Liverpool
Football Club is the most successful English football team,
having won 4 European Cups and 18 league (English Premier
League, formerly First Division) titles. Their home ground
is the 45,362 capacity Anfield, which is about three miles
from the city centre of Liverpool.
The club was founded on March 15, 1892 by John Houlding, the
owner of Anfield. Houlding decided to form his own team
after Everton FC were evicted from Anfield in an argument
over rent. The original name was to be Everton FC but was
changed to Liverpool FC after the Football Association
refused to recognise the team as Everton.
On July 30, 2004, the Liverpool City Council granted the
club planning permission to build a new 60,000 seat stadium,
nearby at Stanley Park. For a time, it looked likely that
the stadium would be shared with local rivals Everton, but
talks on a groundshare failed in January 2005, and Liverpool
will now have the stadium to itself. It is hoped that if all
goes to plan, construction of the new stadium will begin in
the summer of 2005 and it will open in 2007. The old stadium
will then become a public plaza surrounded by apartments,
offices, bars, restaurants and a hotel. The treatment of the
old stadium requires some sensitivity as a number of
deceased fans have had their ashes officially scattered on
the pitch over the years.
The club was especially dominant in the 1970s and 1980s.
Great players from this time include Ray Clemence, Mark
Lawrenson, Graeme Souness, Ian Callaghan, Phil Neal, Kevin
Keegan, Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish (102 Caps) and Ian Rush
(346 Goals).
The club was also present at two of the biggest tragedies in
European football - at Heysel in 1985 and Hillsborough in
1989.
They completed an unprecedented treble of two domestic cups
(the League Cup and the FA Cup) and the UEFA Cup in the
2000/01 season. However winning a treble was not something
new to Liverpool. In 1984 they were victorious in the
European Cup, the League Cup and the Championship. This was
the first treble of major honours to be completed by an
English club. |