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Liverpool’s visit to Melbourne two years ago “flabbergasted” the English Premier League side and helped change the way overseas clubs viewed the Australian market.
Liverpool’s commercial director Olly Dale believes their match at a sold-out MCG in 2013 made some of the world’s biggest clubs take notice of Australia and its thirst for top-level football.
Big clubs from Europe and South America have long visited these shores but an unprecedented off-season looms with Liverpool, Real Madrid, Manchester City and AS Roma all coming in July.
Dale believes Liverpool’s clash with Melbourne Victory in front of 100,000 fans – days after the inaugural A-League All-Stars match against Manchester United – is partly responsible for the new wave of interest from abroad.
“We took our lead from the people in Melbourne who knew the events marketplace well,” said Dale, who is in Australia to help promote Liverpool’s upcoming friendlies in Brisbane and Adelaide.
“Their expectations were that we would sell between 50,000 and 70,000 seats.
“They were pretty flabbergasted when 100,000 tickets melted off the screen in a matter of hours.”
Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler said the club still talks about the MCG game and the spine-tingling pre-match rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, which has since amassed more than 3 million views on YouTube.
“That’s not a cliched answer, we actually do talk about it,” Fowler said.
“It was unproven territory if you like. We’d never been here before as a club, but I think the decision to come here was vindicated.”
In the same week as Liverpool’s two games in July, Real Madrid, Manchester City and AS Roma will all compete for the International Champions Cup in Melbourne.
“This is a country that’s steeped in history and heritage in the sport and likes to see the best,” Dale said.
“You’re now seeing the best teams come here.”
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