FeatureMeet the Academy: The story behind Bailey Hall's incredible superstition
Cliches become cliches for a reason, and Bailey Hall fully signs up to the one about goalkeepers needing to have a unique personality.
"You've got to have some level of craziness to get hit with a ball all the time for a living," the Liverpool U18s stopper says with a laugh.
And then come the superstitions.
Beginning from his time on trial with the Reds at the age of 13, Hall has an item of clothing he now wears for every game, believing it brings him good fortune.
It's better if he tells you what it is.
"I wear the same boxers – it's my lucky charm," Hall reveals to Liverpoolfc.com for our latest Meet the Academy feature. "I've had them since I first came here.
"I remember they used to be baggy on me and now I'm growing into them. I got them off my grandad when I was younger. Ever since then I've just kept them.
"I remember when I first came on trial, I played against Newcastle and I think we won 4-1 and I saved a penalty in the last minute, and I had them on then.
"Ever since then I've just said they're my lucky charm. I think I'll still wear them even if I outgrow them!"
Whether or not that underwear does hold some kind of sorcery, Hall sufficiently impressed during his trial to join the Reds' Academy set-up permanently.
That need to prove his abilities in a short space of time was something he actually relished.
Recalling his journey to Liverpool, he says: "When I was a bit younger, I used to play for Sunderland and then stuff didn't go so well when I was older and I wasn't developing as much.
"I started training with a goalkeeping coach and stuff just went further from there. I got scouted and came on trial here and then joined.
"There was a lot of pressure [during the trial] but I just loved every bit of it and thrived off it. It made me better. I love being under pressure because it makes me feel like I'm doing something right."
When it came to football growing up, it was a case of being a goalkeeper or nothing for Hall.
"I think I was like five or six when I started in goal and just went from there," he remembers. "I just loved getting hit with a ball!
"I played outfield for school and stuff but that was just a laugh with my friends. I used to always try to be a striker but I wasn't that good. I just loved being in goal."
Hall considers Liverpool the perfect place to be for aspiring 'keepers for a multitude of reasons.
There is, for example, the current presence of Alisson Becker, as well as Caoimhin Kelleher's rise through the ranks as proof of what is achievable here.
Asked who he models his game on, Hall replies: "I think it's got to be Alisson because he's the best in the world. Just his presence in the goal and he's unbelievable at everything.
"My best qualities are my personality – I get along with a lot of people, no matter what really – my distribution and maybe my character on the pitch. I feel like I can bring a lot to a team.
"I enjoy having the ball at my feet because I'm under pressure and I think I play better under pressure."
Hall's encouraging development with the U18s this season was rewarded in February with a first professional contract.
Such progress and career milestones are certainly worth the sacrifice of being away from family and friends in his hometown of Sunderland, he believes.
The Mackem finishes: "At first I didn't find it so tough but now it's starting to catch up because obviously I can't see grandparents and stuff.
"But whenever I'm home, I just try to spend as much time as I can with them. They're happy for me and know why I'm away."
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