An introduction to Liverpool F.C

Liverpool football club was founded in 1892, and was admitted into the ranks of the English football league in 1893. Liverpool play all of their home games at Anfield, a ground which previously belonged to their close city rivals Everton F.C. Liverpool play in an all red home kit which has given them the nickname " The Reds" their local rivals play in a blue strip which has lead to the city of Liverpool been divided into Red and Blue halves. Liverpool F.C have been a very successful member of the English league, and they have won domestic and European trophies in their long history. Liverpool have had less success recently as the dominance of Chelsea and Manchester United has blocked any realistic title challenges.

Liverpool have a strong tradition and history in the British game, they have a mutual bond with Glasgow Celtic of the Scottish Premier League. This is partly due to their historic Irish heritage, which they both share and the anthem " You'll never walk alone" which is sung by both sets of fans with raw emotion. Liverpool have one of the most famous stands in the game of football, the stand is known as " the Kop" this area is where the die hard home supporters sit during the game. The name "Kop" has its origins from the battle of Spion Kop in South Africa during the Boer War in the early twentieth century.

Liverpool have had a lot of tragedy associated with the football club. In 1985, Liverpool were due to play against Italian club Juventus in a European cup final at the Heysel Stadium in Belgium. Before the match Liverpool fans breached a fence which separated the two groups of supporters and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a wall to collapse which killed 39 football fans. Fourteen Liverpool fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter.

As a result of a few supporters actions, English clubs were banned from participating in European competition for five years. On the 15th April 1989 at the Hillsborough stadium tragedy struck Liverpool again. In the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest hundreds of Liverpool fans were crushed against perimeter fencing. A total of 96 Liverpool fans died after the events of that dark day, with the police and stewards been held responsible for this tragedy. As a consequence all top flight English teams are now required to have all-seater stadiums before they can join the Premier League.

Liverpool have had some fantastic players grace the hollowed turf of Anfield. Even now as the current team struggles in the Premier division, the team boasts international players from all over the globe. The current Liverpool team is captained by a player which came through the Liverpool youth setup and is now one of the most valued players of his generation. Steven Gerrard has lifted the European cup for Liverpool and has captained England in the World cup of 2010. Gerrard has rejected approaches from other clubs such as Chelsea to remain at the core of his hometown club. Among the former players who have played for Liverpool are Kevin Keegan, Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish, Phil Neal, Alan Hansen, Jan Molby, Bruce Grobbelaar, and Robbie Fowler.

With the takeover of the club on the 15th of October 2010, the supporters of this historic club look forward to a change of football and financial fortunes. There will be a lot of changes by the new owners and some decisions maybe painful, but at least the club has been saved from financial meltdown.