When entering Premium Sports Bar in Westridge, Cape Town, early on Liverpool matchdays, chances are you’ll walk into a living legend, Gregory Maxwell.
He is usually one of the first members of the Official Liverpool Supporters Club in Cape Town to arrive.
Maxi, as he is known, is described as the “loudest, rowdiest, liveliest and the earliest” local Liverpool fan and an “awesome, awesome character, known and loved by everyone”.
An iconic Liverpool-Portland FC player in his heyday, some of the matches he played in for the Mitchells Plain club were actually screened on TV 1 back in the day.
As time passes, the Reds army starts to arrive. One by one, then in twos and threes, they begin filtering through the doors. Red scarves emerge. Liverpool shirts appear.
Familiar faces exchange hugs and handshakes. There is laughter, teasing and the easy intimacy of people who have shared hundreds of football afternoons and evenings together.
It won’t be long before the unofficial “conductor” of the Anfield Roar, Alvin Pitts, starts leading the choir in fan chants “to build the gees”.
Interestingly, the Cape Town supporters sing the same songs and chants as the fans at Anfield, thanks to an app designed by an American company that gives Liverpool supporters around the world access to the club’s chants.
Their global connection extends beyond the songs, too, with a WhatsApp group bringing fans from different corners of the world together to share in their passion for the Reds.
Three-and-a-half minutes before kick-off, things get serious.
That’s when the volume is turned to the max and the fans belt out You’ll Never Walk Alone - a tradition that dare not be broken.
For those three minutes, the stage at Premium Sports Bar, usually off-limits, belong to Liverpool fans. This is their time to sing for their team - their time to take centre stage.
And for a few moments, Westridge feels a little like Anfield.
Over the last 13 years, since 2013, the Official Liverpool Supporters Club in Cape Town has created a family of fans - a family of friends who not only get together on matchdays and involve their families in events, but also support charities and give back to the community.
It started when a childhood hero lived up to his tag.
The year was 1987 when a young Neil Ruiters watched Liverpool play with his dad.
He recalls John Barnes playing his first match, with his father telling him to ‘watch this guy’.
Ruiters enjoyed what he saw, and a love affair with Liverpool began.
Fast-forward 26 years and Ruiters recalls meeting Barnes for the first time in Cape Town.
“I was awe-struck. We were at a fundraising luncheon at Kelvin Grove and we sat there listening to John speak. Later on, we went around to his table, and it’s actually that chat between John and I that initially kickstarted and sparked the idea of an official Liverpool supporters club.
“John actually put his name and approval on that, so when we submitted and tendered our application, they said ‘listen we’ve received John’s recommendation for the supporters club and we are definitely going to let you start the club’. That was back in 2013…
“We are still in contact to this day.”
Ruiters is now the chairperson of the club and speaks with great passion and insight about his beloved Liverpool.
And while they head into today’s 5.30pm Premier League season-opener against Newcastle as favourites, Ruiters understands the intricacies of the team adapting to a new system under new coach Andoni Iraola. For that reason, he “would like to see Liverpool get a top-four spot”.
Roughly 33 kilometres down the N2 from Premium Sports Bar, where Ruiters and his fellow Liverpool fans will hold their annual general meeting (AGM) before kick-off, another football army will gather.
This time, the colours will be black and white.
The Toon Army will descend on Forrester’s Arms in Cape Town, where Grant de Sousa will lead the charge.
De Sousa is chairman of Toon Fans South Africa, Newcastle’s official supporters club in SA, and has been a Magpies fan since before the Alan Shearer era.
De Sousa reckons you measure the years supporting Newcastle in dog years, joking that “you multiply them by seven”.
Toon Fans South Africa has been operating since 2012, but was only officially recognised last season.
While the official group is still in its infancy, it has two bases: Forrester’s Arms in Cape Town and Urban Sport Xperience in Olivedale, Randburg, Johannesburg.
While the official supporters club is still fairly ‘young’, the fans have got their house in order for the new season. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the team, who finished 12th last term and have endured a turbulent off-season.
Coach Eddie Howe left the club at the end of July, while several key players have also departed.
For De Sousa, the loss of Alexander Isak to today’s opponents Liverpool last season started the downward spiral.
“It’s been tough, coming off the back of last season after losing Alexander Isak [to Liverpool], it has actually been a downward spiral since then.
“It hasn’t been a great off-season for us. We’ve essentially lost our spine in more ways than one. We lost our captain [Bruno Guimaraes] which is a disaster, then [Sandro] Tonali who is a great player, but we got a decent figure for him, so I wasn’t that upset about Tonali [leaving] to be honest.
“And then [Anthony] Gordon, who goes with our blessing because he goes to Barcelona. To be honest if we had to lose our captain, I was hoping it would be to Real Madrid or Barcelona, but to lose him to Arsenal is devastating, I can’t stand to watch him in a red shirt, I don’t know what it is.
“But to replace the calibre of player we’ve lost is not easy and unfortunately we’re in a system which is a little bit unfair on clubs outside the legacy clubs…”
Yet, amid the uncertainty, there is excitement.
De Sousa and the Toon Army are looking forward to seeing what new, young coach Matthias Jaissle, 38, can bring to the club.
De Sousa also wants more signings before the season begins and does not believe Newcastle are finished in the transfer market.
If things stay as they are and the club does not bring in more players, he says he would be happy simply to avoid relegation.
But whatever happens on the pitch, the Toon Army will stick with their team through thick and thin.
“Black and white run through our veins - even during our time in the Championship we had sold-out stadiums,” he said of their loyal fanbase
And perhaps that is the common thread running through both sets of supporters.
The players change. Managers come and go. Seasons bring heartbreak and hope.
But the supporters remain.
Ruiters and his fellow Liverpool fans will gather at Premium Sports Bar, where they will sing, chant and roar their team on.
Across the city, the Toon Army will do much the same.
Two clubs. Two colours. Two very different expectations.
But one shared belief that, when the whistle blows, anything can happen.
De Sousa is taking it one step at a time.
There is, however, one thing he knows for certain: “As long as we beat Liverpool, I’m happy.”