Why Liverpool Is the Greatest Football Club in England

England as a nation is synonymous with football. Having had the first official governing body for the sport and winning the world Cup in 1966, English football is unique. While the national football team seems to always let the country down for generations, club football has a lot to show for itself.

There are so many great clubs in England with huge history and pride. Some of these clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City have grown exponentially over the last few years due to the commercialisation of the game. Other clubs like Sunderland and Nottingham Forrest were giants of the game and now coasting in the lower divisions. There are a few top teams that adapted well to the amount of money coming into the game. The one stand out being Manchester United. “United” were huge before the construction of The Premier League, having already won a European Cup and a significant number of first division titles. When the Premier league came into play it just elevated their status as the current top club in English football.

However, Liverpool were a sleeping giant. When the League was formed in 1992 Liverpool were still by a long way the most successful club in the country having won 4 European Cups and 19 League titles. But, a poor spell in the late 90s and 2000s meant for the most part they were not consistently taken seriously by the other top clubs. While Liverpool were on their bad run of form for a number of years, their biggest domestic rival Manchester united overtook them on league titles won, surpassing them by one. Manchester United had now won 20 times. The only thing Liverpool had to cling onto during this time, was a surprise European Cup run, winning it for a fifth time and taking part in what is thought of as the greatest final of all time. During this final, by half time Liverpool were 3-0 down in Istanbul and playing against a monumental AC Milan side. Steven Gerrard lead Liverpool out for the second half to an almighty 3-3 comeback and Liverpool went on to win the game on penalties. Making their number of European Cups 5. A first in English football.

However even though Liverpool had this great game and a few more small trophies to add to their cabinet, they simply could not financially compete with Manchester United at the time who were winning back-to-back to back Premier leagues.

Regardless of form and trophies won, in the 2010s there was two significant moments that changed the tides back in Liverpool’s favour. In 2013 Sir Alex Ferguson who managed United to 13 of their league titles and 2 of their three European cups left the club which was the start of a downward spiral for them. Then in 2015 Liverpool appointed Jurgen Klopp as the Manager which started a new era for the scousers. Since Ferguson left Manchester United 8 years ago they have gone through seven mangers and are still yet to win a league title or European Cup. Since Klopp has come into Liverpool, he has won a League title and a European cup, not to mention when Jurgen came to the club they were sitting 9th place in the league. Liverpool now have 19 League titles (1 less than Manchester United) and 6 European Cups (3 more than the Salford based team). Under Jurgen Klopp Liverpool once again became the most successful team in England with 43 major trophies, while Manchester United have 42.

Not only are Liverpool now competing on the pitch, off the pitch they have become a powerhouse as well. With the success Klopp and his team are creating, this gives the club the most lucrative deals in the world. The club have upgraded their training facility to one of the best in the Europe with a 50-million-pound development.

The Kopites are also in for a treat as they previously expanded their stadium from 45,000 to 55,000 seats and next year they are going even bigger with a 6,000-seat expansion taking their stadium to 61,000. The second biggest in England.

Football shirts are also a huge money maker in football and the Anfield Road team have upped their game in that area as well. Signing a new shirt manufacture deal with Nike worth 40 Million pounds a year plus 20% of all shirt sales which has never been done in English football.

While all this demonstrates why Liverpool are the greatest club in England with the red side of Manchester close behind. The two North West clubs should be very worried. As Clubs Like Chelsea and Manchester City both backed with endless financial power, are competing at the top with no signs of slowing down. Chelsea have now consistently spent top money and won top trophies since they were bought in 2003 by Roman Abramovich. Also, Manchester City the local rival of Manchester United have won 5 league titles since they became state funded by Abu Dhabi in 2008.

With the now endless supply of money some teams have due to their owners, the previous clubs challenging to be the biggest are in for some real competition.

Fin Bailie, Junior Content Producer at Mccrory Holdings