The reason

When I was a kid I was not really into football, either local or international. In fact I’m not interested with anything sporty at all and prefer to spend my spare time reading storybooks and doing other stuff (so lame, I know). FYI I used to study at a boarding school in Kelantan and a lot of the boys there were regular followers of everything football. One day when I was hanging around at one of the dormitories I saw a pin up poster of this guy on somebody’s locker. For some reason I was immediately awestruck by that picture. The guy in the poster looked so masculine, macho and dashing, in short he’s like the epitome of coolness. From that moment on I decided to be exactly like him, I wanna keep my hair cut short and cropped all the time and I’ll support the team he’s playing for.



Later I found out Stan ‘The Man’ Collymore plays for Liverpool Football Club and from that year on I became an ardent supporter of The Reds. During my first season of supporting The Reds, we did pretty well in the premiership and was on top of the table for several times and although we were rather unlucky to finish 2nd that year. Nonetheless I was thoroughly entertained with the style of football displayed but Liverpool FC. It was the glory days for the likes of Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman and Paul Ince while Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard (who were both my age) were just beginning to shine after coming through the ranks from the academy.



Although Collymore left for Aston Villa a season later, my loyalty for the club remained unaffected. And although I still admire and idolize Stan Collymore and still look forward to seeing him play every time, I’ve made up my mind to be a Liverpool supporter for life. I’ve stick to Liverpool FC for 12 years now, through the good times and the bad times and while some people find it fashionable to change their support to the winning teams (like Man U or Arsenal or Chelsea) my allegiance to The Reds has never wavered at all. As a matter of fact after God and my family and my loved ones, Liverpool FC comes next in line.

Nevertheless I’m not claiming to be the world’s greatest Liverpool fan. Heck I don’t even claim myself to be the best supporter in Seri Kembangan. I don’t follow or stay up to watch every single Liverpool game on TV nor do I register myself as an official Liverpool Supporters Club member. I don’t subscribe to Astro or the Internet to get the latest result and I rarely go out (if ever) to gatherings with other Liverpool supporters here in this country. The night that we won in Istanbul, I was alone all by myself in my living room. Furthermore, the only Liverpool jersey that I own was bought at Petaling Street for 25 bucks around three years ago.

But before you start calling me a terrible supporter, let’s just say I’ve my own reasons for not doing all of the above. I don’t have Astro or internet subscription simply because I can’t afford to. Not right now at least. I don’t go to big match gatherings because the idea of hanging around with booze-drinking fans till the wee hours of the morning doesn’t really appeal to me. Plus my previous job required me to work in shifts and staying up late outside to watch games will produce dire consequences for me the next day. The day after we won in Istanbul, I was so sleepy at work I took two hours of recess instead of one. Today I have a small kid at home and I would have incurred the wrath of my wife had I went out to those gatherings leaving them alone at home. I don’t have much Liverpool jersey first because it got Carlsberg clearly visible across the chest (which is against my creed) and for the fact that they cost a bomb. Finally although it’s my lifelong dream to watch the lads play at Anfield, I don’t know if I could afford to do that in this lifetime.

Nevertheless, even if I can’t call myself a true Liverpool fan, at least I could call myself a very passionate fan. I have shivers down my spine every time I hear “You’ll Never Walk Alone” being sung by the crowd at the beginning or the end of a match. I watch with despair (and sometimes horror) every time we lost to the Mancs or to Chelsky and I cry with tears of joy whenever we achieve something remarkable (like the last Champions League & FA Cup). So you see I was kinda flattered when Anfield Devotee linked me to his Kopite site cause to be honest I don’t post that much article about Liverpool FC here (compared to some other Liverpool supporters). I’m afraid that a lot of Kopites would be disappointed just to find me rambling about my boring life instead of some lively discussion about The Reds.



Anyway now you know my friends, why I kept I shave my head every two weeks or so. It’s not because I’m into those skinhead gang or me trying to emulate ‘El Gordo’ Ronaldo of Brazil or because my hair is turning grey everywhere. It was because of Stan Collymore, the guy who’s responsible for introducing me to the greatest football club ever. Even if we screw up in the Premiership again this or miss out on all the silverwares you know which team I’ll be rooting for next year and the next and the next right? Remember what they say: Form is temporary, class is permanent.

You’ll never walk alone.