Lexter - LFC

Liverpools History

Liverpool are the most successful team ever in British football. They have won the League title a record 18 times, the FA and League Cup five times each, the UEFA Cup twice and the European Cup on four occasions. They have also won the European Super Cup once and were runners-up in the 1981 World Club Championship. Liverpool's origins can be traced back to their rivals Everton, who played their early games at Anfield.

Following a dispute, Everton left the ground to play at Goodison, and Anfield's owner formed a new club, Liverpool Association FC. On expansion of the Football League to a second division in 1893, Liverpool joined and in September of that year played their first League match against Middlesbrough Ironopolis which they won 2-0.

The Reds won their first trophy in 1900-01, becoming League Champions for the first time. They didn't lose any of their last 12 games and finished two points clear of runners-up Sunderland with 45 points. In the first decade of the new century, Liverpool went on to win the League once again in 1905-06, only a season after coming back up from the Second Division.

Up until the start of the Second World War, the Reds won the League twice more (in 1922 and 1923) and appeared in their first FA Cup final, losing 1-0 to Burnley in 1914. Immediately after the War, Liverpool again won the title, but by 1954 had been relegated to the Second Division.

However, the arrival of Scot Bill Shankly at Anfield in December 1959 slowly turned things round for Liverpool. By 1962, the team were Second Division champions by eight points and were promoted to the First Division where they have stayed to date.

In their first season back in Division One, Liverpool were champions once again, four points clear of rivals Manchester United. The glory days had well and truly begun for in the following year, Liverpool won their first ever FA Cup final, beating Leeds United 2-1 after extra time.

The FA Cup gave Liverpool a place in the European Cup-Winners' Cup in 1965-66, and although they knocked out prestige clubs such as Celtic and Juventus on their way to the Hampden Park final, lost the final, after extra time to Borussia Dortmund 2-1. A further League title in 1965-66 placed Liverpool back in the European Cup and although two years previously they had reached the semi finals, Shankly's side did not progress this time beyond the second round, being knocked out by Ajax.

It was six years before Liverpool won anything again and in season 1972-73, the team won yet another League Championship three points clear of second placed Arsenal. The season was capped by the Reds first European success: Victory in the UEFA Cup. In a two-legged final against Borussia Munchengladbach, Liverpool beat the German side 3-0 in the first game.

However, in the return match they were somewhat outplayed, Liverpool going down 2-0. Nevertheless, this was enough to guarantee them their first of many pieces of European silverware. Shankly retired from the manager's job at the end of the following season, but not before he had guided Liverpool to further success in the FA Cup.

Beaten finalists in 1971, Liverpool returned to Wembley in 1974 and beat Newcastle United 3-0. In the league, they finished runners-up in a great end to his reign. Bob Paisley took over as manager and although the side failed to win honours in his first season in charge, 1975-76 would prove different. Liverpool won the UEFA Cup for the second time beating Bruges 4-3 on aggregate in two hotly contested games.

The league title also returned to Anfield with Liverpool finishing just one point clear of the surprise second placed side, Queens Park Rangers. Liverpool could have been the first English side to win the treble in 1976-77: The league, FA Cup and European Cup. Winning the league yet again started the ball rolling, but Manchester United were FA Cup winners beating Liverpool 2-1. Four days later, Liverpool travelled to Rome for the European Cup Final against Borussia Munchengladbach. The Reds came away worthy 3-1 winners. To cap it all, later that year Liverpool beat SV Hamburg 7-1 on aggregate to win the European Super Cup.

The European Cup final was Kevin Keegan's last game for Liverpool. In a record breaking transfer deal, he joined SV Hamburg. And in his place came Kenny Dalglish from Celtic who would more than adequately fill the void left by Keegan's departure.

The next season 1977-78, Liverpool successfully defended their European Cup, beating Belgian side Bruges 1-0, the goal scored by Dalglish. Nottingham Forest won the league title that season and thus there were two English clubs in the European Cup competition. Inevitably, Liverpool and Forest were drawn together in the first round. Forest won 2-0 on aggregate and went to win the trophy themselves. All 1978-79 could muster for the Reds was another League Championship followed by another in 1979-80. This season was also marked by the arrival of an unknown striker from Chester City called Ian Rush.

Liverpool's great reputation in Europe was enhanced in 1981 when the club won the European Cup for the third time beating Real Madrid 1-0. In doing so, Paisley became the first ever manager to win the Cup three times.

Although Liverpool were celebrating success in the summer of 1981, the club were in mourning in September for on the 28th of that month, Bill Shankly died. Thousands attended his memorial service to remember the man who transformed Liverpool from Second Division also-rans to European super powers.

The early 80s were as successful for Liverpool as previous years. League Cup wins in 1981 and 1982 and league titles in 1982 and 1983 were making the Reds almost invincible. At the end of the 1983 season, Bob Paisley stepped down after nine years in charge at Anfield and was replaced by another one of the legendary Boot Room staff, Joe Fagan. Fagan promptly took Liverpool to both a title success and a victory in the European Cup final in his first season in charge. Liverpool's opposition in the final was Roma and drawing 1-1 after extra time, the game moved on to a penalty shoot out. Steve Nicol missed in Liverpool's first penalty attempt, but Roma missed later penalties and Liverpool won on the night 4-2.

The Reds would get as far as the final of the European Cup the following year but the events that took place in Heysel stadium taught football many lessons. It also excluded English clubs from competing in Europe for some years. Shortly after the disaster Joe Fagan stood down, and Kenny Dalglish took over as player manager.

With only domestic competitions to play for, Liverpool won the League a further three times before the end of the decade and were victorious in the 1986 and 1989 FA Cup finals. They were also beaten finalists in the 1987 League Cup and 1988 FA Cup, being beaten by firm underdogs Wimbledon. By February 1991, Dalglish had resigned as Liverpool manager, blaming the pressures of top level management.

Ronnie Moran took over on a caretaker basis and to the fans delight, Graeme Souness was appointed in April. Liverpool were runners-up in the league and the following year won the FA Cup beating Second Division Sunderland 2-0, with a young Steve McManaman proving to be the inspiration in the side. Souness remained in charge until January 1994, having survived both a heart operation and bad publicity surrounding his sale of the story to a newspaper. After Liverpool were humbled out of the FA Cup by Bristol City though, he resigned and was replaced by Roy Evans.

The end of the 1993-94 season saw Liverpool finish only eighth in the Premiership, their lowest ever final position since being promoted in 1962. It also saw the end of Anfield's famous Spion Kop terrace. The Taylor Report had required every Premiership ground to be all-seater and thus the famous old terrace had to go to be replaced by a state of the art stand. A League Cup final win in 1995 over Bolton Wanderers and a losing appearance in the 1996 FA Cup final against Manchester United has been the extent of Liverpool's success in the last three years.

With such a reputation for success and young players such as Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Jamie Redknapp hungry for honours, Liverpool were still thought of as serious title contenders for the following season and thereafter. Reputations, as Burnley and Preston North End have found out to their cost, count for very little nowadays, and Liverpool are certainly seen as one of the fallen giants of English football.

The club continue to produce a glittering array of young talent, the breathtaking Michael Owen being the obvious example, but brilliant individuals are not the only ingredients for making a successful team, and Liverpool have struggled to find any sort of consistency in England or Europe.

Third place in the league in 1998 was, by all accounts, a good season. But for Liverpool, nothing but honours will do. In November 1998 they lost three games at Anfield in seven days. Roy Evans left the club by mutual consent, leaving Frenchman Gerard Houllier to take full control, after spending the first three months of the season as Evans' partner.

Houllier began a massive rebuilding programme in the summer of 1998, allowing Steve McManaman, David James, Paul Ince and Rob Jones to leave and bringing a clutch of internationals from overseas.

Rafael Benitez is well on the way to being regarded as one of Liverpool Football Club's greatest ever managers after leading the Reds to two major trophies in his first two seasons in charge � an achievement never matched by any previous Anfield boss.

He arrived at Anfield in 2004 with an impressive track record as manager of Valencia, whom he twice led to La Liga glory in just three years and also guided them to UEFA Cup success.

Benitez was born in Madrid in April 1960 and during his days as a player had a spell with the mighty Real Madrid. He never played for Real though and spent most of his career in the lower leagues in Spain.

Coaching was always a big attraction for Rafa and he started coaching the youngsters at Real Madrid in 1986 where he was in charge of their youth team.

He returned as head coach of Second Division side Tenerife in 2000 and a year later began his remarkable success story with Valencia. His appointment as successor to Hector Cuper was met with mixed reaction and questioned by fans and pundits alike, but Benitez was to have the last laugh as Valencia won the league title.

More glory followed at the Mestalla before Rafa decided to embark on a new challenge in the summer of 2004 and succeed Gerard Houllier as manager of Liverpool.

He became the first Spaniard to take control of the managerial reigns at Anfield and wasted no time in proving what an astute appointment the board had made as he led the Reds to Champions League glory in Istanbul at the end of his first season in charge. A UEFA Super Cup was added 3 months later.

Another major trophy arrived the following season as Liverpool won the FA Cup with a thrilling penalty shoot-out victory over West Ham United at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Benitez reaffirmed his commitment to Liverpool by signing a new four year deal in June 2006.