.

1. Interview
What was it that set you on course to becoming a Liverpool fan? Was it a particularplayer
or a family member? A specific match you remember?
“Yeah, it was my family. It wasn’t through my dad though, he wasn’t into football that much,
but my uncle was. I always had enjoyed playing football, although I hadn’t really dedicated
myself to a team, so I tended to connect with my uncle’s faith in Liverpool. It seemed to click
at the right time as well, ahead of the 2013-14 season, in which we came the closest to
winning the league title in about 25 years, and [Luis] Suarez and [Daniel] Sturridge were
both playing really well.”
Who are your favourite Liverpool players? Of all-time, and in the current squad?
“Ooh, I mentioned Suarez already and he is very much up there, it was just painful and sad
to see him leave after being so close to winning the league in his last season. But the
memories I hold still remain, he’s in my top 2 with [Steven] Gerrard I’d have to say. I loved
Gerrard from the start, especially given his nature of being a home-grown scouser and just a
legend of the club – sadly never won the league, but he’s got that Champions League win
forever. Of the current team, [Mohamed] Salah is very close to that icon status, that he will
definitely reach when he does leave the club one day.”
Salah managed to help guide Liverpoolto their first league title in 30 years. How special
did that feel for you?
“Granted that it was also the first in my lifetime, it was such an amazing feeling of euphoria.
A lot of our fans had to wait so long for a club of this size and status to achieve it, and I feel
we all deserve it as fans, but the players absolutely deserved it most of all. The way they
played for the badge and for the fans that year, the points tally we got from it, it all
culminates to a feeling I can only describe as euphoric. The Champions League win the year
before was also incredibly special for us too, they’ve been a symbol of how successful the
first 11 we have, and mainly [Jurgen] Klopp have been an important part of the club’s
progression in recent years, after years of underwhelming league performances and a
general decline in quality beforehand.”
How many times have you been to Anfield?
“Sadly, I haven’t been that many times – like I say, my dad wasn’t really a football supporter,
so getting there was always a bit of a struggle. That said, I’ve still managed to make it there
3 times to see them play, the atmosphere is always unreal, nothing can beat a day out to
watch the football with thousands of other people who just want to see your team win. I do
intend on making it there again on Boxing Day this year.”

2. Given the European Super League [ESL] scare that came about to football, what do you
make of the situation that the club is in at the moment?
“Well, I have to say that I’ve been disappointed in the owners [Fenway Sports Group] for the
longest time in all honesty. Whilst they have sort of backed [Jurgen] Klopp through the
seasons, making a number of decent signings, there are simply too many issues with them
for me to ignore. They do not fit the bill for what the club stands for, the words “You’ll
Never Walk Alone”, all the meanwhile they’ve barely ever acknowledged us fans of the club
(similar to Man United fans and their frustrations with the Glazer Family), other than a small
number of signings they haven’t ever really gone full throttle to improve the full squad in
the transfer market, like Man City or Chelsea get with their owners, the ESL was flat-out the
last straw with them. Their apology video also seemed to come off quite forced to me and I
couldn’t quite accept it.”
Quite understandable as a concerned fan then. How about on the pitch? Are you happy
with how the team is playing?
“Oh, absolutely. With that being said, on the pitch it seems we really can’t do anything
wrong, even with a lacking squad depth. Klopp has really gotten his style of play working on
everyone within the club, and that has to be respected. If I had to say where he’d be in 10
years, I reckon his status will be around the top 10 best managers of all time. I don’t think
the likes of [Sir Alex] Ferguson or [Arsene] Wenger can be disputed for top 5, [Pep]
Guardiola is another one up there too, and I thoroughly believe Klopp can reach just about
to that level too someday.
Yeah, it has been very promising for you so far this season. Do you perhaps get worried
over the higher frequency of international breaks and howit may potentially impact your
squad?
“I think it’s something that every club has to think about these days. Obviously for us, given
with how poor our injury record was last season, and how little quality in depth we’ve
added over the summer, it’s something we have to take extra care with. We’ve already lost
[Harvey] Elliot for rest of the season it seems – for a challenge that I still feel was fair
regardless, and Thiago’s going to be out for a few matches, but losing a big name like
Fabinho or Salah to injury would be heavily damaging to any potential title challenge we can
put up. It’s 100% vital that they keep fit through the season.”
Would you consider Manchester United tobe your biggest rivals?
“Oh, it has to be. They have to be the biggest two fanbases in England, the biggest two
teams in English history, possibly even the world. Even with my own experience at work,
one of the chefs I work with is a [Manchester] United fan, and even he said that the
Liverpool match is bigger to him than a Champions League final.”

3. Feedback
What did I enjoy about conducting the interview?
It was a topic that I already knew a fair bit about, so thinking of questions to ask about came
about naturally – aside from that, the interview itself was actually well detailed between the
both of us, the flow of speaking was natural, and we added more questions onto each other
as a result of the answers we gave.
Discuss 3 things I think went well
 We were able to ask questions on top of the questions that were answered, it helped
produce a natural flow to the interview that ultimately led to a lot of detailed answers
being received.
 As mentioned above, a lot of detailed answers were received, which is vital for an
interview.
 It was just nice to talk about football at an unbiased level with a Liverpool fan (of all
people!).
Discuss 3 things I didn’t think went well
 We were unable to find a quiet space to voice record the interview, our area had a
bunch of people about and windows were open with a band playing music.
 The notes I had originally made were paraphrased, as I wasn’t able to keep up with the
spoken answers, though a useful technique, it does mean the answers written down
weren’t as detailed as they possibly could have been.
 Though not necessarily a bad thing, the subject matter I was given may have been a bit
too safe and easy to for me to understand – perhaps a different subject may have let me
stretch out and learn new thing.
Outline at least 3 points I have learned from this and can apply to my project
 How to keep a conversation-based interview flowing, through the use of questions that
add on to answers.
 Paraphrasing can be a good method of notetaking when someone is answering
questions at a quick pace.
 Having a good rapport with the interviewee can work in favour of the interviewer, as
they can get an abundance of answers in good detail.
What was it like being interviewed? How has this informed your process for when you
interview someone else?
It was fun because it felt just like a normal conversation with another human being who
shares knowledge and interest in the same subject area. As I mentioned, the informal,
unscripted format of the interview helped the conversation aspect to flow naturally and
didn’t make us sound like robots in the end. Even if I have specific questions lined up for my

4. interviewee, I can digest what they answer and ask questions based off of that answer,
gaining even more information out of it.