March 15 In History: Liverpool Founded So Anfield Is Not Empty After Everton Left

Liverpool FC in 1893 (Source: archive lfchistory.net)

JAKARTA - On March 15, 1892, at John Houlding's house on Anfield Road, the decision to establish Liverpool football club was rounded off. Liverpool's stance was a response to Everton's move to Goodison Park. The road to the moment Liverpool was founded was convoluted and full of conflict.

Citing the liverpoolfc.com page, previously there was a dispute about the amount of rent that Houlding charged Everton. That gap led to a seismic split within the club.

Representatives met in Houlding's absence to discuss a possible move from Anfield to the piece of land that would later become Goodison Park. The volatile meeting of the Everton members ended with Houlding being removed from the position of president.

After Everton moved to Goodison Park, Houlding, who owned the rights to Anfield Stadium, found that no team would play on the pitch. Always a practical man, Houlding quickly decided to start his own club: Liverpool FC.

Liverpool became a member of the Football League in 1893 and was then promoted to Division I after a season in Division II. Liverpool then established itself as one of the best English clubs by winning the League title in 1901, 1906, 1922, and 1923.

Quoting Football History, Liverpool was very popular at that time. But Liverpool was not very consistent in the post-World War II period.

After claiming a fourth league title in 1947, Liverpool went into a period of mediocrity, culminating in their relegation to the Second Division in 1954. Things took a turn for the better when Bill Shankly was hired as team manager.

After all, Shankly's priority was to free the entire first-team squad. He then turned the club's storeroom into a secret meeting place for coaches for the next three decades.

Shankly's unorthodox method paid off. After returning to Division I in 1962, Liverpool won the league two years later.

During Shankly's tenure, Liverpool claimed two titles, namely 1966 and 1973. Liverpool also won two FA Cups (1965, 1974) as well as their first European trophy: the 1973 UEFA Cup.

In 1974, Shankly resigned as a manager because he needed to rest. Shankly gave the club manager the baton to his assistant, Bob Paisley.

Under Paisley, Liverpool is a very consistent team. During his nine years in charge, the club won an incredible six titles and three League Cups.

Their power spread throughout Europe as well, with Liverpool winning one UEFA Cup and three European Cups in the period between 1976 and 1981. After Paisley retired in 1983, his assistant Joe Fagan continued a successful tradition.

The Heysel and Hillsborough tragedy

In 1985, Liverpool faced Juventus in the European Cup final. Approximately one hour before the start of the Juventus-Liverpool final, Liverpool supporters attacked Juventus supporters and encroached on the fence separating them from the "neutral area".

The cause of the tantrum is still up for debate: Many have blamed Italian fans for inciting the violence. However, this claim was denied by a number of eyewitnesses. The claim was criticized for being baseless.

Juventus fans ran back to the terrace and away from the threat to the concrete retaining wall. The fan that was already standing near the wall was crushed. Eventually, the wall collapsed, allowing others to escape.

Many people climb to safety. But others died or were seriously injured. The match continued even though disaster was hitting the stands. Juventus won 1-0. This incident resulted in the British football club being banned from competing in Europe for five years.

With the absence of matches in Europe, Liverpool began to focus on domestic competition. But after winning two more League titles in 1986 and 1988 and the FA Cup in 1985, tragedy struck again.

In the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, 94 supporters were crushed by the crowd after the match had started. To this day, the Hillsborough disaster remains the worst stadium disaster in English football.

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