Its been 18 years supporting Liverpool Football Club. Grew up watching Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard and many more great players of the past. Always aspired to see them in person. Meet them. See those splendid goals from the team and the players you support. Days have gone by and the players became legends. The kid in me still supports LFC. It still sings You'll Never Walk Alone nearly everyday. The team has changed. Players come and players go but the club still stands tall and I support it with all of my heart.
Then there was the day I met Jurgen Klopp. I saw the 2016/2017 squad. I am still awestruck and unable to believe that I saw the LFC players and the great Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool is touring USA for the 2016/17 pre-season and their home base for the tour was Palo Alto, California. The location is barely 20 mins drive from where I live. I was not aware of the schedule but thanks to my membership on the facebook group of LFC San Francisco Supporters club I saw a few fans had posted pictures that they took to welcome the team on July 21. A bunch of fellow supporters waited outside the hotel to welcome the team. It took me sometime to figure out which hotel are they staying but finally I got to know via some facebook messages. It was Four Seasons in Palo Alto. I was very tempted to see them and hence I left early from work to head to the hotel. I was hoping I could catch the players at the hotel lobby but unfortunately I could not find anyone. One of the LFC admin told me that the players have gone to San Francisco to visit Alcatraz. It was a little disappointing but there was also some more information on when I could get to meet the players.
It was July 22, and I I drove to Four Seasons early in the morning. I was there already by 7:15am. Wearing the red liverpool jersey and the red scarf, I was ready to meet my team. I was told that the players would head out to the Stanford training center at 8:00am. Hence the early start. I was the first one to arrive infront of the hotel. They had placed a fan waiting zone across the main door of the hotel. They expected the fans to visit the team and I was the first one on the day. One of the security guard gave me a thumbs up and indicated that I was standing at the right spot. Within 30 mins we were handful of us. All in Liverpool colors. Some had a football, some with jersey's, scarfs, banners etc. One of the security guards walked up to all of us and gave a message. I was hoping it would be a good one but unfortunately he said that the first sighting of the players would be around 9:45am. This was almost 2 hours out. We decided to wait it out. Thankfully we did. We had our first sighting at 8:45am. It was GOD who was standing out on the main door. Robbie Fowler.
I was over-excited to see him. HE walked out and was heading towards the parked bus. The fans called out his name several times to catch his attention. He saw us and walked towards us. He was kind enough to spend some time with the fans signing autographs. A lot of us took selfies with him as well. Shortly we saw Luis Garcia. The man who was instrumental in beating Chelsea in the 2005 Champions League campaign. It was a thrilling feeling. Also was amazed how short and thin was Luis. Did not expect that.
Then came the man of the hour, Jurgen Klopp, he came out to talk to some of the admin staff. The crowd was excited to see him and shouted his name multiple times to catch his attention. He waved at us and the moment was enough for some of us to feel accomplished. Klopp is a legendary manager with the kind of success he has seen with his previous club Borrusia Dortmund. Making a team with no stars and finding success defines Jurgen Klopp. He believes in building a team rather than buying stars. Which is why he is a real fan favorite. After a while he walks up to the fans, with his wide smile. You can tell how happy he was to see all of us greeting the team and him. He started off with kids first. He loves kids. He went all the way to the left of the fanzone and started signing autographs, shaking hands, interacting with the crowd and also gave us all a nice selfie each. I had mine too. Klopp is humble and humorous. My camera froze while taking a selfie. When it comes to stars you better be quick or they move on. I said sorry to him asked for a couple of seconds. All he said was "I am around take your time". It was very heart felt and shows that how he cares for the fans. Will never forget this moment.
Post his departure, the players started coming out of the hotel main door. We saw the England crew first, James Milner, Henderson, Lallana, Coutinho, Sturridge, Klavan and a few more. I got my selfies and autographs from each of them. I missed Milner as he stayed put at one corner and hopped on to the bus. Then we waited for 45 more mins to see the next set of players. This time we saw Firmino, Lovren, Markovic, Sadio Mane and more. Very exciting. They all greeted the fans and took some good pictures.
Finally we also got our group photo for the memory. Inspite of meeting so many players, the highlight and the memory goes to only one thing - The Day I met Jurgen Klopp. Hope he wins with Liverpool. GoodLuck to him and the team. Go 2016/2017.
Then there was the day I met Jurgen Klopp. I saw the 2016/2017 squad. I am still awestruck and unable to believe that I saw the LFC players and the great Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool is touring USA for the 2016/17 pre-season and their home base for the tour was Palo Alto, California. The location is barely 20 mins drive from where I live. I was not aware of the schedule but thanks to my membership on the facebook group of LFC San Francisco Supporters club I saw a few fans had posted pictures that they took to welcome the team on July 21. A bunch of fellow supporters waited outside the hotel to welcome the team. It took me sometime to figure out which hotel are they staying but finally I got to know via some facebook messages. It was Four Seasons in Palo Alto. I was very tempted to see them and hence I left early from work to head to the hotel. I was hoping I could catch the players at the hotel lobby but unfortunately I could not find anyone. One of the LFC admin told me that the players have gone to San Francisco to visit Alcatraz. It was a little disappointing but there was also some more information on when I could get to meet the players.
It was July 22, and I I drove to Four Seasons early in the morning. I was there already by 7:15am. Wearing the red liverpool jersey and the red scarf, I was ready to meet my team. I was told that the players would head out to the Stanford training center at 8:00am. Hence the early start. I was the first one to arrive infront of the hotel. They had placed a fan waiting zone across the main door of the hotel. They expected the fans to visit the team and I was the first one on the day. One of the security guard gave me a thumbs up and indicated that I was standing at the right spot. Within 30 mins we were handful of us. All in Liverpool colors. Some had a football, some with jersey's, scarfs, banners etc. One of the security guards walked up to all of us and gave a message. I was hoping it would be a good one but unfortunately he said that the first sighting of the players would be around 9:45am. This was almost 2 hours out. We decided to wait it out. Thankfully we did. We had our first sighting at 8:45am. It was GOD who was standing out on the main door. Robbie Fowler.
I was over-excited to see him. HE walked out and was heading towards the parked bus. The fans called out his name several times to catch his attention. He saw us and walked towards us. He was kind enough to spend some time with the fans signing autographs. A lot of us took selfies with him as well. Shortly we saw Luis Garcia. The man who was instrumental in beating Chelsea in the 2005 Champions League campaign. It was a thrilling feeling. Also was amazed how short and thin was Luis. Did not expect that.
Then came the man of the hour, Jurgen Klopp, he came out to talk to some of the admin staff. The crowd was excited to see him and shouted his name multiple times to catch his attention. He waved at us and the moment was enough for some of us to feel accomplished. Klopp is a legendary manager with the kind of success he has seen with his previous club Borrusia Dortmund. Making a team with no stars and finding success defines Jurgen Klopp. He believes in building a team rather than buying stars. Which is why he is a real fan favorite. After a while he walks up to the fans, with his wide smile. You can tell how happy he was to see all of us greeting the team and him. He started off with kids first. He loves kids. He went all the way to the left of the fanzone and started signing autographs, shaking hands, interacting with the crowd and also gave us all a nice selfie each. I had mine too. Klopp is humble and humorous. My camera froze while taking a selfie. When it comes to stars you better be quick or they move on. I said sorry to him asked for a couple of seconds. All he said was "I am around take your time". It was very heart felt and shows that how he cares for the fans. Will never forget this moment.Post his departure, the players started coming out of the hotel main door. We saw the England crew first, James Milner, Henderson, Lallana, Coutinho, Sturridge, Klavan and a few more. I got my selfies and autographs from each of them. I missed Milner as he stayed put at one corner and hopped on to the bus. Then we waited for 45 more mins to see the next set of players. This time we saw Firmino, Lovren, Markovic, Sadio Mane and more. Very exciting. They all greeted the fans and took some good pictures.
Finally we also got our group photo for the memory. Inspite of meeting so many players, the highlight and the memory goes to only one thing - The Day I met Jurgen Klopp. Hope he wins with Liverpool. GoodLuck to him and the team. Go 2016/2017.
