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About this section and the competitions

The Mercantile Credit Centenary Trophy was played in the 1988-1989 season to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Football league.
A face-off between the Champions and the Cup Winners. If the same team wins the League and Cup double, Cup winners are replaced by the Cup’s runners-up.

The first Charity Shield match was played in 1908, it succeeded the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, which was first played in 1898, a Shield which Liverpool won once. Charity Shield games were played on the Cup holders’ home ground until 1974 when it was moved to a neutral venue, to be more exact Wembley and then the Millennium Stadium. Liverpool beat Leeds 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the first Wembley final. From 1977-1993, if the game finished in a draw, both teams would share the Shield for six months each. It is now decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Teams could deny playing in the Shield. In 1971/72, Liverpool replaced champs Arsenal, but Liverpool waivered their right to play in the Shield in the 1973/74 season.

Charity Shield was renamed Community Shield in the 2002/2003 season.

NOTE: English clubs were banned from European competitions from 1986-1991 in the wake of the Heysel tragedy.

The European Cup was founded in 1956 for League champions of European countries. The European Cup was changed to the Champions League in 1997, allowing other teams than the current champions to enter.

The European Fairs Cup was founded in 1958, the final played over two legs. It was renamed as the UEFA Cup in 1972. A single leg final was introduced in 1998, but the competition changed more dramatically in 2000 when teams were allowed to enter if they didn’t make it into the second phase of the Champions league.

The European Cup Winners’ Cup was introduced in 1961. The name says it all really, only cup winners were allowed or the runners up if the cup winners were also champions. The competition was abandoned in 1999, merged into the UEFA Cup set-up.

The European Super Cup was originally played in 1972 between the winners of the European Cup/Champions League and the conquerors of the European Cup Winners’ Cup. Since 2000, the UEFA Cup winners are opponents to the winners of the Champions League.

The Football Association Challenge Cup is the oldest cup competition in the world. The FA Cup was founded in 1872 and its finals were played at Kennington Oval. The Cup final moved to Wembley in 1923 where it stayed until 2000. While the new Wembley was being built the final was moved to the Millennium Stadium in Wales. Liverpool won the last cup final played at the Millennium as Wembley became its home again in 2007. Liverpool reached their first FA Cup final in 1914 at London's Crystal Palace when they lost vs Burnley. Liverpool lost again in the final at Wembley vs Arsenal in 1950. In their third final in 1965 Liverpool finally conquered the FA Cup vs Leeds.
The League Cup was founded in 1961, the final played over two legs until 1967. The final was moved to Wembley in 1967, the winner assured of an UEFA Cup place. The Milk Cup, Littlewoods Cup, Rumbelows Cup, Coca Cola Cup, Worthington Cup and Carling Cup are all classified as League Cup as it’s essentially the same competition just with diffferent sponsors.
The first instance we have a sending off of a Liverpool player is in 1901. That doesn't rule out, a LFC player being sent off earlier than that. Red cards were first introduced into the football league in 1976, 8 years after its introduction by FIFA. The card was scrapped in England in 1981, but reinstated in 1987.
The SSSC was only played in 1985/86, but the two-legged final was postponed until 1986/87 season due to fixture congestion. We count it towards totals in 1986/87 season although some sources count it with the previous season. European ban for English clubs was a sad reality in 1986 and the SSSC was founded to bridge the gap for the teams that would have otherwise qualified for European competition. 6 clubs were split into two groups and the top two from each group qualified for the semi-finals.
The Football league allowed one substitute to replace an injured player in the 1965/66 season. However, Liverpool’s first recorded substitution was in the Charity Shield on 15.08.1964, as it was classified as a friendly match. Phil Chisnall came on for Alf Arrowsmith in the 15th minute. The cup competitions followed suit a year later. A substitute, who was allowed to replace a player for whatever purpose was first used in England in 1967/68.

2 substitutes were allowed in the cups 1986/87, in the league from 1987/88 and in European competitions in the 1967/68 season (rising to 3 in Europe the following season). A goalkeeper became a firm fixture on the bench in the league in 1992/93, a year later the cups followed suit. Before 1992, if a goalkeeper got injured, a replacement keeper was permitted.

Since 1994/95 five subs have been allowed in league games. 5 were allowed in European games since the 1969/70 season, the number rising to 7 in the 1997/98 season. The cup competitions only allowed 3 in 1994/95, but raised the number to 5 in 1998/1999.

Information about players, who made the bench, but did not make an appearance is available from 1975/76.

The exact time a substitution was made is available in this database from the 1987/88 season onwards.

The squad list doesn't include every player that was registered as a first-team player that particular season. The list shows all the players who either made an appearance or were on the bench in competitive matches.
The World Club Intercontinental Cup Championship is played between the South American champions and the European Cup/Champions League winners. It was first contested in 1960, the final played over two legs, with a play-off if necessary. This format was changed to a single leg final in 1979. Liverpool played in 1981 and 1984, losing both games.