You may have heard of Liverpool FC’s namesake in Uruguay. What you might not know, though, is the clubs share far more in common than just a name.
There is no official link between our Liverpool and the Reds’ counterparts over the Atlantic.
There are no players who have played for both clubs and no directors who have changed allegiances. The two teams don’t even share the same colours.
So why then are there a group of supporters keeping the link live between two clubs called Liverpool FC?
Who are Liverpool (Montevideo) and how did they get their name?
Liverpool play in the Uruguayan top flight and in 2023 won their first-ever Primera Division title, beating out giants like Nacional and Penarol.
The Estadio Belvadere is their home. Like much of Montevideo, the surrounding area is working class, and the 8,000-capacity ground acts as a community hub.
As a port populated by passionate, seafaring people, Uruguay’s capital shares similarities to Merseyside.
Liverpool (Montevideo) got their name from the transatlantic trade that took place in the late 19th century.
The club’s official history notes that it was a man named Jose Freire who picked Liverpool when looking over a map of the British Isles.
Coal ships would frequently arrive in Uruguay and with them, an English influence that would lead to the naming of Liverpool Futbol Club and Montevideo Wanderers, named after Bolton Wanderers.
Like the city of Liverpool, the two Montevideo clubs would even groundshare before Wanderers moved away from the Belvedere.
Aside from hosting Liverpool, the stadium is also famous for being the first place the Uruguayan national team wore their prominent light blue shirts. One wall of the ground reads, ‘Here, Uruguayan football was born’.
At another end of the stadium hangs a banner stating, ‘Nunca caminaras solo’, the Spanish for ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. Another reads, ‘You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one’, a line from John Lennon’s Imagine.
Officially founded in 1915, 23 years after the establishment of our team, Liverpool Futbol Club’s next century would take them on a very different path.
An unofficial connection
Though there exists no official link between the clubs, supporters have worked to forge a relationship across the ocean.
Supporter Juan Verdier said: “There was a connection via Spirit of Shankly.
“We made contact in 2020, before COVID, with Spirit of Shankly, and we ended up in really good contact. It was the beginning of 2020 so a few months later, COVID broke, and Liverpool Futbol Club in Uruguay organised a food bank for those who need.
“And Spirit of Shankly, when they learned about this, they sent money to the Belvedere with our food bank.
“When Liverpool were playing in Anfield with no fans but all the flags on the Kop, they put one Uruguayan Liverpool flag on the Kop.”
Verdier went on to explain how there have been visits by both sets of fans have been welcomed to the other’s home.
“Mono (Stephen Monaghan) and a few more friends came from Liverpool to Uruguay, we received them in Uruguay.
“We also had the pleasure to receive Transalpino in Belvedere, so we have a connection with the fans but now with the club.”
Liverpool in Uruguay & Luis Suarez’s influence
The Reds are a global club. Their footballing success has attracted millions to the team, but it is the folklore surrounding the club that makes them stay.
“Growing up, it always was Liverpool,” Verdier continued.
“The Premier League is very popular here in Uruguay. The thing that changed my life with Liverpool was Suarez.
“When Suarez signed for Liverpool, I started following Liverpool massively and then because of that, I started learning about the community, the city, the people, things that exceeded what was only Liverpool Football Club.
“And I really liked it, really loved it, so Suarez left to Barcelona and I kept supporting Liverpool. So yeah, I support both Liverpools proudly.”
For a country with a population less than half that of Greater London, Uruguay does exceedingly well on the international stage.
They have four players currently playing in the Premier League, including Darwin Nunez, and 10 in La Liga. Then, of course, are the two World Cups and 15 Copa America titles to their name.
“Uruguay people follow our fellow countrymen especially European league teams,” Verdier continued.
“But I think that no team ever from Europe has been followed so massively like Liverpool when Suarez was playing.
“Suarez then moved to Barcelona or now we have (Federico) Valverde at Real Madrid, (Manuel) Ugarte up north etc, but Suarez at Liverpool was massively the most followed team by a Uruguayan.
“Uruguayans, we put alarms at 7am, 8am. People changed cable operators just to be able to watch Liverpool games.”
After a lifetime of watching his own Liverpool underachieve for the most part, it seems apt now for Verdier that both his teams now sit top of their respective leagues.
Should that remain the case until the end of the season, the celebrations will be feverish and a nod to to our brothers’ success should be shared.
