Skrtel: My dad kept reminding me about my 300th
Martin Skrtel went into Wednesday’s game with Carlisle United knowing it was his 300th Liverpool appearance - due to several reminders from his dad.
Seven years and eight months after joining the club from Zenit St Petersburg in January 2008, the centre-back clocked up the milestone during the Capital One Cup tie this week.
And Skrtel lifted the lid on how his father made sure he was fully aware he was closing in on a landmark, which is a source of immense personal pride.
He explained to Liverpoolfc.com: “I knew about it before the game. I knew I was around 290-something, and my dad is always reminding me about it because he looks at things like that.
“I am very proud because it is not easy to play 300 games for one club – especially a club like Liverpool.
“I have been here almost eight years and if you’ve played 300 games in eight years, it’s around 40 games per season and that’s not easy to do.
“I’m very happy about it, very proud and I just hope there will be more and more games in the future.”
The fact the landmark was achieved at Anfield in front of the Kop made it all the sweeter for Skrtel.
Indeed, the 30-year-old’s first ever appearance in red came on home soil in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on January 21, 2008.
He reflected: “It’s always a good feeling to play at Anfield because it’s a special place – not just for me, for every single player.
“I made my debut there for Liverpool against Aston Villa, so if we’d waited until the weekend it could have been my 300th game against Villa! But obviously that’s not important – the most important thing is I’ve reached 300 games and I’m very happy about it.”
Skrtel took to the field as a second-half substitute against Villa on that occasion, replacing Alvaro Arbeloa.
Aged just 23 at the time, did he ever envisage going on to amass so many appearances for the Reds?
“If you want me to be honest, I never thought about it because when I came here, I knew I was coming to a big club with big players,” he admits.
“I was thinking if I could stay here for a couple of years and get some games it’d be great.
“But now I have been here eight years and played 300 games for the club, so that is a massive thing for me and my family and all of us are very proud of it.”
Skrtel concedes there have been highs and lows over the course of his Liverpool career to date.
Lifting the Carling Cup in 2012 at Wembley is one moment among the highlights, as are the title challenges of 2008-09 and 2013-14.
“If you play 300 games, there are ups and downs,” said Skrtel. “You can’t have 300 games constantly at a high level.
“I know there have been better moments and worse moments, but that’s part of football.
“If I had to choose one special moment it would be winning the Carling Cup because that was a trophy with Liverpool.
“I’ve got a lot of nice memories, especially in the seasons when we’ve been fighting for the title.”
He added: “I’ve always tried to work hard, do my best and give everything on the pitch.
“Since that day eight years ago, I’ve learnt about how to play in England. It’s very tough to compete against the best players in the world, but I have always tried to do my best for the team, my teammates and the club.”
Liverpoolfc.com was able to offer Skrtel one further statistic to pass on to his dad – he’s only the 57th player in the club’s 123-year history to have reached 300 appearances.
He smiles in response: “I don’t know what to say about that…I’m very happy about it!
“Liverpool are one of the biggest clubs in the world, so to join this group of players is something I can only be proud about it.”