History of Anfield

As far as football grounds go, Anfield has the most colourful and illustrious background that in many ways has helped shape it into one of the most famous venues in British sport. Opened in 1884, Anfield was owned by John Orrell, a minor land owner who was also a friend of an Everton FC member John Houlding.

Anfield at the time was a plot of land that was rarely used, but came to the fore when Everton, who previously played at Priory road, were in need of a new venue because of the noise produced by the crowds on match days. In return for a small amount of rent, Orrell lent the pitch to the club with the first match that was ever played on the site seeing Everton run out 5-0 winners against Earlestown. As years went by, more and more spectators were turning up to watch Everton which eventually saw the ground revamped with stands being erected to cater for around 8,000 people that regularly attended matches.

The ground was also considered of high enough quality to play host on an international level too; with the British Home Championship match between England and Ireland taking place in 1889. Despite things going well for the club however, negotiations to purchase the land from Orrell descended into chaos and turned out to be the start of a dispute between Houlding and the Everton FC committee over how the club was being run. The ensuing row resulted in Everton moving to Goodison Park whilst Houlding was left with Anfield, which then, had no players and no fan base. Desperate for a fresh start however, Houlding created Liverpool FC and the first match to be played at the ground saw newly founded Liverpool take on Rotherham in a friendly that attracted around 200 people. Since those times however, Liverpool and its ground have come a long way with Anfield becoming one of the biggest grounds in the English game comprising over 45,000 seats and split into four stands; the Anfield Road end, the Centenary Stand, the Kop and the Main Stand.