A kitchen porter who moved to Liverpool to watch his beloved football team play is celebrating 22 years working at a city hotel.
Liverpool-mad Erwan Hamon first fell in love with the city in 1989 when he came to watch Liverpool play at Anfield.
By 1995 he completed his transfer from Brittany in France and started working as a room attendant at the Campanile Hotel Liverpool in August of that year.
Now 47, his job has given him the opportunity to follow the Reds for more than 20 years, attending nearly every home game and following the team in Europe.
He even went to Istanbul for the magical 2005 Champions League final.
After 22 years, Erwan has started a family and built a life in the city and has no plans to leave any time soon.
Erwan said: “I remember when I first came to Liverpool in 1989 and I loved it. Liverpool had always been my favourite football team and I would come to Anfield once or twice a year to see them play.
“Of course I wanted to see more games, and when I met a girl when I was over here one year I decided to finally make the permanent move.
“After asking around for jobs I was given a chance here at the Campanile and 22 years later I’m still here. They have been really good to me down the years.
“The job has worked out perfectly for me, I work on the split shift, which means on Saturday afternoons I can go to the games at Anfield and my days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, which works out well with being back in the Champions League next season!”
Over the past 22 years, Erwan has had the chance to meet his footballing heroes with his job and even met his partner, Magdalena Iskierski, at the hotel.
“Only a couple of weeks ago Phillipe Coutinho came in, his family were staying here, and I got to meet him but there have been so many players down the years. Emile Heskey, Florent Sinama Pongolle, Anthony Le Tallec, Chris Kirkland and Abel Xavier have all been here,” Erwan added.
“Xavier is probably the most interesting, because amazingly he used to come in regularly to eat his breakfast at the hotel!
“But of course I met my partner Magdalena here too, who I have had a baby with and have a second on the way.
“The best thing about what I do is being able to meet new people, people of all ages from so many different backgrounds and getting to know them.
“It was always my dream to come here and see my team Liverpool play as much as possible, but living in the city has ended up being so much more than that for me.”
Laurence Whittle, general manager at Campanile Hotel Liverpool, said: “Erwan is a joy to have around the hotel and I know as a huge Liverpool fan working here has helped him fulfil his dream of seeing his team play.
“I’d like to thank Erwan for his 22 years of service and we’re looking forward to working with him for many years to come.”
