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Club History
Liverpool were born out of a dispute between Everton Football Club and their landlord at Anfield in 1892. The dispute - over a proposed rent increase - persuaded the majority of Evertonians to abandon Anfield for Goodison Park - leaving the landlord, Mr John Houlding, to form a new club. His intention was to retain the name "Everton", but when his attempt to do so failed, he founded Liverpool Association Football Club on 15th March, 1892. They were elected to the Football League the following year, winning the Second Division championship - and promotion - in their first season. They fluctuated between the two Divisions intil 1905, when they embarked on a 49-year stay in the top flight. After relegation to the Second Division in 1954, the club turned to Bill Shankly to restore their fortunes. He did more than that, bringing the club unprecedented success and founding a dynasty from the fabled Anfield Boot Room that kept the silverware rolling in long after Shankly himself had retired in 1974. Shankly brought the club the Second Division title and three First Division titles, plus two FA Cups and one Uefa Cup. His successor, Bob Paisley, was even more successful, leading the Reds to three European Cups, one Uefa Cup, six League Championships and three League Cups. When Paisley retired, his assistant Joe Fagan continued the trend, winning the League, European Cup and League Cup in his first season in charge. But he stepped down a year later in the wake of the Heysel disaster. Kenny Dalglish became player-manager and won the Double in his first season as boss. Dalglish delivered three League titles and two FA Cups, but the emotional strain following the Hillsborough tragedy of 1989 took its toll on him, and he stunned the football world by resigning early in 1991 with the Reds locked in another battle with Arsenal for the championship. Graeme Souness, Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier have all tried to recapture the phenomenal succcess enjoyed by Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s. But the advent of the Premier League, the rise of rivals Manchester United - and more recently Arsenal and Chelsea - have all conspired against Liverpool"s quest to become a dominant force in the League again. Houllier led them to a unique cup treble in 2001, but the club have not managed to build on that and land the big one - the Premiership title. Champions League qualification by virtue of finishing fourth in the Premiership was considered inadequate compensation by the club"s legion of fans. And that relative failure prompted Liverpool to sack Houllier at the end of the 2003-04 season. Rafael Benitez, fresh from success with Valencia, is currently the favourite to succeed Houllier. Whoever accepts the job will know that the urgent priority will be to deliver Anfield"s first League title since 1990.