Nelson Mandela admitted to Liverpool FC players he was a lifelong fan of the club during a tour of South Africa.
The former South Africa leader was pictured with Liverpool players at a United Bank Soccer Festival friendly match at Ellis Park Stadium in May 1994. The iconic picture was taken less than a month after Mr Mandela - or Madiba as he was known in South Africa - was sworn in as the first black President in the country's maiden democratic elections.
The ground-breaking tour where Liverpool FC visited the country in its most important era of history is characterised by Mr Mandela posing with the squad following the match. John Barnes presented a Liverpool FC shirt to the President who admitted to Barnes he was a lifelong fan.
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Also pictured in the iconic photo snapped in the changing rooms are players including Robbie Fowler, John Barnes, David James and Neil Ruddock.
Barnes, the first high-profile black player to appear at Anfield in the 1980s, won multiple player of the year accolades while at the club. He previously told the ECHO : “Mr Mandela said that he loved Liverpool and that he supported Liverpool. I gave him a signed shirt and it’s in the Mandela museum. He admired Liverpool and he liked me."
The former footballer, who interviewed Mr Mandela while on tour with the Reds, said it was a “tremendous honour” to have talked to him at his private residence in South Africa. The former England winger was tasked with making a TV documentary on the anti-apartheid activist.
Barnes first met Mr Mandela on the pitch ahead of the match before being invited to the leader's house to conduct a two-hour interview. Barnes said: “I liked his passion and commitment. He was a great world leader and politician, but he had humility. He had compassion and forgiveness. I liked how much of a great human being that he was more than anything else."
Liverpool as a city has had a longstanding history with Mr Mandela dating back to the 1980s. Mr Mandela remains a highly significant role model in the city, especially in Toxteth, where strong connections between the city's black community, Mr Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement can still be felt today.
Recently a new mural of Mr Mandela was commissioned by Mandela8. The mural, painted by renowned painter John Culshaw, can be found at the Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre at the beginning of Princes Avenue in Toxteth.
Mr Mandela's daughter Dr Maki Mandela and granddaughter Tukwini Mandela will be in the city in July to open the new Nelson Mandela memorial in Princes Park.
