Braga v Liverpool

[Karl]

I moved to Braga exactly 8 years ago from Ireland. I was a Liverpool fan and still follow their matches but nowadays only on TV. I remember all the greats from the 80's mainly(Dalglish, Souness, Barnes, Rush, Whelan, Grobbelaer and my personal hero John Wark amonst others) If I were to mention all the fantastic players that I have seen playing for Liverpool I would be here all day. I suffered through Heysel and Hillsborough like most Liverpool fans but obviously not in the same context as those who lost family and loved ones. I remember the Kop and the buzz the players got from the swayng crowds and the hairs sticking up on the back of my next as "You'll never Walk Alone" was sung. The hardest defeat was against Arsenal in 89 on the last day of the season. I'll never forget it. Those are just some of my memories from a time gone by.

For any Liverpool fans that come to the website I just want to give you a little something of my own personal experience supporting Braga.

The current President started his job 4 days after I arrived in Portugal exactly 8 years to the day of our game against Lech Poznan. When I arrived here first Braga were rubbish and struggling to avoid relegation. They won only 1 of their last 14 games in 2003. The folowing season they finished 5th and got into Europe and have now qualified for Europe 7 seasons in a row culminating in our first Champions League appearance this season. Braga do not have a huge fanbase. Generally between 12-15,000 a week. Portugal is unusual int he fact that it has always been dominated by three teams and only recently Braga have started to push into this group. It has happened throught the wheeling and dealing of the President and his tight financial budgets and his expertise in selling players at the right time. Braga are one (if not the only one)) of the most financially stable clubs in Portugal. Whereas the likes of Porto Benfica and Sporting have huge debts Braga do not have any. They tend to lead suicidal lifes hoping that transfers that are not financially viable pay off and that they make a financially killing in the transfer markets. Braga record signing is a mere 700,000 euros which is probably an amazing statistic to an ordinary football fan coming from England. Braga made 11.5 million from the Champions League this season which is by far our biggest amount of winning by a long reach. Up until a couple of years ago the annual turnover was about 4 million to balance the books. It is currently about 11 million.

The people that support Braga have become a second family to me. Although we dont have a lot of fans we have loyal fans that will give everything until the last minute of every game. When we got thrashed 6-0 against Arsenal in our Group Stages debut the Arsenal fans applauded our supporters for the fact  that we didnt stop singing for the whole 90 minutes. A few years ago when we played Tottenham we were voted one of the top teams in Europe for our support. A couple of years ago I was asked to write a column for a local newspaper which I have been doing every two weeks ever since. It was an honour to be asked and it continues to be a pleasure(especially as a foreigner) to give my views on our team and I get to write about and say exactly what I like. Im just happy that Portugal does not have  a suing culture. Im sure most of my articles would be unprintable in England.

The people of Braga are very calm and peaceful people althogut they get pretty heated during the games. It is very very rare to have any problems in the stadium. Normally the games are well controlled although I would like to point out to travelling Liverpool fans that the Police do not as you to do things. It is generally a hit first ask questions later policy which even with our own supporters does not go down well. This happens a lot when we have been travelling. Women Children and older supporters are not exempt. Brutality is the only thing they know at times but there are a lot of them that are decent and will warn you if they think you are stepping out of line.

Eating out in Braga is very cheap. You can eat anywhere from cafes to top quality restaurants and even the most pricey restaurants will not cost you a lot.

If anyone wants any advice about Braga jsut post it here or send me a Private message. We'll be hoping that we can meet you all in the centre on the 9th and 10th of March for a few beers to celebrate our first match against each other. The fans are really good to mix with. There is absolutely no trouble going to happen as most Braga fans are laid back and relaxed. One last thing. Try book a hotel or hostel in Braga. Getting to and from Porto can be a problem after the game. The train system is very good and leaving Braga the day after the gaem is much easier. Also Braga is much cheaper than Porto and you wont be ripped off like you will in Porto.

Karl

[Karl]

I also have a blog. Its a mixture of Portuguese and English but for the next few weeks it will solely be in English.

PLANET BRAGA
www.wordpress.snowballjoyrider.com

[Maria]

And... the atmosphere will be here and not in Porto!
(Well done Karl)

[mindhunter]

Rubbish?Karl search a little bit about our history...

Braga is a bigger club right now, no doubt about it, but before we weren't that bad.

[1]

And... the atmosphere will be here and not in Porto!
(Well done Karl)

I never understood why some foreign fans stay in Porto. Braga is much, much cheaper and is 10 times more beautifull  

And in Porto the women don't have all their teeth.

@mindhunter: Karl is a Braga fan and he know a lot about Braga.

[aurelio II]

Karl's information is very helpful and is indeed what I think of Braga.

He just forgot to say that we have great beer!

Cheers! Come to Braga and drink some together!

[Karl]

Rubbish?Karl search a little bit about our history...

Braga is a bigger club right now, no doubt about it, but before we weren't that bad.

Obviously you didnt understand the phrase completely.
" When I arrived here first Braga were rubbish and struggling to avoid relegation. They won only 1 of their last 14 games in 2003."


So what I actually said was quite true. When I arrived, Febraury 2003, they were rubbish and only won 1 of their last 14 games which was against Nacional 4-1 in a packed stadium on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

I never mentioned Braga's history. Had I done so it would have been in comparison to the last 8 years because obviously I was not around prior to this.

[4GIVME]

No doubt when Karl arrived we were struggleing but i believe we finished 4th the year before or the year prior to that. Still well written Karl. As i live in Australia my taste of Football in Braga has been rare. I had the pleasure of being their in 2009 to see our new stadium AXA. Prior to that i saw Braga play at their old stadium in 2001. That was an 8yr Gap. I hope to go back sometime next yr so i can actually make a lil use of my Membership with the club lol.

What i would give to be able to see my Boys play week in week out in person instead of a lil screen on my laptop.

[Slick_Beef]

Liverpool fan here. I live in Portugal but have never been to the North, so don't know a lot about Braga. That was a good read, thanks for sharing!

[DiogoEA]

Liverpool fan here. I live in Portugal but have never been to the North, so don't know a lot about Braga. That was a good read, thanks for sharing!

If you have never been in Braga, you have never been in the real Portugal.

[Tuga2006]

Karl you realy talk good inglish  
good one KARL, WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU

[rvx]

Karl you realy talk good inglish  
good one KARL, WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU

He is british, i think  .

[1]

Karl you realy talk good inglish  
good one KARL, WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU

He is british, i think  .

Irish.

Karl we will meet in Dublin in May.

[rvx]

Karl you realy talk good inglish  
good one KARL, WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU

He is british, i think  .

Irish.

Karl we will meet in Dublin in May.

Irish is british, if i'm not mistaken.

[1]

Karl you realy talk good inglish  
good one KARL, WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU

He is british, i think  .

Irish.

Karl we will meet in Dublin in May.

Irish is british, if i'm not mistaken.

Isso é um grande insulto para os Irlandeses.

Pesquisa great Britain na wikipedia.

[rvx]

Karl you realy talk good inglish  
good one KARL, WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU

He is british, i think  .

Irish.

Karl we will meet in Dublin in May.

Irish is british, if i'm not mistaken.

Isso é um grande insulto para os Irlandeses.

Pesquisa great Britain na wikipedia.

Yes, you're right. I was confusing Republic of Ireland with Scotland.

[Karl]

He says a few good things here.

1. Liverpool would have settled for a change of ownership this season instead of a cup. It's true this but you can still see the disappointment of going out of Europe even when the team is playing badly. It's the sign of a truely big club that they not only wanted to win the game but also win the Europa League.
2. He says that Braga played a good game even though it was a crap game. Both games were crap. I agree. But as a Braga fan thats what we haveto do with clubs that have budgets that areenormous compared to us. WE haveto fight for every single ball. We cnat expect to play beautiful football against these teams. we have to play tigh and hope for a goal. nthe first game we played great foth first 20 minutes. We got thegoa. From there on in it s case of stopping Liverpool score. Both teams had chances. Its normal in tese typs of games and we were lucky Kaka didnt se red at home.
3. Not the easiest video for Portuguese people to understand but these video blogs show the true passion of the fns for their club. If I had the ability to do one of these videos I would. If anybody has the know how and would like to try send me a Private message.



The Redmen: Braga Knock out Liverpool- LFC Fan Reactions (Uncensored)