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Our series Long Distance Liverpool Love shines a light on devoted fans who grew up as a Red away from Merseyside. Here, Amy Kate from California shares her journey with Liverpool FC..
I started supporting Liverpool because…
I’ve been in love with football since I was four years old, it’s my first love. I discovered the Premier League in 1998 and I would wake up on the weekend at four or five in the morning, on the west coast, to watch the matches.
It was not long after when Liverpool FC found me, my passion grew for this club and the lifelong bond began.
It was when I first saw Steven Gerrard. It was his first season with the first team and I saw what an incredible player he was, and to me, always will be. I fell in love with the club, their passion, the family feeling and truly believing in ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘The Liverpool Way’.
My fondest memory involving Liverpool is…
It was in 2016, I was organising a fan event with Steve Heighway and thought to myself, is there any chance of connecting Steven Gerrard and Heighway in Los Angles (Gerrard was playing for the LA Galaxy at the time).
After reaching out to anyone I knew who might be able to help me accomplish this, I received the call at about 7.30pm the night before asking for us to meet Stevie at the LA Galaxy Training ground the next morning.
We made the trip up to Carson from San Diego, watched the team practice, and I witnessed the unique bond between Heighway and Gerrard. I was also lucky enough to have a one on one chat with my footballing hero in Gerrard.
People say not to meet your heroes but, for me, it’s an experience of a lifetime that I will never forget.
My typical matchday routine for the Reds is…
It starts the moment the season starts really. I’m the founder and chairman of OLSC Carlsbad so the routine doesn’t just start on matchday.
I set up watch parties for the matches and connect with our members so we can all get together and share the experience, we meet at Señor Grubby’s in Carlsbad Village.
Living on the west coast of California our weekend games kickoff can be as early as 4.30am and if you’re lucky, there are some kickoffs around 9.30am – so we definitely have a dedicated fanbase!
The night before I always have everything laid out and ready for the match in the morning: the shirt that I will wear for game day, our OLSC Carlsbad banner and a handful of scarves.
At halftime, we always take a group photo with the banner and scarves and at the end of the week, I make a collage of photos of all the Liverpool fans around the world supporting the mighty Reds. A few seasons ago, I started a tradition in which I take a #celebratoryleapofjoy photo when Liverpool win their match.
Fair to say in the last few seasons there have been a lot of them!
What does the club mean to you?
It means everything. It represents compassion, unity and pride. It’s not just a football club to me, it’s one big family. There’s a reason our motto is ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
No matter where you are in the world, there are Reds just like you who share in this unique bond.
My Liverpool dream that came true is…
The first time I travelled to watch the team I’ve followed from afar for years play at Anfield under the lights.
You can’t truly understand the feeling until you have made the journey, sat in the stadium, heard ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and watched Liverpool play.
For me, it was a dream come true and one many years in the making. It was such an emotional experience and every time I’ve been in the ground since it’s that same overwhelming feeling of love and pride for the club.
My wildest adventure supporting Liverpool is…
A week and a half long road trip on the east coast of the United States with other female supporters (with all our luggage strategically packed in a car) following Liverpool Football Club.
We travelled to the different cities, met the players and other supporters from all over and watched the team practice and play their matches, not to mention the time exploring each host city as well!
And if I could invite three Liverpool figures past or present to my country, they would be……
Steven Gerrard, Kenny Dalglish and James Milner.
It’s really hard to choose just three but I chose Stevie G because he’s my favourite player of all time and who I started following in 1998 before then falling in love with the team.
Kenny because of the legend he is and Milner as he is such a brilliant role model and I find him hilarious.
* Thanks again to Amy for sharing her story, you can follow her on Twitter @AmyKate8LFC.
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