Liverpool FC undoubtedly are a powerhouse when it comes to both England and Europe. The current European and Premier League Champions have seen some enigmatic managers come and go, incorporating their own philosophies which later becomes a part of the fabric of Liverpool’s ideology.
From Shankly’s era in the 1960s to the golden generation of 1970 and 1980, Liverpool FC’s successes have always come under a decisive and inspiring personality at the helm. Here we take a look at all the managers Liverpool FC have had over the years and the honours they brought to the club.
#1: John McKenna (1892 – 1896)
Win Ratio: 60.6%
Honours: 1894-95, 1895-96 Second Division
The first manager for the Reds, McKenna asked the FA in England to allow Liverpool FC to play in the Football League in 1892 but was denied entry. Liverpool FC had to win the domestic Lancashire League and were officially inducted to the country’s league the following year, where McKenna led them to their first title by winning Division 2 in 1894 and again in 1896.
#2: Tom Watson (1896 – 1915)
Win Ratio: 44.34%
Honours: Division 1 Champions 1900-01, 1905-06, Division 2 Champions 1904-05
Liverpool FC earned their first-ever league title under Tom Watson in 1901 but were relegated back to the Second Division by the end of 1904. However, the team won the league and quickly bounced back to the First Division, lifting the trophy for a second time under Tom Watson in 1906. League football was suspended when the First World War broke out, and Tom Watson died in 1915 after nineteen years at the club. He still remains the club’s longest-serving manager.
#3: David Ashworth (1920 – 1923)
Win Ratio: 50.36%
Honours: 1921-22, 1922-23 League Champions
David Ashworth was appointed soon after the war in 1920. In 1921/22, he led the Reds to their third League Championship and managed Liverpool FC on their way to winning their fourth the next year, before moving on to Oldham who were languishing at the bottom of the league.
#4: Matt Mcqueen (1923 – 1928)
Win Ratio: 40.61%
Honours: NA
Matt Mcqueen was the director at Liverpool FC before assuming managerial roles after the departure of David Ashworth to Oldham. A former Liverpool player, he became the first in the club’s history to serve both as a player and manager. His appointment, however, marked the beginning of one of the most barren spells for Liverpool FC as they struggled to win anything for the next 20 years. He was best known for signing Gordon Hodgson, who would go on to score nearly 250 goals in 400 senior appearances for the Reds. Following a road accident, Matt Mcqueen stepped down as Liverpool FC’s manager in 1928.
#5: George Patterson (1928 – 1936)
Win Ratio: 37.43%
Honours: NA
George Patterson was brought on to replace Mcqueen in 1928, and the club did not fare any better under his stewardship. The club regularly finished mid-table and avoided relegation in 1934 by only four points. This period also saw Liverpool lose out on their star players, with club legends Elisha Scott and Gordon Hodgson choosing to leave the club by the end of his contract. After a torrid start to the 1936-37 season, Patterson resigned as manager.
#6: George Kay (1936 – 1951)
Win Ratio: 39.78%
Honours: 1946-47 League Champions
The club appointed Southampton manager George Kay to replace Patterson, and things did not look as if they were improving as Liverpool barely managed to avoid relegation in his debut season. The following years saw the club finishing 11th in two successive seasons before the Second World War put all footballing activities to an end
After the league resumed in 1946, Liverpool FC finally regained the league title after a gap of nearly 20 years. George Kay also steered the club to its first-ever FA Cup final in 1950, which they eventually lost to Arsenal. The club’s performance started declining gradually and George Kay eventually resigned a year later in 1951.
#7: Don Welsh (1951 – 1956)
Win Ratio: 34.91%
Honours: NA
Under Don Welsh, the club continued its gradual decline, eventually getting relegated in 1954. This was the first time in 50 years that the club was back in the Second Division, and after failing to gain promotion in the next 3 years, Don Welsh was sacked at the end of the 1955-56 season.
#8: Phil Taylor (1956 – 1959)
Win Ratio: 50.67%
Honours: NA
A former captain for Liverpool, Phil Taylor was promoted from a coaching role to manage the club and to try to win promotion back to the First Division. Taylor signed on many players but failed to achieve promotion for the team, and after 3 years resigned from the club.
#9: Bill Shankly (1959 – 1974)
Win Ratio: 51.98%
Honours: Div 2 Champions 1961-62, Div 1 Champions 1963-64, 1965-66, 1972-73, FA Cup 1965, 1974, UEFA Cup 1973
Probably one of the greatest Liverpool FC managers, the club brought in Bill Shankly from Huddersfield midway into the 1959-60 season to replace the departing Phil Taylor. This was the turning point in the club’s fortunes as Bill Shankly released all 24 players from the first team and went on to completely overhaul the team from the ground up.
He won Liverpool FC promotion in his third season at the helm. This started a fifteen-year-old spell of great success for the club, with the team winning three league titles and their first FA Cup in 1965 followed by another one in 1974. Shankly also helped Liverpool FC win their first European trophy in the form of the UEFA Cup in 1974. He resigned at the end of the season citing the need for a break.
#10: Bob Paisley (1974 – 1983)
Win Ratio: 57.57%
Honours: Div 1 Champions 1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981-82, 1982-83
League Cup 1981, 1982, 1983, European Cup 1977, 1978, 1981, UEFA Cup 1976, European Super Cup 1977
Serving as Shankly’s assistant during the previous decade, Bob Paisley took over the managerial helm after Shankly’s retirement and propelled Liverpool FC into their most successful decade. He remains the most decorated manager in the history of the club, winning 6 league titles, 3 League Cups, 3 European Cups and a UEFA Cup and a European Super Cup each. He also was the first manager under whom Liverpool FC lifted the coveted European trophy. He served the club for almost a decade before announcing his plan to retire from management at the end of the 1982-83 season.
#11: Joe Fagan (1983 – 1985)
Win Ratio: 54.20%
Honours: League Champions 1983-84, League Cup 1984, European Cup 1984
Joe Fagan took over the reins and seemingly continued the sustained success left under Bob Paisley, and won a treble of the League, European Cup and League Cup in his debut season. With players like Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness in the team, it was expected of Fagan to keep Liverpool FC on the top of the perch. However, disaster struck in 1985 at Heysel Stadium where Liverpool FC were vying for a fifth European title against Juventus. 39 people were killed when a section of the wall collapsed and English teams were banned from any European competitions for five years, with Liverpool FC facing an additional year of exile. Joe Fagan resigned from the club in the aftermath of the incident.
#12: Kenny Dalglish (1985 – 1991)
Win Ratio: 60.91%
Honours: League Champions 1985-86, 1987-88, 1989-90, FA Cup 1986, 1989
Kenny Dalglish took charge over Liverpool FC as a player-manager in 1985, making him the first and only player-manager in the club’s history. The Reds won a League and FA Cup double with King Kenny in charge. He further led Liverpool to two league titles and another FA Cup. However, in the semi-finals of the same FA Cup that the Reds eventually won, disaster struck at Hillsborough stadium where Liverpool were up against Nottingham Forest. 96 Liverpool FC fans were crushed to death, and the incident left a deep psychological impact both for the players and the manager. After winning the league title a year later in 1990, Kenny Dalglish resigned from his position, starting a period of decline for the club – especially on the domestic front.
#13: Ronnie Moran (1991)
Win Ratio: 40%
Honours: NA
Took over as interim manager for a few weeks prior to the arrival of Graeme Souness.
#14: Graeme Souness (1991 – 1994)
Win Ratio: 42.04%
Honours: FA Cup 1992
A former European Cup-winning Liverpool FC captain, Souness tried to revamp the side completely by selling key players such as Gary Gillespie and Steve McMahon. Liverpool FC were finally allowed to compete in European competition after a six years ban. The manager did guide the Reds to FA Cup victory against Sunderland in 1992, but Liverpool FC’s form started stagnating under Souness as the club finished sixth in both the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons. By April of 1994, Souness was sacked after Liverpool FC crashed out of the FA Cup against Bristol City.
#15: Roy Evans (1994 – 1998)
Win Ratio: 51.77%
Honours: League Cup 1995
Roy Evans took over the mantle of Liverpool FC manager towards the end of the 1994 season, but couldn’t save the club finishing in the eighth position. In his almost four years spell at the club, Liverpool FC gradually improved – finishing consistently in the top four and winning a League Cup in 1995 against Bolton Wanderers. The club also reached the FA Cup final in 1996 under Roy Evans but lost to arch-rivals Manchester United. In his last season, however, the club’s form started dipping again with Liverpool FC slipping away to finish fourth after being at the top of the league near Christmas.
#16: Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier (1998)
Win Ratio: 38.89%
Honours: NA
Gerard Houllier was brought on to partner up with Evans at the start of the 1998-99 season to steer the club back into its glory days. But a poor start to the league and an early defeat to Tottenham Hotspurs in the League Cup, coupled with differences between both co-managers led Roy Evans to resign by November 1998.
#17: Gerard Houllier (1998 – 2004)
Win Ratio: 52.12%
Honours: UEFA Cup 2001, FA Cup 2001, League Cup 2001, European Super Cup 2001, Charity Shield 2001, League Cup 2003
The Frenchman failed to stem the dip in form in his debut season as Liverpool FC finished seventh in the league but continued to gradually rebuild the team, bringing in players like Dieter Hamann and Sami Hyppia. He also gave chances to Academy youngsters like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. The Reds gradually started improving their league position culminating in a cup treble-winning season in 2000 winning the League Cup, FA Cup and a UEFA Cup while also finishing third in the league. The next year saw Liverpool FC reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, eventually losing out 4-3 to Bayer Leverkusen.
The club won a League Cup against Manchester United in 2003, but health setbacks for Houllier along with a bad run of form saw Liverpool FC barely qualify for the Champions League in 2004, and it was announced that Houllier will be replaced by Rafa Benitez at the end of the 2003-04 campaign.
#18: Rafael Benitez (2004 – 2010)
Win Ratio: 55.43%
Honours: Champions League 2005, FA Cup 2006
Rafa Benitez at his first season at the helm guided the club to it’s fifth European Cup beating the likes of Juventus, Chelsea and heavyweights AC Milan in the process. Liverpool FC also reached the final of the League Cup but lost 3-2 to Chelsea that season. With league form in shambles the club finished fifth, but winning the Champions League ensured Rafa and his men became a regular at the European front. He also won the FA Cup after a thrilling contest against West Ham in the finals which went down the wire.
His stewardship saw Liverpool FC achieve some consistency at the European front while also managing to finish in the top 4 every season. He came close to becoming the first manager since 1990 to lift the Premier League but Liverpool FC missed out on the league to Manchester United by just four points in 2009. A dismal seventh finish the following season saw Benitez leave the club at the end of the year.
#19: Roy Hodgson (2010 – 2011)
Win Ratio: 41.94%
Honours: NA
Financial troubles were hitting the club as Roy Hodgson was appointed manager, and the Brit could not make any impact at Anfield as the team lost nine matches in 20 games, languishing at 12th position by January. Hodgson was quickly sacked by the boards.
#20: Kenny Dalglish (2011 – 2012)
Win Ratio: 47.30%
Honours: League Cup 2012
Liverpool FC legend Kenny Daglish took over the reigns just after Roy Hodgson was sacked in January, and steered the club to sixth place. The next season was worse as the club finished eighth, outside of any European qualification but won the League Cup in a thrilling match against West Ham which finished 3-2. However, Dalglish was criticized for making overpriced signings and was sacked at the end of the season.
#21: Brendan Rodgers (2012 – 2015)
Win Ratio: 50%
Honours: NA
The arrival of Brendan Rodgers also saw the emergence of new talents in the form of Suarez, Coutinho, Sterling and Sturridge, and the Northern Irishman almost clinched the Premier League title for the club in his second season at the helm.
Liverpool FC finished the 2013-14 season at second place with 101 goals, their most since over a century in a season. Rodgers was tipped to great success with the club, but the departure of Suarez was a big blow to the manager’s ambitions.
The club made a lot of panic buys for the next season and without the right players to support his playstyle, Rodgers saw the performance of the club dipping, and was eventually sacked at the start of the 2015-16 season after a 1-1 draw with Everton.
#22: Jurgen Klopp (2015 – Present)
Win Ratio: 61%
Honours: Champions League 2019, Premier League 2019-20, UEFA Super Cup 2019, FIFA Club World Cup 2019
After much fanfare and speculation, Jurgen Klopp was appointed the club’s manager which began a period of complete transformation from the inside out. Klopp brought his own backroom staff and changed the transfer committee’s structure while also gradually phasing out the players that did not fit his gegenpressing philosophy. His arrival injected new energy to the club, as Liverpool FC reached the finals of both Europa League and the League Cup but eventually lost both of them.
The club started finishing in the top four and under Klopp’s stewardship, Liverpool FC also reached the finals of the Champions League in 2018 after a period of 11 years but again losing out to favourites Real Madrid.
The next season, however, with the team bolstered with new signings such as Alisson and Virgil Van Dijk not to mention Salah – the team finally lifted their sixth European trophy, the first silverware in almost 8 years. This was followed up by the UEFA Super Cup victory over Chelsea and FIFA World Cup victory over Flamengo.
The 19-20 season, Klopp motivated the team to produce one of their best forms in ages as Liverpool FC strolled to win the Premier League for the first time in 30 years, setting a league record of being the quickest team to become the champions with 7 games left to play.
