There is nothing more torturous for a football supporter than the 2 minute wait before a penalty-kick is taken against your team. All of a sudden, you begin cursing the man who decided on such mammoth sized goals as you become convinced that your goalkeeper is not capable of sideways motion anymore. So imagine how all us Kopites felt when Brad Jones strolled onto the pitch at Ewood Park, facing a penalty from the menacing (and ex-Evertonian, just for good measure) Yakubu as his first and rare piece of action. Our natural reaction as on-lookers was to close our eyes and seek help and guidance from above.

In the end, it turned out we weren’t the only ones looking for inspiration in that moment. As Jones dived to the correct side of the goal and smothered Yakubu’s strike, our Australian goalkeeper rose to his feet, tucked the ball under his right arm and pointed his left to the sky.

There was more to this celebration than just delight at making a crucial penalty save. You could see it in his eyes; you could feel it in his body language, just a complete grasp and understanding as to why he had saved it. You could see the passion from the way Glen Johnson and Martin Skrtel ran full throttle over to their mate and colleague to join with him in his moment. You could see it in the way the crowd went berserk as if they had discovered a time-machine and transported themselves back to Istanbul, May 25^th 2005. For anyone that was remotely aware of the story of Brad Jones and his family, this was a poignant moment that will forever linger in our memories.

In June 2010, Jones was preparing for the World Cup in South Africa with his Australian teammates; the pinnacle moment for every professional footballer. On the eve of this special tournament, Jones got a phone call that would change his life; his 4 year old son Luca was diagnosed with leukaemia.  

“It makes football completely irrelevant, even a World Cup,” commented the Socceroos captain Lucas Neill in the aftermath of hearing the devastating news of his fellow countryman. For as much as playing football at the highest level and on the biggest stage is a wonderful experience, everything was put firmly into perspective that day for Brad Jones and his partner Dani.

This led to a year of treatment for Luca, which came in sync with Jones moving to Liverpool from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2010. So as we fans went through the trials and tribulations that those years had to offer on the football pitch and in the boardroom, the Jones family suffered through the same period with a grieving authenticity that is hard to comprehend.

For his treatment, Luca had to undertake months of chemotherapy, blood transfusions and a bone marrow transplant. At first, the Joneses were led to believe that Luca was on the mend after a successful stem cell transplant, but just as 2011 shone new light on the family's future, Brad and Dani were left devastated once again as they were told the cancer had returned.  

There is a saying about Liverpool Football Club that there is “no heart as big” due to the family atmosphere and understanding of the emotions inspired from tragedies that deeply affected our proud supporters and the city. Liverpool fans did everything they could to show their support for Luca and his treatment, with Twitter becoming the main outlet for kind messages and heartfelt donations to a player’s family who despite his limited appearances on the pitch, became a symbol close to our hearts when we felt the Liverbird etched over it.

A year had passed since Luca was initially diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, yet Brad and Dani had wonderful news to inform Luca on - Dani was pregnant with a baby boy. “Nico was such an active baby that he (Luca) could feel him in my tummy, even at that early stage, and Luca was even picking names for him ... even though they were mostly related to Spider-Man!”

Unfortunately, the rollercoaster ride would not avoid another dip for the couple and poor Luca.

On November 18^th 2011, after nearly a year and a half fighting the leukaemia with a variation of his Daddy’s Liverpool shirts on him every step of the way, Luca sadly passed away aged just 6.

When the Liverpool team stepped out onto the pitch in the games that initially followed, you could see how it affected all the players – Brad’s teammates and friends – as they wore their black armbands with utter sincerity and respect. The minute's silence tributed at Anfield to Luca was greeted with every ounce of perfection and reverence. This was one of our own that was hurting and we all desperately wanted to show our support in whatever way we could.

The year that followed must have been extremely difficult for the Jones family. Brad returned to Melwood and continued training in the wake of his ultimate heartache, waiting for the moment to step into the spotlight and put his Luca Jones-inspired gloves into action. On 10^th April 2012, against Blackburn, Jones got his chance.

Every time Brad Jones hears Gerry Marsden utter the words “At the end of a storm there’s a golden sky”, he must feel he saw a glimmer of this in reality whenever he thinks back to this week in April. Liverpool were playing Blackburn in their final league game before they played Everton in the FA Cup semi-final on the eve of the 23^rd Hillsborough anniversary. Only a few days earlier to this Tuesday night encounter at Ewood Park, Dani had given birth to a baby boy – Nico.

So by knowing all this, and seeing Jones thrust his arm so emphatically into the night sky, we who knew understood the magnitude of this moment. Brad spoke about Luca in his post-match interview:  “Luca is with me every day. His picture is in my wash bag, his toys are in my travel bag. I take him everywhere. In that sense, I’ve definitely got someone watching over me. It was nice to save the penalty as it has been a difficult time with losing my son. Maybe he gave me that good fortune.”

At home, while Nico slept, Dani celebrated her partner's moment: “I thought I was going to throw up! When he saved it we were jumping up and down, and then I remembered I’d just had a caesarean!” she laughed.

Yet there was more to come. Due to the suspension of both Pepe Reina and Doni, Brad Jones was to be the man between the sticks when Merseyside took over the capital along Wembley Way. Playing in a FA Cup semi-final is special, playing at Wembley is special, and playing for Liverpool is beyond special, but with a unique backdrop to this game both personally for Brad and collectively for the club with Luca and Hillsborough, the proportion of specialness required to sum this day up is unimaginable.

On that sun-soaked Saturday afternoon, Jones had a tremendous game and Liverpool came from behind to beat their local rivals at Wembley… again.

When the full-time whistle went, amidst the scenes of screaming Scousers, spilt pints, and a grinning Scottish King, Jones collapsed to his knees and faced the ground, trying to take it all in. Eventually he raised both his hands in the air and with his eyes closed he thanked his oldest son.

In some way ourselves, whether through vivid tears or a sudden feeling of being all choked up, we all thanked Luca that day as well.

In my lifetime as a Liverpool supporter, I’ve only experienced two players receive undeniable love and recognition from the Kop for minimal appearances on the pitch: Gary McAllister and Brad Jones. Both players share similar statuses in that their most memorable LFC moment will be remembered as against Everton (not a bad accolade eh?). However for where Gary Mac had his wonderful set-pieces and sparkling bald head, Jones affected us supporters on a different level. Brad always seemed the type who is quite reserved and very humble. His honesty has always been highly noticeable whenever he plays or speaks. His smile is unflappable; his work (along with Dani) for Luca and stem-cell research has been commendable.

On behalf of every Liverpool fan, stripping back the red and just being human, to you Brad and your family, you’ll never walk alone.

RIP Luca.

- by Ryan Levis (@Ryan3Levis).