A Liverpool fan has been dubbed the unluckiest supporter in the UK after his team failed to win every Premier League match he watched this season – with data proving the curse
A football-obsessed lad has been labelled the sport’s unluckiest supporter after his team failed to get a win in every Premier League match he watched this year. Liverpool supporter Tommy McAllister sat through all six draws and defeats, while Liverpool managed to triumph in just four of the 10 Premier League fixtures played since Christmas – the only ones he didn’t watch.
The 30 year old letting agent from Moreton, Merseyside, is so ‘jinxed’ his mates have tried to stop him watching matches. Meanwhile, it has become such a recurring theme that his Everton-supporting friends now urge him to watch games, convinced it guarantees their local rivals will lose.
McAllister watched Liverpool lose 2-1 to Wolves, only for them to claim a 3-1 victory 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 achieved a 4-0 win against Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League match.
The lifelong Liverpool fan was identified as football’s unluckiest fan after Xbox teamed up with leading sports data analysts Opta to develop a new metric – xJ (expected jinx), designed to measure the impact fans may have on match results.
Created with Opta’s director of analytics Jonny Whitmore, and powered by live win probability data, the model examines how and when fans watch games to establish whether their presence correlates with positive or negative outcomes.
Nearly 10,000 fans completed the xJ tra Tommy, who came out with the highest score to earn him the title of 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 break the curse, Tommy has splashed out hundreds of pounds on multiple team shirts – now wearing his seventh of the season – one of which even included the goalkeeper strip.
He’s also experimented with some elaborate matchday superstitions, including watching the match from a different room or seat and even standing up when Liverpool take a corner.
Yet his mates have pinned Tommy as the reason for Liverpool’s dismal form, flooding the group chats with messages like “Tommy must be watching” when Liverpool concede, or “turn the telly off Tommy!” when things go pear-shaped.
What’s more, it appears his bad luck has also crept into 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.”
However, he’s managing to maintain his sense of humour about the situation. He said: “I’ve just got to laugh about it.”
Tommy will now give up watching matches in an extraordinary display of devotion to Liverpool FC – opting to play on an Xbox instead, hoping it might improve his team’s fortunes.
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.”
