14/08/2026
MY DAD & MORE TO LIFE THAN A GREAT WEEKEND AWAY…by Andy Nolan
Please read & please take something away from below!
I followed Liverpool home and away. Into Europe. Anywhere the draw sent us.
I actually bought five full-size replica European Cups? Why?? No idea tbh, just sounded like a good idea in 2005!
Great weekends. Great company. I wouldn’t swap a minute of it, and I’d do ALL of it again tomorrow, all with the same people in the same European destinations with the same banter.
But somewhere between Istanbul and Athens, something shifted. Something changed, maybe I just got wiser? Tbh, I’m not clever enough to know what changed it just did!
Two of the biggest nights of my life — and the thought I brought home with me wasn’t about where the next away trip was. It was about what I was actually building while I was away.
Look closer to home. Look at your business. Look after your staff.
Because the truth is, chasing the big occasion is the easy bit. Anyone can enjoy the final. The hard bit is the Tuesday night in February when nothing glamorous is happening, it’s cold, it’s wet, no one else is there but your business partner and the work still has to be right.
That’s construction. Nobody claps you for a well-sequenced programme. Nobody posts a photo of a job that finished on time with no drama. But that’s the job — and the people who do it week in, week out are the ones worth investing in.
A few things I’ve learned, mostly the slow way:
→ Culture isn’t built at the big event. It’s built in the ordinary rooms.
→ The people who turn up when you’re 2-0 down are the ones you build a business around.
→ You can buy a table. You can’t buy loyalty.
→ Consistency beats occasion. Every single time.
For the last eight years and more, I’ve watched every Liverpool game with my dad. He’s 84 now.
It’s been a sharp learning curve for him — his living room full of me, my nephews, my brother-in-law, my mates.
The language is choice at times. The volume is up there. The white wine can be expensive — though he’s more than happy with a Blue Nun, but I guarantee that he always drinks my Sancerre before his Blue Nun!
He’s the reason Nolan Group exists. He’s the standard I measure the work against. And he’s never once been impressed by a title, a turnover figure or a headline — which is exactly what I’ve needed.
So: thank you, Dad. For keeping me grounded when I could easily have got carried away. For teaching me that how you treat people is the business, not a nice extra on top of it.
No matter how hard we work, some weeks I genuinely think NOT having a corporate table at Anfield is the bonus. Watching the match in my dads with family and friends beats sitting on the Kop!
Because you can’t get that living room in a hospitality box.
QUESTION: Who’s the person who keeps you grounded?
Ps. Cherish your dad!!
Disclaimer: picture taken in my far younger sisters, and NOT one of our site! lol
No PR spin above just a genuine thank you to my dad pre season ❤️⚽️🍺
