You have to journey as far as Tennessee to find the secret
to Liverpool’s success this season.
Late goals against Wolves, Monterrey, Crystal Palace, Aston
Villa, Arsenal, Manchester United and Leicester have all proved decisive during
the course of a remarkable campaign – and it turns out the Nashville Supporters
Club is to thank. Jonathan Slape, president of the group, revealed a
long-standing tradition: when the team needs to score late in the game, all of
the assembled fans switch to drinking bottles of Budweiser. It’s inexplicable,
but what Slape modestly calls the ‘fairly good success rate’ is beyond dispute.
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| Minneapolis |
Such quirks and traditions have been a common feature of the
more than 30 accounts shared with me by presidents of Official Liverpool
Supporters Clubs (OLSCs) across the USA. A 45-minute drive to Murfreesboro, the
other official group in Tennessee, brings you to a long-established ritual of a
shot of Jack Daniels Fire before every game. The group leader here, fittingly
called JD, says that this has been going on since the very first time the club
gathered to watch a game.
In Texas, a considerable road trip away, the members have to
be even more creative with their drinking. Austin is six hours behind GMT, so
the earliest kick-offs mean a 6:30AM start. Alcohol cannot be legally served at
their usual (strictly Liverpool-only) pub at that time – so the fans bring beer
to the parking garage across the street.
But life as a supporter in the USA isn’t all about the
alcohol arrangements. Steven Wilson, the president of the Austin group, told me
of the plans to bring The Anfield Wrap to Texas in March – the podcast and
fanzine will be hosted by the Delaware group this year too. The Austin club
also arranges for a Liverpool legend to visit annually: the likes of John
Barnes and Alan Kennedy have come in the past. Additionally, Wilson has helped
play host to a fan-fest in Texas, working alongside Liverpool and NBC, which
was attended by more than 2000 registered supporters.
The founder and chairwoman of the Carlsbad, California
branch, Amy Kate, is aiming to eventually hit even bigger heights. She is one
of the founders and partners of KOPCON, a three-day event held in Las Vegas. It
has a stated aim “to unite supporters all over North America for a great
weekend of events, music, player meetings and drinks” – the previous iteration,
held during the Champions League final, was a huge success.
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| Kansas City |
The scale of the support so many miles away from Anfield is
overwhelming. More than 50 supporter groups span 33 states, and those are just
the official ones – the club has a waiting list of others seeking affiliation.
The reality of the numbers is astounding. The president of
the Kansas City group, Kyle Miles, estimated 700 active members in the KC metro
alone. For the Champions League final, this number swelled even further and The
Dubliner had to turn people away due to reaching its fire code limit.
Kevin, from the Chicago group, shared a similar account. He
said: “Our email list is about 2000. For big matches our 200-person bar is at
capacity and we have overflow options – for really big matches there may be a
line out the door before it opens.” Like Texas, Chicago has to cope with some
6:30 starts. Unlike Texas, average lows for this time of year are around -8
degrees Celsius. Even so, a reliable core of at least 30 – usually closer to 80
- make it to the bar for every match without fail: the passion and dedication
of American fans should not be underestimated.
This goes beyond just cheering the team on during games,
although they do plenty of that. The majority of official supporters clubs were
eager to speak about their charity initiatives. Lots of worthwhile local causes
are bolstered through the efforts of Liverpool fans – in Indianapolis, for
example, the fans raise funds and hold warm clothes drives for homelessness
relief organisation SOAR. Chairman Trey Higdon was so keen to share this with
me that he interrupted his honeymoon to reply! Meanwhile, in New York, the
oldest supporter group in the country works to raise money for the Father’s
Heart Ministries hunger prevention programme.
Liverpool-based charities are also helped by a lot of the
supporter groups. This in itself is fairly remarkable – this is a city
thousands of miles from where these fans live, with a football club serving as
their only connection to Merseyside, and yet the bond this creates is strong
enough to prompt many American supporters to give generously to Liverpudlian
causes. In Richmond, Virginia, there is a collection at every game: as well as
raising money for a local foodbank and animal charity, donations are also
directed to the North Liverpool Foodbank and Liverpool Dog Rescue. Last year,
over $4000 was raised and split between these four charities.
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| The Liverpool family in Houston |
The vocal minority who bemoan ‘tourist’ fans when some of
these groups make their pilgrimages to Anfield would do well to remember that
these people have quite literally been feeding the hungry of the city.
Supporting abroad is inevitably a different experience to supporting as a
local, but these people are by no means casual in their backing. Liverpool
sucks people in, it shapes not only your view on football but your view on life
– the reality of it is that the club truly is a family. Anyone who comes to
Anfield should be treated as though they are being welcomed home.
Of course, this is literally true for some of the US-based
fans. These are diverse communities, and many of the groups feature Liverpool
locals who have since moved stateside. Glendon Hart, president of the Palm
Beaches group in Florida, is originally from West Kirby. Bryn Griffiths, who
founded the Chicago group before moving to Wisconsin and forming another one in
Madison, was born to Liverpudlian parents. The chairman of the Houston club
hails from Walton. Some sort of Scouse heritage is not a prerequisite for joining
a supporter group, but these are by no means insular groups exclusive to American
locals.
In fact, the welcoming nature of the official supporter
groups is one of their key features. As well as the bands of regulars, they all
play host to travelling fans to some degree. Two people from Shrewsbury showed
up in Indiana, and were welcomed in to watch the FA Cup game. Nashville host a
steady stream of tourists hoping to catch a Liverpool game while paying a visit
to the home of country music. Palm Beaches’ Glendon Hart refers to ‘The
International House of Liverpool’ – his Florida group often count South
Africans, Australians, Finns, Swedes, Poles, Russians and Mexicans among their
number. More people are always welcome: the Jersey Shore group estimates that
match-day visitor figures are growing by about 10% every month, a trend of
growth mirrored across the USA.
The experience that greets such visitors varies
significantly from group to group. While there are plenty of similarities that
run across all of the supporter clubs, each has its own unique identity. Time
zones help to dictate the kind of matchday experience that can be expected - Al
Rounds, chairman of the Portland group, said: “Since most of our games are
fairly early we have a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere”. ‘Fairly early’
is somewhat euphemistic – in Oregon, a significant number of matches kick-off
at 4:30AM local time. Rounds is quick to note, however, that the biggest games
more closely resemble ‘full-on rock concerts’.
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| Indianapolis |
Things can get similarly raucous in Milwaukee, in the group
known as the ‘Cream City Scousers’. Anthony Perez recounted his experience of
the Champions League final: “The goal celebration for Salah’s penalty was
unreal. Unlike anything Three Lions Pub had ever seen before. Unlike anything
the entire block had seen before, as evidenced by a neighbour calling in a
noise complaint. But June 1st 2019 was no day to quiet down.”
The earliest starts in Orange County, California are more likely
to be accompanied by coffee and doughnuts than flares and noise complaints, but
there is still a designated standing area in the pub known as the California
Kop. David Jennings noted a particularly relaxed atmosphere in Long Beach,
putting it succinctly: “It’s California, so a lot of people arrive last
minute”. In many ways, this is the beauty of the supporter groups. Each and
every member is there for the same reason, the same reason people congregate in
Anfield so many thousands of miles away - but the shape the support takes is
governed by the nature of the communities in which the fans meet.
The individuality of the groups is so significant that some
of the OLSCs organise ‘away trips’ to fellow fan groups, allowing them to
experience the support from another perspective. The Palm Beaches group took
the inspiration to become official from a visit to Fort Lauderdale, while the
Charlottesville and Richmond groups have organised coach trips to watch matches
with one another on multiple occasions. Kansas City have made trips to Omaha
and St Louis. This is one of the most vivid expressions of the camaraderie that
exists, among the US fans in particular but also within the wider global
Liverpool fanbase.
This, really, is the ultimate message to take away.
Liverpool Football Club is the commonality that pulls together a vast diaspora
of people, in so doing creating a community capable of acting as a genuine
force for good. In the words of Craig McKnight, chair of the Cincinnati group:
“That is the thing about this club as a whole, the world is brought together
under a crest”. This unity also lends millions of voices to the choruses of
You’ll Never Walk Alone sung in unison from Anfield to Albuquerque: on this
wave of noise and support, Liverpool might just ride to the title.
