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Liverpool F.C.

This article is about the English men's football club. For the affiliated women's football club, see
Liverpool F.C. Women. For the Uruguayan men's football club, see Liverpool F.C. (Montevideo).
For other uses, see Liverpool F.C. (disambiguation).

Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club in Liverpool, England, that competes in the
Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club has won 5 European Cups, more tha
n any other English club, 3 UEFA Cups, 3 UEFA Super Cups, 18 League titles, 7 FA Cups, 8 Lea
gue Cups, and 15 FA Community Shields.

Liverpool F.C.

The words "Liverpool Football Club" are in the centre of a pennant, with flames either side. The
words "You'll Never Walk Alone" adorn the top of the emblem in a green design, "EST 1892" i
s at the bottom

Full name

Liverpool Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Reds

Short name

LFC

Founded

3 June 1892; 126 years ago[1]

Ground

Anfield

Capacity
54,074[2]

Owner

Fenway Sports Group

Chairman

Tom Werner

Manager

Jürgen Klopp

League

Premier League

2017–18

Premier League, 4th of 20

Website

Club website

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

Current season

Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has played at Anfi
eld since its formation. Liverpool established itself as a major force in English and European foot
ball in the 1970s and 1980s when Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley led the club to 11 League titles a
nd seven European trophies. Under the management of Rafael Benítez and captained by Steven
Gerrard, Liverpool became European champions for the fifth time in 2005.
Liverpool was the ninth highest-earning football club in the world in 2016–17, with an annual rev
enue of €424.2 million,[3] and the world's eighth most valuable football club in 2018, valued at
$1.944 billion.[4] The club is one of the best supported teams in the world.[5] Liverpool has lon
g-standing rivalries with Manchester United and Everton.

The club's supporters have been involved in two major tragedies: the Heysel Stadium disaster, w
here escaping fans were pressed against a collapsing wall at the 1985 European Cup Final in Br
ussels, with 39 people – mostly Italians and Juventus fans – dying, after which English clubs wer
e given a five-year ban from European competition, and the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, wher
e 96 Liverpool supporters died in a crush against perimeter fencing.

The team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home strip in 1964 which has
been used ever since. The club's anthem is "You'll Never Walk Alone".

Contents

History

Main articles: 1892–1959, 1959–85, and 1985–present

Black and white photograph of elder and bald John Houlding, wearing beard and bow tie.

John Houlding, the founder of Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool F.C. was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houldi
ng, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton r
elocated to Goodison Park in 1892 and Houlding founded Liverpool F.C. to play at Anfield.[6] Or
iginally named "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd" (Everton Athletic for short), the club beca
me Liverpool F.C. in March 1892 and gained official recognition three months later, after The Fo
otball Association refused to recognise the club as Everton.[7] The team won the Lancashire Lea
gue in its début season, and joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 189
3–94 season. After finishing in first place the club was promoted to the First Division, which it
won in 1901 and again in 1906.[8]

Liverpool reached its first FA Cup Final in 1914, losing 1–0 to Burnley. It won consecutive League
championships in 1922 and 1923, but did not win another trophy until the 1946 –47 season, wh
en the club won the First Division for a fifth time under the control of ex-West Ham Utd centre
half George Kay.[9] Liverpool suffered its second Cup Final defeat in 1950, playing against Arse
nal.[10] The club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953–54 season.[11] Soon after Live
rpool lost 2–1 to non-league Worcester City in the 1958–59 FA Cup, Bill Shankly was appointed
manager. Upon his arrival he released 24 players and converted a boot storage room at Anfield
into a room where the coaches could discuss strategy; here, Shankly and other "Boot Room"
members Joe Fagan, Reuben Bennett, and Bob Paisley began reshaping the team.[12]

Statue of a man with his arms held aloft

Statue of Bill Shankly outside Anfield. Shankly won promotion to the First Division and the club's
first league title since 1947.

The club was promoted back into the First Division in 1962 and won it in 1964, for the first tim
e in 17 years. In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup. In 1966, the club won the First Division bu
t lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners' Cup final.[13] Liverpool won both the
League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, and the FA Cup again a year later. Sha
nkly retired soon afterwards and was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley.[14] In 1976, Paisley's
second season as manager, the club won another League and UEFA Cup double. The following
season, the club retained the League title and won the European Cup for the first time, but it l
ost in the 1977 FA Cup Final. Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 and regained the Fir
st Division title in 1979.[15] During Paisley's nine seasons as manager Liverpool won 21 trophies,
including three European Cups, a UEFA Cup, six League titles and three consecutive League Cup
s; the only domestic trophy he did not win was the FA Cup.[16]

Paisley retired in 1983 and was replaced by his assistant, Joe Fagan.[17] Liverpool won the Leagu
e, League Cup and European Cup in Fagan's first season, becoming the first English side to win
three trophies in a season.[18] Liverpool reached the European Cup final again in 1985, a gainst
Juventus at the Heysel Stadium. Before kick-off, Liverpool fans breached a fence which separate
d the two groups of supporters, and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people
caused a retaining wall to collapse, killing 39 fans, mostly Italians. The incident became known a
s the Heysel Stadium disaster. The match was played in spite of protests by both managers, an
d Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus. As a result of the tragedy, English clubs were banned from par
ticipating in European competition for five years; Liverpool received a ten-year ban, which was l
ater reduced to six years. Fourteen Liverpool fans received convictions for involuntary manslaugh
ter.[19]
3 burgundy tablets with gold engraved writing. Below the tablets are flowers.

The Hillsborough memorial, which is engraved with the names of the 96 people who died in th
e Hillsborough disaster.

Fagan had announced his retirement just before the disaster and Kenny Dalglish was appointed
as player-manager.[20] During his tenure, the club won another three league titles and two FA
Cups, including a League and Cup "Double" in the 1985–86 season. Liverpool's success was over
shadowed by the Hillsborough disaster: in an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on 1
5 April 1989, hundreds of Liverpool fans were crushed against perimeter fencing.[21] Ninety-four
fans died that day; the 95th victim died in hospital from his injuries four days later and the 96t
h died nearly four years later, without regaining consciousness.[22] After the Hillsborough disaste
r there was a government review of stadium safety. The resulting Taylor Report paved the way f
or legislation that required top-division teams to have all-seater stadiums. The report ruled that
the main reason for the disaster was overcrowding due to a failure of police control.[23]

Liverpool was involved in the closest finish to a league season during the 1988–89 season. Liver
pool finished equal with Arsenal on both points and goal difference, but lost the title on total g
oals scored when Arsenal scored the final goal in the last minute of the season.[24]

Dalglish cited the Hillsborough disaster and its repercussions as the reason for his resignation in
1991; he was replaced by former player Graeme Souness.[25] Under his leadership Liverpool wo
n the 1992 FA Cup Final, but their league performances slumped, with two consecutive sixth-pla
ce finishes, eventually resulting in his dismissal in January 1994. Souness was replaced by Roy Ev
ans, and Liverpool went on to win the 1995 Football League Cup Final. While they made some
title challenges under Evans, third-place finishes in 1996 and 1998 were the best they could man
age, and so Gérard Houllier was appointed co-manager in the 1998–99 season, and became the
sole manager in November 1998 after Evans resigned.[26] In 2001, Houllier's second full season
in charge, Liverpool won a "Treble": the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.[27] Houllier unde
rwent major heart surgery during the 2001–02 season and Liverpool finished second in the Leag
ue, behind Arsenal.[28] They won a further League Cup in 2003, but failed to mount a title chal
lenge in the two seasons that followed.
A silver trophy with red ribbons on it, set against a green background

The European Cup trophy won by Liverpool for a fifth time in 2005

Houllier was replaced by Rafael Benítez at the end of the 2003–04 season. Despite finishing fifth
in Benítez's first season, Liverpool won the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, beating A.C. Mila
n 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended with a score of 3–3.[29] The following seaso
n, Liverpool finished third in the Premier League and won the 2006 FA Cup Final, beating West
Ham United in a penalty shootout after the match finished 3–3.[30] American businessmen Geo
rge Gillett and Tom Hicks became the owners of the club during the 2006–07 season, in a deal
which valued the club and its outstanding debts at £218.9 million.[31] The club reached the 200
7 UEFA Champions League Final against Milan, as it had in 2005, but lost 2–1.[32] During the 2
008–09 season Liverpool achieved 86 points, its highest Premier League points total, and finishe
d as runners up to Manchester United.[33]

In the 2009–10 season, Liverpool finished seventh in the Premier League and failed to qualify for
the Champions League. Benítez subsequently left by mutual consent[34] and was replaced by F
ulham manager Roy Hodgson.[35] At the start of the 2010–11 season Liverpool was on the verg
e of bankruptcy and the club's creditors asked the High Court to allow the sale of the club, ov
erruling the wishes of Hicks and Gillett. John W. Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox and of Fe
nway Sports Group, bid successfully for the club and took ownership in October 2010.[36] Poor
results during the start of that season led to Hodgson leaving the club by mutual consent and
former player and manager Kenny Dalglish taking over.[37] In the 2011–12 season, Liverpool secu
red a record 8th League Cup success and reached the FA Cup final, but finished in eighth posit
ion, the worst league finish in 18 years; this led to the sacking of Dalglish.[38][39] He was replac
ed by Brendan Rodgers,[40] whose Liverpool team in the 2013–14 season mounted an unexpecte
d title charge to finish second behind champions Manchester City and subsequently return to th
e Champions League, scoring 101 goals in the process, the most since the 106 scored in the 189
5–96 season.[41][42] Following a disappointing 2014–15 season, where Liverpool finished sixth in t
he league, and a poor start to the following campaign, Rodgers was sacked in October 2015.[43
] He was replaced by Jürgen Klopp,[44] who in his first season at Liverpool, took the club to th
e finals of both the Football League Cup and UEFA Europa League, finishing as runner-up in bo
th competitions.[45]