By Shehzad Moin @sheimo
It’s a question I get asked a lot. I’m sure the same applies to millions upon millions of LFC fans who aren’t Scouse by birth. Football today is a global game and the most successful clubs all have a worldwide fan base. Marketing, media, sponsorship, the lure of the EPL all make it impossible to not be drawn in to English football like John Terry to his team mate’s wives!
So why do I support Liverpool? Like Antoine I didn’t wake up one day and decide to support LFC. I didn’t look at my mates’ collection of footy stickers and decide on the team with the best perms! Maybe being born in the ’80s and growing up abroad LFC were the team whose matches got shown on TV the most. Maybe I mistook the Liver Bird for the Thundercats logo! I really don’t know. All I remember is having heard and seen a lot of LFC over the years and being only 10 years old when my family moved to England, they were the only team whose players I could name. But surely that’s not enough reason to support a team?
So when people asked me who I support my answer was “I like Liverpool but I don’t really support anyone.” Please bear with me before throwing stones! I started watching English football with more interest. Liverpool, at the time being managed by the silver haired Roy Evans, was certainly one of the most pleasing teams to watch – attacking, passing football with somewhat of a care free defence. The mazy runs of McManaman, the passing skills of the now jar headed Jamie Redknapp, the calamity of David James, the wing play of Jason McAteer, the incredible passion and songs from the best fans in the world. You could hear You’ll Never Walk Alone as soon as the cameras cut to Anfield on match days. But the thing about LFC that attracted me most was a certain number 23.
Jamie Carragher was yet to don the shirt now synonymous with him. But another club legend – and I mean a true legend of mythical status – had the shirt before him. His amazing strike rate, his cheeky celebrations, his undeniable love for the club, the plaster he often wore on his considerable nose and a left peg touched by God himself. I would argue for hours with mates on the school playground about why he’s better than Alan Shearer, Ian Wright or Andy Cole. I always knew (unfortunately incorrectly) he’d become LFC’s all time top scorer.
Now every time I realise that I am a part of the best fans not only in football – but in sports full stop, I thank him for brining me into this family. The ups and downs, the heroes and villains, the unprecedented treble, the miracle of Istanbul, the joys in victory and the togetherness in defeat, the songs, walking through a storm, the legacy of the past and the hope for the future are just some of the reasons I support this club. So now when I tell people I support Liverpool FC and they ask why, I don’t tell them because Robbie ‘God’ Fowler was my favourite player. I ask them “Why would I support anyone else?”
Because I’m a scouser, my Dad supported them and his Dad etc, etc. Is there any other type of Liverpool supporter?
Perfect write-up; my sentiments exactly.
Well written and too true aswell, I love liverpool and support them through thick and thin that’s the whole point of being a supporter to support your team whether your winning or losing!!!I love watching barcalona and I do most games, I’d love liverpool to play like them but I don’t support barca, I love liverpool end of. Whether we are playing in europe beatin the likes of barca or down in the relegation zone fightin for survival I will always support liverpool. I always slate Arsenal fans because they are so fickle they support there team when they are winning shouting there mouths off that they are the best team ever but when they lose you never see an arsenal shirt around or they are shoutin for wengers head, you don’t hear them singin all they do is boo!!I really hope we stick with our team and stop all this fickleness I keep reading from so called fans, I truly believe with King Kenny at the helm and a few (maybe quite a few) new young players we will get back to the top where we belong.
IN THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES IT WAS WHEN THEY WERE WINNING BUT WHEN I STOOD IN THE KOP IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES I FOUND A SENSE OF BELONGING I WAS LIKE A LARGE FAMILY PLUS COUPLED WITH THAT A WICKED SCOUSE SENCE OF HUMOUR I,V NEVER SEEN ANY WHERE ELSE .THE NIGHTLIFE IS BRILLIANT AS WELL IN LIVERPOOL .SO EVENTUALLY I BECAME MORE OF A LIVERPOOL FAN .I LOVE THE CITY AS WELL
i watched my first liverpool game from up a tree in anfield road until 3/4 time when we got in free, hard to believe but true, you could only see half the pitch. my first game was at goodison curtesy of my brother (who was actually captain of liverpool boys) what made me support liverpool ? – one billy liddell and the first time i heard the mighty kop roar, it made my hair stand on end and i was forever hooked.
Because i was Born on Anfield Road 44 Years ago, about 100 yards from the Ground.
My mum and her family come from Liverpool so my roots are there. She came down south to live when she was 18 and stayed and had me here in the south. I told her she should have gone back just to give birth to me in the great city. Anyway, I spent many a happy time visiting family in Liverpool and called it my second home! I have scouse blood in me!
Sums it up perfectly
@daveperry1972
im in mumbai INDIA, n i love liverpool because, no other club in england can match its history, its tradition.. no other club has a boy hood captain n hero steven gerrard’ n of course no other club has its fans screamim their lungs out. ul never walk alone. need i say more.
My auntie is an evertonian an tried 2 buy me an everton scarf when I was 5yrs old, she put it on me and smiled, I took it from round my neck an said “i hate blue” she was shocked an went an bought me a liverpool scarf instead which I proudly wore around my neck. My 3 sons now do the same proudly wearing the liverbird upon their chests
Bcos my blood is REDS……….
I get that question a lot, since I’m a norwegian. Why support anyone in England at all? … Well first and foremost; the way they play football in PL is entertaining to watch, it selldom gets boring. (In other words: almost the opposite of what we get in norway (my opinion)) …
But why Liverpool? … It actually started when I was about 6 or 7, everyone in my class was interested in PL, and they all had their favourite team. 2 or 3 were Arsenal-supporters, about 20 was Manchester United-supporters…And well.. Liverpool was the team the Man Utd-supporters in my class hated.. So I decided Liverpool was my team:) (good reason huh?) … After that I learned a lot about LFC, about history, achievments and also read about the Hillsborough tragedy (#JFT96) – I was sure I’d found the right team, there are no teams in the world that have better fans and no one with better team spirit :) You feel you belong in the group, if you meet someone in the street who is a liverpool-supporter – you’re instant friends. Because You’ll Never Walk Alone <3
I live in Southampton and my dad took me to my first game at the Dell when i was 8 & it just happened to be against Liverpool. My dad never pressured me support Southampton and i do have a soft spot for them but as soon as Liverpool started moving the ball about and Barnes made a dash down the wing i just knew this was the team for me. I’d fallen in love with them and i didn’t even know about the history or the passion of the club at that point, that was just the icing on the cake. I’ve stuck with them and taken the abuse about being a glory hunter but for me there is no other team
why would i support any one else,i live in london and i remember in my very early school days everyone was either arsenal or westham fans ,i remember someone asking me what team do you support in a split second i went Liverpool FC.no one can never say im not true ,when i hear our song you never walk alone in the kop end i sing along just as loud and proud,LFC is in my blood.
LFC FOR LIFE
A great question and one I love to give my answer to! When my father was a lot lot lot younger around the age of 10 he and my uncle live on Pinehurst Ave right by Anfield. They were out one day thrwoing a football around, having no interest in the nations sport at that time. When a large red Jaguar pulls up and down rolls the window to reveil a well known Scotts man at that time unkown to my father. “That balls for kicking” Shankley said Lwhat team do you follow” my dad said he had no preference to blue or red. This did not go down well I’m told Shanks was almost apocoliptic and demanded the 2 of them get in the car. He drove them to the game and introduced them to the players and allowed them to sit by the doug out! Needless to say my whole family is as red as they come!
I’m going to change the subject, so I’ll apologize in advance. I was analyzing the table, and realized the only reason we’re not challenging for honors is Woy. We have 9 away losses, an unacceptable number, and down solely to Woy’s woeful road tactics. If we take 4 of those games, and say 2 wins and 2 draws, we’re in 5th instead of Spurs, and challenging for a CL spot. That’s just 4 of the 9 losses accounted for! What if we take 5 games? 3 wins and 2 draws? 11 more points, on top of our 42 and we’re tied with Man City, almost assured of CL football next year, and wouldn’t be talked about as being in “transition”. Then again, if we’d have had a striker in the last 18 months, since Torres was a ghost and not part of the team, we wouldn’t have been in this mess either. Kenny may not be God, but he’s a damn sight better then we’ve had for 10 years+, and he’s getting the best out of our squad. Woy was our downfall this campaign. We can blame H&G for appointing him, we can blame Rafa for alienating Alonso and Mascherano, forcing them to ask for transfers. But it was Woy who installed the horrendous tactics that cost us points. The same players are performing for KD, so it can be put at Hodgson’s feet. Woy cost us. End of. YNWA
Very good question indeed.
I get endless questions about why I support LFC (as i’m born in London) The overiding sense I get is one of complete confusion from the people asking.. It used to drive me mad at times.. Then I realised that I do not need to qualify anything for anyone, it simply is what it is. I always find it quite interesting when people start rolling out their “credentials” in relation to the teams that they support. The motivation is usually clear to see.
The important thing for us now is to get behind the team we support, because in terms of solely on the pitch matters, that support has so rarely been needed as much as it is now.
The fog hasn’t completely lifted from over our club..but clarity is developing
It felt like a match made in heaven. Liverpool FC was made for me , I was made for Liverpool. My emotions when LFC play run high , goosebumps when we score n win Love Liverpool FC “ More than life.
Because it was the closest club to me when growing up and my city. I don’t think it’s wrong not to support the club from where you are from but it makes a big difference. It’s like saying I support brasil because they play the beat style, but as bad as England are it means more because I am English. Brasil winning means nothing deep down.
in the early 70s i stood in the anfield road end with two mates who were evertonians (pre the bitter era)it was absolutely packed tight, a guy in front of my mate said nastily, do you mind not pushing ! my mate big alan replied, dont tell me lad, tell the two thousand blokes behind me who ive been holding up for the last half an hour.
one last story, i was late fro a match at anfield v totenham, as i got of the bus i ran and entered the first turnstile i came to and run up the stairs just in time for the kick off, i got myself a place in that portion of anfield road when i
realised i was smack bang in the middle of the spurs fans, now this was the hooligan era ! my first hope was that spurs never scored but it was a forlorn hope they did, i’m afraid i had to pretend to smile and clap. at half time i took my chance moving out with spurs fans, i then went to a copper in the exit passage, i explained my prediciment to him, he laughed and said come with me, i was let through a gate and made my way to the kop for the second half, in which we scored 3 times so alls well that ends well.
I saw Torres play for Spain in the 2008 euro cup and I thought
I can only tell you that its a no brainer for me and its all in the heart and long may it remain in the heart for as long as it beats
That´s also a question I get asked a lot. I´m Austrian so everybody thinks I have to support whatsoever Austrian club. That´s not true. I´m happy when the favourite club of my dad, Rapid Wien, wins but it´s nothing compared to what I feel for LFC.
So why do I support LFC?
Back in 2004 when I was 9 and knew nothing about football. But one day, it was my 9th birthday, my bigger brother seated me in front of the TV and said something like “Watch this and tell me if you like it”. And I did. I think Liverpool lost but nevertheless I could see the hope and glimmer in everybody´s eyes. Plus, it was Xabi Alonso´s debut and he was already so damn good. So I decided to watch more games of this league, the Premier League. Especially when the miracle of Istanbul took place I knew they were “my” team. I´m still kind of an outsider when I tell my friends in school which team I support. (Plus, I´m a girl so nearly another girl understands why I watch football. The old cliche but it´s true) But I´m proud to be a Red. Like Stevie said, “We are Liverpool. We never throw in the towel”. That´s how it still is, through thick and thin I support “my” team.
The passin of the fans is unrivaled thts wat drew me to support them 17 now started to watch when I was 7 i don’t follow the crowd most people I know up here,there alot of Manchester united fans gloryhunter I say,some arsenal Which I respect and the worst of the lot Chelsea but Liverpool have a big following In uk 2nd best to unites THE FANS SIMPLE AS
I used to root for LFC in high school due to everyone supporting united. I wasn’t a real supporter back then. Istanbul changed that. The passion and resilience those boys showed was truly inspiring! I have loved them ever since. They showed me you can overcome any obstacle in your path. LFC 4 life! YNWA!!!
1977 euro cup on tv hooked forever i’m from somerset
when i was kidd i didnt like football to much but after i got owen shirt, from then i started to watch owen and liverpool games!! i think when i heard YNWA i become lfc fan!! YNWA from bosnia…
liverpool fc is ours, its our love, our spirit, our style, our fight, our fun, our togetherness,our songs, our atmosphere, our history, our heartbreak and our joy.
My dad was a scouser and he loved the team (he was 3td generation kopite) he stood on the Kop in the late 1940’s and 1950’s and told me great stories about standing on the Kop back then, Billy Liddell was his idol and no matter how good Kenny was he could never be Billy, just like the Gerrard fans can’t get how good Kenny was. I loved it and was hooked the best story about me was when I was 3 coming up 4 I had whooping cough and apparently I was very ill, anyway my ma comes in my room and hears me rattling off these names. She went got me dad telling him I was deliraious so he comes in hears me rattling out these names and had tears in his eyes. “Shall we call the doctor” my mum asks? “No he’s fine he’s just named the entire team and the subs who won the European Cup 3 weeks ago!”. That was 1977 and my favourite memory of my dad is the pair of us in Rome at the European Cup final in 1984, him refusing to look when barney took that penalty and me being an innocent kid just watching it hit the net and going yes we done it. Little did I know it would take 21 years before we’d win it again.
i became a fan because ive never got on with my brother since we were old enough to talk. he decided he was a man u fan. seemed only natural i would be a liverpool fan.
ive lived in manchester for over 20 years and put up with alot of grief and flack for who i support but i wouldnt have it any other way.YNWA
Being a LFC supporter is something that grows on you. You belong to something special, not just a football club. Its a way of life, a religion, a passion. And the harder things get, the more love you feel.
Support your local team. People who support Liverpool from outside teh city are glory hunters though most wont admit. We get relegated one day god forbid and most would be gone thats a fact. Also many dont even go the stadium. I couldnt support any team from outside my own area, it would just not be right.
The club will take any profits generated though and love you all.
Much love xx
Scouse n proud, you are a Londoner that is what your IP is pointing to.
OUR LOCAL TEAM IS LIVERPOOL FC, our only team is Liverpool FC.
OVER MY DEAD BODY WILL I SUPPORT ANY OTHER TEAM, GO F*CK YOURSELF AS*HOLE
Well said Antoine…Im a lfc supporter from India and I still support them when they are Down !!!
God created me as an Lfc fan. I was made for Lfc and Lfc for me.
i was destined to become a Liverpool fan because i was born one day away from the club’s 100th birthday. that is not only the reason why i am a fan. i started being a manure fan because all my friends were but me being a middle child, i liked to be different from everyone else and i met a friend who was a liverpool fan…..it made me see sense…..i preferred to watch liverpool play because they would win a match the hard way and i liked it when the kop sang YNWA because the song gave me goosebumps…..and when i saw the miracle of istanbul….i knew my heart was with liverpool….and way after i became a liverpool fan…i found out that i was born one day before the club’s 100th birthday…..i was born to be a liverpool fan!
I’m from Indonesia support LFC only LFC and LFC forever. I’m proud to be liverpudlian :D YNWA from Indonesia
Please don’t call yourself a Liverpudlian, I have no problem with fans from outside the city but that is the one thing I HATE. You may love the club but it will never mean as much to you as it does to a REAL Liverpudlian, They say things like hillsborough mean something to them but it doesn’t, I know many people who were there and one of my dads mates died, you can support Liverpool but do not call yourself a Liverpudlian
I’m from Australia, currently living in england for close to 3 years now. I always liked to be different, and not support manure, chelsea or arsenal like my friends did when i was back in australia. So i chose LFC more than five years ago now, perhaps the best decision i’ve ever made…….
Because i love the way our fans are from all over the world and Kenny is dead funny ;)
Born in Liverpool, live in Ireland started watching football, Mexico ’86, Michael Laudrup still my favourite ever player. Euro 88, Aldo, Houghton, Whelan playing for Liverpool at the time, who else would I support? Liverpool needs more irish!
growing up in london, qpr and brentford would be the two local clubs back then qpr were in the premier league, but for me it was robbie him and mcmanaman I wasn’t even aware of the history of the club or anything, fowler was class cried when houllier turfed him out, for me he will always be the best player in the world stevie g comes close though, and when my mates say why do you support liverpool well it’s down to te ethics the club runs on the liverpool way,
I just want to say to those who are saying you have to live in Liverpool to be a true fan… I beg to differ, if you are not in Liverpool and still support Liverpool you are a TRUE fan, because you could have been a supporter to anyone else but still choose Liverpool with your own free will! Which means you are a TRUE RED, its in your blood… it is your football religion! And although those of you who are born in Anfield think you are the only true supporters, think again… we are too… we choose to love LFC, however you had to be LFC supporters (not to say that it is bad or good) but having the choice and making that choice and commitment makes you a true red as well!!! we could have been glory hunters! who could stop us?! but our hearts choose! and it choose RED!
As for why LFC!? its funny cause my Brother is an LFC fan, and made me one, but it truly started the day Fernando left! I was gutted!!! to leave such history and let go of your responsibilities to win an empty cup (empty because he wouldn’t have deserved it) with a team that isn’t where your heart really is, made me think that football is not what it used to be… and its glory hunters like that who ruin it! They make it just about money, fame and trophies… and at LFC it really isn’t like that ( at least i hope it isnt), and its about the love of FOOTBALL, being a true gent on the pitch and showing sportsmanship and being proud to be amongest fans that love you…AND of course WINNING!!!!!!! and that’s true football!oh well…
Absolutely…here in India everyone supports Chelski or Man Ure just cuz they are winning.I dont support LFC just for when they are winning.I support them all the time !!!
I’m Mongolian. I started to support Liverpool FC because of John Arne Riise’s powerful left foot shoots. I liked him a lot. So I started to read about LFC history. And liked the history. Then I became a LFC supporter.
As a sports fan growing in Lebanon, until the age of 12 all I watched on TV was local football league, until the day we got cable TV in my house and I saw my first international match:
Liverpool vs Manchester United – FA Cup Final 2002
It was my first international match. My first international league. I was a young boy who wanted an international team to support. I could have swung both ways. I could have become a Manchester United fan. That match, Liverpool won the FA cup final 2-0. It was love at first sight. I fell in love with that winning team. It had everything that was me. Dudek, Hyypia, Baros, Smicer, Heskey, Hamann, Murphy, Gerrard, Riise, Kirkland, Carragher, Cheyrou, Owen. That night I went on MSN and put as a status “The Red Devils have done it again! 7th League Cup!”. A friend of mine from England told me that the red devils are ManU and that Liverpool are called the Reds. That’s how I became a true reds fan.
Tis true i am a cockney red and i too was hooked by Riise’s left foot shoots. I used to be a Spurs fan but Istanbul changed all that, know what i mean?
Your insult hurt and you shouldnt resort to that, after all we are one big family. Liverpool is my religion and Anfield is my church.
ya but when u say lfc fans outside Liverpool are not true reds…it does hurt us…
This is Srini from India.Im 30.
I’m a widower for the past two years.Ive always been a LFC fan but never been that passionate or fanatical earlier…
Since my wife passed away I was into depression and I was heading down with secluding myself from the world and alcoholism.Sensing this,a friend of mine – An Gunner himself suggested me watching football on a regular basis to following it on a regular basis.He was hoping I’d turn out to be a gunner,but he was wrong.My earliest memory of Club Football was when the King quit Liverpool.I was a kid and LFC already had a place in my heart.I just Following football.It became my medicine.I started watching every game to following the team and news.Talking to the fans has been one of the biggest highs.Reds from all over the world from England to Ireland to India to even wonderful friends in Greece who run a fan club.I’ve never been accepted so much as a member of a family.
My life started changing.I started to realize this sense of unionism,this passion,Brotherhood,I felt like family.If I would get depressed,LFC would be there.The last couple of seasons haven’t been great,but standing by the club,has made me realize that I need to stand up against all odds from depression to loneliness in my life.
You’ll Never Walk Alone is not just another anthem or a song.It is every word meant.It makes you realize that you’d never walk alone.
Now life is different I might have not been a die hard red for decades but now I feel I am nothing less compared to them.I cry now.I cry for the club I bleed for.I cry for the love of the club.King Kenny’s emotional welcome at Anfield had me crying like a baby.I still wish my wife was alive so that she’d be proud of me.
I dream,well I plan to visit Anfield next year.I hope in the summer of 2012.Hope we qualify for Europe then so that I’d cherish my dream of standing in the KOP waving a huge flag bearing my country’s colors on one side and the Liverbird on the other side.I will do that,and when I do that I’d cry a lot.Cry for the fact I am proud and it means so much for me…
Hani is that you?! Hani singer of lebanon?
I meant Hani Singer… Lebanese Family name?!
I dont know when I became a Liverpool fan but it was probably in 2005 when Mellor scored to take us to the knockout stage of the Champions League.
But there isnt really an answer for “why Liverpool?”…..May be there is a connection….Being from India, where there isnt much of football it is really strange.But there is a bond, an emotion, an attachment which cant be explained……
I love LFC.
Pritam.
I never thought about it cuz it don’t matter. I live in Northern California and I love Liverpool…my soccer friends and I call it the “pool”. First, the fans…the words “You’ll never walk alone” means you can live a million miles away meet another fan and you have a bond that no one can shake. Second, the stadium is great and reminds me of a name of a battlefield. Third, the team never will give up until the final whistle. Fourth, the team and its fans are real…not trendies! Liverpool UNTIL DEATH!
Some good answers on here. Good to see people from outside the area having so much passion!
If you`re not from Liverpool (or family from there) the question is : Why did you not follow your local team? Do you think you do your local team (or league if you`re not from England) down and it suffers because you chose Liverpool?
Not trying to be a WUM by the way!