Liverpool FC

Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the pinnacle of English football. The club was founded in 1892, joined the Football League the following year and has played its home games at Anfield since its inception.

Domestically, the club has won 19 league titles, eight FA Cups, a record nine League Cups and 16 FA Community Shields. In international competition, the club has won 6 European Cups, 3 UEFA Cups, 4 UEFA Super Cups – a record for any England team – and 1 FIFA Club World Cup. The club became a major force in domestic and European football in the 1970s and 1980s, with Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish leading the club to 11 league titles and four European Cups. Liverpool won two more European Cups under Rafael Benitez in 2005 and 2019 under Jurgen Klopp; the latter led Liverpool to a 19th league title in 2020 , which was the club’s first title in the Premier League era.

Liverpool is one of the most valuable and supported clubs in the world. The club has long-standing rivalries with Manchester United and Everton. Under the leadership of Shankly, the team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home jersey in 1964, which is still in use today. The club’s anthem is “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

Supporters of the club have been involved in two major tragedies. The Heysel Stadium disaster claimed 39 lives as fleeing fans were crushed against a collapsing wall during the 1985 European Cup final in Brussels. Most of them are Italians and Juventus fans. Liverpool were banned from European competition for six years and all other English clubs for five years. The Hillsborough tragedy in 1989, in which 97 Liverpool supporters were killed in an altercation with the fence, led to the removal of fenced standing areas and their replacement with all-seat stadiums in English football’s top two tiers. A long campaign for justice led to more coroner investigations, commissions and independent panels, which ultimately exonerated the fans.
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Main articles: 1892–1959, 1959–85, and 1985–present
A black and white photo of John Houlding, a bald old man with a beard and a bow tie.
John Houlding, founder of Liverpool Football Club

Liverpool FC was formed following a dispute between Everton council and the club’s chairman and Anfield owner John Houlding. After eight years at the stadium, Everton moved to Goodison Park in 1892, and Houlding formed Liverpool FC to play at Anfield. [3] The club, originally known as Everton Football Club and Athletic Grounds Ltd (referred to as Everton Athletic), was renamed Liverpool Football Club in March 1892, after the FA refused to recognize the club as Everton Official recognition is obtained three months later.

Liverpool played their first match on 1 September 1892, a pre-season friendly against Rotherham Town which they won 7-1. The team that played Liverpool against Rotherham consisted entirely of Scottish players – players who came to play in England from Scotland at the time were known as Scottish professors. Manager John McKenna recruited the players after scouting trips in Scotland and they became known as the ‘Macs team’. [5] The team won the Lancashire League in its inaugural season and joined the League Two at the beginning of the 1893-94 season. After the club’s promotion to the First Division in 1896, Tom Watson was appointed manager. He led Liverpool to their first league title in 1901 and then again in 1906. [6]

Liverpool reached their first FA Cup final in 1914, losing 1-0 to Burnley. It won back-to-back league titles in 1922 and 1923 but did not lift the trophy again until 1946-47, when the club won the First Division title for the fifth time under former West Ham centre-back George Kay.] Liverpool in 1950 He suffered his second defeat in the Cup final, against Arsenal. The club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953/54 season. Bill Shankly was appointed manager shortly after Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to non-league side Manchester City in the 1958-59 FA Cup. On arrival, he sacked 24 players and converted a boot room at Anfield into a room for coaches to discuss strategy. It was here that Shankly and fellow Boot Room members Joe Fagan, Ruben Bennett and Bob Paisley began to transform the team.
statue of man with arms raised
Shankly statue outside Anfield. Shankly won promotion to the First Division and the club’s first league title since 1947.

The club was promoted back to the First Division in 1962 and won the championship again in 1964 after 17 years. In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup. In 1966, the club won the First Division title, but lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final. Liverpool won the League and the UEFA Cup in 1972/73 and the FA Cup again a year later. Shankly soon retired and was succeeded by his assistant Bob Paisley. In 1976, Paisley’s second season in charge, the club won the League/League Cup double again. The following season the club retained the league title and won the European Cup for the first time, but lost in the 1977 FA Cup final. Liverpool defended the European Cup title in 1978 and regained the First Division title in 1979. [13] During Paisley’s 9 seasons as coach, Liverpool won 20 trophies, including 3 European Cups, 1 UEFA Cup, 6 League Championships and 3 consecutive League Cups. The only national trophy he didn’t win was the FA Cup.

Paisley retired in 1983 and was succeeded by his assistant Joe Fagan. [15] Liverpool won the league, League Cup and European Cup in Fegan’s debut season, becoming the first English team to win three trophies in a single season. [16] In the 1985 European Cup final, Liverpool played against Juventus at Heysel Stadium and reached the final again. Before kick-off, Liverpool fans broke through the fence separating the fans of the two teams and attacked Juventus fans. The weight of the people caused the retaining wall to collapse, killing 39 fans, mostly Italians. The incident became known as the Heysel Stadium Disaster. Despite protests from both managers, the game went ahead and Liverpool lost 1-0 to Juventus. English clubs were banned from European competition for five years as a result of the tragedy; Liverpool were banned for ten years, which was later reduced to six years. Fourteen Liverpool fans have been convicted of manslaughter. [17] 3 burgundy tablets with gold lettering. There are flowers in the pill.
The Hillsborough Memorial is engraved with the names of the 97 people who died in the Hillsborough tragedy.

Fagan announced his retirement shortly before the disaster and Kenny Dalglish was appointed player-coach. [18] During his tenure, the club won three more league titles and two FA Cups, including the 1985/86 league and cup “double”. Liverpool’s success was overshadowed by the Hillsborough tragedy: Hundreds of Liverpool fans were thrown into the fence during the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989. [19] 94 fans died that day; the 95th victim died in hospital four days later, the 96th died without regaining consciousness nearly four years later, and the 97th Andrew Devine died from injuries sustained in the 2021 disaster. A national review of stadium security follows the Hillsborough tragedy. The resulting Taylor Report paved the way for legislation requiring top-flight clubs to have single-seater stadiums. According to the report, the main cause of the disaster was overcrowding due to lapses in police control. [twenty two]

Liverpool played the closest game of a league season in 1988/89. Liverpool were tied with Arsenal on both points and goal difference, but lost the top spot on total goals when Arsenal scored their final goal in the final minute of the season.

Dalglish cited the Hillsborough tragedy and its aftermath as reasons for his resignation in 1991; he was replaced by former player Graeme Souness. [24] Under him, Liverpool won the 1992 FA Cup final, but his league results plummeted, with two consecutive sixth-place finishes leading to his dismissal in January 1994. Souness was replaced by Roy Evans and Liverpool won the 1995 Football League Cup final. [25] While they had some title challenges under Evans, third places in 1996 and 1998 were the best they could do, so Gerard Houllier was named for 1998 /99 season as co-manager and resigned after Evans became sole manager in November 1998. 26] In 2001, Houllier’s second full season in charge, Liverpool won the ‘Treble’: FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. [27] Houllier underwent major heart surgery in the 2001/02 season, and Liverpool ranked second in the league after Arsenal. They won the League Cup again in 2003 but failed to challenge for a title in the following two seasons.
Silver trophy with a red ribbon on it
Liverpool won the European Cup for the fifth time in 2005

At the end of the 2003/04 season, Houllier was replaced by Benitez. Despite finishing fifth in Benitez’s debut season, Liverpool won the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League, beating AC Milan 3-2 on penalties after the game. The following season, Liverpool finished third in the Premier League and won the 2006 FA Cup final with a 3-3 penalty shoot-out victory over West Ham United. American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks became owners of the club in 2006/07 in a deal that valued the club and its outstanding debt at £218.9m. [33] The club played against Milan in the 2007 UEFA Champions League final, as in 2005, but lost 2-1. [34] During the 2008/09 season, Liverpool scored 86 points, their highest in the Premier League, before a record-breaking 2018/19 season, and finished runners-up at Manchester United.

In the 2009/10 season, Liverpool ranked seventh in the Premier League and failed to qualify for the Champions League. Benitez then left by mutual agreement[36] and was replaced by Fulham coach Roy Hodgson[37]. At the start of the 2010/11 season, with Liverpool on the brink of bankruptcy, the club’s creditors took to the High Court to allow the club to be sold, overriding the wishes of Hicks and Gillette. John W. Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group, successfully bid for the club and took ownership in October 2010. Poor results earlier that season saw Hodgson leave the club by mutual agreement, with former player-manager Kenny Dalglish taking over. In 2011-12, Liverpool won a record eighth League Cup and reached the FA Cup final, but finished eighth, their worst league finish in 18 years. This resulted in Dalglish being sacked. [40][41] He was replaced by Brendan Rodgers,[42] whose Liverpool team unexpectedly won the title in 2013/14, finished runners-up to champions Manchester City, and then returned to the Champions League, scoring 101 goals, is Most goals since 106 in 1895 – 96 Season.[43][44] After a disappointing 2014–15 season in which Liverpool finished sixth in the league, Rodgers was sacked in October 2015 following a poor start to the following season.

Rodgers was replaced by Jurgen Klopp. [46] Liverpool reached the finals of the League Cup and Europa League in Klopp’s first season in charge, and won the runner-up in both events. [47] The club finished second with 97 points in 2018-19 (more than 86 in 2008-09) and lost just one game: a points record for a team that has not won a title. Klopp led Liverpool to consecutive Champions League finals in 2018 and 2019, with the club beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 to win the 2019 UEFA Champions League final. Liverpool beat Brazil’s Flamengo 1-0 in the final to win the Club World Cup for the first time. [51] Liverpool then won the 2019-20 Premier League title and won their first top-flight title in three decades. The club set a number of records this season, including winning the league title with seven games remaining, becoming the first team ever to do so, a club-record 99 points and a joint record 32 wins in a top-flight season . [54] colors and markings
blue and white shirt and white shorts
Liverpool’s home kit colors from 1892 to 1896[55] Wikimedia Commons contains media related to Liverpool jerseys.

For most of Liverpool’s history, the home colors have been red. When the club was founded in 1892, blue and white quarter jerseys were used until the club adopted red as its city colours, in 1896. The city’s emblem, the liver bird, was adopted as the club crest (sometimes called the coat of arms) in 1901, although it did not appear on football shirts until 1955. Liverpool continued to wear red shirts and white shorts until manager Bill Shankly decided to switch to all red stripes in 1964. As Ian St John recalls in his autobiography, Liverpool’s first all-red against Anderlecht:

He [Shankly] thinks the color scheme has a psychological effect – red for danger, red for strength. One day he walked into the dressing room and threw a pair of red shorts at Ronnie Yeats. “Put those shorts on and let’s see what you look like,” he said. “God, Ronnie, you look awesome and scary. You look 7 feet tall.” “Boss, why don’t you go all out? I recommend.” “Why not wear red socks?” Let’s all go out in red. Shankly approved and an iconic jersey was born.[56]

Liverpool’s away kit mainly consists of a yellow or white shirt and black shorts, although there are some exceptions. Introduced in 1987, the all-gray jersey was used until the centenary in 1991-92, when it was replaced by a green shirt and white shorts combination. After adopting various color combinations in the 1990s (including gold and navy, bright yellow, black and gray and ecru), the club alternated between yellow and white away kits until they reintroduced gray in 2008-09. The third kit is designed for European away games, but is also worn in domestic away matches when the current away kit conflicts with the team’s home kit. Between 2012 and 2015 the kits were designed by Warrior Sports, who became the club’s kit supplier at the start of the 2012-13 season. In February 2015, Warrior’s parent company New Balance announced its entry into the global soccer market, with Warrior-sponsored teams now offered by New Balance. The only other branded jerseys worn by the club were made by Umbro until 1985, when they were replaced by Adidas, which produced them until Reebok took over in 1996. Before Adidas produced the jerseys from 2006 to 2012, they produced the jerseys for 10 years. [59] Nike became the club’s official jersey supplier at the start of the 2020-21 season.
Version of the Liverpool badge on Shankly Gates

Liverpool were the first English professional club to have a sponsor logo on their jersey, having signed an agreement with Hitachi in 1979. [61] Since then the club has received sponsorship from Crown Paints, Candy, Carlsberg and Standard Chartered. Signed in 1992, Carlsberg’s contract is the longest-running among English top-flight football clubs. [62] The partnership with Carlsberg ended at the start of the 2010-11 season when Standard Chartered became the club’s sponsor.

The Liverpool coat of arms is based on the city’s livery bird emblem, which was historically placed in the shield. In 1977, a red liver bird standing on a football (described as “Statant upon a Football a Liver Bird Wings raised and added, holding in its being a seaweed regles”) was awarded the English Football League’s heraldic emblem intended for The Academy of Arms used by Liverpool. However, Liverpool never used the badge. [64] In 1992, to commemorate the club’s centenary, a new badge was commissioned which included a depiction of Shankly Gates. In the following year, twin flames were added to either side, symbolizing the Hillsborough Memorial outside Anfield, where an eternal flame burns in memory of those who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster. [65] In 2012, Warrior Sports’ first Liverpool jersey removed the shield and goal, bringing the badge back to the logo that adorned Liverpool jerseys in the 1970s; Le number 96 of the victims.

Anfield was built in 1884 and is adjacent to Stanley Park. It is 2 miles from Liverpool city center and was originally used by Everton before the club moved to Goodison Park following a rent dispute with Anfield owner John Houlding. The empty Houlding founded Liverpool in 1892 and the club has played at Anfield ever since. The stadium’s capacity at the time was 20,000, although only 100 spectators attended Liverpool’s first game at Anfield.

The Kop was built in 1906 and was originally known as the Oakfield Road Embankment because of the high attendance of the game. His first game came on 1 September 1906, when the home side beat Stoke City 1-0. In 1906, the elevated stand at one end of the field was officially renamed the Spion Kop after a hill in KwaZulu-Natal. [70] The hill was the site of the Battle of Spion Kop in the Second Boer War, in which more than 300 Lancashire Regiment soldiers, many of them from Liverpool, were killed. [71] At its peak, the stand could seat 28,000 spectators, making it one of the largest single-tiered stands in the world. Many stadiums in England have stands named after the Spion Kop, but Anfield was the largest stand at the time; it could hold more supporters than an entire football pitch. [72]

Anfield could hold more than 60,000 fans in its heyday, and had a capacity of 55,000 until the 1990s, when all clubs in the Premier League signed on the recommendation of the Taylor Report, and in time for the 1993-94 season, capacity was reduced to 45,276. The report’s findings accelerated the redevelopment of the Camlyn Road Stand, which was rebuilt in 1992 to mark the club’s centenary and known as the Centenary Stand until it was renamed the Kenny Dalglish Stand in 2017. In 1998, a floor was added at the end of Anfield Road to further increase the capacity of the venue, but problems arose when it opened. After tier shifts were reported early in the 1999-2000 season, a number of support rods and bracing were added to provide additional stability to the top tier of the stands.

Liverpool announced in May 2002 plans to relocate to the proposed Stanley Park stadium due to constraints on Anfield’s expanding capacity. Planning permission was granted in July 2004[76] and in September 2006 Liverpool City Council agreed to award Liverpool a 999-year lease on the proposed site. [77] After George Gillett and Tom Hicks took over the club in February 2007, the proposed stadium was redesigned. The new design was approved by Council in November 2007. Originally scheduled to open in August 2011 and seat 60,000 spectators, HKS, Inc. was contracted to build the stadium. Construction stopped in August 2008 as Gillett and Hicks struggled to finance the £300 million required for the development. In October 2012, BBC Sport reported that Liverpool FC’s new owners, Fenway Sports Group, had decided to renovate their current home ground at Anfield, rather than build a new one at Stanley Park. Anfield’s capacity will be increased from 45,276 to around 60,000 as part of the rebuild, at a cost of around £150m. With the completion of the new main stand, Anfield’s capacity has increased to 54,074. The £100 million extension adds a third floor to the stand. It is part of a £260m project to improve the Anfield area. The then managing director Jürgen Klopp described the stand as “impressive”. [81]

According to reports, in June 2021, the Liverpool Council had approved the club’s plans to renovate and expand the stands on Anfield Road, adding around 7,000 capacity, bringing Anfield’s total capacity to 61,000. The expansion, which is expected to cost £60m, has been described by chief executive Andy Hughes as a “significant milestone” and will also lead to trials of the Kop’s track seats for the 2021-22 Premier League season.