Liverpool Football Club

Liverpool Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. Liverpool play in the Premier League, and are the most successful club in the history of English football, having won more trophies than any other English club. They have won a record 18 First Division titles, and seven FA Cups. Liverpool have won five European Cups, which is an English record. They have also won the League Cup a record seven times.

The club were founded in 1892, though they had limited success until the appointment of Bill Shankly as manager. Under Shankly Liverpool won 3 League Championship titles, 2 FA Cups and the club's first European trophy the UEFA Cup. During the past 30 years they have been one of the most successful clubs in English and European football, winning four European Cups from between 1977 and 1984. The club experienced a lean period during the 90s, but enjoyed a revival following the advent of the millennium winning a cup treble in 2001, and the club's fifth European Cup in 2005.

The club's traditional colours were red and white, however this was changed to all red in the 1960s. Likewise the club's crest has evolved throughout their history, with flames being added to the crest following the Hillsborough Disaster to honour the 96 Liverpool fans who lost their lives in the disaster. At the Heysel Stadium Disaster, 39 Juventus fans died when a wall collapsed after crowd trouble in the 1985 European Cup Final.

Liverpool have played at Anfield since their formation, although there are plans to move to a new stadium in Stanley Park, which is due to be completed by 2011.

Liverpool have a large and diverse fan base, who hold a string of long-standing rivalries with several other clubs; the most notable of these is with neighbours Everton, with whom they regularly contest the Merseyside derby. Liverpool also have a fierce rivalry with Manchester United, due to the success of both clubs, as well as their proximity to each other.

Liverpool have a large and generally loyal fanbase, with virtually all home matches selling out; in 2006–07 Liverpool had the fourth-highest average League attendance for an English club; 43,561, which was 99.7% of available capacity, and the second-highest all-time average attendance. Liverpool fans often refer to themselves as "Kopites", which is a reference to the fans who once stood, and now sit, on the Kop at Anfield.

The song "You'll Never Walk Alone", originally from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel and famously recorded by Liverpool musicians Gerry & The Pacemakers, is the anthem of the club, and has been sung by the Anfield crowd since the early 1960s. The song has since gained popularity among fans of other clubs around the world. The song's title adorns the top of the Shankly Gates, which were unveiled on 2 August 1982 in memory of former manager, Bill Shankly. The "You'll Never Walk Alone" portion of the Shankly Gates is also reproduced in the club's crest. Popular chants include "The Fields of Anfield Road" (to the tune of "The Fields of Athenry"), "Poor Scouser Tommy" (first section to the tune of "Red River Valley"; second section to the tune of "The Sash") and "Liverbird Upon My Chest" (to the tune of "Ballad of the Green Berets").

Liverpool's longest standing rivalry is with fellow Merseyside team Everton, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. This stems from Liverpool's formation after a dispute with Everton officials and the owners of Anfield, which was the ground Everton were using at the time. Religious differences have been cited as a division, though both teams stem from a Methodist origin, undermining the notion of a Catholic–Protestant split.[54] The Merseyside derby is usually a sell out fixture and tends to be a scrappy affair; it has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premiership history.

Liverpool also have a significant rivalry with north-west neighbours Manchester United. This is mostly due to the success enjoyed by the two clubs and the geographical proximity of the two cities. Liverpool and Manchester United are the two most successful teams in England, both with large international support. Liverpool dominated English football from the mid 1970s through the 1980s with 11 titles in 18 years, and they also won four European Cups in the period, while Manchester United have dominated the Premier League era from 1992 with ten titles in 16 years to 2008, with two UEFA Champions League.

Liverpool's first competitive game was in the Lancashire League against Higher Walton. The match was won 8–0, with a mostly Scottish team.Ian Callaghan holds Liverpool's appearance record, having made 857 over the course of 19 seasons from 1958–78. He also holds the record for League appearances with 640.Of the current squad Jamie Carragher has the most appearances with 500 as of 15 January 2008.

Liverpool's all time leading scorer is Ian Rush, who scored 346 goals in two spells at the club from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996.Rush holds the record for the most goals in a season with 47 in 1983–84. However, during his career, Rush could not surpass the league goal-scoring record of Roger Hunt, which has stood at 245 since 1970.In the 1961–62 season, Hunt scored 41 goals, setting the club record for league goals in a single season.Gordon Hodgson is the club's third highest scorer with 240 goals, and holds the club record of 17 hat tricks. The most goals scored by a player in a single match is five, which has been achieved by John Miller, Andy McGuigan, John Evans, Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler.Fowler also holds the club and Premiership record for the fastest hat trick from when he scored three against Arsenal in four minutes, 32 seconds in the second game of the 1994–95 season.

Steven Gerrard is Liverpool's all-time leading goalscorer in the European Cup (now referred to as the Champions League) with 28 goals and also the club's active goal scoring player with 100 goals. Liverpool's biggest ever victory was 11–0 against Strømsgodset IF in 1974, in which nine of the ten outfield players scored — a Liverpool record.Rotherham Town were the victims of Liverpool's biggest league win, losing 10–1 in 1896.This margin of victory was matched in the modern era, as Crystal Palace were defeated 9–0 at Anfield in 1989.Liverpool's heaviest defeats were against Huddersfield Town in 1935 which finished 0–8, and Birmingham City in 1954 which ended 1–9. Liverpool's 8–0 victory on 6 November 2007 against Beşiktaş J.K. in the Champions League is the record win in the competition.