Polish Reds make supporter's dream come true with surprise Anfield trip
Liverpool fans from Poland made one Kopite’s lifelong dream come true this week with a remarkable gesture that enabled a supporter to visit Anfield for the first time.
Patryk Supinski's long-held ambition of journeying to Merseyside to watch his heroes in the flesh was made a reality when members of a Polish LFC Supporters’ group raised funds to pay for flights, hotel, spending money and, most preciously, tickets for the Reds' game with Chelsea on Tuesday night.
And Patryk was unaware of the plans for this priceless surprise until late December when he was emotionally told of his trip by his family and local Liverpool fans.
The 23-year-old said: “The feeling was amazing, I wasn’t aware about it at all! Even my family were plotting behind my back and didn’t say a word until a month before the game when I was informed that I would actually go to see LFC at Anfield!
“I’d only ever been able to watch Liverpool on TV and dream about getting to Anfield previously. I am so thankful to all Polish Reds, Liverpool Football Club and the people in the city who helped me and my dad to come to Merseyside and made my biggest dream true.
“The couple of days in the city were definitely unforgettable and we would like to thank everybody who helped to make this wonderful story happen. We were so impressed with the beautiful city of Liverpool.
“It is really hard to find the words to describe how amazed we are by peoples’ selfless help to make it happen. I will never forget this and I certainly believe that I will come back to Anfield soon.”
Dawid Krolikowski, chairman of the LFC supporters’ group Tri-City, admits he was overwhelmed by the response after posting the appeal on Facebook.
He said: “Our aim was to get the attention of all Reds in Poland and once we’d posted the info, the money started to flow! We didn’t expect such a quick response from Polish fans in the country and even abroad.
“Quite quickly we achieved our target and we could do the booking for flights and hotel accommodation for Patryk and his Dad.”
Patryk’s father, Leszek, added: “My wife and I obviously knew about it much earlier than Patryk. We were so impressed with the whole action and the kindness of people from all over country who helped to make it happen.”
* Story by Rado Chmiel.