Liverpool Football Club is an English football team, who have won 4 European Cups and 18 league (English Premier League, formerly First Division) titles to date. Their home ground is the 45,362 capacity Anfield, which is about three miles from the city centre of Liverpool.

The club was founded on March 15 1892 by John Houlding, the owner of Anfield. Houlding decided to form his own team after Everton FC were evicted from Anfield in an argument over rent. The original name was to be Everton FC but was changed to Liverpool FC after The Football Association refused to recognise the team as Everton.

On July 30, 2004, the Liverpool City Council granted the club planning permission to build a new 60,000 seat stadium, nearby at Stanley Park. Initially it seemed that the stadium would be shared with local rivals Everton, but talks on a groundshare failed in January 2005, and Liverpool will now have the stadium to itself in spite of continual pressure from Everton. It is envisaged that construction of the new stadium will begin in the summer of 2005 and the new stadium will open in 2007. The old stadium will then become a public plaza surrounded by apartments, offices, bars, restaurants and a hotel. The treatment of the old stadium requires some sensitivity as a number of deceased fans have had their ashes officially scattered on the pitch over the years.

The club was especially dominant in the 1970s and 1980s. Great players from this time include Ray Clemence, Mark Lawrenson, Graeme Souness, Ian Callaghan, Phil Neal, Kevin Keegan, Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish (102 Caps) and Ian Rush (346 Goals).

The club was also present at two of the biggest tragedies in European football – at Heysel in 1985 and Hillsborough in 1989.

They completed an unprecedented treble of two domestic cups (the League Cup and the FA Cup) and the UEFA Cup in the 2000/01 season. However winning a treble was not something new to Liverpool. In 1984 they were victorious in the European Cup, the League Cup and the Championship. This was the first treble of major honours to be completed by an English club.

Managers and their eras

The Bill Shankly Era

Promotion to the First Division was achieved in 1962 when Liverpool won the Second Division championship. In that season, centre forward Roger Hunt scored 41 league goals – a club record which remains unbroken to this day. Liverpool won the First Division Championship in 1964 and regained it two years later, winning their first F.A Cup in the season between their two title triumphs. Roger Hunt, Ian St John, Ron Yeats and Tommy Smith were key Liverpool players in this era. Liverpool won their first European trophy, the UEFA Cup, in 1973 – in that season they also lifted another League Championship. Shankly shocked the football world by announcing his retirement after Liverpool won the 1974 F.A Cup. A local factory even threatened to go on strike in protest against Shankly's decision. But Shankly would not be moved, he watched Liverpool play as a spectator from The Kop until his death from a heart attack in 1981 at the age of 67.

The Bob Paisley Era

Some of the greatest names in English football turned out for Liverpool under Bob Paisley's management. They included goalkeeper Ray Clemence, captain Emlyn Hughes and striker Kenny Dalglish. Liverpool won six league championships in ten seasons while Paisley was manager, as well as lifting three European Cups, one UEFA Cup, three successive League Cups, one European Super Cup and three Charity Shields – a total of 21 trophies. Paisley's achievement remained unsurprassed in English football until Sir Alex Ferguson won the Premiership title with Manchester United in 2001.

Bob Paisley bowed out of management in May 1983 after guiding Liverpool to their second successive League Championship/League Cup double.

The Joe Fagan Era

Joe Fagan's second and final seasons as Liverpool manager had a traumatic ending. Liverpool lost out on the league title to neighbours Everton – with four matches to spare. They reached the European Cup final to face Italian champions Juventus at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. But before kick-off, violence between Liverpool and Juventus supporters resulted in the death of 39 (mostly Italian) supporters who were crushed to death, when a wall collapsed as they fled from Liverpool supporters. The sequel to the tragedy was a 5-year ban on English clubs in European competition, with a 6-year ban on Liverpool.

Fagan retired after the Heysel Disaster and handed over the reins to Liverpool striker Kenny Dalglish, who was given the role of player-manager.

The Kenny Dalglish era

Kenny Dalglish began his management career in style with League Championship/FA Cup double success in the 1985–86 season. The club finished top of the First Division ahead of neighbours Everton, and to round it all off Liverpool hammered Everton 3–1 in the FA Cup final. Dalglish was still a top striker despite his advancing years, and his partnership with Ian Rush was the most prolific in the English league. Midfielders Craig Johnston and Ray Houghton were also putting on impressive performances. Liverpool's 1986 double success made history as they were only the fifth team in English football to achieve such a feat, and the first team to win the F.A Cup without fielding a single English player.

Ian Rush returned to Liverpool for the 1988–89 season, after an unsuccessful spell at Juventus, and was crucial in getting the club to their third FA Cup final in four years. They beat neighbours Everton 3–2 but the triumph was overshadowed by tragedy in the FA Cup semi final against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough.

Before the FA Cup semi final could kick off, 94 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death and around 300 others injured after forcing their way onto terracing through gates which the police had unlocked in fear of their own safety. A 95th fan died a few days after the tragedy, and the death toll became 96 in March 1993 when Tony Bland died after being in a coma for nearly four years.

After the FA Cup final victory, Liverpool played their final league game of the season – a home fixture against their nearest challengers Arsenal, who were three points behind them and had scored two less goals. Liverpool went 1–0 down but still looked set to win the league until the last minute of the game, when a goal from Arsenal midfielder Michael Thomas (who ironically joined Liverpool a few seasons later) deprived Liverpool of the chance to repeat the double for the second season running.

Kenny Dalglish guided Liverpool to their third league title in five seasons in 1989–90. Although the 5-year ban on English clubs in European competition was lifted for the following season, Liverpool had to serve an extra year and were unable to compete in the 1990–91 European Cup.

On February 22nd 1991, with Liverpool halfway through a two-horse race with Arsenal for the league title, Kenny Dalglish dropped a bombshell on the club by handing in his resignation as manager and claimed he could no longer cope with the pressure of managing the club. First-team coach Ronnie Moran took temporary charge of team affairs for several weeks before Graeme Souness was named the club's new manager. But by that stage, Liverpool were slipping behind in the title race and finished runners-up to Arsenal who completed the season with just one defeat from 38 games.

The Graeme Souness Era

Liverpool finished sixth in the first-ever Premier League and had never looked like title challengers at any stage in the 1992–93 season. The 1993–94 season was no different and Souness was dismissed in January 1994 after Liverpool suffered a shock defeat against Bristol City in the F.A Cup Third Round.

The Roy Evans Era

In the summer of 1995, Liverpool paid Nottingham Forest a British record fee of £8.5million for striker Stan Collymore. The high fee initially looked to have paid off, but during his second season at the club, Collymore's form dipped (and he appeared to be wasting his talent with incidents off the pitch) and he was sold to Aston Villa for £7million in May 1997. Within four years he had quit the game after brief unsuccessful spells with Fulham, Leicester City, Bradford City and finally Real Oviedo.

Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore formed an impressive partnership for the 1995–96 season which saw the veteran Ian Rush relegated to the substitute bench for much of the season before his departure on a free transfer to Leeds United. Liverpool finished third in the Premiership and were within shouting distance of the title right up to the final weeks of the season. They reached the F.A Cup final and were defeated by Manchester United. But Liverpool still qualified for the European Cup Winners Cup because United had won the Premiership/F.A Cup double.

Liverpool finished fourth in the 1996–97 season having frequently led the table for much of the early part of the season, and were defeated by Paris St. Germain in the semi finals of the European Cup Winners Cup.

1997–98 saw the emergence of a world class young player at Liverpool: Michael Owen. The 18-year-old Chester-born centre forward was a regular player in the first team almost all season long, relegating high profile German striker Karlheinz Reidle to the bench. He became the youngest-ever full England international in February 1998 and was voted Young Player of the Year by the PFA. Liverpool had an outside chance of winning the Premiership title for much of the 1997–98 season but were unable to catch champions Arsenal and runners-up Manchester United, so their place in Europe for 1998–99 was merely the UEFA Cup rather than the Champions League.

The Gérard Houllier Era

Gérard Houllier, the former French national coach, was drafted into the Liverpool management team for the 1998–99 season to work alongside Roy Evans. But Evans found that the partnership did not suit him and he quit during the 1998–99 season, at the end of which Liverpool finished a disappointing seventh – not even enough for a UEFA Cup place.

By now, Liverpool's side contained a new set of players including goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, defender and captain Sami Hyypiä, young midfielder Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen's strike partner Emile Heskey. The new generation of players was so impressive that even Robbie Fowler had left the club, joined Leeds United in an £11million deal in November 2001.

2001–02 saw Liverpool progress even further. They ended the season without a major trophy, but finished league runners-up for the first time since 1991 – ironically ending Manchester United's 10-year run of top-two finishes which had begun when Liverpool's 10-year run had ended.

Liverpool won another League Cup in 2003 but Houllier had failed to deliver the league title which had eluded Anfield since 1990, although they did qualify for the Champions League three times during his tenure. Houllier was sacked at the end of the 2003–04 season and replaced by the Spaniard Rafael Benitez, who had just guided Valencia to the Spanish league title. Benitez's hopes of re-establishing Liverpool as a top club were dented when star striker Michael Owen moved to Real Madrid in an £8million deal.

The Rafael Benitez Era

Rafael Benitez has so far guided Liverpool to a League Cup final – losing to Chelsea in extra-time – and a Champion's League Final in his first season as manager. The club beat Chelsea, 2004/05 League winners, in the Champions League Semi final 1–0 at home on May 3 to set up a Champions League final with AC Milan in Istanbul. In the Premiership however, Liverpool have been inconsistent, finishing outside the top four and behind neighbours Everton.

Facts and figures

Honours

• Football League First Division Champions 18*
  • 1900/01, 1905/06, 1921/22, 1922/23, 1946/47, 1963/64, 1965/66, 1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1985/86, 1987/88, 1989/90
• Football League Second Division Champions 4
  • 1893/94, 1895/96, 1904/05, 1961/62
• Lancashire League Champions 1
  • 1892–93
• European Cup 4*
  • 1976/77 3–1 vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
  • 1977/78 1–0 vs. Club Brugge
  • 1980/81 1–0 vs. Real Madrid
  • 1983/84 1–1 (4–2 in penalty shootout) vs. AS Roma
• UEFA Cup Winners 3
  • 1972/73, 1975/76, 2000/01
• FA Cup Winners 6
  • 1964/65, 1973/74, 1985/86, 1988/89, 1991/92, 2000/2001
• FA Youth Cup Winners 1
  • 1995/96
• League Cup Winners 7*
  • 1980/81, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1994/95, 2000/01, 2002/03
• Charity Shield Winners 14
  • 1963/64+, 1964/65+, 1965/66, 1973/74, 1975/76, 1976/77+, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1985/86*, 1987/88, 1988/89, 1989/90, 2000/01,
• European Super Cup Winners 2
  • 1977, 2001
• Super Cup Winners 1
  • 1985/86
• Reserves Division One Winners 16
  • 1956/57, 1968/69, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1972/73, 1973/74, 1974/75, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1980/81, 1981/82, 1983/84, 1984/85, 1989/90, 1999/2000

* More than any other English club
+ Title shared

Interesting facts

Match statistics

• Only 14 first team players were used in the 1965/66 season, when Liverpool won the League.
• Liverpool played against Blackburn Rovers F.C. on the 5th of September 1896. Rovers won 1–0, but six goals were disallowed during this game.
• Liverpool's first ever competitive game was in the Lancashire League against Higher Walton. They won 8–0. Their side did not have one English player.
• League debut: 2–0 v Middlesbrough Ironopolis on September 2 1893 (Division 2)
• FA Cup debut: September 1892 4–0 v Nantwich
• Biggest win: 11–0 v Strømsgodset on the 17th of September 1974.
• Biggest league win: 9–0 v Crystal Palace F.C. on 12th September 1989.
• Biggest defeat: 0–8 v Huddersfield in 1935.
• First Honour: in the 1893/94 season they became the Second Division champions.
• First European match: on the 17th of August 1964 they played against KR Reykjavik, Iceland, for the European Cup, and won 5–0.
• Ian Rush holds the record in Liverpool FC for most goals in all competitions for one season – he scored 47 goals in the 1983/84 season.
• On the other side, Roger Hunt has the most league goals for one season – in the 1961/62 season he scored 41 goals.
• Only four people have scored 5 goals in one match. These are:
  • Andy McGuigan, 1901/02
  • John Evans, 1954/55
  • Ian Rush, 1983/84
  • Robbie Fowler, 1993/94

Club culture

• The song "You'll Never Walk Alone", originally from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel and famously performed by Liverpool musicians Gerry & the Pacemakers, is the anthem of Liverpool FC, and has become almost synonymous with the club.
• Celebrity fans of the club include the late DJ John Peel, and also the late Pope John Paul II who played as goalkeeper in Poland like current keeper Jerzy Dudek.

Reserve squad

• Liverpool's reserve team plays its home games at the Racecourse Ground, the home stadium of Wrexham A.F.C..

Other

• First broadcast of BBC TV's Match of the Day: on the 22nd August 1964, playing against Arsenal F.C.; the BBC 2 broadcast was presented by Kenneth Wolstenholme [1].

Current Squad

Staff

Stars

PRE-SHANKLY (1892 – 1959)

• Matt Busby – Bob Paisley – Cyril Sidlow – Albert Stubbins

THE GLORY YEARS – 1960 TO 1990

• Gary Ablett – John Aldridge – John Barnes – Peter Beardsley – Jim Beglin – David Burrows – Gerry Byrne – Ian Callaghan – Jimmy Case – Ray Clemence – Peter Cormack – Kenny Dalglish – Alun Evans – Roy Evans – David Fairclough – Howard Gayle  – Gary Gillespie – Bruce Grobbelaar – Brian Hall – Alan Hansen – Steve Heighway – David Hodgson – Mike Hooper – Ray Houghton – Emlyn Hughes – Roger Hunt – Glenn Hysen – David Johnson – Craig Johnston – Joey Jones – Kevin Keegan – Alan Kennedy – Ray Kennedy – Chris Lawler – Tommy Lawrence – Mark Lawrenson – Sammy Lee – Alec Lindsay – Larry Lloyd – Terry McDermott – Kevin MacDonald – Steve McMahon – Mike Marsh – Jan Molby – Ronnie Moran – Phil Neal – Steve Nicol – Michael Robinson – Ian Rush – Ian St. John – Tommy Smith – Graeme Souness – Nigel Spackman – Steve Staunton – Peter Thompson – Phil Thompson – John Toshack – Barry Venison – Paul Walsh – John Wark – Ronnie Whelan – Ron Yeats

1990 – PRESENT

• Nicolas Anelka – Nick Barmby – Patrik Berger – Jamie Carragher – Stan Collymore – Robbie Fowler – Brad Friedel – Steven Gerrard – Paul Ince – Rob Jones – David James – Jari Litmanen – Gary McAllister – Steve McManaman – Danny Murphy – Michael Owen – Jamie Redknapp – Ronnie Rosenthal – Neil Ruddock – Dean Saunders – Michael Thomas – Sander Westerveld – Mark Wright – Stephen Wright

Managers

Statistics

League appearances

All competitions appearances

League scorers

Overall scorers

League scorers by seasons

See also

• English Football League teams

External links

• Official Liverpool F.C. site

Unofficial

• The Road End
• Through The Wind And Rain
• Anfield Online
• Anfield Road
• LFC Online
• Liverpool Way
• Liverweb
• Red and White Kop
• Red All Over The Land
• Shankly Gates
• The Kop's Last Stand
• This Is Anfield
• You'll Never Walk Alone.tv
• Liverpool.no (in Norwegian)
• TalkLFC
• LFCHistory.net