If there’s one thing that many Irish football fans are known for, it’s being big followers of Liverpool.
There are myriad reasons for this, however, for modern Irish supporters there are some differences when compared with the traditional fanbase.
Sports betting and proximity
Lots of people like to bet on football; it’s one of the most popular options in terms of sports betting.
While some like to bet to try and win their wagers, there are also others who like to roll the dice on the team that they follow.
So, according to Siobhan Aslett – sportsbook specialist at Irishluck.ie, people who don’t have a popular league in their country need to find another way to enjoy betting on football.
This is partly what has caused modern Irish fans to choose Liverpool as their team to follow.
With the Reds being one of the closest English teams to Ireland, it means that they have a highly competitive team that is featured on sports betting sites not too far removed from where they live.
This makes up a lot of the reasoning for modern fans, but it’s not generally regarded as the main reason for the historical connection.
The ferry connection
This is actually the reason for the historical link between Liverpool and Dublin.
During the industrial age, a large number of Irish settlers made the move from the Irish capital to Merseyside in order to get work.
In fact, one of the settlers ended up being the very first manager that Liverpool had, which helped to solidify the connection very early on in the relationship.
In fact, it’s the foundation as to why almost 50% of Irish football fans support Liverpool.
It didn’t just end with the first manager either. This led to a significant connection over the years which saw players from Ireland moving to Liverpool.
From there it allowed Liverpool to thrive, especially with the quality of Irish players at the start of the 20th century.
Success in later years
Another aspect that helped to fuel the support was the large amount of success that the club saw in the 80s.
With Irish players helping to play a large part in this success, it meant that Irish fans had even more reason to support the club.
Of course, this carried on into the modern era, which meant that Liverpool had a lot of Irish fans who supported the club through less successful times.
While the Stan Collymore and Jamie Redknapp years offered less to supporters in terms of trophies, this didn’t stop fans from being die-hard supporters and they were rewarded when major trophies eventually came along – including that magical night in Istanbul.
This has obviously reversed now with the modern Reds team once again giving Irish fans something to cheer about.
It’s an excellent example of why a historical connection to the club can often mean more than just trophies.
The Irish fans stuck with Liverpool through the barren years and are now being rewarded on a regular basis with trophies and top-quality performances.
What it means for Liverpool on a global scale
The most important takeaway is that Ireland is a rich vein for Liverpool in terms of supporters.
While a lot of other clubs have supporters from all around the world, Liverpool has a large proportion of its fans from a country that is extremely close.
This is why the Irish fans are so important to Liverpool.
While they might not be equal to the fans that Manchester United has in places such as China and Nigeria, in terms of revenue for the club, they provide a lot more per person. This makes them a massively important piece of the puzzle regarding the way that Liverpool is currently run.
Make no mistake about it, the Irish fans are intrinsically linked with Liverpool Football Club. The historical success has a lot to do with the input of Ireland. As things stand, Irish fans have a lot to look forward to with the current upward trajectory that the club is on.
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