Manchester United vs Liverpool — Soccer descends on Williams-Brice Stadium for special Soda City match-up

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — The Gamecocks’ field at Williams-Brice Stadium has been transformed — with football goal posts being switched out for soccer nets.

On Saturday afternoon, over 70,000 soccer fans from across the Southeast and from around the world will descend on the stadium for a first of its kind event to hit the Capital City — an international match-up between Manchester United and Liverpool.

With the field completely modified for the game now, Scott Powers with Experience Columbia SC Sports says this all began last December when Athletic Directors Ray Tanner and Chance Miller pulled Powers to the side with an exciting but slightly unnerving proposition.

“I was a little dumbfounded, I never… You know we think out of the box so much around here, because we may not have the newest sports facilities with 10 or 12 fields as some people do, but we’ve done Quidditch and roller derby and canoeing and rowing. We’ve done all those sports that you try to think outside the box. Thinking outside the box for English Premiere League teams in Williams-Brice Stadium was not on my radar whatsoever,” he jokes.

Everything worked out in the end, and fans are ecstatic.

Alessandro Amore is Team Liverpool.

“I’ve been a fan since Liverpool beat Man-City three to one. November 2019. Really do not like Man-City and Liverpool is the team that could usurp them,” Amore says.

Ward Bland and his son Raja are rooting for Manchester United.

“I got into soccer probably about five or six years ago, and all my friends supported all the different teams and that was probably the lowest point for United but that’s when I started supporting them, and that’s when my dad started supporting them with me,” says Raja.

How about thoughts on a final score??

“3-0 Liverpool. United got a lot of injuries. I like Slot’s style so we’ll see how it goes,” says Amore.

“The injury bug hit us pretty hard so that’s an unfortunate question,” jokes Raja.  “I’ll go 1-1,” says Ward.

“I’ll go 2-1,” says Raja.

And whoever wins, the City of Columbia wins as well, according to Powers.

“We’re estimating right now, it’s gonna depend on where everybody is coming from. How many hotel room nights are generated, whether it’s gonna be 9, 10 million dollar economic impact from visitors over the weekend. When you’re talking about that many people potentially coming into town from out of town, there’s the opportunity to have a huge impact,” he says.

Merchandise for both teams is currently on sale in front of the stadium and will also be on sale tomorrow beginning at 2:30 p.m. when pep rallies take place at Gamecock Park.

Powers also says that shuttles are available from Colonial Life Arena and asks that folks that might normally take a rideshare to the stadium, rideshare to the Colonial Life Arena instead, and take a shuttle from there. The shuttles are $5 round trip and will run an hour and a half after the game as well.

United v Liverpool kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.