Reds celebrate Gladbach friendship
A party of Liverpool supporters recently returned from their ninth 'friendship visit' to Moenchengladbach, where a special relationship of more than 30 years was maintained.
Reds fans and their counterparts at Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach established strong links following the teams' meetings in European competition during the 1970s.
Since 1992, a group of Borussia supporters have travelled to Anfield every winter to support Liverpool, while Kopites, led by organiser Graham Agg, have journeyed in the opposite direction annually since 2007.
In 1991, a delegation of Gladbach fans flew to Merseyside to present a cheque for 21,000 Deutsche Marks to the Hillsborough families, a gesture that has never been forgotten.
It is a friendship that has stood the test of time, and is unique in world football.
The supporters watched Borussia's final game of the season and partied together, singing each other's club anthems.
Organiser Agg said: "I would like to thank Jonny Thomas Polcher and Thomas 'Tower' Weinmann from the BMG Fan Projekt for their help in organising the friendship visit.
"And also the fans of Borussia Moenchengladbach and the citizens of the town of Moenchengladbach for their unbelievable hospitality and friendship shown to the Liverpool fans during their stay.
"This year we were delighted to take 65 LFC supporters on the official visit and during the weekend in Gladbach, they are, of course, all acting as ambassadors for LFC and the city of Liverpool.
"We also had members of the ALSIN Holland LFC supporters club at the friendship weekend too and one LFC fan, Jan Hansen, came all the way from Denmark.
"I can confirm that their behaviour at all times was absolutely impeccable and every one of the supporters were a credit to the club and the city and for that I would like to thank them all and hope to see them all back in Gladbach next year."
The next LFC supporters friendship visit to Moenchengladbach will be in spring 2016 and any fans interested in joining this annual event should contact Graham via email on grahamlfc@aol.com.