The History of Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium (Complete Guide)

Anfield has been the home of Liverpool Football Club since they were founded in 1892. It is one of the oldest stadiums in the country and it has been in use continuously since it was built in 1884. Anfield has been graced by some of the greatest players, managers, moments, and matches during its 140-year history. Few stadiums in the country can boast the history that Anfield can.

The stadium is completely unrecognisable from when it was built in the 1880s and it has become a fantastic example of how to stay in the same home for the entire history of the club due to its numerous expansions and structural changes. It has undergone 13 different expansions and changes since it was built in 1884 and they have helped Liverpool compete at the top and have a stadium that suits their position at the peak of English football.

The most recent redevelopment project was completed in 2024. Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, undertook an eight-year development project that has increased the capacity of Anfield and brought it up to modern standards. The stadium has retained a lot of the spirit and character that makes the ground so special despite the redevelopments and its place in the history of English football is firmly entrenched.

Timeline of Events

Stadium Origins

Initially, Anfield was not occupied by its current tenant, Liverpool. Their cross-park rivals Everton were, for a period, the only team that played in Liverpool. They were founded as St. Domingo’s FC in 1878 and they played in the corner of Stanley Park, which is the parkland that separates the current homes of Liverpool and Everton. Eventually, Everton needed a new purpose-built ground to play at, which led to a man called John Orrell building the stadium for his friend, John Houlding who was at the time a member of Everton.

Everton were a founding member of the Football League and they won their first game in the newly created league at Anfield against Accrington, beating them by a scoreline of two goals to one. Everton then went on to win their first League title in the 1890-91 season, pipping their fellow Lancashire side Preston North End to the title by two points.

Shortly after, a dispute arose between Everton, and Houlding and Orrell and this led to Everton moving to their current home of Goodison Park. This left Houlding and Orrell with an empty stadium, and they therefore became the founders of a new club, Liverpool FC. The first game played at the stadium was a friendly against Rotherham Town, a predecessor to the modern Rotherham United. The Reds won the game by an emphatic scoreline, scoring seven goals to Rotherham’s one.

Liverpool were successful almost instantly in their home, becoming champions of the Lancashire League in their first season. This led to Liverpool’s election to the newly created second division of the Football League, which they won in their first season achieving promotion to the First Division. A relegation and second instantaneous promotion followed, and five years later Liverpool made the first major addition to their trophy cabinet when they won the 1900-01 Football League title.

Anfield Facts

The name of the stadium comes from the surrounding area. The name of the surrounding area has more than one theorised origin, with the word initially coming from a mix of old and middle English words that means field on a slope. It has also been theorised that the name originated with the influx of Irish immigrants in the 1850s as the area was associated with Annefield, an area in County Wexford in Ireland.

There have been eleven seasons in the history of the stadium where Liverpool have not been defeated at home. In the latter half of the 2010s, Liverpool went unbeaten from the start of the 2017-18 season, until January in the 2020-21 season, a run that stretched for 68 games. Additionally, the longest unbeaten run in all competitions at home extended from January 1978 and to January 1981, where they recorded a goal difference of +177 across 85 games.

The Kop

The Kop is arguably one of, if not, the most famous stand in world football. The history behind the stand is incredibly interesting, and the unique name has been used by many football clubs to describe a single-tier terraced stand. The first recorded use of the word being used to describe an area as a kop was in a London newspaper likening a bank of earth at Arsenal’s Manor Ground where supporters congregated, to the soldiers standing on top of the Spion Kop hill in South Africa. The hill was the location of one of the most important battles in the Second Boer War when a small Orange Free State force defeated a much larger British Army Contingent.

The Spion Kop Stand at Anfield was the first purpose-built Kop Stand in England and in 1928, after its redevelopment, it was able to hold up to 30,000 people regularly. Traditionally, the most vocal Liverpool supporters congregate in the Kop and they have come to be known as ‘Kopites. Following the Taylor Report, the Kop was redeveloped again in 1994 with the capacity of the stand now sitting at 12,390 seats.

Main Stand

The main stand at Anfield was the oldest standing structure at the stadium before its redevelopment in 2016. It currently has three tiers and it was built over two years from 2014 to 2016. Rather uniquely, the current main stand was built around the old main stand, allowing it to be used to full capacity whilst construction was ongoing.

The stand currently houses the changing rooms, media facilities and the This Is Anfield sign which the players walk under before every game. The expansion added an extra 8,500 seats, to take the capacity of the stadium up to 54,472. The stand holds several lounges and houses executive boxes.

Anfield Road Stand

The original Anfield Road Stand was built in 1903. The stand was damaged by a storm in 1909 and after this, the idea floated, presumably along with pieces of the stand, that the stand be turned into a triple-decker but this idea was quickly shot down. Little changed over the next six decades when the Kemlyn Road Stand’s development saw the Anfield Road end developed with extra seating and a roof being added.

Oddly enough, the end had multi-coloured seats, as Bob Paisley believed the players were harder to see against the red seats in their all-red kit. In 1998, the second tier of the stand was added, and further redevelopment of the stand from 2021-2024 has increased the capacity of the stadium to 61,276.

Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand

The Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand is a two-tiered stand. It was initially built around the same time that the Kop End was built and as it was built along Kemlyn Road, the stand became known as the Kemlyn Stand. In 1992, the stand was expanded to coincide with the centenary of the club and it was named the Centenary Stand. This is when it became a two-tiered stand.

At the end of the 2017-18 season, the stand was renamed after one of the club’s biggest legends Kenny Dalglish. The relationship between the club and Kenny Dalglish is very strong, and there could not have been a more fitting tribute to one of their greatest players and managers. It is strong not only because of his fantastic achievements but also because of his response to the Hillsborough disaster where he was described as ‘colossal and heroic’.