Football's 'unluckiest fan' named as Liverpool never win when he watches
Tommy McAllister has been named football's unluckiest supporter after his team failed to win any of the Premier League matches he watched this year
A football-mad supporter has been dubbed the sport's most cursed fan after his team failed to secure victory in every Premier League fixture he attended this year. Liverpool devotee Tommy McAllister watched his team in all six draws and losses, but missed out when Liverpool managed to win the four of the 10 Premier League games since Christmas.
The 30 year old letting agent from Moreton, Merseyside, is so 'cursed' his mates have attempted to prevent him watching matches. Meanwhile, it has become such a familiar pattern that his Everton-supporting friends now encourage him to watch games, believing it ensures their local rivals will drop points.
McAllister witnessed Liverpool fall 2-1 to Wolves, only for them to secure a 3-1 triumph in the same fixture days later when he missed the game. And turns out, his misfortune isn't just limited to this season. He was absent when Liverpool miraculously secured a 4-0 victory against Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League clash.
The devoted Liverpool supporter was named football's most jinxed fan after Xbox collaborated with prominent sports data specialists Opta to develop a novel metric - xJ (expected jinx), created to measure the influence supporters may have on match results.
Developed with Opta's director of analytics Jonny Whitmore, and powered by live win probability data, the model analyses how and when fans watch games to determine whether their presence correlates with positive or negative results.
Nearly 10,000 supporters completed the xJ tracker, by providing their matchday viewing information, with a higher score identifying those having the statistically most 'jinxed' effect on their side.
Tommy, who recorded the highest score to secure him the title of the 'unluckiest' fan, said: "I've been a Liverpool fan for as long as I can remember, so it's hard to think that I am jinxing my favourite team and may be behind the reason for their slump this season.
"But the stats don't lie and it seems I really am that unlucky. We all want to see our team win when we watch them but it looks like I'm better off avoiding all games, and perhaps Liverpool will then turn it around.
"Even my Liverpool-supporting mates are trying to talk me out of watching games in the hope that it will guarantee a win."
In an attempt to overcome the curse, Tommy has spent hundreds of pounds on multiple different shirts - now sporting his seventh of the season - one of which even featured the goalkeeper kit.
He has also attempted some elaborate match day rituals, including watching the match from a different room or seat and even standing up when Liverpool take a corner. However, his mates have held Tommy responsible for Liverpool's dismal form, flooding the group chats with messages such as "Tommy must be watching" when Liverpool concede, or "turn the telly off Tommy!" when things go wrong.
Yet it appears his bad luck has also infiltrated his personal life. "I live in Merseyside and love trying new places with my wife, but I seem to have a knack for picking favourites in Liverpool that end up closing down," he said.
"My go to spot in school was Yum's on Bold Street, which closed around 2015. I finally found a replacement in City Buffet on Hanover Street, which then closed in 2022, while other favourites on the same road followed the same fate: Yard & Coop (closed 2022) and Red's True Barbecue (closed 2019). "It's become such a running joke that I'm now scared to call any restaurant my "favourite" in case I doom it."
But at least he can see the amusing side of it: He said: "I've just got to laugh about it." Now, Tommy will surrender his ability to watch the matches in a display of extraordinary commitment to Liverpool FC – opting to play on an Xbox instead, in the hope it will benefit his team's results.
Mohan Gehlot, Xbox senior global product manager, said: "Tommy's new title as the UK's unluckiest fan is a heavy load to carry, but we're sure Liverpool supporters around the world are thankful for his sacrifice.
"We're just glad we can improve Tommy's new matchday experience by rewarding him with an Xbox console and EA FC 26. We hope he'll have better luck playing as Liverpool than he does watching them."
