How special is it to have the supporters club where you are?
There are a lot of LFC fans in the country, but OLSC France is the only official Liverpool supporters club. There is a strong number of loyal members from throughout the years which makes it very special for us. We are proud to represent the passion around this great and unique club with such a huge history. Some French players were linked to Liverpool (Djibril Cisse, Mohamed Sissoko, Nicolas Anelka, Mamadou Sakho, Gregory Vignal... and now Ibrahima Konate) and also a great manager in Gerard Houiller. All of this makes it so special for French fans. We had previously with us some Liverpool legends to celebrate football tournaments such as David Fairclough, Jason McAteer and Roy Evans.
It must give you a sense of community and connection to Liverpool and the club itself?
For sure, the sense of community is strong and that's exactly what we try to develop with all our members. But it's not only about the club, it's about the city and we love to see the members appreciating their visit to Liverpool. Liverpool is our religion and Anfield is our church. We make donations to LFC Foundation and every year we lay flowers at the Hillsborough Memorial. It's important to us to maintain as much as we can that connection to the club.
What is so special about supporting Liverpool for your members?
LFC is no doubt such a special team and it's so easy to fall in love with the club. The team, the city, the atmosphere of Anfield, the famous anthem, the Kop and all the great success this club has had for so many years are driving factors. Older and younger members have all lived different experiences of the club's history. We always organise trips in Europe to support our team and this has been happening for a long time for some of us. That makes it very special during European nights and especially when the Reds are in France.
Do you hold meet-ups for games, or any special events throughout the year?
In Paris and also in a couple of cities in France we meet in pubs to follow the games. We organise our annual summer football tournament called 'The Kop Cup' with almost 24 supporters clubs in a mini-Champions League format, including our four LFC teams, which is a great day appreciated by all. Added to that, we organise every year a championship in Paris with different supporters club teams too.
We also have our annual general meeting and party for all members who would like to join in making the supporters club grow and evolve. We have a bi-annual regional football tournament just for our members and it's always in a city other than Paris. A special event took place last November 16 in Paris, too, as we were celebrating the 21st birthday of OLSC France alongside more than 100 members and special guests The Ragamuffins, a band from Liverpool, made it a special evening.