Stephen Roche joined the Kerry Liverpool Supporters Club on a trip to Anfield last weekend. Despite the 0-1 defeat to Manchester United, he said the trip was worthwhile to see the Reds in action…
THE Kerry Liverpool Supporters Club travelled over to Liverpool last weekend to watch them take on old rivals Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League match at Anfield.
The club, which has a strong membership, has two weekend trips a season— one in the first half and the other in the second half. Just over 30 of the members travelled.
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The group left Tralee early Saturday morning to reach the ferry and then drove down to Liverpool from Wales, where they stayed in St. Helens, a town just outside the city. The members spent Saturday exploring and shopping around the city and then went to the match on Sunday.
Leo Byrne, who organises the trips for the club, spoke about the weekend: “It’s good to go over to see the team. Being such a popular club, it’s hard to get tickets. We try to come over for two games a season, but it all depends on tickets. It’s good to see new faces and even though we didn’t get a result, it’s still good to see the stadium and the team.”
The general feeling among the supporters club on match day was that of excitement and nervousness. It’s always an occasion when Liverpool are playing a bitter rival and the game is one of biggest on the calendar for both teams.
There was a mix between those who have been to Anfield numerous times and those who were there for the first time. Robbie O’Sullivan, who was attending his first Liverpool game, sat in the prestigious Kop.
That wasn’t the only occasion that he’ll remember. Robbie, who was in the front row of the Kop, noticed Liverpool legend, John Arne Riise, doing media work on the pitch just a few metres away. He managed to get the attention of the former player and got his picture taken with him.
“This is my first game and I was just excited to see it,” said Robbie. “I was really close to the pitch, and I noticed that Ray Houghton and Riise were doing some media work. I knew it’d be a long shot, but I went and asked. It almost didn’t happen, as security was really strict in here, and they just about allowed the photo to be taken.”
Despite the result, it didn’t ruin the fun of a fantastic weekend. The group are optimistic that Liverpool can get a trophy this season and are also looking forward to planning another trip away.
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