Liverpool FC

Liverpool Football Club were founded in May 1892 by John Houlding, who owned the Anfield Road stadium. Everton FC were the occupants at Anfield before this date but following a disagreement with Houlding they promptly moved across Stanley Park to a new home - Goodison Park.

Houlding was left with an empty stadium and so formed Liverpool Football Club. He appointed John McKenna, an Irishman with many links in Scottish football, McKenna used his links to form a ’squad’ of 13 players, of which 9 were Scottish.

In their first season the club won the second division championship - without losing a game! The first of 18 first division championships arrived at Anfield in season 1900-01, now under the management of Tom Watson, the team finished two points ahead of Sunderland. Five years before that Liverpool recorded their highest ever League win when they beat Rotherham United 10-1 in the second division (Feb 18th 1896).

The Reds won their second league title in 1906, and reached their first FA Cup Final in 1914. The match was played at the old Crystal Palace ground and Liverpool lost 1-0 to Burnely, with ex-Evertonian Burt Freeman scoring the only goal.

Bob Paisley was promoted from the ‘bootroom’, a trend which would continue at the club for decades to come. Any doubts that Paisley was not the right man for the job were dispelled in 1976, when Paisley’s team won the league title and UEFA Cup in the same season. The next season saw the league title (again!), the European Cup and the European Super Cup all arrive at Anfield. The trophies kept coming with another European Cup in 78 and league titles in 79, 80, 82 and 83. These were won with league cups in 81, 82 and 83 and a third European Cup in 81. These successes made Bob Paisley the most successful British football manager ever.

Paisley retired at the of the 1982-83 season and made way for Joe Fagan to take charge. Fagan’s team lifted the league title, league cup and the European Cup in his first season in charge - some start to a managerial career!

Kenny Dalglish was appointed in 1985 following Fagan’s retirement and won the clubs’ first ever double of league title and FA Cup in 1986. Two more league championships followed in 88 and 90 along with another FA Cup win in 89.

April 15th 1989 is a date that will live long in the memory of Reds fans through out the World. Liverpool were playing Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semi final at Sheffield’s Hillsborough Stadium. 96 Liverpool fans were tragically killed following inadequate policing and stewarding in the Leppings Lane End.

In the summer of 1998 Gerard Houllier was appointed joint manager with Roy Evans. But that joint partnership was always destined to end in failure and after four months together Roy Evans left the club. Roy a great servant to the club was never a man to put himself before the club whom he supported as a boy and worked himself up from fringe player to first team manger. He later claimed in one of his last interviews that he didn’t want to be a “Ghost on the Wall” which Is infact what his Autobiography title for his book which was published in 2004.

Houllier now sole manager had a big task on his hands to restore confidence and discipline in his players. He inherited a team who were used to Roy Evans’s “one of the boys“ attitude towards management but slowly but surely he began to build a squad of players that Liverpool once again could be proud of. Players such as Paul Ince and later Robbie Fowler were shown the door as they were never going to be part of Houlliers new counter attacking and disciplined squad. In came players such as Gary McAllister, Milan Baros, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, John Arne Riise, Emile Heskey and the inclusion of up and coming starlet Stephan Gerrard to name some.

Immediately things began to look a whole lot brighter and after two seasons of laying down the foundations to a team in his mold his team won three trophies in one season. The League Cup success over Birmingham was the clubs first trophy for 6 years and this was soon followed by FA Cup and UEFA Cup joy two months later. A memorable UEFA Cup Final saw Houlliers team beat Spanish underdogs Alaves 5-4 in a thrilling extra time encounter.

Success was fleeting though as growing unrest at Liverpool’s sudden return to mediocrity and little progress forced supporters to call for his resignation which 2 seasons earlier would have seemed inconceivable. Liverpool were now perceived as chronic underperformers and the league table showed it. Expensive signings such as El-Hadji Diouf and Emile Heskey to name a couple were slated as flops and Houllier later went on record as saying signing Diouf was a huge mistake.

After such hope and prosperity in his first few seasons Houllier was politely shown the door.
During a pre-season full of speculation Liverpool made the massive coup in signing promising young manager Rafael Benitez from Valencia. ’Rafa’ as he is known faced an equally big task in bringing together a squad littered with distinctly average players from the Houllier era.

Purchases such as Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Morientes improved the outlook but the loss of Michael Owen to Real Madrid marred Benitez’s opening months.

Rafa Benitez’s first season in charge saw the Reds land their first European Cup for 21 years, defeating AC Milan against the odds in the greatest European Final ever witnessed.

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