23 July, 2020

Liverpool FC : 19.

I'm 30. And Liverpool FC just won a league title after 30 years.⁣
I supported LFC since 2001. So I waited 19 years for the league title. And that 19 years alone had so many good memories, bad memories and the weird ones. ⁣
From a girl who saw Michael Owen on a newspaper and thought "oh the guy is cute". Then came the 1st full LFC match i ever watched: a LFC v Man Utd match. Michael Owen scored twice, Danny Murphy scored another and oh, the famous David Beckham scored a consolation. And that's when the support started. ⁣
I woke up at 4am just to see a football match. My late mother didn't mind a girl that just reached 12 watched a football match cos she knew that i kinda did the same with my F1 fandom (Mika Hakkinen fan here!!) She knew how passionate i could be. Tbh i was new. I only followed cos of Michael Owen. ⁣
Then Owen left. That's when i know those late nights weren't bcos of that one man. It was for a whole team. LFC just announced Rafa Benitez as manager to replace Houllier. I followed Rafa cos his old team beat Liverpool 2-0 in CL. 2004/05 season was that season when i knew that Liverpool FC is something else. That was when the people around me knew me as Alia Liverpool. Those comebacks. Those wins. They were all dramatic. And that also the time when i knew banters. Schoolmates laughed at me. I laughed at them. We were looking forward to go to school just to break the news that their team had lost. My team sucks in the league that season but we won CL so dramatically that it was incredible. ⁣
Then i found out that the CL is not what the real Liverpool fans want. I mean, yeah, we got the Big Ears but they want the league. I was still naive as a fan. I was clueless. And so i learned the history after following how good LFC were in the past throughout the seasons after that 2005. ⁣
After i knew about the history and the legends, we almost win the league but didn't really win it. ⁣
Then the dark past. Rafa left. Liverpool almost disappeared. It was bad. I felt hopeless. Then some wise Americans bought LFC. LFC kinda had to start anew. New managers. Hodgson was hired and fired immediately. King Kenny replaced him, he gave us some good memories and a cup. He left. Rodgers came. We almost win the league again. Almost. Cos Hendo my guy got a red card when i was happy we beat Man City and also cos Gerrard stupidly slip. Crystal Palace broke us to the core and made it worse. We were 2nd. But that league? Not there.⁣
Then Klopp came. Transitional period again. Just like Hodgson, Kenny and Rodgers. I didn't trust anybody but then that Dortmund match when we had that dramatic win, i was wowed. Ooh. We're back. ⁣
But we lose a Europa League final against Sevilla, then a CL final at Kiev. Both stupid finals that i want to forget. The finals were stupid, but the LFC team were getting better. So many brilliant display. Shame there weren't any trophy to prove that. ⁣
Unexpectedly, we didn't won the league in 2019 but won the CL instead. It was surprising. We were so good in the league but we were more disciplined in the CL. 1st trophy. Klopp's first with us. Hendo my guy the captain's first trophy with us. ⁣
But still. The league. When will the 'almost' end?⁣
It ends. No more almost. Liverpool Football Club finally win the fucking league. After 19 years for me, after 30 years for the one who had waited forever. ⁣
Thanks Klopp and co. Thanks Hendo and teammates. Thanks LFC supporters who supported them before 1990. Thanks for waiting and thanks for letting us join the wait. The wait was worth it. ⁣
You'll Never Walk Alone! #LFCchampion