My Liverpool Story by Peter Lantry
In the mid to late 70’s living in New York, the rise of the North American Soccer League (NASL) and the Cosmos became a “thing”. I happened to have season tickets to the Cosmos for a few years and saw Pele, Chinaglia, Beckenbauer, and the rest. In parallel, since this was a time before cable TV, we only had seven or eight channels, one being PBS. Every Saturday at 6PM, they had a show called “Star Soccer” where they took an English First Division match and encapsulated it into a 60-minute show. This was of course in the heyday of LFC, and as an American so entrenched in sports in the US, I had never seen (or heard) anything like the singing and chanting throughout the matches. Star Soccer featured Liverpool often, and When I heard “we’re here at Anfield” I was glued to the TV. The other factor that made me a Liverpool Supporter was that my Paternal Grandmother emigrated to the US from the port of Liverpool.
It was difficult to find a way to follow the club pre-internet, but what made things so much easier was when Fox Soccer Channel made its debut in the early 2000’s, and they had the rights to the Premier League. Just in time to be able to follow the Reds as they eventually reached the Champions League in 2005, culminating in That Night in Istanbul.
I also made the pilgrimage to Anfield in 2012, and had reservations to go in April 2020, but the pandemic put a halt to that. I’ve been a member of the NY Supporter’s Club since 2003, and have a deep and passionate love of the Club because of the culture of the Club and City it represents. Natives of Liverpool and Brooklyn NY (where I’m from) share many of the same traits and outlook on life. Hard working, care for neighbor, and love their sports. That’s my story!
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