It's a week of tenth anniversaries. On December 4, 1998, a Friday, I was married in London. By, er, coincidence, Liverpool were away to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane the next day. The Scouse contingent at the wedding rose early and we were on Tottenham High Road for pub opening (the wife came too - who said romance is dead?).

Inauspiciously, Spurs were 2-1 victors, but, little did I know, there was another long-term relationship beginning that chilly winter's day, one that would trigger the extremes of emotion.

Steven Gerrard made his full debut that afternoon. He'd come on for a minute against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield the previous week, but this was my first look at him in the first team. It wasn't love at first sight. But it soon became clear that this kid from Huyton could play.

Over the next few years he grew in stature and began to look like - potentially - the best attacking midfield player in the world. Yet despite being a local boy, he never won the unconditional adulation of the Kop. He could be selfish on the pitch, earning the moniker “Stevie Me”. When things were not going his way, he sulked. Off the field, he lacked the common touch that Bill Shankly made essential in the relationship between heroes and fans.

By the time Rafael Benítez arrived at Anfield in 2004, Gerrard was hailed outside Liverpool but liable to be criticised at every turn in the city. Few liked the way his partner, Alex Curran, made the most of her WAG status. On England duty he sang God Save the Queen, causing a friend to roar in fury at the television: “Behave like a Scouser, will you!” Then came Chelsea. Twice.

You don't have to be in love to feel jealous and jilted when Flash Harry tries to take someone away from you. The first time it happened it was almost understandable: a new manager at Anfield and the power appearing to shift to West London. But when the tryst began anew after Istanbul in 2005, it was almost unforgivable. Yet he couldn't do it. On an emotional night when it seems Gerrard was stripped down to his bare essence, he just couldn't leave the club. Thank God.

It's sad that, as in so many relationships, some Liverpool fans won't truly appreciate Gerrard until he's gone. He may have to wait for unconditional love until he's retired. But, after a decade, it's clear: we were meant for each other. Steven Gerrard is one of the best things that ever happened to Liverpool. So let's grow old together.

Tony Evans is the author of Far Foreign Land: Pride and Passion the Liverpool Way