The curious case of a club called Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Welcome to Liverpool F.C., a club that has won almost everything that is up for grabs including a joint-record 18 league titles, 7 FA Cups, a record 7 League Cups, 5 European Cups and 3 UEFA Cups. Enough with the statistics, what the club has really won, is a place in hearts of millions of fans around the globe.

THE BEGINNING:

Liverpool FC was formed in May, 1892. Pre 1892, there used to be just one club, Everton, which used to play at Anfield on a pitch that was owned by John Houlding. As a result of a dispute between the Everton Committee and himself, John decided to start a new club. Consequently, Everton had to move out of Anfield and they relocated to Goodison Park.

Liverpool was originally named “Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd” (Everton Athletic) but had to give up that name after the FA refused to recognize it. The name was then changed to “Liverpool FC”.

EARLY SUCCESS AND THEN A BRIEF CRISIS:

The club was successful from its advent in the footballing world when it went on to win the Lancashire Cup in its debut season. It was then promoted to the First Division for the next season following a first place finish in the Second Division in 1893-94 season. The club went on to win the First Division in 1901 and 1906. It then won the trophy back to back in the 1922 and 1923 seasons. Then came a period where the Liverpool trophy cabinet saw no new addition until the 1946-47 season when they added a fifth First Division title. After enjoying initial success, the club was relegated to the Second Division in 1953-54 season.

THE BOOT ROOM ERA:

Bill Shankly's statue outside Anfield

Liverpool faced a few up and downs before it was eventually relegated in the 1953-54 season. That’s when the “Boot Room” era of Bill Shankly, Joe Fagan, Reuben Bennett and Bob Paisely began.

Bill Shankly had his own methods of training which included a diet check of the players and other unorthodox methods that increased the feeling of unity amongst the players. He converted the boot room at Anfield to a room where he could discuss strategy with his fellow members. His methods proved to be the turning point for Liverpool and they were promoted back to First Division in 1961-62. Under him, Liverpool became the First Division champion thrice and also added FA Cup, UEFA Cup amongst other trophies.

Shankly was eventually succeeded by Bob Paisely who, just like his predecessor, took Liverpool to new heights. Paisely retired in 1982-83 and in his short term of 3 years, he was more than successful. Then came the legendary Kanny Dalgish.

Bob Paisley

The managers kept changing till 1998, when Gerard Houllier was appointed. Houllier began to build a squad of players ready to challenge at the top. Success was not immediate but after two seasons in charge three trophies arrived together. League Cup success over Birmingham was the clubs first trophy for 6 years and this was soon followed by FA Cup and UEFA Cup two months later.

After such hope and prosperity in his first few seasons, Houllier was politely shown the door after he made a few ridiculous signings. During a pre-season full of speculation Liverpool signed a promising young manager Rafael Benitez from Valencia. Benitez faced an equally big task in bringing together a squad littered with distinctly average players from the Houllier era.

THE RAFAEL BENITEZ ERA (THE INITIAL SUCCESS AND A SUDDEN DOWNFALL)

Rafael Benitez: First of many press confrences

Rafael Benitez arrived in 2004, flying high on his success at Valencia where he had won the La Liga twice along with a UEFA Cup. He was immediately faced with the task of holding on his two star players; Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen. He somehow managed to convince Gerrard to stay though Owen left for Real Madrid.

He brought along with him players such as Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso who became instant fan favorites at the Anfield. He tasted early successes at LFC and in the first season itself, went on to win the Champions League with perhaps the most dramatic comeback in the final match against Milan where his team, 0-3 down at the end of first half went on to equalize and then win the cup on penalties. His half-time talk with the players was given the credit and several players including Gerrard came out and praised the manager.

The 2006-07 season began on a high note when Liverpool won the Community Shield, beating Chelsea 2-1. The fans were excited and considered their team to be strong enough to contest for the Premier League title. But the title challenge fizzled out early in the season with Liverpool’s poor form away from Anfield leading to speculation that Benitez’ tenure at Liverpool was short-lived. Though, Benítez swiftly issued a statement through the club’s website affirming his desire to remain with Liverpool for the long term. After a dismal performance against Arsenal when the club lost twice against them in four days, in different competitions, Benitez’ future became a topic of debate. But, despite the poor domestic performances, “Kopites” remained supportive to him.

American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks became the owners of Liverpool during the 2006–07 season in a deal which valued the club and its outstanding debts at £218.9 million.

Supporters and manager were united in welcoming the new owners with the hope that the new owners would bring funding for new players and a new stadium. The new owners seemed satisfied with the manager and came out to say “Rafa has been tremendous. We knew of him but I don’t think we realized how good he was, and not just as a coach. Not only was he a brilliant coach but he is a very sharp, savvy businessman. He knows what he wants and how to get it. The more we have seen of him the more impressed we have become.”

Torres arrives at Anfield

But, it was reported Benitez did not feel he had the complete support of the new owners following Liverpool’s initial lack of activity in the transfer window. Although the club played these rumors down and Benitez eventually went on to break Liverpool’s transfer record by signing Spanish striker Fernando Torres from Atlético Madrid as well as Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Lucas Leiva and Andriy Voronin.

Liverpool finished 2^nd in the Premier League in 2008-09 season but failed to add any piece of silverware once again.

The 2009-10 season was even worse and they ended up on 7th place, just high enough for a Europa League qualifying place but nowhere near high enough to keep the supporters happy. Liverpool Football Club was no longer a member of the so-called “Big Four” of English football.

CAUSES FOR LIVERPOOL’S DOWNFALL:

The warring brothers:

The Warring Americans…!

Ask any Kopite and his first reaction would be “The warring brothers had no idea of how to run a football club, let alone one of the best football clubs in the world.”

Liverpool was taken over by George Gillett and Tom Hicks in 2006-07. Even after splashing cash in the transfer market that year to buy Torres, Mascherano, Babel etc., the European results for the club were not as positive and this led to a public falling-out with the club’s owners. The rumors of Benitez’ sacking and being replaced by Jurgen Klinsmann gained strength. The fans started losing faith in the owners and came out and showed their public support for Benitez.

The Americans had to take loans from various banks to buy the club at first place. They imposed the loan on the club to pay off. It increased the club debts further up to £350m in 2009. This was against what the duo had promised to the Anfield club initially. The plans to work on a 70,000-seat stadium in neighboring Stanley Park failed to come into action as the club couldn’t raise money for the project. In Jaunary 2008, a group of supporters formed “Spirit of Shankly” a group formed in opposition to Hicks and Gillett. In April 2008, the news of feud between the owners George and Tom became public.

The club even came to the verge of losing its star players with Gerrard being linked to Chelsea and Torres and Reina to Man United. The owners had to succumb under the pressure and finally made way for new owners, The New England Sports Ventures, but not before accusing the “British establishment” of “conspiring against them”.

Rafael Benitez’ role in the decline:

Benitez’ relationships with the Board of Directors were deteriorating with time. The Board refused to sanction him money to purchase Gareth Barry, then in Aston Villa. Also, the signing of Robbie Keane against the manager’s will led to further clashes between Benitez and Chief Executive Rick Parry. The decision of Parry leaving the club and Benitez extending his contract by 5 years were made almost simultaneously that proved the fact that their relationship was beyond repair.

His relation with Xabi Alonso could not be called normal. Alonso finally handed a transfer request to the club and his transfer to Real Madrid after a season of solid performances left a void in the midfield that the manager tried to fill with £20m player Alberto Aquilani who proved to be a flop of the season and spent most of his first season at Liverpool either on the treatment table or trying to gain some form. He was loaned out to Juventus for the 2010-11 season.

Xabi Alonso: Enjoyed an on-off relation with the manager

Then there are some who would blame Benítez’s recruitment record. A long list of flops that includes names such as Andrea Dossena, Antonio Nunez and Jan Kromkamp loomed over his tenure. Perhaps the most expensive error was the £19 million paid for Robbie Keane.

Also, his outspoken nature and constant spats with other managers were a center of media attraction that according to some “disturbed the mindset of the players”. He had confrontations with Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex, Arsene Wenger and Sam Allardyce.

Also, the age old tradition of “developing” players suffered a setback under his reign. None of the players apart from Martin Kelly emerged from the Academy to the first team under his management while promising youngsters such as Stephen Warnock, Danny Guthrie and Adam Hammill were sold to smaller clubs.

THE END OF BENITEZ ERA AND A NEW START, maybe:

Finally on 3 June 2010, Rafael Benitez left Liverpool by mutual consent and joined Serie A giants Inter Milan. Though he confessed in an interview later “Liverpool is my home and I will come back.” He was taken over by Roy Hodgson and the club’s performance under the new owners and manager is yet to be evaluated. But let’s hope for the best. We don’t want another Leeds United; a classic example of a club getting into financial trouble and ending up astray.