PHOTOS: Liverpool FC Players Meet with 'Close to a Thousand' Fans in Foxborough

Monday's meet and greet with Liverpool FC players and legends at We Got Soccer on Route 1 in Foxborough drew a crowd of nearly 1,000 people – a turnout Tyler Dickson, the store's customer service manager, said was much larger than expected.

"The event was really successful and actually a lot larger turnout then we were expecting," Dickson said. "Players came around 2:40 p.m. and stayed about an hour signing autographs, all Warrior branded stuff and it was really exciting."

Dickson said people were already lining up outside the door at 9 a.m. Monday - an hour before the store opens and six hours before Liverpool players were expected to arrive.

"We had people that were here at 9 o’clock [Monday] morning lining up to be first in line, which was a good idea because the line ended up extending throughout the entire [exterior of the] store," Dickson said. "Probably close to a 1,000 people were here."

The crowd came from all over the state and across the country to meet Liverpool's Daniel Agger, Joe Cole, Lucas Leiva, and Martin Skrtel, who were in Foxborough for the meet and greet with fans prior to Wednesday's match at Fenway Park against AS Roma – an exhibition match that proved to be good for business in Foxborough.

"It brought customers from all over the country that have come to see the game Wednesday at Fenway," Dickson said. ... "Not only did it bring in sales but it brought knowledge of our store and knowledge of soccer. We are the biggest soccer store in the country and it’s a great opportunity for us and for the fans to meet some Liverpool legends and some current players."

Dickson said this isn't the first meet and greet event the store has done, citing visits from other storied clubs.

"Last year we did an event with Manchester United, we had a few players in the store and also the Spain National team, the World Cup champions, we also had an event with them," Dickson said. "A few years ago we did an event with AC Milan. ... It’s definitely something for soccer fans around the area and really anywhere around the country. Every summer we do something like this. It’s cool to get a chance to meet everyone’s favorite players."

As for the Liverpool players participating in the fan event, Dickson said they were "awesome" and went above and beyond what was expected.

"They seemed like they were having a good time," Dickson said. "A lot of times you get celebrities that come and may give you the cold shoulder but they were interacting a lot with the people, giving high fives, handshakes and photos, which is a lot more than what the team representatives told us they were going to do."

Calling the event an overwhelming "success," Dickson said he was pleased with the turnout, especially considering how quickly everything came together.

"It was announced Thursday or Friday of last week – so just over the weekend we got the representatives on board with everything," Dickson said. "The set up was really easy but in terms of promoting and advertising we only had a few days so what we were working with, like I said, it was a lot bigger [turnout] than we thought it was going to be."

As part of LFC's 2012 North American Tour, Liverpool FC played Toronto FC at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on July 21 before Wednesday's match at Fenway Park against AS Roma and will conclude its trip against English Premier League rival Tottenham Hotspur at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on July 28.