For the love of Red: Why Liverpool adorn an all-red outfit

Colours. How dull is everything without them? The world would just be a mere dull patch of black and white without colours colliding to create a bloom. Colours allow us to associate everything.

For example, yellow reminds us sunflowers. Similarly, red brings up the picture of roses… and Liverpool Football Club. As they say, the Reds go marching on and on – the colour is basically and literally a synonym for Liverpool.

As the team that used to play at Anfield before Liverpool used to wear blue, Liverpool initially wore quartered light blue and white shirts and dark blue shorts. Four years later, in 1896, the club which prided itself on being a people’s club changed their kits to red shirts and white shorts with red socks, to reflect municipal colours.

The Blue Kit Liverpool wore initially when the club was formed

This change in the kit led to the club winning their first league title at the turn of the century – in 1901 – a feat they repeated in 1906. The kits didn’t change for a long time, but there were a few years in between where the club would change their socks from red to black and back to red again.

More than half a century later, legendary Scotsman Bill Shankly was appointed as manager of the club, to turn Liverpool’s fortunes around. In 1964, 5 years into Shankly’s stewardship, he decided to make the Merseysiders go all-red, a decision to psyche the opponents out.

“He [Shankly] thought the colour scheme would carry psychological impact – red for danger, red for power. He came into the dressing room one day and threw a pair of red shorts to Ronnie Yeats. "Get into those shorts and let's see how you look", he said. "Christ, Ronnie, you look awesome, terrifying. You look 7 ft tall." "Why not go the whole hog, boss?" I suggested. "Why not wear red socks? Let's go out all in red." Shankly approved and an iconic kit was born.”

(From l-r): Jamie Carragher, Pepe Reina, Steven Gerrard, and Xabi Alonso launching Liverpool's jerseys during Carlsberg's time as the club's jersey sponsor

Ever since the decision of going all-red was made, Liverpool hasn’t looked back – nor in terms of jersey design, nor in its strive for success, and trophies. Ever since going all-red, the Merseyside have won the Premier League 12 times and all of their 5 European conquest came when they were adorning the red kit. It seems as though Bill Shankly’s words were indeed true – and there is actually scientific evidence to it.

Carlsberg, a long-standing partner of Liverpool Football Club, have agreed a five-year extension to their iconic partnership until the end of the 2023-24 season.

Carlsberg recently went all red for Liverpool FC fans – releasing a limited-edition red barley pilsner especially for Liverpool FC fans to celebrate legendary manager Bill Shankly’s decision to play in an all red kit. Find out more at carlsberg.com/allred.