Steven Gerrard’s daughter, Lilly-Ella, has welcomed her first child – a baby girl.
The influencer, 21, took to Instagram to share a black and white image of her boyfriend Lee Byrne, leaving the hospital whilst carrying their newborn in a car seat.
She simply captioned the photo, ‘@leebyrne8 2 becomes 3’.
The eldest child of the former England footballer announced she was expecting her first child in January.
Lilly has been in a relationship with Lee Byrne – the son of a jailed Irish gangster – since October 2022, and their romance made headlines when it first came to light.
Her father – former Liverpool legend Steven – has become a grandfather for the first time at just 45 years-old.
The former midfielder has four children with wife Alex – daughters Lilly, Lexie, 19, Lourdes, 14, and a son named Lio, eight.
Lilly announced her pregnancy news in January, sharing a photo of her positive pregnancy test and telling her 222,000 Instagram followers: ‘Our little secret. The best news… mini us is on the way.’
Responding to his daughter’s post, Gerrard wrote: ‘We can’t wait. Congratulations and we love you.’
Lilly’s partner – with whom she was first linked in 2022 – is the son of Kinahan Cartel gangster Liam Byrne, who was issued a five and a half year prison sentence for a plot to stockpile a stash of machine guns.
Ipswich Crown Court heard how Byrne and colleague Shaun Kent planted a haul of automatic weapons in a bid to help Kavanagh dupe the authorities.
Kavanagh, Byrne’s brother-in-law, was hoping to lead the National Crime Agency, Britain’s FBI, to the guns in a bid to reduce his sentence in a drug conspiracy case.
The staggering haul, imported from Holland, included the Skorpion, the type of automatic weapon used to murder Ashley Dale and Ellie Edwards on Merseyside.
Liam’s son Lee, celebrated the sentencing with a ‘get in there’ adding ‘I love you da. See you soon.’
And Lilly followed with a snap with her beau declaring her love for him.
The couple became an item after Lee moved into a gated community in Freshfield, one of Merseyside’s more desirable post codes.
The Byrne and Gerrard families are said to have bonded since the young couple began dating, with Lee describing Alex Gerrard, Steven’s stunning wife, as his second mum.
There is no suggestion that Lee or any member of the Gerrard family are involved in crime.
Sources close to the family have said Liam is expected to be released from jail in the UK soon, and could be back in Formby, Merseyside, on licence within a couple of months.
The Byrnes moved into a £1m house in the exclusive Freshfield area of Formby several years ago and quickly struck up a friendship with the Gerrard family who live nearby.
The source said: ‘Lee and Lilly always wanted Liam to be at their wedding and it now appears their dream will come true. It will be a massive event but I am not sure if they want to have it in Merseyside or overseas.’
Lilly’s dad has been out of work since leaving Saudi Arabian Pro League side Al-Ettifaq back at the turn of the year and has been on punditry duties for TNT Sport.
He and Alex and their younger children have since moved back to the UK after living in a luxury six-bedroom villa close to members of Bahrain’s royal family and others from the country’s elite.
