Seamus Coleman is a good footballer and a good person.
The Everton right-back has made big donations to the Sean Cox fund, declaring after he did so that ‘football needs to stick together’.
Obviously he’s a rival, as are his team-mates and fans – but that shouldn’t stop us recognising that as football supporters, there’s more that unites us than divides us.
(Although the behaviour of Manchester City’s fans recently makes us question that, in fairness…)
Coleman has claimed he admires Liverpool’s run to the Champions League Final and has hinted that he’d like perhaps like us to win – although has been careful not to say as much outright!
“Every Everton fan, every Everton player is going to want their rivals not to win, but as players we respect what they’ve done as a team, no one can take that away from Liverpool,” he said, reported in the Echo.
“What they did against Barcelona was incredible.
“As Everton we’ve just got to worry about ourselves and make sure our seasons improve.
“Let the best team win, if that’s Liverpool or Tottenham then so be it, it’s good for the Premier League.”
Everton fans have enjoyed a rollercoaster 12 months, in truth.
First, they had to become Real Madrid supporters, before fully backing Manchester City week in, week out for nine months. They enjoyed a brief fling with Barcelona, but now, there’s Tottenham flags hanging out of their windows. Fickle bunch!
If Everton were ever in a Final, we’d probably keep quiet and wait for it to be over – or at least just concentrate on ourselves – but each to their own!