How Was Liverpool FC Founded?
Liverpool's origins lay in disagreements between Everton FC and John Houlding, the leaseholder of Anfield.
Everton were formed in 1878 and started playing at Anfield in 1884, winning their first Football League championship in 1891. However a dispute arose in January 1892 when Houlding, who had loaned Everton money to make improvements to the ground, asked for more rent.
Everton's shareholders, who were also unhappy that Houlding supplied all the refreshments for the ground from his Sandon pub, refused to agree to an increase and moved to a patch of land on the other side of Stanley Park named Mere Green, which became known as Goodison Park.
Houlding was now left with a football ground but no club so along with some Everton officials who remained loyal to him, formed Liverpool FC on 3rd June 1892.
The club applied to join the 2nd Division of the Football League but this was rejected so they joined the Lancashire League instead.
Liverpool's first match in the Lancashire League was on 8th September 1892 when they beat Higher Walton 8-0 in front of only 200 supporters, but word soon spread of the team and in their next league match at Anfield three weeks later, 4,000 watched a 4-0 win against Bury.
Image: John Houlding
Extract taken from book - '100 Facts - Liverpool' by Steve Horton.