henever Luis Suarez scores a goal, at least 135 `official` Liverpool fans in Pakistan rise together in celebration. These are fans who call Anfield their home, relive the club`s past glories whenever they meet, and live, cat, drink and bleed red.

They are the Pak Reds, and while they`re a fraction of the English Premier League side`s desi supporters, they`re the only official fan club for the Merseyside club in Pakistan.

`It began as a Facebook page,` says Raheel Ahmed, one of Pak Reds` founders.

`We set up a page for Liverpool f ans of Pakistan, and slowly we grew from just a page to become the face of Liverpool in the country.

The Reds, as Liverpool are known, are one of English football`s most decorated clubs.

They might not have a fan following in Pakistan like Manchester United their eternal rivals who beat their 18league title record last May but still, when they come out, they come out in numbers.

As Raheel will tell you, Pak Reds have had great attendances when they screen Liverpool games. `We`ve had a lot of Liverpool fans turning up when we screen the big games,` he says. `There has been an overwhelming response and we want to make Liverpool the most supported football club in the country.

It all started in 2010, when Raheel and co-founder Nausherwan Effandi created the `Liverpool Pakistan Fan Club`, a Facebook group of just 10 to 15 Liverpool supporters who would meet up at matches and discuss the goings-on at Anfield, while they sat tight in Pakistan.

`We talked everything Liverpool, the bad times that had fallen on the club, and how it could be improved,` Raheel recalls.

It wasn`t long before Nausherwan and Raheel started promoting the group on a larger scale, going to schools and colleges in order to attract more Liverpool supporters and bring them together. Come 2011, they created Pak Reds.

`We decided to create a page so that we could interact further with Liverpool fans,` Raheel says.

In late 2011, a cellular network company signed a three-year promotion with United and formed their official supporters club here in Pakistan. If anything, it prompted the Pak Redsteam to make their fan club `official`. By the end of that year, they had already made their presence felt to Liverpool. An artiele about them was also published in the Liverpool Echo.

`This was something really big for us,` Raheel says.

`Getting noticed as a Liverpool fan club here opened thedoor for us to become official.

Next, Dr Zafar Iqbal, a first team doctor with Liverpool contacted the Pak Reds team. By then, they had also founded a website by the same name and ran an interview with Dr Zafar who brought them into Liverpool`s notice.

`Dr Zaf`ar contacting us was tremendously encouraging,` Raheel says. `It boosted us to the next level, and we were now pushing to be Liverpool`s off`icial fan club in Pakistan.

They also made a team of Liverpool fans and got an Anf`ield-themed ground in Lahore.

`We started training young players at our ground, our aim being to make Liverpool even more popular in the country, Raheel explains.

`The idea of promoting Liverpool among youngsters was to help them recognise what a great club it is. When these young people grow up, they will in turn bring in more supporters of the club.Their efforts bore fruits in February 2013, when Liverpool launched a Twitter account (@pakistanife) dedicated solely to tweets for fans of the club in Pakistan.

A day later, Liverpool announced that they had added Pak Reds to their worldwide network of officially recognised fan clubs and they got registered in the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce as a sports society.`It was a fabulous day for us when on Feb 6, 2013, they recognised us as their official fan club,` Raheel says. `Now we handle all the club activities for Pakistan with an official tag.

The response since has been overwhelming.

`Once Liverpool fans in Pakistan realised that we were the official supporters` club here, they started contacting us, Raheel adds. `We started a Pak Reds membership of Rsl,000 per annum and many people came forward to join us.

`To acquire official Liverpool membership, though, fans have to apply through us.

`At present we have 135 officially-registered Liverpool fans in Pakistan along with thousands others and in the years to come, there will be many more.

What next? For now, Raheel says Pak Reds will be focusing on bringing the Liverpool ethos to Pakistan.

`We want to bring the Liverpool culture to Pakistan,` he says. `We want to do community-building projects here, in line with what Liverpool are famous for.As a first step, in December last year, they held their first community-building event in Karachi in collaboration with noted NGO, The Citizens Foundation. The event saw 100 under-privileged children from Korangi and Mauripur being educated about the football traditions of Liverpool.

`Our aim is to inspire them with the Liverpool spirit, Raheel says. `These projects are about community, health, education, family and friends.

They plan to do more. `With such initiatives, Liverpool`s fan base will only grow here and we`ll be getting closer to our goal of making this Pakistan`s most-adored club.

The way the Pak Reds are going, expect a big cheer here in Pakistan if Liverpool finish in the Premier League top-four and secure Champions League football for next season. E Write to us at dawn.sportsweekly@gmail.comKop facts O ne of English football`s most successful clubs, Liverpool is enjoying a tremendous season in the Premier League as they seek to recover from a few struggling years. Their 5-1 victory against Arsenal at Anfield last Saturday helped them close in on Champions League football for next season, having failed to feature in Europe`s elite competition over the last few years. The 18-time English champions are also Britain`s most successful club in Europe, winning the Champions League/European Cup five times and the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) thrice in their history.

Having struggled for consistency since the departure of Rafa Benitez, who helped them win their last Champions League title in 2005, Liverpool are now flourishing under Brendan Rodgers. Their victory over Arsenal helped them strengthen their hold on fourth place with 50 points, six behind league leaders Chelsea. It has been 24 years since they last won the league title but their fans remain and grow by the day as they won`t let Liverpool `walk alone Current star: Luis Suarez Suarez has been the catalyst for Liverpool`s revival this season.

The Uruguayan has been in sensational form for the Reds, plundering goals left, right and centre, with his partnership with England intemational DanielSturridge blossoming into one of the most-fean d strike forces in Europe.

This season has represented a water-shed year for the former Ajax striker who has scored 23 goals and could end up as Premier League`s top scorer, come the end of the season. His return is even more impressive considering he was banned for a first few games of the season for a freak bite on Chelsea`s Branislav Ivanovic last season, that saw him being handed a 10-game suspension. Luckily for Liverpool, though, that side of his game has gone missing this season and he is expected to be one of the top performers at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil for Uruguay.

Club legend: Steven Gerrard Gerrard is the personification of all things Liverpool. A oneclub man, he is considered the finest player to have graced Anfield. The 33-year-old midfielder was voted No.1 in a Liverpoolfan poll named `l00 Players who shook the K.op` last year.

Wearing the captain`s arm-band, Gerrard`s greatest moment with the club was arguably their victory in the 2005 Champions League final. Then, 3-0 down against AC Milan at half-time, Gerrard inspired an explosive fight back that saw the Reds prevail on penalties in a match which went down in Liverpool`s history as the `Miracle of Istanbul`. Liverpool`s top scorer in European competitions, the England captain`s sheer power and technical ability has been the hallmark of his career, which has seen him crowned Europe`s top footballer in 2005. It was on Gerrard`s persuasion that Suarez stayed in Anfield this season; and while Suarez`s future may be the discussion of debate after the season draws to a close, you could bet your life on Gerrard retiring at Anfield. E U.W.