A Belgian-Dutch couple got married in Liverpool earlier this month in a special ceremony attended by their friends, family - and a couple of football legends.
Dirk Coeck, 56, originally from Antwerp, and Kim Olthof, 46, from Rotterdam, met in 2017 at a social event for Dutch and Belgian Liverpool supporters. Kim is a member of the Dutch Liverpool supporters' club, while Dirk is affiliated with the Flemish fan club, the Flemish Reds.
Speaking to the Brussels Times from the couple’s home in Rotterdam, Kim said she first started following the Reds when she was nine years old, captivated by Liverpool’s attacking style of play.
She says she was drawn to Dirk for his “sweet and caring” nature and their mutual love of Liverpool, dogs and tattoos.
Kim helped Dirk get through the grief of losing two of his closest friends – both Flemish Reds – to heart attacks in 2016, and the couple's romance blossomed from there.
A perfect proposal
In 2023, they got engaged after Kim proposed to Dirk at Liverpool’s AXA training ground in the presence of former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Kim explained: “Pep Lijnders [Klopp’s former assistant] is a good friend of ours. I asked him if he could help me out planning the proposal in Liverpool. He went to Jurgen and asked for permission. He said okay, and then they organised the whole thing. All I had to do was be at the AXA centre at a certain time.”
According to Kim, the taxi driver who drove the couple to the training ground couldn’t quite believe what was happening - and neither could Dirk.
She said: “The taxi driver told me, ‘you can’t just go in there’. But our names were on the door and we were waved through. Both the driver and Dirk looked at me as if to say, what the hell? Dirk was in total shock.”
With the Liverpool staff in on the plan, she got down on one knee to propose. “Everybody knew,” said Kim. “The whole staff and players, everybody – they were walking around smiling.”
Dirk quickly accepted Kim’s proposal, and the couple knew straightaway that they would arrange to get married in Liverpool.
A wedding with very special guests
On Tuesday, May 20th, the big day finally arrived. The wedding took place in Hotel TIA (‘This is Anfield’), just around the corner from Liverpool’s stadium.
“It was an amazing day,” said Kim. “It was nice and sunny, and we had friends from all around the world there. All the details were perfect.”
Remarkably, two Liverpool legends played a big part in the ceremony. Bruce Grobbelaar, who played as a goalkeeper for Liverpool from 1981 to 1994, gave Kim away, while former player and coach Sammy Lee was Dirk’s best man.
Dirk and Kim getting married at the Hotel TIA, Liverpool. Credit: Handout.
After they got married, the couple were given the chance to help paint a mural of Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
They remained in the city to watch Liverpool’s English Premier League title parade on Monday. Fortunately, they did not get caught up in the terrible events that marred the celebrations. Shortly after the parade ended, a car ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians in the city centre, injuring scores of people.
Kim described the incident as “absolutely devastating and a big shock”.
She and Dirk will continue to travel to Liverpool as often as they can to watch matches. They try to go six or seven times a year in order to experience the legendary Anfield atmosphere, which Kim says always gives her goosebumps.
