I lost £200k bonus after being named in Liverpool's Champions League final squad by mistake

An ex-Liverpool player was left gutted and £200k out of pocket after a Champions League final squad blunder.

Stephen Warnock, who had been a regular in the Reds' journey to the 2005 Istanbul final making four European appearances, was initially named in the squad to face AC Milan only to be dropped due to an error.

The retired defender, now 42, shared his heartbreak on the Undr The Cosh podcast, recalling the moment he thought he'd made the cut. "I remember running in after the last training session and thinking, 'please be in'," he said.

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Warnock recalled a mix of joy and shock as he reacted "f***ing hell" upon seeing his name listed among the 18 players. However, the elation was short-lived when then-manager Rafa Benitez reversed the decision just hours later.

Detailing the crushing call, Warnock said: "I rang the family and told them to get the plane tickets booked. I was at home getting everything ready, then my phone goes and it's Pako Ayestaran, who was the number two at the time. He goes, 'we've make a mistake with the squad, you're not in it'. I was like 'what?'"

For Warnock, a lifelong Liverpool supporter, the disappointment was profound, not to mention the significant financial loss. "It shouldn't come into it but it did," he admitted, via the Mirror.

"It was one of the biggest games of football's year but our bonus was massive either way. It was £100k to lose it and £200k to win it, and I was thinking f***ing hell, that's a massive amount of money, because I weren't on that much money at the time.

"The other part of that was me thinking 'f***ing hell that's a nice lovely bonus that either way'. You're a young lad, I've come from thinking last year thinking I'm gonna be in the Championship with Coventry being on decent-ish money but nowhere near that sum of money."

Liverpool, of course, went on to beat Milan on penalties after their miraculous comeback from three goals down, meaning Warnock did indeed miss out on a £200k payday. "[Steven] Gerrard came up to me after the game and said 'we'll make sure you get your money'. I've still not seen it. Like why say it," he added.

The saga, which also saw him miss the trophy parade after being moved onto a separate flight home, was the beginning of the end for his Reds career. He was beyond the point of return with Benitez and ultimately departed Merseyside in January 2007 to join Blackburn Rovers.