LIVERWEB - Liverpool managers of all-time

Liverpool FC Managers

Liverpool Football Club have had very few managers in their time but have had had some of the most successful managers of all-time. In total across more than a century of football Liverpool are only on their 15th manager. Only one manager has ever been specifically sacked from duties with most resigning due to the immense pressure a club like Liverpool creates.

Rafael Benitez	2004-	Rafael Benitez joined the Reds shortly after resigning his post at Valencia. He had just won the Spanish title and UEFA CUP.
Gerard Houllier	1998 - 2004	Gerard Houllier joined Liverpool not longer after the world cup in France and his original partnership came with Roy Evans which lasted for only a few months before Roy Evans resigned leaving Houllier in complete control of the managerial side of the club. He then took Liverpool forward and presided over the Reds cup treble in 2001 and on to Champions League assaults. However after heart surgery he failed to move the Reds on to the next level and was finally agreed to the boards request that he left in May 2004
Roy Evans	1994-1998	Roy Evans took over the managers job in 1994 after completing virtually every job within the club. His final days at Anfield at time cloud peoples judgment on a man who won the reserves championship on numerous occasions and served the club as both a player and on the coaching staff for over 30 years. Evans finally retired when the joint partnership with Gerard Houllier never worked.
Graeme Souness	1991-1994	Graeme Souness was brought in from Rangers and was an ex Liverpool player. Souness enjoyed massive success as a player and like Evans will be remembered by some fans for his managerial role. Souness it can be argued tried to hard for success at Liverpool. He knew what success meant to the fans but in 1992 he sold his story to the sn newspaper which rightly turned many against him. From the Hillsborough disaster onwards the Sn should be boycotted by every LFC supporter for the unsubstantiated drivel it wrote about lfc fans.
Kenny Dalglish	1985-1991	Kenny Dalglish became the clubs first ever player-manager and in his first season guided the club to the league/FA cup double. Dalglish enjoyed tremendous success as both a player and a manager but sadly resigned in February 1991 when the eventual strain of Hillsborough took its toll on him. Dalglish was a mountain after Hillsborough and is always fondly remembered at Anfield as King Kenny
Joe Fagan	1983-1985	Joe Fagan worked for years behind the scenes at Anfield which went largely unnoticed until in 1983 he took over from Paisley. In his first year Fagan guided the Reds to the first ever English treble of League/league cup/European cup. Fagan was very unsung at Anfield and resigned after the Heysel tragedy in 1985 when he had guided the Reds to yet another European Cup Final.
Bob Paisley	1974-1983	Bob Paisley is the most successful manager in English history and served the club massively for a number of years starting as a player and then working through the club before taking over when shankly resigned. A very unassuming man, he only took over whilst he thought Shankly was having a break. He went on to become a great though winning 6 championships, 3 league cups a UEFA cup and 3 European Cups. he has a set of gates outside the Kop dedicated to him.
Bill Shankly	1959-1974	Bill Shankly made Liverpool Football Club what it is today by changing the clubs fortunes from second division challengers to a top class European side. When Shankly signed from Huddersfield the Reds were in a state of disrepair on and off the pitch but with Shankly's working class ethos and great psychology on players he turned the Reds into greats and was the man behind the introduction of the a red Strip we see today. Shankly was a proud man and has put so much desire into the liver bird today.
Phil Taylor	1956-1959	Phil Taylor took over from Don Welsh in 1956 and had been a player for the Reds until 1954. He played some 345 times for Liverpool and when he retired became coach. His eventual resignation was due to ill-health in 1959.
Don Welsh	1951-1956	Don Welsh will be remembered by many as the only Reds manager to be sacked. Welsh took over a relatively successful Reds side but sadly saw them relegated and try as hard as he could failed for two seasons to get them back into the top division.
George Kay	1936-1951	George Kay took control of the Reds either side of the second world war and was responsible for signing Billy Liddell. He became the first manager to win the championship after the war and eventually retired in 1951 through bad health
George Patterson	1928-1936	Patterson was an assistant to Tom watson and guided the Reds through a relatively barren few years before retiring on health grounds although he did stay as secretary of the club.
Matt McQueen	1923-1928	McQueen was one of the original Reds team when they were formed in 1892. When he retired from playing he became a referee of the game. He became a director of the club and then managed them but was forced to retire from ill-health after losing a leg in a car accident
David Ashworth	1920-1923	Ashworth was the first sole manager of the club taking control after the first world war but left after only three years. He won the first of what was to be three consecutive championships before leaving to manage Oldham when the Reds were on the verge of the second league.
Tom Watson	1896-1915	Tom watson took over from the retiring Barclay and again combined the managers role with Secretary of the club. He was brought in from Sunderland and it was he who guided Liverpool to their first ever league championship. He remains the Reds' longest serving manager today. When he won the league with Liverpool he became the first manager to guide two different English clubs to the league title.
W E Barclay	1892-1896	W E Barclay was the Reds first ever manager in the top echelons of football. He guided the side from the Lancashire leagues into division one and combined his managers role with being the club's secretary as well. He didn't however have any say over transfers which were conducted by John McKenna