The struggles and joys of following Liverpool in Asia

I recently moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, for business reasons. It’s been a fun, challenging, exciting move. But one aspect that has been particularly difficult is following Liverpool from here. There are plenty of football fans here, and many expats from the UK and elsewhere who support Liverpool. However, there are some struggles that make being a Liverpool fan infuriating at times – but ultimately make me even more proud to be a supporter.

The Time Difference

The most obvious difficulty of following Liverpool from here is the time difference. Jakarta is 6 hours ahead of the UK. This means that Liverpool’s Monday night match against Crystal Palace took place at 3 AM on Tuesday morning. Generally, Premier League matches are at somewhat reasonable hours, but Champions League games are another story. Staying up in the middle of the week to watch a match at 1:45 AM makes work the next morning hard to abide. It’s worth it, of course. I don’t regret a moment of watching Liverpool’s run to the Champions League Final. The necessary commitment makes the joy of winning even more poignant. Losing, however, leads to a terrible day at the office!

The Coverage

Premier League and European football are shown here on BeIN Sports. All Liverpool matches, barring the League Cup, are shown live. However, the coverage leaves a lot to be desired. For some reason, the quality of the broadcast makes it look like you’re watching football in the ‘90s. The sound is often unbalanced as well, making the crowd noise louder than the commentary. Then there’s the reactionary old sods covering the analysis of the game. They’re those old guys who no one in the UK wants on their TVs anymore. The type who long for the old days, when players had sensible haircuts and British managers were in vogue. They’re noticeably miserable and watching them is just depressing. I’ve taken to streaming football from UK channels when I’m watching at home. I get a much higher quality broadcast, and better pre and post-game analysis. I need a VPN to live stream the games, but I use a VPN in any case, to avoid censorship and to watch geo-restricted Netflix content. It’s inexpensive and worth it just to watch a better stream of the football.

The Contingent

There is, however, a particular pleasure in being part of a small contingent of fans in this city on the other side of the world. Linking up with other Liverpool fans, watching the match in a sports pub at crazy hours of the night, and even being part of the Twitter conversation, all make the sense of community that much more palpable. Yes, it’s a little more difficult to follow Liverpool from here, but those difficulties make it even more worth it. It’s energising, rather than exhausting. Late “night” Champions League games are exhilarating experiences when shared with others. It’s as much a joy being a Liverpool fan as ever, especially these days, with a more promising team than we’ve had in a long time.