Several of Everton men's senior team headed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital on Tuesday to spread some festive cheer.   

The Blues have made visiting the world-renowned medical facility at Christmas an annual Club tradition but the COVID-19 pandemic had prevented them from doing so in person since 2019.

That changed this week, though, as Demarai Gray, Anthony Gordon, Michael Keane, James Tarkowski, Neal Maupay and Alex Iwobi donned the famous blue Christmas hats and spent the afternoon handing out gifts and meeting patients, parents and staff at Alder Hey.  

They were joined by several members of the Liverpool First-Team squad as both sets of players were the guests on honour, along with Santa and Mrs Claus, for a Christmas party held inside the £250million facility, which was redeveloped in 2014.

Tarkowski, on his first visit to the hospital, said: “As players we can undervalue it, at times, the difference we can make to the kids’ days, so it’s a great opportunity for us and the Liverpool lads to get down here and put some smiles on faces for people who are not having an easy time of it right now.

“It’s my first time here and I’m so impressed. It’s incredible the facility we’ve got here and the staff they’ve got around the place. What a job they’re doing.

“Days like this are great for the kids and to show the hard work that staff are doing here.

“This is about the city, it’s not about the football clubs. It’s special for the kids here, Reds or Blues, to get to meet some football players.”

As part of the fun-filled afternoon, both sets of players posed for pictures with patients, signed autographs, took part in a Q&A and played games against their Merseyside rivals.   

Alder Hey cares for more than 330,000 children each year and has forged strong links with the Club’s official charity, Everton in the Community, which runs regular activities at the hospital. 

Watch a video from the visit above or by clicking here, with an image gallery below.