Liverpool Football Club are an English football team. They are the most successful of all the English professional teams having won the First Division title an astonishing eighteen times not to mention their peerless European Cup record of five victories. Liverpool play all their home games at the famous Anfield stadium where they have been based since their formation in 1892.



Liverpool were not the original occupiers of Anfield. Indeed it was their fierce Merseyside rivals, Everton, who played there before Liverpool was even incorporated. Due to a dispute between Everton management and the Anfield leaseholder, Everton quit Anfield and moved to Goodison Park where they have remained ever since. Everton F.C. And Athletic Grounds was founded by John Houlding, the then leaseholder of Anfield. His idea being to install the new team at the ground recently vacated by Everton. However the Football Association would not allow two teams to use the same name so the team became Liverpool FC. Managers have come and gone over the years but the most notable boss was the legendary Bill Shankly whose statue stands outside Anfield today. Currently managed by Rafael Benitez, the team has had some recent success most notably winning the Champions League and FA Cups. The big prize of the Premiership title has yet to be realised however.

When the team replaced Everton at Anfield, the Liverpool shirt was similar to the Everton strip of the same time. The shirt was blue and white, bisected vertically. The strip was completed with blue shorts and black socks. The Liverpool shirt was changed to all-red in 1894 to be different to the blue of Everton. White Shorts completed the kit. The socks have been swapped from red, to black, to white before coming full-circle back to red. In the mid 1960s, the now familiar all red strip was adopted for home games.

The Liverpool shirt used for away games are traditionally yellow with yellow shorts or white shirts with black shorts. As with most clubs there has been some deviation from the traditional as new schemes are tried. In 1987 an all grey kits was introduced which was used for four years. During the 1990s there were several changes to the away strip including green shirts with white socks, navy and gold, yellow, black and grey and even ecru. In recent times the club has alternated between the yellow and white away shirts with the grey shirt being re-introduced for the 2008-2009 season. A third kit that is mostly used for Champions League away games is a turquoise shirt with black shorts.

The Liverpool F.C. crest takes its inspiration from the city of Liverpool's liver bird. The Liver Bird sits inside a shield with a representation of the Shankly Gates above. The gates bear the club's anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone". The flames flanking the gates are recent additions in memory of those who died in the Hillsborough disaster. They mimic the eternal flame that burns outside Anfield.

The Liverpool shirt was the first to bear the team sponsor's logo when Hitatchi sponsored the team in 1979. Sponsor companies have included Candy, Crown Paints and Carlsberg.

Hopefully this article has provided an interesting insight into the Liverpool shirt and how it has changed over the last one hundred and seventeen years.