History

Liverpool FC’s story starts in 1892 when John Houlding, then Everton’s president, decided to create a new football club to play at Anfield, where he owned the land. This is why Liverpool was originally named Everton Athletic. The club got its new name only three months later.

Liverpool stormed its first season by winning the Lancashire League and joining the Second Division. Liverpool’s fans didn’t have to wait long until their club had been promoted to the First division, which it won in 1901 and again, 5 years later.

Liverpool won two League championships in a row in early 1920th followed by disappointing 23 years. The club won the First Division for a fifth time in 1947. Six years later the club was relegated to the Second Division.

Bill Shankly came to the club in 1959 and started rethinking the club’s strategy and reshaping the team. Liverpool joined the First Division again in 1962 and won it in 1964. One year later they won the first FA Cup. Liverpool won both the League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, and the FA Cup again a year later. The club repeated the double win in 1976 under their new manager, Bob Paisley.

Manager

Dates

Wins %

W.E.Barclay, John McKenna

1892-1896

60.63

Tom Watson

1896-1915

44.34

George Patterson

1915-1919

38.89

David Ashworth

1919-1923

50.36

Matt McQueen

1923-1928

40.61

George Patterson

1928-1936

37.43

George Kay

1936-1951

39.78

Don Welsh

1951-1956

34.91

Phil Taylor

1956-1959

50.67

Bill Shankly

1959-1974

51.98

Bob Paisley

1974-1983

65.4

Joe Fagan

1983-1985

54.2

Kenny Dalglish

1985-1991

60.91

Ronnie Moran*

1991-1991

40

Graeme Souness

1991-1994

42.04

Roy Evans

1994-1998

51.77

Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier

1998-1998

38.89

Gérard Houllier

1998-2004

52.12

Rafael Benítez

2004-2010

56.29

Roy Hodgson

2010-2011

41.94

Kenny Dalglish

2011-2012

47.3

Brendan Rodgers

2012-present

56

 

The 2011–12 season was the worst league finish for Liverpool in 18 years and led to the sacking of Kenny Dalglish. He was replaced by Brendan Rodgers and in 2-seasons-time the club finished second behind Man City and returned to the Champions League.

Everton has been always Liverpool’s longest-established rivalry due to its historical background. The second most recognised rivalry is Manchester United. Some explain this as mirroring the cities’ competition as industrial centres in the 19th century.

The club suffered two stadium disasters. 39 Juventus supporters were killed in 1985 at Heysel Stadium where a wall collapsed. UEFA blamed Liverpool supporters for the incident and all English clubs were banned from European competition for five years (Liverpool was banned for an additional year).

The second disaster, known as the Hillsborough disaster, took place during Liverpool-Nottingham’s FA Cup semi-final between Forest at Hillsborough Stadium on 15 April 1989. The 1989 Hillsborough tragedy claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool FC fans. Since that day families and survivors have fought to discover the truth about what happened that day. September 12, 2012, was a momentous day as the findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel were published. Three months later the accidental death verdicts were quashed at the High Court paving the way for fresh inquests, being held in Warrington. If you would like to read through the inquests, which are still going on, click here.