This Is Anfield’s Joanna Durkan grew up watching Liverpool from the other side of the world, and now has the best job in the world. This is her Liverpool Life.I started supporting Liverpool because…The origins of my story don’t trace back to my grandparents or my parents, but rather a love for two players in particular, Michael Owen (I know) and Steven Gerrard.I lived abroad for the majority of my childhood and so my influences came from watching international football (the Hong Kong timezone wasn’t kind to a child), and those two happened to play for Liverpool.It stuck and as far back as the age of six/seven, I can remember letting everyone know I was a Liverpool supporter, proudly not following my brother’s footsteps, for once, as he follows that other red team.And little did I know that my love for two players would see the club be the focus of my job! My first game was…Liverpool 4-0 Fulham, December 2012; Gerrard and Suarez scored and that made my day.I was back in England after graduating high school and I’ll always remember stalking the ticket page for the general sale details months before. General sale, remember those days!And I can still remember the feeling when the tickets came through the post at my auntie’s house, and then that first walk to Anfield.My mum and I might have been at the back of the old Main Stand, but I couldn’t have cared less. It was a dream come true (please excuse the choice of headwear, I was used to Aussie weather!) If I could relive any game in Liverpool’s history, it would be…This is an easy one, Barcelona. Imagine if you could bottle up the feeling that match conjured!Having turned my mum into a Liverpool supporter, one who gets more nervous than me (which is quite the feat), it is a memory I will forever hold dear. It was a match and an occasion that had everything, even though I have to admit I more or less missed the corner goal as I went to put my water bottle down and my view was blocked.The disbelief in the ground is what sticks out, just so many emotions at once, as does watching people arrive back at their homes and be greeted by their shell-shocked families on the walk back to the car.Nothing can replicate that. I got involved with This Is Anfield…Just by taking a chance, really. I’d sat on an article I’d written for a while and finally plucked up the courage to send it over as the worst they could say was, ‘No’.Thankfully that was not the case, and it snowballed into freelance work while at uni and then a permanent job, which is still something I can’t get my head around some days.It’s a dream in every sense and I’ve had some incredible experiences because of it, from travelling to Scotland for a pre-season friendly, sitting in on Jurgen’s press conferences and being in the press box for men’s, women’s, academy and legends’ games.Jurgen also once mentioned that he has read one of my articles in a press conference in the US and that was pretty special!Perhaps not so glamorous when the team is struggling but I wouldn’t change it. No day is ever the same! My best story involving the Reds is…I was lucky enough to go to Melwood in 2019 and watch the players do their warm-up and then have pictures taken with Jurgen Klopp and the squad, this was days after that result at Everton.I was starstruck by Jurgen, he was taller than I expected and the process of getting the picture on my phone meant he become one of the few people to know the passcode to my phone.Then came the moment I wasn’t sure whether I was embarrassed by or not. After a picture with Sadio Mane, he gestured how my hand was clearly shaking during the attempt at the shot with a knowing smile. And there I’d thought I’d hidden it well!Unfortunately, my signed shirt from that day became a blur of signatures due to a humid room, but it’s a day I still can’t believe happened. If you could have dinner with three people from Liverpool’s history who would you choose and why…I would have to say Jurgen Klopp, Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly.The reason being is I love to listen, not that I’d be likely to get a word in! The stories those three could tell and share would be amazing, and you can bet none of them would hold back.