Robert Exley
When you look at a map of Liverpool, one of the first things you'll notice is how much closer Anfield Road is to the Everton district of Liverpool than Goodison Park is. The fact of the matter is that the original tenants of Anfield were actually Everton and not Liverpool. The Toffees were the original Merseyside club, founder members of the Football League and the first Merseyside league champions in 1891. The foundation of Liverpool F.C. is directly linked to a dispute between Everton and their landlord at Anfield - John Houlding - a prominent member of Everton FC, as well as Conservative member of Liverpool City Council and later Lord Mayor of Liverpool who earned his fortune in the brewery business.
Houlding had wanted Everton to purchase Anfield from him by floating the club, which would have led to it being owned by a small number of large shareholders. As a result, Everton left Anfield for a new Stadium to the north of Liverpool’s Stanley Park, meaning that Houlding was the owner of an empty stadium and so decided to found a club to fill it. The original colours of Houlding's new club were the same as Everton's blue and white (red wasn't adopted by the club until 1894) and the intended name of the new club was to be Everton Athletic, however objections raised by the FA to this brazen attempt of identity theft by Houlding meant that he had to make do with calling his new Anfield-based club Liverpool FC. Also, despite the strong connections between the city of Liverpool and Irish Catholicism (Anfield actually named after a place in County Wexford), their founder was actually a prominent member of the Protestant Orange Order organisation.
The newly-founded Liverpool FC enjoyed immediate success, winning the Lancashire League in their inaugural season of 1892/93. By the time of their second season Liverpool were accepted into the Football League to replace fellow Merseysiders Bootle, who resigned from the League due to financial difficulties, and Accrington F.C., who after being relegated from the first division, decided to resign from the League rather than play in the Second Division. The other newly inducted side to the Football League for the 1893/94 season were Woolwich Arsenal. Liverpool FC finished their first season as unbeaten Second Division champions (one of only three English sides to go unbeaten all season - the other two being Preston North End in 1888/89 and Arsenal in 2003/04).
Despite this, at the time the Second Division Champions needed to win a test match against the bottom placed side in the First Division. Liverpool went on to beat Newton Heath (later renamed Manchester United) 2-0 at Blackburn's Ewood Park, to take their place in the top flight. Liverpool enjoyed success throughout their first two decades of existence and on headhunting Sunderland manager Tom Watson, who had won three titles in four years, the Reds won their first league title in 1901 and again in 1906.
Another little known fact however is that it was Woolwich Arsenal's Manor Ground and not Liverpool's Anfield that would be the first to term their home end as the 'Spion Kop' in 1904. The term is in reference to the Battle of Spion Kop during the Boer War in Natal, South Africa in 1900 (the Kop basically being an enormously steep hill). This military term was recognisable in Woolwich, being as it was and still is home to Royal Artillery barracks. The term was also recognisable on Merseyside as many of the local regiments were engaged in the Battle, suffering many losses and so, on opening their new embankment at Anfield in 1906 it became known under this name.
The earliest footage of a fixture between Woolwich Arsenal and Liverpool comes from the start of the 1911/12 season, which ended in a 2-2 draw. For Liverpool there would be two further back to back title wins in 1922 and 1923, however during the inter-war years the Reds had drifted into mid-table obscurity. Liverpool would however win a further league title in 1946/47 and reach an FA Cup final against Arsenal in 1950 (which they lost 2-0), with a side which featured players such as future manager Bob Paisley, Billy Liddell and Albert Stubbins (a picture of the latter actually appears on the famed cover of The Beatles' ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts’ Club Band’ album). The Reds however were relegated to the second tier at the end of 1953/54, where they would remain for the next eight season.
Liverpool's revival would come as a result of the appointment of Bill Shankly as manager from Huddersfield in 1959, leading to the Reds winning the Second Division title in 1961/62. Liverpool's first game at Highbury on returning to the top tier after eight years came in March 1963, which ended in a 2-2 draw. They didn't have to wait long to return as the following week Arsenal were drawn at home to Liverpool in the fifth round of the FA Cup, a tie which Liverpool won 2-1. Liverpool were to visit Highbury again in the fifth round of the FA Cup the following year and triumph again, this time 1-0 with a goal from Ian St John, as well as a sending off for both Liverpool’s Ron Yeats and Arsenal’s Joe Baker.
Liverpool were to finish the 1963/64 season as champions of the old First Division, their rise back to prominence coinciding with the city of Liverpool's emergence as the epicentre of popular culture, as shown by this footage of the Kop singing The Beatles hit 'She Loves You' and the Bacharach penned ‘Anyone Who Had a Heart’ which was a number one for the recently departed Cilla Black, captured by a Panorama documentary in 1964. The Kop’s penchant for a pre-match sing along to the latest pop hits played over the tannoy at Anfield around this time most probably led to the adoption of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ as their anthem. The link between this song and general ‘scouse-ness’ hails from the Mersey Beat group Gerry and the Pacemakers’ cover of this song in late 1963, (this song also chosen by Bill Shankly as one of his Desert Island Discs when he featured on the BBC radio show in 1965).
However the song was originally penned by prolific Broadway Show tune writers Rodgers and Hammerstein for the musical ‘Carousel’ in 1945. The song’s narrative of carrying on after bereavement meant that its first use in a footballing context actually involved Manchester United, as it was sung at a memorial service for those who lost their lives in the 1958 Munich Air Crash. Over the years, the song has been covered by artists as diverse as Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Louis Armstrong, as well as sampled as sung by the Kop at the end of Pink Floyd’s 1971 track ‘Fearless’.
After winning their first FA Cup in 1965 Liverpool’s ‘all singing, all swinging’ reputation still followed them a year later on their visit to Highbury, as caught by the Match of the Day cameras in 1966. Liverpool left with a 1-0 victory over an Arsenal side minus their white sleeves, while on their way to another league title that season, with a goal from Ron Yeats. From the latter half of the 1960s however Shankly’s Liverpool failed to win another trophy. Arsenal also defeated Liverpool 2-1 on their way to their second successive League Cup Final in their fourth round tie at Highbury in October 1968.
By the time Liverpool visited Highbury in October 1970, as Frank McLintock pointed out in his post-match interview with Jimmy Hill, many of the sixties side of Ron Yeats and Ian St. John had moved on, replaced by younger players such as Emlyn Hughes and Steve Heighway. Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners on the day, with goals from George Graham and John Radford. Famously, at the end of that season Arsenal completed the double by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the 1971 FA Cup Final (footage of which I’m sure you’ve all seen, although probably not the Argentinian newsreel footage, as found here on YouTube.). Exactly one year on from the 1971 FA Cup Final, Liverpool’s visit to Highbury was their final game of the season with just one point separating Bill Shankly’s side from League leaders Derby County, after a run of thirteen wins out of fourteen games.
Liverpool captain Tommy Smith alleged that has team mate Emlyn Hughes had informed him that a number Arsenal players were willing to throw the match for £50 a man, though his revelation came long after Hughes had passed away and able to defend himself from the allegation. The result however ended 0-0, with the title going to Brian Clough’s Derby as a result. The following season – 1972/73 - as detailed in one of my previous articles, Liverpool pipped Arsenal to the title by three points to win their first trophy in seven years. Liverpool’s visit to Highbury that year ended in a 0-0 draw, best remembered for Jimmy Hill appearing as an emergency linesman due to the official getting injured mid-way through the game.
In 1974, at the age of sixty, Bill Shankly announced his retirement from the game with his assistant Bob Paisley taking over at the helm. Paisley would in turn go on to be more successful than Shanks, however his first season would be a collector’s item in the form of a rare trophy-less season at Anfield (there would only be three of which between 1973 and 1990!). Liverpool came runners up to Derby County in 1974/75, with Paisley’s first visit to Highbury as boss ending in a 2-0 victory for Arsenal in February 1975 (though Arsenal finished just four points off of relegation that season!). Bob Paisley would go on to rule in Europe also, however it would take him eight years before he attained a victory over Arsenal at Highbury.
Arsenal would be unbeaten against Liverpool at Highbury for ten games in all competitions between 1973 and 1982 (winning four, drawing six). During that time there was also the marathon four game Semi-Final, with footage here of the second replay at Villa Park and the victorious third replay at Highfield Road. Paisley’s first win at Highbury as Liverpool boss came with his final attempt in September 1982, in a 0-2 defeat for Arsenal with goals from David Hodgson and Phil Neal. After Paisley’s retirement in 1983, his successor Joe Fagan however would win at Highbury at the first attempt by the same score line exactly twelve months on.
Liverpool that season would complete a hat-trick of league titles, as well as a League, Milk Cup and European Cup treble. However life on Merseyside during the early to mid-1980s was far from glorious off the pitch for many, as told here in the ‘Yosser’s Story’ episode of Alan Bleasdale’s tragi-comedy series ‘Boys From The Blackstuff’, which @13.55 features a hilarious cameo appearance from Anfield heroes Sammy Lee and Graeme Souness. The latter would leave Merseyside after completing the treble in 1984 and, as seen by this footage of their trip to Highbury in September 1984, replaced by Jan Molby. An Arsenal side briefly riding high at the top of the table defeated Liverpool 3-1 with two goals from Brian Talbot and one from Tony Woodcock. Fagan too would retire at the end of that season, however – hoping to end his career on a high by retaining the European Cup – Fagan’s farewell was sadly blighted by the Heysel disaster, with footage here of a post-game interview with the BBC’s Barry Davies.
In the interview, Davies notes that before the game the evening had reminded him of Liverpool’s first European Cup win in 1977 and yet had felt the atmosphere by 1985 had become totally different that of eight years earlier. It is true that other factors also played a part in Heysel – such as poor policing and segregation by the Belgian Police, a decrepit stadium and rumours of far right infiltration from supporters of other English clubs among the Liverpool fans. One however cannot take away the wider social context of what was occurring on Merseyside at exactly the same time, out of the equation.
As seen from this documentary called ‘Tees Street Isn’t Working’ that very same year (although YouTube inaccurately states 1980, it was actually broadcast in ’85. The premise of which was similar to Benefits Street minus the soap opera production values of the latter), the brutalising effects of de-industrialisation on Merseyside had meant that the Panorama footage of the jovial Kop crowd of ’64 seemed light years away from the scenes of the baying mob at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels just over a couple of decades later.
To get back to the Football, Fagan’s retirement meant that – despite the continued presence of ex-Liverpool players Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans, as well as the appointment of Kenny Dalglish as Fagan’s successor - the last of Shankly’s original boot room had left the club. There would be further success under Dalglish, however – as will be seen in part two tomorrow – the years that followed Heysel would see the gradual decline of the red machine which dominated English and European football throughout the seventies and eighties.
*Follow me on Twitter@robert_exley
