Topic: Would you let LFC stop you moving abroad?

[Manila Vanilla]

Dangling arial wires out of windows trying to improve Short Wave reception of BBC World Service for a few minutes commentary,

I've lived through all that too and echo your sentiments. There were times on the Kop when I used to think "Why am I here?", most notably a drizzly afternoon in 1984 when we lost to a poor Wolves team in a half-full Anfield.. It was habit. I moved offshore when they seated the Kop but kept my season ticket for four years, just in case...

What I missed most at the start was football gossip. You could get results (eventually) but no background stories. You miss things more for the simple fact of not being able to have them. I've been there with my radio in the top corner of the window, with the whooshing sound like a North Sea gale, trying to work out if it was us or them who just scored (it was them...). Or when Medium Wave used to pack in at 4.30pm - "Over to Anfield now where Liverpool have a penalty.... We now interrupt this programme for the News in German..." Frantic scrambling to try and find Short Wave, but I missed it (and so did Robbie Fowler!). Then the Internet. Staring at a score on a screen and continually hitting F5 in the 90th minute, only for 0-1 at Old Trafford suddenly to be refreshed as 2-1. It's still like that sometimes but coverage, on the whole, is great now. There'll always be a bar somewhere, even if it's showing an iffy interception of a South African satellite channel. I sometimes think I've grown out of all this, but still find myself getting up at stupid o'clock for any live game.

It was a wrench giving up the season ticket and changing the habits of a lifetime but the adventures I've had have more than compensated.

[lainey]

Yes - nothing beats watching them 'live'

frustrates me if I have to watch on the tele

it's what saturdays are for

[Ken-Obi]

There are more important things in life than football.

[scouse in Italy]

 I "left" Liverpool club and city back in 1974 for a small village in Italy.
Now thanks to broadband and satellite I "get" to all our games.
To think I used to hitch 30 miles each way on my own on a Tuesday evening
night to get hold of a Sunday newspaper.It's too easy now.

[Lolo]

I gave up my KOP season ticket in 1989 when my career ambitions gave me an opportunity in South Devon.
For a Liverpool (or any northern club) supporter I may as well have moved to the moon. Their idea of a big match was the local derby between Exeter and Torquay (usually at the foot of the football league ratings) with a huge crowd of 4 or 5 thousand. Basically football wasn't really on the map as such.
Lack of transport and funds more or less prevented the journey northwards and so my exile was complete. Then along came the Premier league and with it spiraling costs which only further added to my exile.
....but would LFC have prevented me moving. NO. I had a family to consider and our future. Absolutely a 'no-contest'.

In todays world of instantly global communications this question is, to all intents and purposes, completely void.
I emigrated to the Far East almost 6 years ago. I now probably watch more Liverpool live games than ever before, both in the premiership and Europe. The only concession is the timing. Tonight (or to be more accurate tomorrow morning) I will set my alarm for 2.40am and watch the Marseilles game live on TV....a small price to pay for following our beloved team.

[bradigor]

I should think he's probably far too pre occupied to be worried about Low's nonsense right now.

The two sentences weren't related, but don't let that get in the way.
What could pre-occupy him enough to keep him from this sort of thing?

[FlashingBlade]

After 45 years of l slavish devotion to LFC I decided to put my family ahead of my own passion and leave Liverpool eight months ago for another country and an improved life...its been a wrench...but the Wirral isn't that bad!

[thirty]

even though we all love LFC and love watching them play live, you have to get on with what you need to do in life

[kasperoff]

Wouldn't, and haven't. Moved to Cyprus on a 2 year long term assignment. I acklowledged that it would be one of the downers to moving away for a while, but never did it become a stumbling block. Mate has promised me a ticket when I return home 3 or 4 times per year, so at least I will get the general feel of how the team are doing to back up the games I see on TV. Also, in Cyprus I can watch just about every Liverpool game on TV, including Saturday afternoons (without Sopcast), so potentially seeing more of The Reds now, than I was at home. Not as many match days tho.

[matthew45]

Isn't it easier to get tickets on the phones if you live outside Liverpool?

[Razor™]

I want to move to Spain in the future, but i will only move to somewhere thats within say 2hrs drive of an airport with good direct flights to Liverpool. I could never totaly leave those European nights behind.

[TipTopKop]

A good question, with some really interesting feedback so far.

My job requires travel. Far and wide, and often to some places few would want to go. I can't imagine life without LFC, but LFC is more than a stadium, more than having to be there for every game.

You hear 'Fields of Anfield Road' on the telly, and no matter where you'll be, you'll want to join in, as already stated, you may leave the city, but it will never leave you. So go and travel, see a different place, you'll wonder in years' from now what it might have been otherwise. You can always go back if things don't work out.

[leec_1985]

I no somebody who comes over from Holland every home game and some aways

[Bennyo]

My wife is Australian. It did my head in out there. They know jack shit about football and bang on about egg chasers,cricket and Swimming. Fucking swimming? Thats not a sport, it's something you do when your hot, daft twats.
Naaaa theres nothing like watching the match.

Which comedien is it who says 'swimming - that's not a sport, just something to do to stop yourself from drowning'.. or words to that effect?

[Bennyo]

After 45 years of l slavish devotion to LFC I decided to put my family ahead of my own passion and leave Liverpool eight months ago for another country and an improved life...its been a wrench...but the Wirral isn't that bad!

[Fat Scouser]

I had a lovely life in California and will always miss it In fact, the only good thing about being back in this cuntry is being able to go the games, having fellow reds around me and that. But unless you are moving in with the Taliban, you will be able to find an alehouse with reds in. Don't forget mate, we are every fuckin where.

[RedMerseyMan]

Each to their own but for me I doubt I will ever leave Merseyside nor would I want to.
LFC are the main reason for that and that will never change.

[Kelvin_Little]

I travel a lot with my job and for the past 4 years most of my projects have been abroad, even though I'm technically based out of Manchester and have a house in Liverpool.... 

I spent a year commuting every week out to Lisbon, up at 4am on a monday for my flight out and not back before 10 on a friday and it was fucking solid.  When there were no matches on I would stay out there, but i must admit i preferred coming home.....   I then spent a few months doing the same thing from Madrid and Rotterdam and it was all ok - i mean, its a bit longer than the comute to london, not that much....

Then my firm asked me last October if i wanted to go out to Melbourne with some time in KL and Singapore, for what was meant to be a 6 month project - thought about it over a weekend, asked the missus what she thought (she wouldnt be coming) and we agreed that it was something i wanted to do and it was fucking great. 

Of course i missed the match, i missed my mates and that, but get it straight, i got the ashes (ok we were shit) the ODI's, the F1, The Australian Open, the world swimming championships and on top of that the firm agreed to fly me home for a week every two months - i ended up doing 11 months out there, it was great, all my fly backs coincided with matches, i got to a few group stages, barca away a few prem matches at home, w6ould have been in istanbul if they'd have not cancelled my leave....

but when push comes to shove it was only ok because the firm were paying for all my flights and accomodation - if i had to do it off my own back, i'd have had second thoughts.  I think I covered over 100,000miles coming back to watch liverpool last season - my airmiles definately benefitted!  That said, you get to watch more football live on tv out there than ive ever seen before - but we all know its not the same watching the match at 3am....

[Fat Scouser]

Do you know what makes me laugh. Ken Dodd. No fact is, most on here who give it the you're not a proper fan unless you have a purple bin are full of more shite than their bins.
When I went the States in 86 I only went on holiday but ended up staying for 16 years. And now that I'm home, I know I was very lucky to have missed all our shite years and came back as LFC are coming back an all.
But you know what, while I was sitting on the porch freezing me bollacks off in New York, trying to tune in a short wave radio to the BBC world service, most of my super fan mates back home were sitting in the lovely warm alehouse, watching Sky TV and moaning. Yeah. Most of them missed the shite years an all. But are now back on the glory wagon, and I'm suddenly no longer a proper red in their eyes cos I moved away. What a load of auld shite. Just fuckin go and enjoy yourself!

[Conde]

Isn't it easier to get tickets on the phones if you live outside Liverpool?

Some lad said something about 0151 numbers having less chance of getting through. But even so even if you can get through every time in Spain you can't really go to all the games could you.

Cheers for the feedback so far.

[Jezzman]

I recently signed a 3 year contract for a stationing in Singapore, starting February 2008. My wife and I will move there and it's the chance of a lifetime for the both of us. A real pain that the games will only be watched on the telly for 3 years and that it'll be on late at night unless it's an early kick off. 03:45 for the Champions League 

Anyhow it wouldn't stop me moving....

[arabian red]

left in '81 - economic casualty of the Thatcher/Hatton era - no choice, had a family to feed

no feckin' regrets whatsoever - have prospered personally, professionally and had a life's worth of experiences in Canada, the Far East and now the Middle East

get home for holidays at least twice a year and usually wangle a couple of business trips in between - r kid sorts us out for tickets - thoroughly enjoy the few times I get there more than having the privilege of going every other week

got to Istanbul and Athens - closer to where we live in the ME than it was travelling from Liverpool
our national airline has direct flights to Milan, Rome, Paris, Madrid, Istanbul, Athens - so most of the big CL players are covered - great opportunity to meet up with r kid and his away travelling mates

internet and satellite tv have been the great saviours of recent years plus if you look hard enough you'll always find a bar with reds
(mind you, saying that I've been in Perth for the last week and couldn't for the life of me find anywhere to watch the Wigan game live - doesn't sound like I missed much like !
will still get up at 3am tomorrow to watch the Marseille game)

[Joe_Singh]

LFC and my family are the only things stopping me from moving abroad.

[bono1712]

Which comedien is it who says 'swimming - that's not a sport, just something to do to stop yourself from drowning'.. or words to that effect?

woody Allen

[Velky Al]

LFC wouldn't stop me from doing anything.

People are different, but for me, LFC is not my life. And, at the end of the day, it is just a game - with far more important things in life than footy.

I agree.

The worst thing a person can do is limit their life choices for the sake of 11 blokes kicking a pig-skin.

I also accept that as I get older, the less I am really all that bothered by it all. It used to be that the result would be everything and that was reflected in my mood. Now if we lose, well life goes on, if we win, great but not worth going insane over.

I am at a point in my life where I am getting married and want to stablise my career and start settling down and they are more of a priority for me than whether Torres gets a hat-trick, if Michael Owen did the dirty on us or even if Rafa makes somewhat bizarre team selections.

[Joshytoohotty]

It's stopped me taking a gap year- At the moment the prospect of being away from the match for 12 months is one that I don't want to entertain- it's bad enough the match once.

Not trying to sound like a superfan or anything, but for the moment, as a 19(nearly 20) year old lad, the prospect of being abroad for any extended length of time is a no go- that may change when I get older but for the moment all holidays are booked for the summer months, barring one this November which is annoyingly coinciding with me missing Newcastle away, although I've got lucky that it falls on an international break so Newcy is the only match I'm missing.

If you can give up the match to live abroad then good for you, but, and I've said it before, please don't belittle/patronise the people who don't want to do that.

[Vinay]

It all depends on whether you have a life or not.
I have one.

[Joshytoohotty]

If you can give up the match to live abroad then good for you, but, and I've said it before, please don't belittle/patronise the people who don't want to do that.

It all depends on whether you have a life or not.
I have one.

And there is exactly the kind of response I was referring to.

[Taylor_LFC]

It all depends on whether you have a life or not.
I have one.

You're a complete c*nt with a response like that.

At my current age and current feelings I would easily let LFC stop me moving abroad, however, I don't know if that would change when I have kids and a job.

[Joshytoohotty]

Personally I have a life.

It is in this city, where my current life is. And yes, football is a very big part of that life because I happen to spend every weekend and (roughly) every other midweek following Liverpool Football Club. So yes, that could definately stop me from moving abroad.

Absolutely riles me when people think that they're better than me for that.

[CB]

I lived in Italy for a couple of years about 12 years ago. I missed going to Anfield but it was worth it just for the experience of living somewhere else.

Would find it difficult to give it all up again, although if the job paid enough for me to come back regularly then I'd probably do it.

[AndoNagasaki]

LFC would never stop me moving abroad if I that's what I wanted to do.

Would LFC miss me?  I very much fucking doubt it!   

[bradigor]

Oddly enough, the closer I got to Anfield, the less it mattered. One of the pro's to moving here was being closer to the ground. Now I am here it wouldn't even be a con to moving away. I want to be where Lucas is safest, if that is Liverpool then fair enough, if it happens to be elsewhere then fair enough again.

I have missed the last 3 games and may well miss this weekends, the only thing that bothers me is not seeing my mates (but I can see them whenever) and not popping in to see Gerry. I'll watch MotD like I used to when I lived down south, or i'll listen on the radio, check my phone for updates. As much as I would like to go to every game, it doesn't matter if I don't. Neither do I care anymore.

[Sez_20]

I want to be where Lucas is safest, if that is Liverpool then fair enough, if it happens to be elsewhere then fair enough again.

Your phone updates are rubbish, he went to West Ham.

[bradigor]

Your phone updates are rubbish, he went to West Ham.

Yours are worse, he plays in midfield.

[Sez_20]

Yours are worse, he plays in midfield.

 

[Hightown Phil]

I await the answer of everyones favourite local welshman

Why would Lee J respond to that?

In all seriousness, I'd say a 2 day old child might take priority over arguing on the internet.

It all depends on whether you have a life or not.
I have one.

I have one too.

Yet I don't think I could move abroad without feeling sick all weekend, it's not just LFC, it's the craic that goes with it, the laugh, the drinking, the trips away.

I'd miss it too much.

[mikek1984]

i wanna be close to phil

[Hightown Phil]

The 8 miles to town is close enough.

[mikek1984]

come closer please