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Liverpool FC Mailing List - History

Liverpool can thank arch rivals Everton for their creation. In 1892, Everton failed to strike a deal with John Houlding, the owner of Anfield, and left for Goodison Park instead. As a result, the Anfield landlord decided to form his own team - which was also briefly named Everton. Playing its first Football League game in 1893, the team was dominated by 10 Scotsmen. Only goalkeeper Bill McOwen was born in England. Never having been lower than the Second Division, Liverpool's record is unparalleled. Throughout its distinguished history, fans have been able to watch an array of talented players, whose earliest stars were goalkeepers Sam Hardy and Elisha Scott as well as Billy Liddell. Even heavyweight boxer Joe Louis signed for Liverpool in 1944, although he never played a match.

It was with the arrival of the legendary Bill Shankly, another Scotsman, in 1959 that Liverpool reached the pinnacle of the world club game. He was the mastermind which turned Liverpool from an average club to one of the most feared in the world. He said what must be one of the most famous quotes in football today; 'football is more important than life or death'. As manager of Liverpool, he won 7 trophies in a career which spanned 15 years. In the 1972/73 season he became the first ever Liverpool manager to bring the League Championship and UEFA Cup double. In his last season, Shankly won the FA Cup for the second time in his career as Liverpool manager. Shankly was not as successful as his successors, he must be remembered for the way he transformed Liverpool and gave it the foundation to become the successful club it is today.Under his passionate guidance, Shankly drew on a seemingly endless supply of big names, including Ray Clemence, Emlyn Hughes Roger Hunt, Kevin Keegan, Tommy Smith, Ian St John, John Toshack and Ron Yeats.

After Shankly's surprise decision to stand down in 1974, the most successful British manager ever. Liverpool, under his reign, went on to win 6 League Championships, 3 League Cups, 3 European Cups, a UEFA Cup and a European Super Cup in the space of just 9 years. Also during his time as Liverpool manager, Paisley won 22 Manager of the Month awards and a record 6 Manager of the Year awards. Paisley was regarded by many as a soft guy, but on the pitch and in the dressing room he showed that he had what it took to become the best. The one outstanding game for Paisley was the European Cup win against Borussia Moenchengladbach in Rome, 1977. He himself said 'this must be the greatest moment in the history of the club', especially as they had lost the FA Cup final to Manchester United only a few days ago. One only needs to look at his record to see that this was a great manager in the making. Bob Paisley also signed Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness - both of whom went on to make their names as managers with a club.

After the success of his two predecessors, Joe Fagan had a lot to live up to as manager of Liverpool. This did not deter him though as in his first year in charge, Liverpool did the treble which included winning the League Championship, League Cup (the fourth year in a row Liverpool had won the trophy) and the European Cup. This feat had never been accomplished before so this was a remarkable achievement for Fagan and Liverpool FC. It wasn't surprising though that Fagan was being successful since he was a member of the boot room. This also included Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans. Ever since the Shankly era, these five were together for everything concerned with the club. As you can see, Paisley was successful, Fagan was also successful and it makes sense to assume that the boot room was a major part of this success.

Perhaps one of the best ever Liverpool players, Kenny Dalglish also became a hero as their manager. He became player-manager in 1985, after the reign of Joe Fagan, and in his first season in charge he did the double. This was the first time Liverpool had won the League Championship and the FA Cup in the same season and were only the fourth club (at the time) to do so. He won another 3 trophies whilst Liverpool manager and was twice foiled when challenging for the double. In 1988, after Liverpool had won the League Championship, they lost against all odds in the FA Cup final to Wimbledon. Then in 1989 it turned out that Liverpool who eventually won the FA Cup could have done the double but they had lost the League Championship days earlier to Arsenal in one of the thrilling finishes to a league campaign ever. In the end, the pressure became too much for Dalglish and in February 1991 he shocked the club by announcing his resignation.

After the resignation of Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool decided to appoint Graeme Souness as manager. Souness, also a former player like Dalglish, came in with great expectation. After all, in Scotland he had guided Rangers to a fifth consecutive championship. But this didn't turn out to be the happy reunion everyone wanted and expected. Souness, by his own admittance, tried to change the team too quickly. He sold many of the Liverpool players who had won the club so many trophies and decided to bring in players he thought would be the future of Liverpool. Unfortunately it didn't work out for him and despite winning the FA Cup in 1992, bad results and league placings forced the board to consider his position. In January 1994, it was mutually decided that he should leave the club.

On 31st January 1994 Roy Evans was appointed as Liverpool manager. He had never been a first team manager so many were surprised, but with his experience from the boot room, Evans gave the Liverpool fans hope. In 1995, Evans first full season in charge, he led Liverpool to their fifth League Cup success with a 2-1 victory over Bolton and fourth place in the league. In 1996, Liverpool were runners-up to Manchester United in the FA Cup and finished third in the league. 1997 was a disappointing year for Liverpool as they finished fourth in the league and did not reach very far in the cup competitions. They were denied second place and a lucrative place in the Champions League on the last day of the season which was frustrating since they had been second for most of the season. The 97-98 season was not much better with Liverpool managing to finish a commendable third, but they never really ever challenged for the top spot, and in doing so missed out on the Champions League place again.

In July of 1998, Gerard Houllier was appointed joint manager of Liverpool Football Club along with Roy Evans, who was already at the helm. Known for his working in the French FA and for his role in France winning the World Cup, Houllier hoped to bring a more technical aspect to the club. Dual management had not been successful at all for other clubs who had dared to try it, and after a few months the Evans/Houllier partnership began to show signs of strain. Roy Evans resigned leaving Houllier in sole charge of team affairs.