'Liverpool Football Club' are an
English professional
football club based in
Liverpool,
Merseyside. Liverpool play in the
Premier League; they are the
most successful club in the history of
English football, having won more trophies than any other English club.
[1] Liverpool have won eighteen English League titles, which is a record, however the last time they won the title was in
1990. Liverpool have won five European Cups,
[Up until 1992, the premier European competition was named the European Cup; since then, it has been the UEFA Champions League.] which is an English record. Only
A.C. Milan and
Real Madrid have won Europe's premier club competition more times. They have also had success in the other cup competitions. Liverpool were a founding member of the
G-14 group of leading
European football clubs.
[2]
Liverpool have played at
Anfield since they were founded in 1892.
[3] 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.
[4]
The venture will be funded by the club's new American owners
Tom Hicks and
George Gillett.
The club's fans have been involved in two major tragedies. At the
Heysel Stadium thirty-nine
Juventus F.C. fans died when a wall collapsed after crowd trouble in the
1985 European Cup Final,
[5] and at
Hillsborough in 1989 where ninety-six Liverpool fans lost their lives
[6] due to overcrowding.
[7]
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.
[8] Everton F.C. moved to
Goodison Park after a seven year tenancy. Liverpool F.C. were founded by Houlding in 1892 to play in his vacated Anfield.
With an empty ground and just three players remaining, Houlding decided to form his own football club and on
15 March 1892, Liverpool Football Club was formed. 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 they were elected to the
Football League Second Division for the
1893–94 season. They ended the season unbeaten as Second Division Champions,
[9] 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. They played their first
FA Cup final in
1914, but lost 1–0 to
Burnley.
[10]
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.
[11]
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.
[12] 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 ever 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.
[13]
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
[14] and only sixteen goals conceded in forty-two matches.
[15]
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 over
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.
[16] 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.
[17]
In 1985 Liverpool again reached the European Cup final. The match was against
Juventus at
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.
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 (later reduced to six). Fourteen of their fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter.
In 1985
Kenny Dalglish became Liverpool's first player-manager.
[18] 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.
Ninety four fans died that day and a ninety-fifth fan died in hospital from his injuries four days later. A ninety sixth fan died nearly four years later having never regained consciousness.
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.
[19][20]
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 win 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.
[21]
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.
[22] 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 having to undergo major heart surgery.
[23] 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.
[24]
Spaniard Rafael BenÃtez 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.
[25]
In 2005–06 Liverpool picked up 82 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 out past West Ham goalkeeper
Shaka Hislop, 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 lengthy 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.
[26] 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, after
Pepe Reina made two saves in the penalty kick shootout in the semi-final against
Chelsea F.C.[27] 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,
and
Elisha Scott, who played in goal for Liverpool for 22 years, making him the longest serving Liverpool player ever.
[28] 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.
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",
[29] 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.
[30]
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
[31], and
Kenny Dalglish, known to fans as 'King Kenny',
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.
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.
[32]
Colours and badge
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.
[33]
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:
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.
[34] 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 kits are designed by
adidas,
[35] 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).
Liverpool were famously the first British professional club to wear a sponsor's logo on their shirts,
[36] 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.
[37]
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.
Stadium
:''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.
[38] 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,
[39] 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.
[40]
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.
[41][42]
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
[43] and on
September 8,
2006 Liverpool City Council agreed to grant Liverpool F.C. a 999 year lease of land on the proposed site.
[44] 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.
[45] 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.
[46] On
25 July 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.
[47]
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.
[48] 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. The
Boot Room was also an important part of Liverpool's history and club culture.
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").
[49]
''Through The Wind And Rain'' is the longest running Liverpool
fanzine. The name is taken from "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Under Rafael BenÃtez, Liverpool FC has gained a Spanish influence. As well as having a Spanish manager, the goalkeeping coach
Xavi Valero, and the
physiotherapist VÃctor 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.
[50] 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.
[51]
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. 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.
The
Ronny Yu movie
The 51st State, which is known as Formula 51 in the US, features a scene where Felix DeSouza walks into a bar in Manchester filled with Manchester United supporters, wearing a Liverpool jersey. Also, the conclusion to the movie is centred around a Liverpool-Manchester United match at
Anfield.
In recent years Liverpool fans have also begun to regard
Chelsea as a major rival, probably stemming from the fact that the two sides have faced each other 15 times in just three seasons, including Liverpool twice putting Chelsea out of the
Champions League at the semi-final stage.
On
July 11,
2007 it was announced that Liverpool are to launch a TV station, LFC TV. The deal was struck with Irish firm
Setanta, and LFC TV will run alongside other Setanta club channels such as
Rangers TV and
Celtic TV. The station, which launches in September, will show delayed coverage of every Liverpool match as well as archived matches. It will also be available to view online for fans who purchase an "e-season ticket".
[52] Liverpool will become the third Premier League team to have a TV station, along with Manchester United (
MUTV) and Chelsea (
Chelsea TV).
Liverpool Ladies F.C.
Liverpool also has a
ladies' team. They will play in the
Premiership in 2007/08 after they were promted 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
:''As of
30 August,
2007.''
[53]
Players out on loan
[54]
[55]
[56]
[57]
[58]
[59]
[60]
[61]
[62]
[63]
[64]
[65]
''For recent transfers, see
Liverpool F.C. season 2007-08.''
Reserves
Technical staff
Managers
''As of
April 15,
2007. Only competitive matches are counted.''
[66]
| Name | Nat | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win % | Lge Titles | FA | LC | EC | UEFA | Other[67] |
|---|
| and [68] | / | 1892 Aug 1892 | 1896 July 1896 | 101 | 58 | 17 | 26 | % | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| | 1896 Aug 1896 | 1915 May 1915 | 740 | 327 | 141 | 272 | % | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | 1920 Dec 1920 | 1923 Feb 1923 | 58 | 25 | 24 | 9 | % | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1923 Feb 1923 | 1928 Feb 1928 | 229 | 94 | 61 | 74 | % | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1928 Feb 1928 | 1936 May 1936 | 370 | 139 | 86 | 145 | % | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1936 May 1936 | 1951 Feb 1951 | 359 | 143 | 93 | 123 | % | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1951 Mar 1951 | 1956 May 1956 | 234 | 82 | 60 | 92 | % | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1956 May 1956 | 1959 Nov 1959 | 153 | 77 | 32 | 44 | % | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1959 Dec 1959 | 1974 July 1974 | 753 | 393 | 185 | 175 | % | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| | 1974 July 1974 | 1983 May 1983 | 490 | 275 | 124 | 91 | % | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| | 1983 May 1983 | 1985 May 1985 | 122 | 65 | 34 | 23 | % | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1985 May 1985 | 1991-02 Feb 1991 | 297 | 180 | 76 | 41 | % | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| [69] | | 1991-02 Feb 1991 | 1991-04 Apr 1991 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | % | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1991-04 Apr 1991 | 1994 Jan 1994 | 157 | 65 | 47 | 45 | % | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 1994 Jan 1994 | 1998-07 July 1998 | 226 | 116 | 57 | 53 | % | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| and [70] | / | 1998-07 July 1998 | 1998-11 Nov 1998 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | % | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [71] | | 1998-11 Nov 1998 | 2004 May 2004 | 306 | 157 | 75 | 74 | % | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| | 2004 June 2004 | 9999 Pres | 172 | 98 | 32 | 42 | % | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Honours
Domestic
League
★ '
League'
[72] 'titles: 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
★ 'Lancashire League'
★
★ 1892–93
★ '
Division Two' (Level 2)
★
★ 1893–94, 1895–96, 1904–05, 1961–62
Cups
★ '
FA Cups: 7'
★
★
1965,
1974,
1986,
1989,
1992,
2001,
2006
★ '
League Cups: 7'
★
★ 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984,
1995,
2001,
2003
★ '
Community Shields'
[73]': 15 (10 outright, 5 shared)'
★
★ 1964 (shared), 1965 (shared), 1966, 1974, 1976, 1977 (shared), 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986 (shared), 1988, 1989, 1990 (shared), 2001, 2006
★ '
Screen Sport Super Cup[74] '
★
★ 1986
European
★ '
European Cups and
UEFA Champions League'
[Up until 1992, the premier European competition was named the European Cup; since then, it has been the UEFA Champions League.]' titles: 5'
★
★
1977,
1978,
1981,
1984,
2005
★ '
UEFA Cups: 3'
★
★
1973,
1976,
2001
★ '
UEFA Super Cups: 3'
★
★ 1977,
2001,
2005
Liverpool's tally of eighteen Football League championships is a record for English clubs, their nearest challenger being
Manchester United with sixteen. Liverpool achieved the League and FA Cup "
Double" in 1986 and have won two "
Trebles". The first treble of League, League Cup and European Cup was achieved in 1984 and a cup treble was achieved in 2001 comprising the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.
Liverpool's total of five
European Cups[ is an English record and the third highest total overall, after Real Madrid and AC Milan. The fifth victory in 2005 entitled Liverpool to receive the UEFA badge of honour, thus allowing them to keep the trophy permanently.[75] However, Liverpool have never won the Intercontinental Cup (football) nor the FIFA Club World Cup as of yet despite all the European Cups with many instances involving refusal to take part.]
Liverpool's total of three UEFA Cups is an English record, and equal to the overall record, shared with four other clubs. The tallies of seven League Cups and three European Super Cups are also English records.
Records and statistics
''
Liverpool's first ever competitive game was in the Lancashire League against Higher Walton. The match was won 8–0, with a mostly Scottish team.[76]
Ian Callaghan holds Liverpool's appearance record, having made 848 over the course of 19 seasons from 1958–78.[77] He also holds the record for League appearances with 640.41 Of the current squad Jamie Carragher has the most appearances with 455 (as of 2 March, 2007).
Liverpool's all time leading scorer is Ian Rush, who scored 346 goals in two spells at the club from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996.77 Rush holds the record for the most goals in a season with 47 in 1983–84. However, during his career, Rush could not surpass the league goal-scoring record of Roger Hunt, which has stood at 245 since 1970.41 In the 1961–62 season, Hunt scored 41 goals, setting the club record for league goals in a single season.41 Gordon Hodgson is the club's third highest scorer wirh 240 goals,77 and holds the club record of 17 hat tricks.[78] The most goals scored by a player in a single match is 5, which has been achieved by John Miller, Andy McGuigan, John Evans, Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler.[79] Fowler also holds the club and Premiership record for the fastest hat trick from when he scored three past Arsenal in 4 minutes, 32 seconds in the second game of the 1994–95 season.[80]
Steven Gerrard (current Liverpool FC Captain) is Liverpool's all-time leading goalscorer in the European Cup with 19 goals.[81]
Liverpool's biggest ever victory was 11–0 against Strømsgodset I.F. in 1974, in which nine of the ten outfield players scored — a Liverpool record.41 Rotherham Town were the victims of Liverpool's biggest league win, losing 10–1 in 1896.41 This margin of victory was matched in the modern era, as Crystal Palace were defeated 9–0 at Anfield in 1989.[82] Liverpool's heaviest defeats were against Huddersfield Town in 1935 (0–8) and Birmingham City in 1954 (1–9).41
Footnotes
1. Liverpool have won more Football League titles, European Cups, UEFA Cups, League Cups and European Super Cups than any other English team. Arch-rivals Manchester United hold the records for most FA Cup, Intercontinental Cup and Community Shield trophies, and have also lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup which Liverpool have not.
2. G-14's members
3. Anfield
4. Reds to begin stadium work in May
5. On This Day - 29th May 1985: Fans die in Heysel rioting
6. Hillsborough Memorial
7. On This Day - 15th April 1989: Soccer fans crushed at Hillsborough
8. LFC Story
9. 2nd Division League table for the 1893-1894 season
10. Liverpool in the FA Cup - Season by Season
11. Profile of Ephraim Longworth
12. Talking Shankly: the man, the genius, the legend, , Stephen F., Darby, Mainstream, , ISBN 1-84018-493-0
13. The Boot Room Boys: Inside the Anfield Boot Room, , Stephen F., Kelly, HarperCollins, , ISBN 0-00-218907-0 p86
14. In 1978-79 the Football League awarded two points for a win, as opposed to the current three. Under current rules, Liverpool would have obtained 98 points in 77-79.
15. Football: Season Details: 1979
16. The legacy of the boot room
17. Football: The European Cup
18. Profile of Kenny Dalglish
19. Taylor's interim report on the Hillsborough stadium disaster, August 1989 (zipped pdf)
20. A hard lesson to learn
21. The Boot Room Boys: Inside the Anfield Boot Room, , Stephen F., Kelly, HarperCollins, , ISBN 0-00-218907-0 p227
22. Houllier acclaims Euro triumph
23. Houllier 'satisfactory' after surgery
24. Houllier to leave Liverpool
25. AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool (aet)
26. US pair agree Liverpool takeover
27.
Reina heroics put Chelsea on the spot Henry Winter
28. LFC Records
29. Ron Yeats: The Colossus
30. Profile of Roger Hunt
31. Profile of Alan Hansen
32. The Liverpool F.C. Academy in Kirkby
33. LFC Story
34. Club Colours - Away kit pictures
35. Back on home turf, as adidas returns to Liverpool
36. The Knowledge - Has a streaker ever scored?
37. Carlsberg press release
38. Where should Everton move? That's easy - to Anfield
39. Celebrating 100 Years of the Kop, Liverpool FC website, 2006-08-06, retrieved 2007-05-21.
40. capacity of the kop
41. Sky Sports Football Yearbook, , Jack and Glenda, Rollin, Headline, 2006-2007,
42. UEFA 4 and 5 Star Stadia Fussballtempel.net
43. Reds stadium gets go-ahead
44. Liverpool get go-ahead on stadium
45. WORK ON STADIUM TO START NEXT MONTH
46. Home is where the heart is...
47. New Stadium
48. Liverpool or Celtic: who Walked Alone first?
49. Liverpool Songs and Chants
50. Why the Everton/Liverpool rivalry isn't religious
51. Two more red cards in the derby
52. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156233070711-0734.htm
53. Liverpool FC Squad
54. Itandje arrives as Carson leaves on loan
55. Yeovil sign Liverpool man on loan
56. Palace Sign Reds Striker
57. Smith Extends Stockport Stay
58. Anderson completes Anfield switch
59. Hartlepool sign Liverpool's Antwi
60. Trotters secure Guthrie loan
61. Liverpool winger loaned to Saints
62. Nade completes switch to Hearts
63. FC Twente lends Bulgarian keeper
64. Youth arrives from Liverpool
65. Shrewsbury net Liverpool teenager
66. Manager History for Liverpool
67. Includes the Charity Shield, European Super Cup, Division 2 and the Lancashire League
68. The official Liverpool website lists Barclay and McKenna as joint managers. Barclay held the post of "secretary-manager" and McKenna held the post of "coach-manager". (Reference: William E. Barclay: 'Joint Manager' (1892-96) )
69. Ronnie Moran served as caretaker manager.
70. Houllier was brought into Liverpool in the summer of 1998 to share the burden with Evans as joint-managers.
71. Houllier was absent from October 2001 to February 2002, due to illness. During this time, Phil Thompson stepped in as temporary manager (P33 W16 D12 L5). These matches are included in Houllier's record.
72. Up until 1992, the top division of English football was the Football League First Division; since then, it has been the Premier League.
73. The trophy was known as the Charity Shield until 2002, and as the Community Shield since then.
74. Introduced after English team got banned Heysel Stadium disaster
75. Regulations of the UEFA Champions League UEFA
76. Liverpool v. Higher Walton, 1892, Match Details LFCHistory.net
77. Who's Who of Liverpool, Matthews, Tony, , , Mainstream, 2006, ISBN 1-84596-140-4
78. Total Hat-tricks by Player LFCHistory.net
79. All Hat-tricks in Official Matches LFCHistory.net
80. The hat-trick Hall of Fame
81. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/match/next/
82. Liverpool 9 - 0 Crystal Palace
References
★ Liverpool, Graham, Matthew, , , Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, 1985, ISBN 0-600-50254-6
★ Liverpool:The Official Centenary History, Liversedge, Stan, , , Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, 1991, ISBN 0-600-57308-7
★ Liverpool In Europe, Ponting, Ivan, , , Guinness Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-85112-569-7
★ Liverpool Player by Player, Ponting, Ivan, , , Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, 1998, ISBN 0-600-59493-9
External links
★ Liverpool F.C. Official Website
★ Official page for Liverpool Echo and Daily Post stories covering Liverpool F.C.
★ LFCHistory.net - Articles and statistics relating to Liverpool F.C.
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