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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Remy Greasley

Merseyside's 'oldest' goldfish who lived under seven prime ministers

A woman's goldfish dubbed the oldest in Merseyside lived through five US presidencies and the reigns of seven UK prime ministers.

Sparky the goldfish died on Thursday (June 15) after an impressive 22 years in his tank. His owner, Nicol Arathoon, now 38, was just 16 when she bought Sparky from Burleydam Garden Centre in Ellesmere Port.

Nicol said she found him on the bottom of the tank, 'opening and closing his mouth' before he died. She said: "I took him to my mum's grave in a little box with his tree and little stone and rose petals and buried him there."

Adding: "He really did make it to a good age. I never thought he'd get there. Once he got past 10, I thought I couldn't believe how old he was, and then he got past 20. He was a real fighter. He fought until the end."

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The feisty fish, believed to be the oldest in the area, was alive under seven Prime Ministers (Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak).

Sparky, who was known for his murderous temperament when it came to other fish in his tank, also saw five different US presidents, beginning with Bill Clinton, before George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. He was also around for three different popes - Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Sparky died aged 22 (Andrew Teebay)

In terms of local Premier League football he was around for the reigns of six different Liverpool managers (Gérard Houllier, Rafael Benítez, Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish, Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp).

He also saw 15 Everton permanent and caretaker bosses' spells in the job (Walter Smith, David Moyes, Roberton Martinez, David Unsworth and Joe Royle, Ronald Koeman, David Unsworth again, Sam Allardyce, Marco Silva, Duncan Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafael Benitez, Duncan Ferguson again, Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche).

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