FeatureRoss Young's story: Liverpool obsession, combining his passions and a 'surreal' visit
“It developed to becoming a fan of Liverpool, now to being obsessed with Liverpool. Everything is Liverpool – Liverpool or nothing, that is basically the bottom line for me.”
Ross Young’s words will surely resonate with many of the people listening to his story.
He is a lifelong supporter of the Reds whose first vivid memory of fandom revolves around the historic events of Istanbul in May 2005.
Today, from his home in South Wales, Ross travels to every Premier League game at Anfield, where he combines two of his passions: Liverpool FC and photography.
He does so despite being affected by Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, a rare congenital vascular condition that primarily impacts the use of his left leg and means he is a wheelchair user.
Positioned in the Main Stand, Ross cherishes the opportunity to capture the Reds in action for both professional and personal reasons.
“Being able to capture these critical moments, certain goals… seeing fans celebrate, stuff you can look back on in time,” he explains, of what his visits to L4 mean to him.
“There is going to be a day where my health will stop me from coming to Anfield, I understand that. So, my camera is just capturing those memories for me to look back on with my kids, with my daughters, who will know, ‘Dad was here for this.’”
Recently, Ross was invited to the AXA Training Centre, where he was greeted by Arne Slot.
“It’s quite surreal that I’m showing you these photos!” he says, after the boss asks to see his work.
Later, Ross was pitchside for Liverpool’s training session and enjoyed a surprise meeting with Florian Wirtz, his favourite player.
See more about Ross’ story and his day at the AXA Training Centre in the video above.