FOOTBALL: LIVERPOOL

Liverpool Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club plays in the Premier League, and it is the most successful club in the history of English football; the club has won more trophies than any other English club. Liverpool Football Club has won a record eighteen First Division titles, and seven League Cups. The club has won five European Cups, which is an English record and the FA Cup seven times.

The club was founded in 1892, but had limited success until the appointment of Bill Shankly as manager in 1959. Under Shankly's management, Liverpool won three League Championship titles, two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup; the club's first European trophy. In the past 30 years, they have been one of the most successful clubs in English and European football; they won four European Cups between 1977 and 1984. The club experienced a lean period during the 1990s, but saw a revival when they won the treble in 2001, and the club's fifth European Cup in 2005.

The club traditionally played in red and white, but this was changed to all red in the 1960s. The club's crest has changed during its history, with flames added to the crest in honour of the 96 Liverpool fans who lost their lives in the Hillsborough Disaster. At the Heysel Stadium Disaster, 39 Juventus fans died when a wall collapsed before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final.

Liverpool F.C. has played at Anfield since its formation, but plans to move to a new stadium in Stanley Park, which is due to be completed by 2011. Liverpool has a large and diverse fan base, who hold long-standing rivalries with several clubs. The most notable of these is their rivalry with Manchester United, and Everton, with whom they regularly contest the Merseyside derby.

Current squad

As of 27 November 2008.^[79]^[80]

First team players

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Diego Cavalieri
2	DF	Andrea Dossena
4	DF	Sami Hyypiä
5	DF	Daniel Agger
7	FW	Robbie Keane
8	MF	Steven Gerrard (captain)
9	FW	Fernando Torres
11	MF	Albert Riera
12	DF	Fábio Aurélio
14	MF	Xabi Alonso
15	MF	Yossi Benayoun
17	DF	Álvaro Arbeloa
18	FW	Dirk Kuyt
19	MF	Ryan Babel
20	MF	Javier Mascherano
21	MF	Lucas Leiva
22	DF	Emiliano Insúa

No.	Position	Player
23	DF	Jamie Carragher (vice-captain)
24	FW	David N'Gog
25	GK	Pepe Reina
26	MF	Jay Spearing
27	DF	Philipp Degen
28	MF	Damien Plessis
30	GK	Charles Itandje
31	MF	Nabil El Zhar
32	DF	Stephen Darby
34	DF	Martin Kelly
36	MF	Steve Irwin
37	DF	Martin Škrtel
38	FW	Craig Lindfield
39	FW	Nathan Eccleston
41	GK	Martin Hansen
42	GK	Péter Gulácsi

Players out on loan

No.	Position	Player
40	GK	David Martin (at Leicester City until the end of 2008–09 season)
––	GK	Nikolay Mihaylov (at FC Twente until the end of 2009–10 season)
––	DF	Jack Hobbs (at Leicester City until the end of 2008–09 season)
––	DF	Robbie Threlfall (at Hereford United until the end of 2008–09 season)
––	DF	Miki Roque (at FC Cartagena until the end of 2008–09 season)
35	MF	Ryan Flynn (at Wrexham until 3 January 2009)
33	MF	Sebastián Leto (at Olympiacos until the end of 2008–09 season)
––	MF	Paul Anderson (at Nottingham Forest until the end of 2008–09 season)
16	MF	Jermaine Pennant (at Portsmouth Until the end of 2008-09 season)
10	FW	Andriy Voronin (at Hertha Berlin until the end of 2008–09 season)
29	FW	Krisztián Németh (at Blackpool for one month)