a fan, you’re a fan. In for a penny…’ And oh my god, it was just the most extraordinary, unexpected thing.

“And there was a great life lesson in it, which is that – outside of never giving up – actually you genuinely don’t know what the future is going to hold.”

Similar phrases of disbelief emerge as Bhaskar offers up his favourite Reds goal of all time: Alisson Becker’s last-minute headed winner versus West Bromwich Albion in May 2021. “I can’t get it out of my head. You would never have seen that coming.”

The Liverpool passion is now shared with his son, and there is an emotional significance to the selection of Steven Gerrard as his No.1 player from an overflowing list of stellar candidates down the decades.

“It’s almost impossible because there are so many different eras, from Keegan, Hughes, Heighway to Dalglish, Rush, Fowler to present day, Salah, Alisson and Van Dijk,” he says.

“But just because of what it emotionally meant to me I’m going to have to say Steven Gerrard because other than embodying the passion and drive and the inspiration, he is also somebody who for me crossed generations.

“He was the baton that was handed over between me and my son, so that’s why I think for me Steven Gerrard embodies everything that the club meant to me but also the emotional bit is me and my son overlapped with Stevie.”

Bhaskar was in attendance at Anfield last Sunday to see the Reds run out 4-3 victors from a thrilling Premier League contest against Tottenham Hotspur, as Diogo Jota fired in the late winner.

The game was also a celebration of the diversity of Liverpool supporters, with a range of matchday assets providing more details about the Red Together programme – the club’s commitment to championing equality, diversity and inclusion.

“The Red Together initiative is fundamentally important,” says Bhaskar. “One of the things I’ve realised when I’ve been filming around the world is that obviously I try to catch every Liverpool game whether I’m in India, Malaysia, America or South Africa and what has been highlighted to me every single time on any project I’m working on, the Premier League is the most-watched league in the world and within that Liverpool are one of the teams that are most-watched and most-supported.

“So you’ve got these pockets of people from all over the world from completely diverse backgrounds – completely diverse kind of economic backgrounds and social backgrounds et cetera – who have a love for this club.

“That’s the thing for me that has highlighted the diversity of people who come and support football and support Liverpool Football Club.

“Friends of mine here are from the LGBT+ community and from the disabled community, and when we get together we are just fans and ultimately that is the family.

“And that family is worldwide. It’s worldwide not just in terms of geography but in terms of experience. That’s why I think it’s fundamentally important – because we are absolutely stronger together.”

For more information about Red Together, visit liverpoolfc.com/redtogether.