Before the highly anticipated matchup on Sunday, about 100 enthusiastic fans packed the Phoenix Landing Pub in Cambridge, as two storied franchises met on the football field. But these supporters were not watching the Packers and Steelers face off in the Super Bowl. They crowded the pub for the clash of English Premier League rivals Liverpool Football Club and Chelsea Football Club.
Founded in 2006, the Liverpool Supporters Club of Boston (or LFC Boston for short) meets at the Phoenix for every match throughout the season, no matter how cruel the five-hour time difference can be. Sunday morning saw an 11 a.m. EST kick-off, with the pub filled well before then. This match held particular significance as Chelsea paid £50 million, or $80 million, for Liverpool star Fernando Torres just last week.
Joining the football frenzy were about 20 members of the Boston University Soccer Club, which boasts over 400 members according to the Facebook group, and is open to any student interested in soccer. In addition to events and screenings on campus, the group goes on unofficial trips to Phoenix Landing as well as sponsored outings to local Boston club New England Revolution.
BUSC President Rachel Chapman, a senior at BU studying advertising, was born in Leeds, England and spent most of her life in Belgium playing on a school soccer team.
“We really wanted the bar culture without being at the match,” Chapman said. “We’re really familiar with that atmosphere and it’s really like being there in Europe.”
The atmosphere was certainly buzzing Sunday, with songs reserved for Liverpool players, including a catchy tune for defender Jamie Carragher sung to the tune of “Yellow Submarine.” And of course, attendees shouted curses toward Torres and other Chelsea players — “wanker” was among the more mild insults — with equal gusto.
Chris Idell, a 21-year-old percussion student at the Berklee College of Music, moved to Boston recently and discovered LFC Boston shortly thereafter.
“When I moved here, the first thing I did was find [LFC Boston],” Idell said. “It gives you a real sense of kinship to have supporters for your club.”
So why should the average American student be interested in soccer?
“It’s a great way of meeting people and being part of something bigger,” Chapman said. “There’s not one sport that take precedence over the others here. But even today, there are people that support the same team in different cities and states, and it’s an instant connection, like a sense of belonging, if that sounds corny.”
“In football, you can be down by a touchdown,” Idell said. “But in soccer, if you come back down a goal, the ending is much more satisfying. It’s really an awesome sport.”
As one Liverpool supporter remarked, “This is our [bleeping] Super Bowl.”
And, by the way, Liverpool defeated Chelsea, 1-0, with the goal coming shortly after Torres went to the bench.
