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The football league was founded in 1888 and St. Domingoes was the team representing the city of Liverpool. St Domingoes later became known as 'Everton.' Furthermore its home ground was Anfield. John Houlding developed Everton and in his memory, a statue of him was erected. This statue affectionately became known as 'King John of Everton'.
John bought Anfield in 1891 but when he proposed to increase the rent the Everton team objected. The team became divided and they left Anfield and Houlding and went instead to Goodison Park.
18 people associated with the Everton team, however, stayed with Houlding, including William E. Barclay and three players. Houlding decided to form his own team and Barclay suggested the name, Liverpool Football Club. On the 15th March 1892 Liverpool Football Club was born.
Another Everton member who had remained at Anfield with Houlding was 'Honest' John McKenna. McKenna had a very big impact on the early days of Liverpool's history. He signed twelve new players from Scotland and so Liverpool became known as 'the team of all Macs'. On the 1st September 1892 Liverpool played their first match at Anfield and won 7-1. McVean scored the first ever Liverpool home game goal. In its first year Liverpool were not able to enter the top division but in the second division by the end of the season they won a treble.
The next year saw Liverpool gain promotion to the top divsion but they were over-shadowed by Everton and fared badly and the next season they were relegated back to the second division. McKenna didn't lose faith or hope and his team were promoted again - this time they came fifth and finished above Everton.
In 1896 Tom Watson took charge and he had a huge impact. After signing Alex Raisbeck, a team of champions emerged at Liverpool. In 1901, Liverpool won the league championship trophy for the first time. Even in its early days the team had its share of ups and downs. Two years after winning the league they were relegated again.
After another year long battle in the second divsion Liverpool again earned promotion to the first division and as soon as they reached the top they kept battling and they won the league championship trophy a second time. As a reward to its fans the committee built the 'Spion Kop'. It was named after a hilly mountain top in Africa which means 'lookout point' and it was here that hundreds of local soldiers had battled and lost their lives in the Boer War.
They earned two more league championship cups after the first world war, but it was the FA Cup that eluded them, much to the delight and ridicule of the Everton fans. Liverpool's first FA Cup final came in 1950. Finally a trip to Wembley. Over 100,000 people applied for tickets and only 10,000 were allocated. Liverpool lost 2-0 to Arsenal and fans were outraged that the great Bob Paisley was not chosen to play. Despite the loss 100,000 people lined the streets of Liverpool to greet the cup finalists and their manager, George Kay.
In 1951 Liverpool approached Bill Shankly and asked him to become the manager of Liverpool. Shanks refused the offer as the committee made all the decisions, including choosing the team. No manager had ever selected the team.
In the 1953/4 season Liverpool once again were relegated. This was the lowest point in their history and they remained in the second division for the next few years. Then the best possible thing that could have happened to Liverpool happened. On the 1st of December 1959, Liverpool were given an early Christmas present - Bill Shankly. He was appointed to replace Phil Taylor and became the first ever manager to select the team. And so began a very beautiful 14 year love affair.
In the 1963/4 season they won their sixth league title and on the 1 May 1965 they went to Wembley to play Leeds in the FA Cup final. Ian St. John scored the winning goal and Liverpool lifted their very first, long-awaited FA Cup. Some of Liverpool's older fans who had followed the team faithfully through the years sent letters to Shanks saying that now they had won the FA Cup they could die happy.
In 1972/3 they won the UEFA cup. The following year they won the FA Cup again. Then came the bombshell, Shankly announced that he was stepping down as manager and handed the reigns to Bob Paisley.
Bob Paisley was to have a profound effect on Liverpool. A brilliant tactician of the game. In just his second year as manager he led Liverpool to another league title victory and and won the UEFA Cup. In the 1976/7 season they again won the league championship title and made the final of the FA Cup. But one of the most significant feats was on the 25 May 1977. Liverpool went to Rome to play in the European Cup final against Borussia Moenchengladbach and Phil Neal scored the winning goal, giving Liverpool their very first European Cup.
They became the first ever British team to retain the European Cup when they won 1-0 against FC Bruge the following year. In 1978/9 and 1979/80 they won their first of four consecutive league championship titles. In 1980/1 they won another league championship title and their third European Cup in 1981 after beating Real Madrid. In nine years Bob Paisley had helped Liverpool win trophy after trophy and earned himself six 'Manager of the Year' awards.
Joe Fagan was the replacement for Bob Paisley and in his first season won the league title cup and and a fourth European Cup on Italian turf against AC Roma. The following year on 29 May 1985 Liverpool travelled to Brussels to play Juventus in another European Cup final. What should have been a great day in history turned out to be one of the worst. The Heysel stadium was old and crumbling and objections had been made against staging the event there. Also a large section of the stadium had been declared neutral for Belgians which Liverpool had objected to as most of the tickets would inevitably be sold and would mean a large section of the crowd would be mixed. About an hour before kick off trouble broke out when opposing fans taunted each other and began hurling missiles. Some Liverpool fans surged towards the Italian fans who ran towards a wall which collapsed on top of them. Tragically, thirty nine football fans lost their lives.
Following the Heysel disaster Joe Fagan handed the reigns over to Kenny Dalglish. In his first season 1985/6 Liverpool won the League and the FA Cup against rivals Everton. They won the League again in 1987/8 and played another FA Cup final.
The following year, on 15 April 1989 the worst day in the club's history occured. The semi-final of the FA Cup between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield's Hillsborough Stadium. The Leppings Lane stand in the stadium became over-crowded and a crush ensued. 96 people lost their lives. On the 16th April, the day after the tragedy, Liverpool fans and mourners came to the gates of Anfield to pay tributes. In an unprecendented step, Peter Robinson told the groundsmen to open the gates for the crowds, saying Liverpool Football Club didn't want their friends standing on the streets. Every inch of the ground was covered in flowers. Liverpool went on to win the semi-final and faced Everton in a very emotional Wembley final. Both Liverpool and Everton fans sang 'You'll Never Walk Alone' together and observed a minute's silence in memory of the fans who died. Liverpool won the FA Cup 3-2 but that win will always be out-weighed by the massive loss. The tragedy affected everyone. Kenny Dalgish was attending several funerals each day and it took its toll. In 1991, he resigned as manager due to the stress.
Ronnie Moran stepped in briefly until Graeme Souness took over but his management style proved very unpopular. Roy Evans was next to lead the team and in his first full season led them to league title victory. The next couple of years were slightly disappointing. Gerrard Houllier was appointed joint manager in 1998 and proved successful enough that Roy Evans stepped down and gave Houllier full control.
In May 2001, Liverpool beat Arsenal at Cardiff in the FA Cup final, having already won the Worthington Cup and on the 16 May against Spanish side, Alaves they won the UEFA cup, making it a treble. Unfortunately health problems meant Houllier was away from the team a lot and wasn't able to carry on with the same fervour. They only just qualified for the European Champions League , finishing fourth in the 2003/04 season and Rafael Benitez was the man head-hunted for the job.
Rafael Benitez had turned a struggling Valencia side into an attacking force on a low budget and earned them their first La Liga title in over 30 years. Bringing with him some Spanish ingredients, he threw players like Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia into the pot.
23 May 2005 is probably the most joyful and memorable nights of many Liverpool fans. Facing AC Milan at the Ataturk stadium in Turkey, Liverpool conceded a goal in less than a minute. By half time they were losing by three goals. What happened next was the most amazing comeback of all time. The Liverpool fans stunned into silence found their voices and they sang. Then in an amazing display of courage, hope and determination Liverpool equalized the three goals. Extra time proved fruitless and so penalties ensued. The impossible had happened and Liverpool won in one of the most amazing games of football anyone has ever seen or ever will see again.

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