Northeast India's unique way of celebrating their club's victory

For Duyu Nobin and his friends, each time Liverpool FC plays in any league anywhere in the world, it’s a big day for them. They would pray and watch the match together in the Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar. Any victory would be followed by celebrations and this time when the Reds won the Champions Trophy for the sixth time on June 1 in Madrid, they decided to celebrate the victory in a different way. The die-hard fans of Jürgen Klopp’s team, united by their love for the Reds and their WhatsApp group – ‘Arunachal Kopites’, carried out a charity drive for an orphanage in a way to celebrate the victory.

“We are happy at the victory of our team and wanted to celebrate it in a noble way. We can't really do much since we are not funded by anyone and are a small group so we did whatever little we could,” Nobin, a group member, told The Bridge. European clubs, especially the English clubs have a great fan following in northeast India. Northeast and football have a different and unique connection. They have contributed 100kg of rice, 50kg of potatoes, 30kg of dal, 10kg sugar, tea packets, umbrellas, buckets, sanitary pads, notebooks, pencils and geometry boxes. Apart from that badminton racquets, ludo sets and carrom boards, footballs and chess sets among others were given to the girls of the orphanage -- Jeevan Jyoti Children Home at Nirjuli in Papum Pare district of the state.

“Currently we are around 18 of us. We used to show up at match screenings at pubs in Itanagar wearing our jerseys and fans of other clubs would ridicule us for our support and would often remind us of how the club hasn't won the league in so many years. Banter is common among rival fans so these things happen,” said Ranju Dodum, another member of the group. They are now praying for the Premier League for their club. “It was a small thing. We aren't a big group, and most of us are already in our 30s who've been supporting Liverpool when the team wasn't winning any major trophies. Someone like Steven Gerrard, who was an influential and talismanic figure in the club, always had a ‘never say die’ attitude. That attitude was also on display during the second leg of the champions league match with Barcelona this season,” added Ranju. 'Mizo Chelsea Supporters’ Club (MCSC), a die-hard fan club of Chelsea FC celebrated by donating blood earlier this month.