<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Liverpool fans and our national team deserved better
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I CAN understand the disappointment registered in yesterday's report, "Not every fan is thrilled", by many Liverpool fans at the arrangements made for the club's recent visit to Singapore.
What left a sour taste in the mouth of supporters? The exorbitant ticket prices (with no concession for schoolchildren), limited access to the players at the various venues (only those with connections to the organisers and sponsors got near), admission to training sessions given to those with passes or special privileges (even though the National Stadium can hold 55,000 spectators), and the failure to have the strongest possible Liverpool line-up on the field at any one time during the game.
The star players were confined to brief moments on the field - no doubt to minimise their exposure to injury risks.
Having said that, I must commend the majority of Liverpool supporters here who continued their frenzied and unrelenting support of the club, in spite of the knowledge that the whole affair was so commercialised, designed to extract as much money as possible from loyal fans.
This tour was designed to build up the Liverpool brand in the region and fill the club's coffers, while at the same time, not over-exerting the players to the point of affecting their performance before the big kick-off in the Premier League.
Fans sacrificed their precious time and hard-earned money to support their favourite club all the same, and that is hugely commendable. If only these football fans could reserve a measure of that support for their own national team.
Edmund Khoo
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I CAN understand the disappointment registered in yesterday's report, "Not every fan is thrilled", by many Liverpool fans at the arrangements made for the club's recent visit to Singapore.
What left a sour taste in the mouth of supporters? The exorbitant ticket prices (with no concession for schoolchildren), limited access to the players at the various venues (only those with connections to the organisers and sponsors got near), admission to training sessions given to those with passes or special privileges (even though the National Stadium can hold 55,000 spectators), and the failure to have the strongest possible Liverpool line-up on the field at any one time during the game.
The star players were confined to brief moments on the field - no doubt to minimise their exposure to injury risks.
Having said that, I must commend the majority of Liverpool supporters here who continued their frenzied and unrelenting support of the club, in spite of the knowledge that the whole affair was so commercialised, designed to extract as much money as possible from loyal fans.
This tour was designed to build up the Liverpool brand in the region and fill the club's coffers, while at the same time, not over-exerting the players to the point of affecting their performance before the big kick-off in the Premier League.
Fans sacrificed their precious time and hard-earned money to support their favourite club all the same, and that is hugely commendable. If only these football fans could reserve a measure of that support for their own national team.
Edmund Khoo
