Liverpool Tartan

The history of Liverpool Football Club stretches back over 120 years. For the first half of its life the club enjoyed mixed success combining championship wins with relegation. The cosmopolitan nature of the City of Liverpool itself ensure that Liverpool players were drawn from different parts of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, but there was a particular affinity with Scotland, so much so, that they were nicknamed ‘Team of all the Mac’s’.

But it was to be one Scotsman in particular who was to lead Liverpool FC to greatness in the second half of its life. That man was Bill Shankly. Some eight years after he first applied for the position, it was in 1959 that he was finally appointed and the modern history of Liverpool began.

Bill Shankly was the first of a new breed of football club manager who exerted total control over the signing of players and team selection. His management skills, allied to his socialist principles, his passion for the game, and his total dedication to the club, saw the formation of a football club which would become renowned throughout the world, both for its ethos and style of play. His legacy was a succession of managers moulded in his style who between them were to bring extraordinary success, not only in League and Cup, but with five European Championships. But it was a show tune written in 1945 that was to change the status of Liverpool Football Club from merely legendary to iconic.

In 1963 the local pop group, Gerry and the Pacemakers, took the Rodgers and Hammerstein song ‘You’ll never walk alone’ to No. 1 in the Hit Parade. It was immediately adopted by supporters and has become synonymous with Liverpool Football Club, and an anthem known throughout the footballing world and beyond. The words were eventually added to the club badge and stand above the entrance to Anfield.

The Liverpool Reds tartan is a tribute to the supporters of Liverpool Football Club worldwide.