A brief history:
- Pak Reds started off in Pakistan in 2010 as “Liverpool Pakistan Fan Club”
- Initially it was just a small group of 10-15 people who interacted with each other on a facebook group and got together for screenings of matches
- Later, the co-founders Nausherwan Effandi and Raheel Ahmed decided to promote it on a larger scale and began advertising in schools and colleges in order to attract Liverpool supporters and bring them together
- The facebook page Pak Reds was then created, https://www.facebook.com/PakReds which enabled the founders to interact with more Liverpool supporters across Pakistan
LIVERPOOL boast a massive global fanbase. Their pre-season tours to the likes of Thailand and Malaysia highlights the huge passion for the club that exists in the Far East. However, less well known is the support they enjoy in Pakistan. News that Manchester United have signed a sponsorship deal with a mobile network in Pakistan prompted Reds from the country to get in touch this week.
The popularity of Premier League football is rocketing in Pakistan as interest in cricket wanes on the back of match-fixing allegations.Liverpool Pakistan Fan Club was launched last year and started off with around 15 members who met up weekly to watch matches. Co-founders Nausherwan Effandi and Raheel Ahmed then decided to promote it on a larger scale and it has blossomed.
The Pak Reds Facebook site now boasts around 1,500 members and screenings of matches are held in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.
As well as getting together to watch Kenny Dalglish’s men in action, they have also started up their own team who play matches at an Anfield themed ground in Lahore. Self-financed and self-managed, Pak Reds is the first supporters club of its kind in Pakistan. Pak Reds president Effandi said: “We aim to bring Liverpool culture to Pakistan in the sense that not only do we want to promote Liverpool as a team, we hope that the supporters embody the true ethos of being a Liverpool fan.”
Pak Reds are hoping to secure backing from Anfield and soon be recognised as an official supporters club.
We at FootballPakistan.Com really appreciate any work on the promotion for football in Pakistan. So all the best Pak Reds!