History of Liverpool Football Club (Part 1)

To help you find the information you want we have divided the clubs history into various eras, starting with the clubs formation and ending with the modern era.

The Clubs Formation

It might surprise many fans to learn that the creation of Liverpool FC is closely linked to our fiercest rivals and closest neighbours, Everton.  In 1891, John Houlding, who was the lease holder of Anfield, purchased the ground outright.  At the time, Liverpool FC did not exist and it was Everton, formed in 1878, who played their games at Anfield.  After purchasing Anfield, John Houlding proceeded to increase the rent charged to Everton, causing a rift between the two parties.

That rift would ultimately lead to Everton members voting to leave Anfield and John Houlding, and play on a new ground at Goodison Park.  This left Houlding with an empty stadium, a handful of supporters and only 3 players.  Showing a tenacity and determination that Liverpool would become famous for over the next 100 years, Houlding defied the odds and created a new team to play at his Anfield Stadium.  On the 15th March 1892 Liverpool Football Club was born. 

Houlding quickly appointed John McKenna as Club Director and W. E Barclay as General Manager.  McKenna's first piece of business was to travel to Scotland, where he signed 13 professional players to play for Liverpool.  The team became known as the "team of the Macs", with eight of the thirteen players having a "Mc" prefix.  The newly formed team played its first game on 1st September 1982, beating Rotherham Town 7-1 in a friendly game.

The Early Years

The newly formed Liverpool FC applied to join the Football League in time for the 1892-93 season, however, their application was rejected, with the team therefore joining the Lancashire League instead.  The clubs first official game was on 23rd September 1892, where they beat Higher Walton 8-0.  Malcolm McVean had the honour of scoring the first ever competitive goal for the club.  Liverpool ended their first season as Lancashire League Champions and beat local rivals Everton 1-0 in the 1893 Liverpool Seniors Cup Final.  The games was to be the first ever Merseyside Derby.  Following their success the club was duly promoted to the Football League Second Division.

Liverpool finished the 1893-94 season unbeaten, winning the Second Division title in the process.  McVean again had the honour of being the first player to score in a league match for the club.  At the end of the season Liverpool won a test match against Newton Heath (soon to be called Manchester Utd) 2-0, and with it, promotion to the First Division.

In 1896 Liverpool appointed Tom Watson as their Manager.  It was to be an inspired choice as the team would go on to win their first Football League Championship in 1901, with Scotsman Alex Raisbeck  collecting the trophy as club captain.  The club would repeat the success again in 1906.  In the same season the world famous Kop stand was created, significantly increasing the capacity at Anfield.  Under the influence of Watson, the club would also play in its first FA Cup Final, losing 1-0 to Burnley in 1914.

At the outbreak of World War I all league football was suspended.  When the League returned in 1920 Liverpool were under new management, with Englishman David Ashworth in charge.

The 20's and 30's

The 1920's started in spectacular fashion for Liverpool as the club won back to back Football League titles in 1921-22 and 1922-23.  The team was lead by inspirational captain, Ephraim Longworth, who enjoyed 18 years and over 370 appearances for the club.  However, after their early successes the club struggled in the later part of the decade, as a succession of managers came and went without adding any silverware to the Anfield Trophy Cabinet.  By the outbreak of World War II Liverpool were still looking for a winning formula, although the appointment of George Kay as manager in June 1936 had seen an upturn in the clubs fortunes.  Of particular importance during his early years as manager were Kay's captures of future legends Bob Paisley and Billy Liddell.

Post WWII

Following the end of WWII and with the Football League preparing to return, Liverpool took the unusual decision to tour the USA and Canada.  Although this is a common occurrence today, at the time it was most unusual for a club to tour a foreign country.  The tour was manager George Kay's idea, who believed the climate and diet in North America, as well as a punishing schedule of 10 matches in a month, would see the players return for the start of the League campaign in much better physical shape than their opponents.  Although Liverpool started the season slowly, Kay's decision began to pay off, with the club recorded impressive victories, including a 7-4 victory over Chelsea on 7th September 1946.  The match also saw the debut of Bob Paisley and Billy Liddell scored his first ever goal for the club.  As the season wore on Liverpool recorded 7 straight victories in February and March and when the team travelled to Wolverhampton Wanderers on 31st May 1947 they knew a victory would see them crowned as League Champions.  Liverpool duly won the game 2-1 to win their fifth League Title.  The club finished the 46-47 season with the League Title, Lancashire Senior Cup, Lancashire County Combination Championship Cup and the Liverpool Senior Cup.  It was to be George Kay's finest hour as manager.  Despite reaching the FA Cup Final in 1950, where the club lost 2-0 to Arsenal, Kay was not in good health, and in 1951 he was forced to retire.

Following the retirement of George Kay, the club appointed Don Welsh as Manager.  Unfortunately for Welsh he was to inherit a team of players coming to the end of their careers.  Despite investing in some new players, Welsh was unable to prevent the team from falling down the table, until they were eventually relegated for the first time in over 50 years.  Despite a spirited attempt to gain promotion in the 1955-56 season, Welsh was not given another chance to impress, and was sacked in 1956.

With Don Welsh removed the club quickly appointed Phil Taylor as manager, with the singular task of leading Liverpool back to the First Division.  Despite top four finishes in both 57 and 58, Taylor quickly found the pressure of taking Liverpool back into the top flight too much.  When the club suffered one of their worst defeats in history to non League Worcester City in the FA Cup in January 1959 the writing was on the wall and Phil Taylor left the club in November of that year.

Continued on page 2...

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