'Fairy tales don't come more extraordinary than this'

So said Tommy Smith on May 26, 1977, during the sunny summer afternoon when Liverpool paraded the European Cup through the streets of their home city for the very first time. Fewer than 24 hours earlier, on the same day that Star Wars: A New Hope was released and changed the course of cinema forever, Tommy had changed the course of Liverpool Football Club forever with one firm flick of his forehead.

Smith’s goal was the decisive moment in the 3-1 triumph over Borussia Monchengladbach at Stadio Olimpico 42 years ago today, finally delivering the prize Liverpool had coveted more than any other.

The line ‘When we won the European Cup in Rome/Like we should have done years before’ in Every Other…