A Liverpool supporter has been named the unluckiest fan in football after a statistical analysis revealed his team have failed to win a single Premier League match he watched this year. Tommy McAllister, a 30-year-old letting agent from Moreton, Merseyside, sat through all six draws and defeats in the league since Christmas, while the Reds won the four games he missed.
McAllister's misfortune extends beyond this season. He was absent when Liverpool staged a famous 4-0 victory over Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League semi-final, and watched them lose 2-1 to Wolves only for the same fixture days later to end in a 3-1 win when he could not tune in. His friends now try to stop him watching games, while Everton-supporting pals urge him to view matches in the hope of securing a derby victory.
His jinx was quantified using a new metric—xJ (expected jinx)—developed by Xbox and Opta, the sports data analysts. Analysing nearly 10,000 fans, the model measured how and when they watch matches to assess their correlation with team results. McAllister scored highest, earning the unwanted title.
McAllister has tried everything to break the curse, from wearing multiple team shirts—he is now on his seventh, including a goalkeeper strip—to watching from different rooms and standing up during corners. Despite these efforts, his matchday superstitions have failed. His bad luck has even spilled into personal life, with his favourite restaurants in Liverpool closing down one by one.
In an extraordinary act of devotion, he has now given up watching matches altogether, choosing to play on an Xbox instead. Xbox senior global product manager Mohan Gehlot 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.'
