Everton F.C. were founded 1878 and played at Anfield from 1884. In 1891 John Houlding, the leaseholder of Anfield, purchased the ground outright and proposed increasing the rent from £100 to £250 a year. The Everton members objected, left Anfield and moved to Goodison Park. 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 born. 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. after The Football Association refused to recognise the team as Everton. John McKenna was appointed director and signed thirteen Scottish professionals for the new club. Liverpool were elected to the Football League Second Division for the 1893–94 season. They ended the season unbeaten as Second Division Champions, and were promoted to the First Division. In 1901, Liverpool won their first Football League championship; a feat that was repeated in 1906. They played their first FA Cup final in 1914, but lost 1-0 to Burnley.
In 1921–22 and 1922–23 Liverpool won their first back-to-back League titles, captained by England full-back Ephraim Longworth. This was to be followed by the longest barren spell in the club's history. It was felt that Liverpool might have recovered in 1947 when they became Champions once again, but it proved to be a false dawn, and in 1954 Liverpool were relegated. The years 1954-59 were the nadir for Liverpool, when the team languished in League Division Two (the old second level of professional football in England) and had no success in the F.A. Cup. Their record league defeat, 9-1 to Birmingham City, came in December 1954. A small glimmer of success was a 4-0 upset of rivals Everton in the F.A. Cup in January 1955. This was a the only light in a gloomy decade however that included a Cup exit to Southend United in January 1957.
Bill Shankly was appointed manager in December 1959. Over the next fifteen years he transformed Liverpool into one of the top club sides in Europe. Within his first year, he released twenty-four players and rebuilt the team. Shankly's efforts would pay dividends. In his third season as manager, Liverpool won the Second Division Championship by eight points and were promoted to the top flight where they have remained ever since.
Having started the 1960s in the Second division, Liverpool would end that decade as a major domestic power. In 1964, Liverpool lifted the League Championship for the first time in seventeen years. They 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 had won their eighth league title and defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach to win their first European trophy, the UEFA Cup, in 1973. However, a year later, after another FA Cup victory, Shankly retired from management. His assistant, Bob Paisley, was offered the chance to manage the team. Paisley would prove to be one of the most successful managers in the history of football. In the nine seasons he managed the club, Liverpool would win a total of twenty-one trophies, including three European Cups, a UEFA Cup, six league titles and three consecutive League Cups.
Liverpool's first European Cup was won in 1977. The final was played in Rome, and Liverpool defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1. The next year Liverpool would retain the trophy, beating Club Brugge 1-0 in the European Cup final at Wembley, and in 1979 the club broke another record winning the league title with sixty-eight points and only sixteen goals conceded in forty-two matches. Paisley's third and last European Cup victory came in 1981 with a 1-0 victory in the final over Real Madrid. Only one domestic trophy eluded him - the FA Cup.
The succession of winning 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 Liverpool staff learned strategy and allegedly stored gin[7]. Just as Shankly had been succeeded by Paisley, so too did Paisley hand over the reins to his assistant, veteran coach Joe Fagan. He was aged 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. However Fagan's career was only to last two seasons, and would end in tragedy. In 1985 Liverpool again reached the European Cup final. The match was to be played at Heysel Stadium but, before kick-off, disaster struck Liverpool fans breached a fence separating the two groups of supporters and charged Juventus fans causing a retaining wall to collapse, killing thirty-nine Juventus fans. The match was played regardless and Liverpool lost 1-0 to Juventus. All 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), whilst fourteen of their fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter.
In 1985 Kenny Dalglish, already idolised as perhaps Liverpool's greatest player, became Liverpool's first player-manager. His reign would see the club win another three League Championships and another two FA Cups including a double in 1985/86 at Everton's expense. His initial season in charge saw the club winning the league title and beating arch rivals Everton 3-1 in the FA Cup final to become only the third team to win the league championship/FA Cup double in the 20th century (after Spurs (1961) and Arsenal (1971)). 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 trampled on the terraces. 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 never having regained consciousness. The Taylor Report later ruled that the main reasons for the disaster were overcrowding due to a failure of police control.
1992 saw Graeme Souness installed as manager. However, apart from an FA Cup win in his first year, 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 five seasons the club never finished higher than third. His 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 didn't work out and Evans resigned part way through the season.
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. They finished second in 2002, a year in which Houllier suffered a heart attack during a match with Leeds and had to undergo major heart surgery. 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.
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 and looked much the poorer side over the first 45 minutes, but they 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 thanks to goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.
In 2005–06 Liverpool gathered 82 points in the Premiership, their highest points total since 1988, and won the FA Cup in yet another dramatic final, this time against West Ham in which Liverpool trailed 3-2 until Captain Steven Gerrard fired home a goal from 35-yards out, as the P.A system was announcing injury time. They also picked up the UEFA Super Cup in a 2-1 win over CSKA Moscow.
At the very start of the 2006-07 season, Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 to win the Community Shield, after Peter Crouch scored the winner.
On December 4, 2006 Sheikh Mohammed engaged in takeover negotiations for Liverpool in a deal rumoured to be worth £479m. The bid was through his Dubai International Capital (DIC) investment group.[8] As an adjunct to the takeover, it has been speculated that DIC also initiated a bid to purchase Tranmere Rovers for £19.75m
In 1921–22 and 1922–23 Liverpool won their first back-to-back League titles, captained by England full-back Ephraim Longworth. This was to be followed by the longest barren spell in the club's history. It was felt that Liverpool might have recovered in 1947 when they became Champions once again, but it proved to be a false dawn, and in 1954 Liverpool were relegated. The years 1954-59 were the nadir for Liverpool, when the team languished in League Division Two (the old second level of professional football in England) and had no success in the F.A. Cup. Their record league defeat, 9-1 to Birmingham City, came in December 1954. A small glimmer of success was a 4-0 upset of rivals Everton in the F.A. Cup in January 1955. This was a the only light in a gloomy decade however that included a Cup exit to Southend United in January 1957.
Bill Shankly was appointed manager in December 1959. Over the next fifteen years he transformed Liverpool into one of the top club sides in Europe. Within his first year, he released twenty-four players and rebuilt the team. Shankly's efforts would pay dividends. In his third season as manager, Liverpool won the Second Division Championship by eight points and were promoted to the top flight where they have remained ever since.
Having started the 1960s in the Second division, Liverpool would end that decade as a major domestic power. In 1964, Liverpool lifted the League Championship for the first time in seventeen years. They 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 had won their eighth league title and defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach to win their first European trophy, the UEFA Cup, in 1973. However, a year later, after another FA Cup victory, Shankly retired from management. His assistant, Bob Paisley, was offered the chance to manage the team. Paisley would prove to be one of the most successful managers in the history of football. In the nine seasons he managed the club, Liverpool would win a total of twenty-one trophies, including three European Cups, a UEFA Cup, six league titles and three consecutive League Cups.
Liverpool's first European Cup was won in 1977. The final was played in Rome, and Liverpool defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1. The next year Liverpool would retain the trophy, beating Club Brugge 1-0 in the European Cup final at Wembley, and in 1979 the club broke another record winning the league title with sixty-eight points and only sixteen goals conceded in forty-two matches. Paisley's third and last European Cup victory came in 1981 with a 1-0 victory in the final over Real Madrid. Only one domestic trophy eluded him - the FA Cup.
The succession of winning 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 Liverpool staff learned strategy and allegedly stored gin[7]. Just as Shankly had been succeeded by Paisley, so too did Paisley hand over the reins to his assistant, veteran coach Joe Fagan. He was aged 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. However Fagan's career was only to last two seasons, and would end in tragedy. In 1985 Liverpool again reached the European Cup final. The match was to be played at Heysel Stadium but, before kick-off, disaster struck Liverpool fans breached a fence separating the two groups of supporters and charged Juventus fans causing a retaining wall to collapse, killing thirty-nine Juventus fans. The match was played regardless and Liverpool lost 1-0 to Juventus. All 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), whilst fourteen of their fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter.
In 1985 Kenny Dalglish, already idolised as perhaps Liverpool's greatest player, became Liverpool's first player-manager. His reign would see the club win another three League Championships and another two FA Cups including a double in 1985/86 at Everton's expense. His initial season in charge saw the club winning the league title and beating arch rivals Everton 3-1 in the FA Cup final to become only the third team to win the league championship/FA Cup double in the 20th century (after Spurs (1961) and Arsenal (1971)). 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 trampled on the terraces. 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 never having regained consciousness. The Taylor Report later ruled that the main reasons for the disaster were overcrowding due to a failure of police control.
1992 saw Graeme Souness installed as manager. However, apart from an FA Cup win in his first year, 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 five seasons the club never finished higher than third. His 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 didn't work out and Evans resigned part way through the season.
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. They finished second in 2002, a year in which Houllier suffered a heart attack during a match with Leeds and had to undergo major heart surgery. 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.
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 and looked much the poorer side over the first 45 minutes, but they 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 thanks to goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.
In 2005–06 Liverpool gathered 82 points in the Premiership, their highest points total since 1988, and won the FA Cup in yet another dramatic final, this time against West Ham in which Liverpool trailed 3-2 until Captain Steven Gerrard fired home a goal from 35-yards out, as the P.A system was announcing injury time. They also picked up the UEFA Super Cup in a 2-1 win over CSKA Moscow.
At the very start of the 2006-07 season, Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 to win the Community Shield, after Peter Crouch scored the winner.
On December 4, 2006 Sheikh Mohammed engaged in takeover negotiations for Liverpool in a deal rumoured to be worth £479m. The bid was through his Dubai International Capital (DIC) investment group.[8] As an adjunct to the takeover, it has been speculated that DIC also initiated a bid to purchase Tranmere Rovers for £19.75m
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