The Greatest Liverpool Team of All Time

Liverpool was founded in 1892 and has a tradition of excellence. We have distilled over 125 years of Liverpool football history into 23 players and one manager.

Liverpool was founded in 1892 and is an 18-time English league champion.

In the mid-1960s, the club from a small port city on the western edge of Europe started dominating country and then continent for much of the next 25 years, winning four European Cups. Most of the best Reds players come from this time, when Liverpool was the standard to aspire to, a winning machine that seemed unstoppable.

Flurries of success have followed since then. The club won a fifth European crown in 2005, and Jurgen Klopp has restored Liverpool as a force, but the legend of Liverpool comes from those glory days with working-class roots.

We have distilled 127 years of Liverpool football history into 23 players and one manager — a squad for the ages. Meet the greatest Liverpool team of all time.

Ray Clemence

Liverpool goalkeeper Ray Clemence raises the 1977 European Cup. Storie di Calcio

Position: Goalkeeper

Experience: 22 years (1965-87)

Years with Liverpool: 14 seasons (1967-81)

Key stats: One of only 25 players to make over 1,000 pro appearances. Played 665 matches for Liverpool. Capped 61 times by England national team.

English league titles: 5 (1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80)

Champions League/European Cups: 3 (1977, 1978, 1981)

All-time Liverpool team role: Goalkeeper

Bottom line: Ray Clemence was the bedrock of the Liverpool team that first conquered England in the 1970s and then Europe.

An agile, athletic goalkeeper, he was as tough a competitor as his colleagues.

He played his final match when the club won the European Cup in 1981 in Paris, beating Real Madrid.

Phil Neal

Liverpool defenders Phil Neal, right, and Graeme Souness during the European Cup final against Real Madrid in 1981. Lipchitz / AP Photo

Position: Defender

Experience: 21 years (1968-89)

Years with Liverpool: 11 seasons (1974-85)

Key stats: The only Liverpool player to play in five European Cup finals, winning four. Scored in two European Cup finals (1977 and 1984). Played a record 365 consecutive league matches.

English league titles: 8 (1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86)

Champions League/European Cups: 4 (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984)

All-time Liverpool team role: Defender

Bottom line: The only Liverpool player to win all four of his first four European Cups, and a scorer in two finals, Phil Neal is one of the most decorated players in the game.

A dependable, unspectacular player, he fitted the work ethic of Bob Paisley’s team perfectly.

Alan Hansen

Liverpool players Alan Hansen, left, and Jim Beglin, with raised arms, during the European Cup final against Juventus in 1985. AP Photo

Position: Defender

Experience: 18 years (1973-91)

Years with Liverpool: 14 seasons (1977-91)

Key stats: Captained club to only league and FA Cup double in 1985-86. Captained the club to three league titles. Represented Scotland at junior level in golf, volleyball and squash.

English league titles: 8 (1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90)

Champions League/European Cups: 3 (1978, 1981, 1984)

All-time Liverpool team role: Defender

Bottom line: A natural athlete who played with an unusual grace for his position, Alan Hansen often looked like he was strolling through matches.

He did, though, possess an iron will to win, and inspired those around him with his maintenance of the standards of the club.

Emlyn Hughes

Liverpool captain Emlyn Hughes, right, against Belgium champion Bruges during the European Cup final in 1978. AP Photo

Position: Defender

Experience: 20 years (1964-84)

Years with Liverpool: 12 seasons (1967-79)

Key stats: Was England’s most capped player of the 1970s with 57 appearances. Captained Liverpool to European Cup titles in 1977 and 1978. Winner of the Football Writers’ Player of the Year award in 1977.

English league titles: 4 (1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79)

Champions League/European Cups: 2 (1977, 1978)

All-time Liverpool team role: Defender

Bottom line: Emlyn Hughes possessed the skill on the ball to play far further forward, but chose to play at the back, where he could dictate the tempo of play, and survey the action in front of him.

A loud, brash player who led by example, he later became a household name as a TV personality in the United Kingdom.

Alan Kennedy

Alan Kennedy played eight seasons with Liverpool. Wikipedia

Position: Defender

Experience: 22 years (1972-94)

Years with Liverpool: 8 seasons (1978-86)

Key stats: Scored the winning goal in the 1981 European Cup final against Real Madrid. Scored the winning penalty in the 1984 European Cup final shootout with Roma. Played just two matches for England national team.

English league titles: 5 (1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84)

Champions League/European Cups: 2 (1981, 1984)

All-time Liverpool team role: Defender

Bottom line: Alan Kennedy was often mocked by his more aristocratic teammates for a perceived lack of skill, but they ended up thanking him for his winning goal in 1981 and his calmness under pressure in the 1984 European Cup final in Rome.

Quick and strong, he always was a useful outlet on the overlap.

Graeme Souness

Graeme Souness, center, attempts to score a goal for Scotland against West Germany in the 1986 World Cup. AP Photo

Position: Midfielder

Experience: 21 years (1970-91)

Years with Liverpool: 8 seasons (1978-86)

Key stats: Captained Liverpool to a treble of league, League Cup and European Cup in 1984. Managed Liverpool from 1991 to 1994. Made 358 appearances, scoring 56 goals.

English league titles: 5 (1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84)

Champions League/European Cups: 3 (1978, 1981, 1984)

All-time Liverpool team role: Midfielder

Bottom line: Few players have combined such a hard edge with such obvious class on the ball. Graeme Souness was the midfield controller and captain of the team that won the treble of trophies of 1984.

He could be ferocious one minute and then grace a game with a gossamer touch the next.

Steven Gerrard

Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard controls the ball during an English Premier League match against Crystal Palace in 2015. Jon Super / AP Photo

Position: Midfielder

Experience: 18 years (1998-2016)

Years with Liverpool: 17 seasons (1998-2015)

Key stats: The only footballer to score in an FA Cup final, League Cup final, UEFA Cup final and UEFA Champions League final. Captained England at the 2010 and 2014 World Cup. Awarded the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award in 2005.

English league titles: 0

Champions League/European Cups: 1 (2005)

All-time Liverpool team role: Midfielder

Bottom line: Steven Gerrard’s inspirational performance in Istanbul, where Liverpool came back from three goals down against AC Milan to win the 2005 Champions League final, is one of the finest in football history. It embodied a player who gave everything for the club, rampaging from midfield.

There is, though, a touch of melancholy to Gerrard’s career. It was his slip against Chelsea in 2014 that cost Liverpool its first Premier League title.

Ray Kennedy

Liverpool midfielder Ray Kennedy, center, shoots against Real Madrid during the European Cup final in 1981. Lipchitz / AP Photo

Position: Midfielder

Experience: 17 years (1968-85)

Years with Liverpool: 8 seasons (1974-82)

Key stats: Won every domestic honor with Arsenal and Liverpool. Scored 72 goals in 392 appearances for Liverpool. Played 17 times for England national team, scoring three goals.

English league titles (titles won with Liverpool in bold): 6 (1970-71, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82)

Champions League/European Cups: 3 (1977, 1978, 1981)

All-time Liverpool team role: Midfielder

Bottom line: The final signing made by legendary manager Bill Shankly became a key player for Bob Paisley, the next man in, as Liverpool won three European Cups.

Ray Kennedy was a striker for Arsenal, but converted to a midfielder of class, and someone who decorated matches with a creative touch and some important goals.

Kenny Dalglish

Liverpool striker Kenny Dalglish, center, attempts to score against Bruges during the European Cup final in 1978. Bipna / AP Photo

Position: Forward

Experience: 21 years (1969-90)

Years with Liverpool: 13 seasons (1977-90)

Key stats: Managed the club in two spells, from 1986 to 1991 and then 2011 to 2012. Scotland’s most capped player with 102 matches and 30 goals. Knighted for services to football in 2018.

English league titles: 6 (1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86)

Champions League/European Cups: 3 (1978, 1981, 1984)

All-time Liverpool team role: Forward

Bottom line: His name embodies Liverpool Football Club, as one of its finest players, if not the best of all, and then a player-manager who won a first double of FA Cup and league championship.

In the aftermath of the Hillsborough tragedy of 1989, Kenny Dalglish, then the manager, served as chief mourner for the 96 fans who died.

And yet, even if he had been a mere player, Dalglish would be on the all-time team as a tough, skillful forward who was both a goalscorer and provider.

John Barnes

Former Liverpool star John Barnes plays soccer with Palestinian children at a summer camp organized by the United Nations Relief And Work Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza City in 2008. Hatem Moussa / AP Photo

Position: Forward

Experience: 19 years (1980-99)

Years with Liverpool: 10 seasons (1987-97)

Key stats: PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 1987-88 and the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year in 1987–88 and 1989–90. Won 79 caps for England’s national team. Scored 106 goals in 403 matches for Liverpool.

English league titles: 2 (1987–88, 1989–90)

Champions League/European Cups: 0

All-time Liverpool team role: Forward

Bottom line: John Barnes has a pioneering legacy. He changed attitudes at Liverpool as the club’s first genuine black star, and he did so by being a winger of huge skill and strength.

In the late 1980s, he was the best English player in the game.

Ian Rush

Liverpool’s Ian Rush, right, in action against Manchester United in the Milk Cup final in 1983. AP Photo

Position: Forward

Experience: 22 years (1978-2000)

Years with Liverpool: 14 seasons (1980-86, 1988-96)

Key stats: Liverpool’s all-time leading scorer with 346 goals. Holds the record for Merseyside derby matches with Everton with 25 goals. Voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1983, winning the senior award in 1984.

English league titles: 5 (1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90)

Champions League/European Cups: 1 (1984)

All-time Liverpool team role: Forward

Bottom line: Rake thin, Ian Rush built his game around speed and thought as he plundered more goals than anyone in Liverpool history.

Through the mid-1980s until he was sold to Italian club Juventus in 1986, Rush scored goals at a bewildering rate.

On his return, he still was as dependable as ever, even on a club that was losing its edge.

Bruce Grobbelaar

Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar takes the ball away against Everton during the FA Cup final in 1989. AP Photo

Position: Goalkeeper

Experience: 24 years (1973-2007)

Years with Liverpool: 13 seasons (1981-94)

Key stats: Made 628 appearances for Liverpool, 440 in the league. Played every match of his first five league campaigns at Anfield. Played one match for Rhodesia and 32 matches for Zimbabwe national teams.

English league titles: 6 (1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90)

Champions League/European Cups: 1 (1984)

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: The Zimbabwean was unorthodox to say the least, a goalkeeper prone to flights of fancy and outbursts of rage, but he used his acrobatic gifts to make some superb saves over the years.

And, as was demanded from Liverpool players of the era, he possessed an iron will to win.

Steve Nicol

Steve Nicol scored 46 goals in 468 matches for Liverpool. MerseyGoals / YouTube

Position: Defender

Experience: 22 years (1979-2001)

Years with Liverpool: 13 seasons (1981-1994)

Key stats: Played for Scotland at the 1986 World Cup. Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year in 1989. Played 468 matches for Liverpool, scoring 46 goals.

English league titles: 4 (1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90)

Champions League/European Cups: 1 (1984)

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: Versatile and reliable, Steve Nicol could play across the defense and in midfield.

On the late-1980’s teams managed by Kenny Dalgish, Nicol came into his own as a defender who poured forward to set up attacks and score vital goals.

Jamie Carragher

Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher, left, vies for the ball against Wigan Athletic during an English Premier League match in 2012. Tim Hales / AP Photo

Position: Defender

Experience: 17 years, all with Liverpool (1996-2013)

Key stats: Liverpool’s second-most all-time appearances with 737 matches. Scored more own-goals against Liverpool (7) than goals for Liverpool (4). Made a record 150 appearances in Europe for Liverpool.

English league titles: 0

Champions League/European Cups: 1 (2005)

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: In Liverpool’s long hunt for a Premier League title, nobody gave as much for the cause as Jamie Carragher.

A local lad, though boyhood fan of rivals Everton, Carragher started as a midfielder, then became a fullback before being converted into an indefatigable central defender.

Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith in 1966. Wikipedia

Position: Defender

Experience: 17 years (1962-79)

Years with Liverpool: 16 seasons (1962-78)

Key stats: Captained Liverpool to the league title and UEFA Cup in 1972-73. Despite his fearsome reputation, was sent off just once for Liverpool. Part of team that won Liverpool’s first FA Cup in 1965.

English league titles: 4 (1965–66, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77)

Champions League/European Cups: 1 (1977)

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: Tommy Smith, who died in April 2019, grew up near Anfield, Liverpool’s stadium, and started his career as a young player under Bill Shankly, before becoming a veteran who embodied the club.

Few players have been as hard and uncompromising as Smith.

In May 1977, in what was due to be his final game, before a change of heart, Smith headed a goal in the club’s first European Cup final win.

Sami Hyypia

Liverpool’s Sami Hyypia, left, beats Barcelona’s Patrick Kluivert to the ball during a UEFA Cup match in 2001. Max Nash / AP Photo

Position: Defender

Experience: 22 years (1989-2011)

Years with Liverpool: 10 seasons (1999-2009)

Key stats: Won the FA Cup in 2001 and 2006 with Liverpool. Played 105 matches for the Finnish national team. Voted into Premier League Team of the Year in 2000 and 2002.

English league titles: 0

Champions League/European Cups: 1 (2005)

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: The popular Finn arrived at Anfield at a time when the club was in a late-1990s decline, but he almost immediately helped to lock the back door as a tough, uncompromising, poised defender.

He was one of the heroes of the club’s magical run to winning the 2005 Champions League.

Terry McDermott

Terry McDermott played 12 seasons with Liverpool. MerseyGoals / YouTube

Position: Midfielder

Experience: 18 years (1969-87)

Years with Liverpool: 12 seasons (1974-82)

Key stats: Voted PFA and FWA Players’ Player of the Year in 1980. Scored Liverpool’s first goal in a European Cup final in 1977. A losing FA Cup finalist with Newcastle against Liverpool in 1974.

English league titles: 5 (1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82)

Champions League/European Cups: 3 (1977, 1978, 1981)

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: A Liverpudlian, Terry McDermott had to go to lower league club Bury and then Newcastle before joining his hometown club.

McDermott was an irrepressible, all-action performer, tireless in his pursuit of goals.

He scored Liverpool’s first goal versus Borussia Dortmund in the 1977 European Cup final.

Ian Callaghan

England’s Ian Callaghan gets the ball away from Frenchman Jacques Simon during a 1966 World Cup match. Bippa / AP Photo

Position: Midfielder

Experience: 22 years (1959-81)

Years with Liverpool: 19 seasons (1959-78)

Key stats: Holds the record for most appearances for Liverpool with 857 matches. Was booked just once in his entire club career. Was a member of England’s World Cup-winning squad in 1966.

English league titles: 5 (1963–64, 1965–66, 1972–73 1975–76 1976–77)

Champions League/European Cups: 2 (1977, 1978)

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: “Cally” was a perennial performer over three or four distinctive eras of Liverpool’s team.

Ian Callaghan began as a winger, then was a calming influence in the center of midfield in his later years.

Another local boy, Callaghan won the European Cup in 1977 with Liverpool after playing for them in the second division as far back as 1960.

Kevin Keegan

Liverpool’s Kevin Keegan, right, in action against Borussia Mönchengladbach during the European Cup final in 1977. AP Photo

Position: Forward

Experience: 16 years (1968-84)

Years with Liverpool: Six seasons (1971-77)

Key stats: Voted European Footballer of the Year in 1979 and 1980. Voted FWA Player of the Year in 1976. Scored exactly 100 Liverpool goals in 323 appearances.

English league titles: 3 (1972–73 1975–76 1976–77)

Champions League/European Cups: 1 (1977)

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: Kevin Keegan was a huge star in his day, a charismatic player whose speed and work ethic helped revive Liverpool almost as soon as he was signed in 1971.

He left the club after being man of the match in the 1977 European Cup final before moving to play in Germany for Hamburg.

Though Liverpool fans were sad to see him go, his departure opened the way for Kenny Dalglish to arrive.

Luis Suarez

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, left, vies for the ball against Tottenham Hotspur in 2011. Tim Hales / AP Photo

Position: Forward

Experience: 14 years (2005-present)

Years with Liverpool: Three seasons (2011-14)

Key stats: Voted PFA and FWA Player of the Year in 2014, the first non-European to do so. Shared the Golden Shoe for most goals in Europe with 31 goals in the 2013-14 season. Banned for a total of 19 matches for disciplinary offenses during his Liverpool career.

English league titles: 0

Champions League/European Cups: 0

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: Luis Suarez was the force behind Liverpool’s surprise challenge for the 2013-14 Premier League title. The Uruguayan’s skill, hard running and devilment was an irresistible force throughout his brief time in England.

He courted deep controversy in being found guilty of racially abusing an opponent and biting another, and most fans of other clubs were happy to see him leave for Barcelona, but none of them could doubt his talent as a footballer.

Robbie Fowler

Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler, right, against Paris Saint Germain in 1997. Michel Lipchitz / AP Photo

Position: Forward

Experience: 18 years (1993-2012)

Years with Liverpool: 9 seasons (1993-2001, 2006-07)

Key stats: Scored 183 goals in 369 Liverpool appearances. Scored 13 goals in his first 15 matches for Liverpool. Voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

English league titles: 0

Champions League/European Cups: 0

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: Robbie Fowler’s teammates knew him as “God,” for a quality of goalscoring that often defied belief.

In an era of outstanding English strikers, Fowler was one of the best, though the promise of his teenage years and early 20s faded due to injuries.

His sale to Leeds in 2001 was seen as an act of great betrayal. Few players have been as popular.

Mohamed Salah

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scores against Huddersfield Town in 2019. Jon Super / AP Photo

Position: Forward

Experience: 9 years (2010-present)

Years with Liverpool: 2 seasons (2017-present)

Key stats: Named African Footballer of the Year in 2018. Scored a record 32 Premier League goals in the 2017-18 season. Won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the Football Writers’ Player of the Year in 2018.

English league titles: 0

Champions League/European Cups: 0

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: Not since the days of Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish has anyone had as incendiary a season as Mohamed Salah in 2017-18.

The new signing from Roma, an Egyptian winger, one seen as a risk, scored 48 goals and powered them to that season’s Champions League final.

If Salah didn’t sustain a shoulder injury, Liverpool might have won a sixth European crown.

Billy Liddell

Billy Liddell played 23 years with Liverpool. LFC History

Position: Forward

Experience: 23 years, all with Liverpool (1938-61)

Key stats: Was Liverpool’s leading league scorer in the league in eight of the seasons from 1949–50 to 1957–58. Scored 228 goals in 534 appearances for Liverpool. Played 29 matches for the Scotland national team.

English league titles: 1 (1946–47)

Champions League/European Cups: 0

All-time Liverpool team role: Reserve

Bottom line: His club was known as “Liddellpool” during his era — that tell you everything about the Scot’s influence.

A winger by reputation who could play across the frontline, including as a striker, Billy Liddell would hold the club’s all-time appearance record if not for the Second World War.

Bob Paisley

Bob Paisley managed Liverpool to three European Cups and one UEFA Cup. liverpoolfc.com

Position: Manager

Experience: 9 years, all with Liverpool (1974-1983)

Key stats: Managed Liverpool to three European Cups and one UEFA Cup. One of five men to win the English championship as a player and manager. Was assistant to his predecessor, Bill Shankly, from 1959 until his appointment.

English league titles: 6 (1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83)

Champions League/European Cups: 3 (1977, 1978, 1981)

All-time Liverpool team role: Manager

Bottom line: Bob Paisley was a loyal assistant to Bill Shankly, the creator of the modern Liverpool, before reluctantly succeeding him once Shankly made a surprise decision to quit.

Unlike Shankly, Paisley conquered Europe three times over, and Liverpool had a stranglehold on English football, too.

A quiet, unassuming man who gave little away in public and often even less to his players, Paisley, a former Liverpool player, had the Midas touch, and a deep understanding of what could bring success.