Liverpool F.C.: Information and Much More from Answers.com
| Liverpool F.C. | ||||||||||||||||
 
current season |
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| Full name | Liverpool Football Club | |||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Reds | |||||||||||||||
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| Founded | March 15 1892 | |||||||||||||||
| Ground | Anfield Liverpool, England |
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| Capacity | 45,362 | |||||||||||||||
| Chairman | 
Tom Hicks (co-chairman)
George Gillett (co-chairman) |
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| Manager |  Rafael
Benítez |
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| League | Premier League | |||||||||||||||
| 2006–07 | Premiership , 3rd | |||||||||||||||
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Liverpool Football Club are an English professional football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool play in the Premier League, and are the most successful club in the history of English football, having won more trophies than any other English club. Liverpool have won 23 major honours, which is more than any other Premier League club.[1] They have won a record eighteen English League titles, although the last time they won the title was in 1990. Liverpool have also won five European Cups,[2] which is an English record. Only A.C. Milan and Real Madrid have won Europe's premier club competition more times. They have also won the FA Cup and League Cup seven times. Liverpool were a founding member of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs.[3]
Liverpool have played at Anfield since they were founded in 1892.[4] However, plans have been formed to start work on a new 60,000 all-seater stadium, which could be raised to 80,000 depending on planning permission, in the summer of 2010 near Stanley Park.[5] The venture will be funded by Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who became the club's owners on February 6 2007.[6]
The club's fans have been involved in two major disasters. At the Heysel Stadium 39 Juventus F.C. fans died when a wall collapsed after crowd trouble in the 1985 European Cup Final,[7] and at Hillsborough in 1989, 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives[8] due to overcrowding.[9]
History
- For information on the current season, see Liverpool F.C. season 2007-08
In 1891 John Houlding, the leaseholder of Anfield stadium, purchased the ground outright and proposed increasing the rent from £100 to £250 per year.[10] Everton F.C. moved to Goodison Park after a seven year tenancy. Liverpool F.C. were founded by Houlding on 15 March 1892 to play in his vacated Anfield. The original name was to be Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds, Ltd., or Everton Athletic for short, but was changed to Liverpool F.C. when The Football Association refused to recognise the team as Everton. John McKenna was appointed director and signed thirteen Scottish professionals for the new club.
In their first season Liverpool won the Lancashire League, and were elected to the Football League Second Division for the 1893–94 season. Liverpool ended the season unbeaten as Second Division Champions,[11] and were promoted to the First Division, the highest level of English football. Liverpool won their first Football League championship in 1901, and were champions again in 1906. Liverpool played their first FA Cup final in 1914, but lost 1–0 to Burnley.[12]
Fans on the Kop hold aloft the team badge
In 1922 and 1923 Liverpool won their first back-to-back League titles, captained by England full-back Ephraim Longworth.[13] This was then followed by the longest spell without a trophy in the team's history, which only ended when Liverpool won the league once again in 1947. However, Liverpool struggled in the years following this success, and were relegated to the Second Division in 1954, where they suffered their record defeat, 9–1 against Birmingham City in December 1954.
In December 1959, Bill Shankly was appointed manager. Over the next fifteen years he transformed Liverpool into one of the top club sides in Europe.[14] In his first year, he released twenty-four players and reshaped the squad. In 1962, his third season as manager, Liverpool won the Second Division Championship by eight points and were promoted to the top division, where they have remained ever since.
Having started the 1960s in the Second Division, Liverpool would end the decade as a major domestic power. In 1964, Liverpool lifted the League Championship for the first time in seventeen years. Liverpool were League Champions again in 1966, having won their first FA Cup in the previous season, beating Leeds United 2–1 in the final. Liverpool won their eighth league title and defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach to win their first European trophy, the UEFA Cup, in 1973. However, a year later, following another FA Cup victory, Shankly retired. His assistant, Bob Paisley, was offered the chance to manage the team.[15]
In 1976, at the end of Paisley's second season in charge, Liverpool became champions, and also won the UEFA Cup. The following year, Liverpool retained their League Championship, lost the FA Cup Final, but won their first European Cup. The final was played in Rome, and Liverpool defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1. In 1978 Liverpool retained the trophy, beating Club Brugge 1–0 in the final at Wembley, and in 1979 they broke another domestic record by winning the league title with sixty-eight points[16] and only sixteen goals conceded in forty-two matches.[17]
In 1980, Liverpool won the league title for the fourth time in five seasons, and Paisley's third European Cup victory came in 1981 with a 1–0 victory in the final against Real Madrid in Paris. In the following two seasons, Liverpool won a League Championship and League Cup "double". In the nine seasons Paisley managed the club, Liverpool won a total of twenty-one trophies, including three European Cups, a UEFA Cup, six league titles and three consecutive League Cups. The only domestic trophy to elude him was the FA Cup.
The succession of managers appointed from within the club's staff is worthy of note. These managers are often referred to as "the boot room boys" after a part of Anfield where the Liverpool staff discussed strategy and allegedly stored gin.[18] Just as Shankly had been succeeded by Paisley, so too Paisley handed the reins to his assistant, veteran coach Joe Fagan. He was 63 when he became manager in 1983. In his first season in charge, Liverpool become the first English club to win three major trophies in a single season — the League title, the League Cup and the European Cup.[19]
In 1985 Liverpool again reached the European Cup final. The match was against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium but before kick-off, disaster struck. Liverpool fans breached a fence separating the two groups of supporters and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a retaining wall to collapse, killing thirty-nine fans, mostly Italians.[7] This tragedy is known as the Heysel Stadium disaster. The match was played regardless and Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus. English clubs were consequently banned from participating in European competition for five years, with Liverpool receiving a ban for ten years, which was later reduced to six. Fourteen of their fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter.
In 1985 Kenny Dalglish became Liverpool's first player-manager.[20] His reign saw the club win another three League Championships and two FA Cups including a league and cup double in 1985–86. However, Liverpool's successes were overshadowed by the Hillsborough disaster. On 15 April 1989, when Liverpool were playing Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi–final, hundreds of Liverpool fans were crushed against perimeter fencing.[9] 94 fans died that day and another fan died in hospital from his injuries four days later, and a fan died nearly four years later having never regained consciousness, to make the total 96.
After the Hillsborough tragedy there was a governmental review of stadium safety. Known as the Taylor Report, it paved the way for legislation requiring all-seater stadiums in the top-flight. The report ruled that the main reasons for the disaster were overcrowding due to a failure of police control.[21][22]
1991 saw Graeme Souness installed as manager. However, apart from an FA Cup win in his first season, his reign was not successful. After a shock exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Bristol City at Anfield, "Boot room" veteran Roy Evans took over. While his tenure saw some improvement in league form, in his five seasons the club never finished higher than third. Evans' only trophy was the 1995 League Cup. 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 the partnership did not work out and Evans resigned in November 1998.[23]
2000–01 was Liverpool's best season for many years as the team completed a unique treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.[24] They finished second in 2002, a year in which Houllier suffered heart problems throughout the season and this resulted in him having to miss a match with Leeds and undergo major heart surgery.[25] Liverpool looked like becoming a force in English Football once again, but Houllier would only win one more trophy in his time in charge, another League Cup in 2003. Against a background of growing disquiet amongst Liverpool supporters, Houllier and Liverpool parted by mutual consent at the end of the 2003–04 season.[26]
Spaniard Rafael Benítez took over and in his first season Liverpool finished a disappointing fifth in the Premier League. The season had a surprising ending, however, as Liverpool won their fifth European Cup final in Istanbul. The Reds met the heavily favoured Italian club A.C. Milan in an astonishing final. Liverpool trailed 3–0 at half time, but made a dramatic comeback by scoring three goals in a period of only six minutes in the second half, forcing extra time. Liverpool went on to win the penalty shoot-out, with goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek conceding only two of Milan's five penalties.[27]
In 2005–06 Liverpool picked up eighty-two points in the Premiership, their highest points total in the top-flight since 1988. They ended the season by winning the FA Cup in yet another dramatic final, this time against West Ham. Liverpool trailed 3–2 until Captain Steven Gerrard scored an equalizer from 35 yards as the PA system was announcing injury time. Liverpool went on to win the match in a penalty shoot-out.
On February 6, 2007, the club's search for investment came to an end when American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks became the owners of Liverpool F.C. in a deal worth £470 million.[6] Liverpool finished the season in third place in the Premiership for the second consecutive season. Benitez did guide Liverpool to the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League final on May 23, 2007 after Pepe Reina made two saves in the penalty kick shootout in the semi-final against Chelsea F.C.[28] Facing AC Milan once again in the final, Liverpool lost 2–1.
Notable players
In the period before the Second World War several players played for Liverpool for lengthy periods of time, earning themselves great admiration. Among these were Ephraim Longworth, a solid full-back who became Liverpool's first England captain in 1921,[13] and Elisha Scott, who played in goal for Liverpool for 22 years, making him the longest serving Liverpool player ever.[29] In front of goal, of particular note is Gordon Hodgson, who scored a record 17 hat tricks playing for the club in the 20s and 30s.[29]
In the 1960s, as Bill Shankly transformed the club into a European power, among the players who established themselves as key elements of Liverpool's success were Ron Yeats, who Shankly famously described as his "colossus",[30] and Roger Hunt, who scored 245 league goals (still a club record) as well as being part of England's World Cup winning team in 1966.[31]
Paisley's additions to the squad were an important factor in Liverpool's success during the 70s and 80s. Two Scottish signings of 1977 had a particular impact: Alan Hansen, who was a part of 3 European Cup winning teams[32], and Kenny Dalglish, known to fans as 'King Kenny',[20] would excel as a Liverpool player before becoming Liverpool's first Double-winning manager. In 1980 Paisley signed 19 year old Ian Rush, who progressed to become the club's leading goalscorer.[29]
More recently famous players have emerged from Liverpool's youth set up. In the early 1990s Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler emerged to play as winger and striker for the club, while later in the decade Michael Owen, current captain Steven Gerrard and vice-captain Jamie Carragher came through the Liverpool Academy.[33]
Colours and crest
| Liverpool's original home colours (1892–1894) |
Liverpool's traditional colours are red and white, with the home kit having been all red since the mid 1960s. However, it was not always this way. In the early days, when the club took over Anfield from Everton, they used the Toffees' colours of blue and white, wearing a kit almost identical to that worn by the Everton team of the time. By 1894 Liverpool had adopted the colour of red, and in 1901 the city's liver bird was adopted as the club badge.[34] For the next sixty years Liverpool's kit was red shirts with white shorts (socks alternated over the years from red, to black, to white, and back to red again).
In 1964, then Liverpool manager Bill Shankly decided to send the team out in all red for the first time against Anderlecht, as Ian St. John recalled in his autobiography:
| “ | He thought the colour scheme would carry psychological impact — red for danger, red for power. He came into the dressing room one day and threw a pair of red shorts to Ronnie Yeats. “Get into those shorts and let’s see how you look,” he said. “Christ, Ronnie, you look awesome, terrifying. You look 7ft tall.” “Why not go the whole hog, boss?” I suggested. “Why not wear red socks? Let’s go out all in red.” Shankly approved and an iconic kit was born.[35] | ” |
| Liverpool's third/European away kit for the 07/08 season. |
Liverpool's away colours are traditionally either white shirts and black shorts or all yellow. However, in 1987 an all grey kit was introduced. The away kit was then grey until the centenary season of 1991–92, when it was replaced by a combination of green shirts and white shorts. After various colour combinations in the 1990s, including gold and navy, bright yellow, black and grey, and ecru, the club have settled down in the 2000s into a pattern that alternates yellow with white each year.[36] The current away kit is white shirts, black shorts and white socks, all with red trim. There is also a third kit of all black with red and white trim, which is designed primarily for Champions League away games, but is also used for any domestic games where both red and white would clash.
The current Liverpool badge is based around the traditional liver bird, which is placed inside a shield. Above the shield is a representation of Anfield's Shankly Gates bearing the title of club's famous anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone". The twin flames at either side are symbolic of the Hillsborough memorial — an eternal flame burns outside Anfield in memory of those who died in the disaster.
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
The current kits are designed by adidas,[37] who also made the club's kits between 1985 and 1996. The only other branded shirts worn by the club were made by Umbro up until 1985, and Reebok for ten seasons from 1996.[38]
Liverpool were famously the first British professional club to wear a sponsor's logo on their shirts,[39] agreeing a deal with Hitachi in 1979. In the years since, the club has had relatively little variation in sponsorship deals — linking up with Crown Paints and Candy before signing their current deal with Carlsberg in 1992 — a deal which is the longest-standing current agreement in English top-flight football.[40]
| Period | Kit Manufacturer | Shirt Sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 1976–79 | Umbro | None |
| 1979–82 | Hitachi | |
| 1982–85 | Crown Paints | |
| 1985–88 | adidas | |
| 1988–92 | Candy | |
| 1992–96 | Carlsberg | |
| 1996–2006 | Reebok | |
| 2006 — | adidas |
Stadium
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For more details on this topic, see Anfield.
- For information on Liverpool's proposed new stadium,see Stanley Park Stadium
Anfield, home of Liverpool F.C.
The Anfield stadium was built in 1884 on land adjacent to Stanley Park, and was originally inhabited by Everton.[41] They left the ground in 1892 over a rent dispute. Anfield's owner, John Houlding, decided to form a new club to play at the ground, which became Liverpool FC.
In 1906, the banked stand at one end of the ground was formally renamed the Spion Kop,[42] after a hill in Natal that was the site of a battle in the Second Boer War, where over 300 men of the Lancashire Regiment died, many of whom were from Liverpool. Fans that regularly use the Kop are known as Kopites. At its largest, the stand could hold 28,000 spectators, and was one of the largest single tier stands in the world. Local folklore claimed that the fans in the Kop could "suck the ball into the goal" if Liverpool were playing towards that end — and in most games, Liverpool play the second half towards the Kop. The stand was considerably reduced in capacity due to safety measures brought in following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, and it was completely rebuilt as an all seater stand in 1994, although it is still a single tier. The current capacity is 12,390.[43]
The Anfield Road Stand is positioned at the opposite end to the Kop and houses the away-fans section. It is the newest stand at Anfield having been rebuilt in 1998 with a capacity of 9,074. The two side stands are the Main Stand, capacity 12,227, and the Centenary Stand, capacity 11,762. The Main Stand is the oldest part of Anfield, having remained largely untouched since its redevelopment in 1973. It houses the players' changing rooms and the director's box, and the dug-outs are in front of the stand. The Centenary Stand was previously known as the Kemlyn Road Stand until it was rebuilt for the club's centenary in 1992. This redevelopment saw the houses in Kemlyn Road demolished and the address become non-existent. The current overall capacity of the stadium is 45,362 and it is rated as a 4 Star Stadium in the UEFA Stadia List.[44][45]
On July 30 2004, Liverpool City Council granted the club planning permission to build a new 61,000 seat stadium just 300 yards away from Anfield at Stanley Park[46] and on September 8,2006 Liverpool City Council agreed to grant Liverpool F.C. a 999 year lease of land on the proposed site.[47] Following the takeover of the club in February 2007 by George Gillet Jr and Tom Hicks, the new owners announced their financial backing for the plans, indicating that construction work would begin some time in May 2007.[48] The new stadium is expected to be ready in time for the start of the 2009–10 season. However most recent comments by the club's American owners (Gillet and Hicks) reflect their dissatisfaction with the new ground's proposed 61,000 capacity, expressing a clear determination to expand its total capacity to "...something in excess of 70,000" and to incorporate a massive, acoustically magnifying, "Kop" end.[49] On July 25 2007, Liverpool unveiled a revised plan of the stadium. It now is a 60,000-seater stadium, with the ability to increase to 78,000.[50]
Club culture
Shankly Gates
The song "You'll Never Walk Alone", originally from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel and famously recorded by Liverpool musicians Gerry & The Pacemakers, is the anthem of Liverpool FC and has been sung by the Anfield crowd since the early 1960s. The song has since gained popularity among the fans of other clubs around the world. Claims that "You'll Never Walk Alone" was first sung by fans at other clubs have been dismissed as very unlikely.[51] The song's title adorns the top of the Shankly Gates which were unveiled on 26 August 1982 in memory of former manager, Bill Shankly. The "You'll Never Walk Alone" portion of the Shankly Gates is also reproduced in the Liverpool FC crest.
Liverpool fans, singing "You'll Never Walk Alone", were featured in the Pink Floyd song, "Fearless". Other popular chants include "Fields of Anfield Road" (to the tune of "The Fields of Athenry"), "Scouser Tommy" (first section to the tune of "Red River Valley; second section to the tune of The Sash") and "Liverbird Upon My Chest" (to the tune of "Ballad of the Green Berets").[52]
Through The Wind And Rain is the longest running Liverpool fanzine. The name is taken from "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Under Rafael Benítez, Liverpool FC has gained a Spanish influence. As well as having a Spanish manager, the goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero, and the physiotherapist Víctor Salinas are also Spanish. There are five Spaniards in the current squad and twelve players have been brought to Liverpool directly from La Liga.
Liverpool's longest standing rivalry is with fellow Merseyside team Everton, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. This stems from Liverpool's formation after a dispute with Everton officials and the owners of Anfield, which was the ground Everton were using at the time. Religious differences have been cited as a division, though both teams stem from a Methodist origin, undermining the notion of a Catholic–Protestant split.[53] The Merseyside derby is usually a sell out fixture and tends to be a scrappy affair; it has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premiership history.[54]
Liverpool also have a significant rivalry with north-west neighbours Manchester United. This is mostly due to the success enjoyed by the two clubs and the geographical proximity of the two cities. Liverpool and Manchester United are the two most successful teams in England, both with large international support. Liverpool dominated the 1970s and 1980s while Manchester United dominated the 1990s and the early 2000s.[citation needed] Usually the matches between the two are played at midday both due to media (TV) interest and to discourage fans from drinking before the game.[citation needed] The conclusion to the film The 51st State, in which lead character Felix DeSouza (Robert Carlyle) is a fanatical Liverpool supporter, centres around a match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield.
On July 11, 2007 it was announced that Liverpool would launch a TV station, LFC TV, on Setanta alongside other Setanta club channels such as Rangers TV and Celtic TV. The station, which launched in September, shows delayed coverage of every Liverpool match as well as archived matches and other features.[55]
Liverpool Ladies F.C.
Liverpool also has a ladies' team. They will play in the Premiership in 2007–08 after they were promoted from the Northern Championship in 2006–07. They started to use the Liverpool name in 1995, and their greatest achievement was an FA Cup final appearance in 1996.
Current squad and staff
- As of 26 September, 2007.
"#wp-_note-First_Team_Players_And_Staff">[56]
First team players
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Players out on loan
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For recent transfers, see Liverpool F.C. season 2007-08.
Reserves and Academy players
Technical staff
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Managers
As of April 15, 2007. Only competitive matches are counted.[57]
| Name | Nat | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win % | Lge Titles | FA | LC | EC | UEFA | Other[58] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W. E. Barclay and John McKenna[59] |  /  |
Aug 1892 | July 1896 | 101 | 58 | 17 | 26 | 57.43% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Tom Watson | |
Aug 1896 | May 1915 | 740 | 327 | 141 | 272 | 44.19% | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| David Ashworth | |
Dec 1920 | Feb 1923 | 58 | 25 | 24 | 9 | 43.1% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt McQueen |  |
Feb 1923 | Feb 1928 | 229 | 94 | 61 | 74 | 41.05% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Patterson | |
Feb 1928 | May 1936 | 370 | 139 | 86 | 145 | 37.57% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Kay | |
May 1936 | Feb 1951 | 359 | 143 | 93 | 123 | 39.83% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Welsh | |
Mar 1951 | May 1956 | 234 | 82 | 60 | 92 | 35.04% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Taylor |
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