A mate of mine owned this Robson top, the old blue-and-white one with dashes on it,” he wrote in his autobiography, per talkSPORT.
“We were kicking about on Ironside [the appropriately named road he grew up on] and I asked him whether I could be Robson for a while.
“I slipped out of my Liverpool shirt, and put the Robson one on.
“It felt fantastic.
“I wore it for an hour, charging all over, flying into tackles, scoring brave goals, pretending I was Robson.
“Because the shirt had Robson’s name on it, I forgot about the United bit.
“I didn’t seem like treachery to Liverpool, more homage to an England god.”
However, Gerrard’s father spotted his son charging about in the United kit and made his feelings crystal clear.
“Unfortunately, dad looked out the window and went ballistic,” he continued.
“‘Get inside now!’ he screamed. Scarcely through the door, I ran into a right good grilling.
“‘What the hell are you playing at, wearing a Manchester United shirt?’ he asked.
“‘But dad, it’s Bryan Robson’s shirt,’ I explained.
“Dad couldn’t have cared less. ‘You should know better,’ he said.
“It was a United strip, and dad wasn’t having any son of his dragging the Gerrard name through the Huyton gutter.
“What would the neighbours think? Honest to God, I thought I was going to have to move house!
“I was only a baby but I was convinced dad would kick me out for putting on that United shirt.”