Pre-season can bring about crazy and bizarre situations, and that was the case in 2016 when Jurgen Klopp turned to his academy goalkeeper to play up front!
The summer of 2016 was the first pre-season under the tutelage of Klopp, and it was a busy one for the squad as they played nine friendlies to prepare for the 2016/17 campaign.
It was the fourth clash, a trip to Huddersfield Town, that proved full of surprises as the German took his love for a player’s ‘versatility’ to a completely new level.
Then 18-year-old goalkeeper Shamal George had watched the majority of summer’s games from the bench, and he could never have foreseen that his first appearance would not involve his gloves!
With Lucas Leiva picking up a hamstring injury on the hour mark, Klopp opted for a bit of chaos with his remaining substitute as he introduced George as an outfield player, opting to push him up front.
George almost had the dream start, he was incredibly close to releasing Lazar Markovic on goal, and then he had a cruel offside flag deny him a fairytale place on the scoresheet.
Liverpool fans at the John Smith’s Stadium were invested in the goalkeeper’s unlikeliest of ‘debuts’, so much so that when the Reds were handed a 90th-minute penalty there were calls for him to take it.
Alberto Moreno stepped up to some boos from the travelling Kop and converted to seal a 2-0 win, Klopp later explained the decision not to succumb to fan pressure.
“Even though it doesn’t look like it all the time these games are quite serious – we don’t want to make joke games,” he said.
“It is nice when the crowd calls it in but at 1-0 in no game in the world should you make a ‘funny’ decision.
“If it is 4-0 or 5-0 you can think about it but even then it is a lack of respect for the opponent.”
It would have been the icing on the cake, but George’s 25 minutes as a forward was always to be what we defined this friendly outing – pre-season was made for moments like this!
After his unlikeliest of appearances, the Liverpool academy product shared a photo on his Instagram of him on the receiving end of a Klopp hug, with the caption: “Tonight was mad.”
Mad, indeed. It is a story you tell your future grandchildren.
That summer, he joined the team for the US tour as the third-choice stopper, but he never did feature for the first team with his gloves on.
What happened next?
George would sign for Carlisle United on loan in the summer of 2017, it was there he made his professional debut, though he played just seven matches before returning to Liverpool.
The following year, he signed a contract extension and joined Tranmere Rovers for another temporary move away, and the year after he did the same when signing for Marine.
At the end of the 2019/20 season, though, he was released by Liverpool and signed for League Two club Colchester United on a two-year deal – he made 50 appearances and was named their player of the year for 2021/22.
George was on the move again in 2022, joining Scottish Premiership side Livingston – who he still represents to this day.
Now 26, the goalkeeper is the No. 1 for the Scottish side and has played 75 games so far – he missed just nine of their 47 games last season and has only been tasked with keeping goals out, not scoring them!
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