Picking an All-Time Homegrown Liverpool XI
We're running Inside Liverpool FC Academy week here on Bleacher Report, with a main focus on the club's current individuals at playing and staff level. To celebrate and acknowledge the longevity and success of the youth development at the club, here is a look back in time at what has come before.
Liverpool's history is littered with fantastic signings and talent from around the world, especially in the modern era where globalisation is everything and scouting foreign leagues knows no bounds.
But, for every Torres, Hyypia, Dalglish or St. John, successful signings from elsewhere, there has always been a homegrown academy product alongside them, helping the team remain local in part and giving home fans someone to be proud of.
Here's a cross-generation select XI and subs of Liverpool players who have come through the youth system at least in part and gone on to achieve notoriety and success in the first team. For the purposes of the article we're counting any player who joined Liverpool aged 17 or under either as a youth player or from non-league football, but who must not have made any senior appearances for another team beforehand.
GK: Tommy Lawrence
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There isn't much competition for the goalkeeping position in fairness, but that doesn't stop our selection from being an excellent player.
Tommy Lawrence was born in Scotland but moved to the north-west of England at a young age, playing amateur football locally before joining Liverpool at 17. His debut came five years later but he went on to make 390 appearances for the Reds after seizing his chance eventually.
He won two league championships with the Reds.
CB: Tommy Smith
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We're going for three centre-backs because there are simply too many great ones to leave them out—we start with Tommy Smith.
The Anfield Iron played over 600 games for the Reds in the '60s and '70s, being part of the formidable side which won Liverpool's first-ever FA Cup in 1965 and lifted the UEFA Cup as club captain in 1973.
That wasn't the end of his story as he made his way back into the Liverpool side late in the '76-77 season and scored in the European Cup final as the Reds won the trophy for the first time ever.
CB: Jamie Carragher
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A much more recent departure, Jamie Carragher only retired from playing for Liverpool, his only club throughout his career, 18 months ago.
Having moved from midfield to full-back and eventually into the centre, Carragher was a tremendous, long-serving player who made the second-highest tally of appearances in the club's entire history. Dedication, commitment and bravery were his hallmarks and he was vice-captain for several years.
Carragher played 737 times all told, scoring five, and won a clutch of trophies including the League Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Cup and Champions League.
CB: Phil Thompson
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How many other clubs can boast three homegrown centre-backs to have lifted the European Cup?
Phil Thompson made not far off 500 appearances for Liverpool in the 70s and early 80s, defending with rock solid ability but also with technique on the ball which first heralded a change in the way the Reds played out of defence.
Thommo won the European Cup as captain in 1981 and, after retiring, has since been a reserve-team coach and an assistant manager at the club.
RM: Ian Callaghan
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On the right of our five-man midfield is the legendary Ian Callaghan, the man to have made the most number of appearances in a Red shirt of all time. His 857 games as a Liverpool player spanned from 1960 to 1978 and went from a second-division player to a European champion with the club in that time.
Callaghan was initially a quick and tricky winger who replaced a living legend of the club—more on him later—as a teenager and won Anfield's adulation very quickly. Later he played in a central-midfield role as an energetic runner and was part of the side which won the 1977 European Cup.
He was never a regular scorer himself, hitting 68 goals as a Red, but set up countless numbers for his attacking team-mates and will always be remembered as one of Liverpool's greatest ever.
CM: Ronnie Whelan
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Ronnie Whelan was, like Lawrence, signed by Liverpool at age 17 from a non-professional side, before he went on to achieve great success with the club.
Whelan skippered the team toward the '89 FA Cup final and the '90 league title, though he missed much of the four years after that until he left Liverpool through injury, including the '92 FA Cup final.
Beforehand, Whelan had played a key role in Liverpool winning the European Cup in 1984 and made just shy of 500 appearances for the club all told, an underrated member of a great team who had the lot in his locker—passing, shooting and tackling his way through every midfield position.
CM: Steven Gerrard
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Steven Gerrard, of course, needs no introduction: He's the current club captain, a living legend in the eyes of many and will be remembered as perhaps the club's greatest ever, in time.
Gerrard's athleticism and force of will, along with his considerable technical abilities, made him a match-winner time and time again in his years at the club, with the 2005 Champions League final and 2006 FA Cup final both reminders of his ability to hit the greatest heights on the biggest stages of all. He has scored in League Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Cup and Champions League finals and has won each of those trophies in turn.
The No. 8 will surpass 700 appearances for the club within the next couple of months and is third in the all-time appearance list, totals the most appearances in club history as captain and is currently sixth in the all-time goalscorers list, with 178 to date.
LM: Billy Liddell
8 of 12Billy Liddell—so good that they rechristened the team Liddellpool in his honour.
The Scottish winger joined the Reds at 17 from Scottish amateur football in 1939, but the war prevented any immediate break into the first team, which eventually came in 1946. Playing on either wing or in attack, Liddell racked up 534 appearances in his time at the club and scored 228 goals, fourth in the all-time list of the club.
His skills, pace and eye for goal single-handedly kept the club, in an awful state at the time, in the old Second Division and his sole honours with the club was a First Division title in '47.
He was, though, the best Liverpool had ever had at the time—and plenty still hold to that today.
AM: Steve McManaman
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During the 1990s, when Liverpool were trying to get somewhere back near the top of English football, Steve McManaman was often a rare bright light in the team.
Skilful, with tremendous ball control and pace on the run and capable of evading multiple defenders at once, McManaman moved from the wings to a free attacking midfield role as he grew older and ended up as captain of the club.
His medal haul wasn't as impressive as others given the team he played in, but he still made a final his own—the 1995 League Cup final win over Bolton, where he scored twice in the 2-1 win. McManaman played 364 times for Liverpool before heading to Real Madrid.
FW: Michael Owen
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Onto the front line, it's a fairly straight-forward call: Michael Owen burst onto the scene at the end of '96-97 and exploded in his first full campaign thereafter, with his blinding pace and finishing ability terrorising the Premier League.
Owen could score goals out of nothing on account of his ability to beat players for pace and attack space well, though hamstring issues were never far away and he never managed to reach a 20-goal league campaign.
He departed for Real Madrid in 2004—just missing out on a Champions League medal a year later—but won domestic cups and the UEFA Cup with Liverpool in his 297 games, scoring 158 times along the way and being most remembered for his FA Cup-winning display against Arsenal in 2001.
FW: Robbie Fowler
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The main man of the attack and one of the biggest legends in the club history, the man they call God remains revered around Anfield.
Robbie Fowler's emergence onto the first-team scene began with a debut goal against Fulham in the League Cup, before he smashed five past them in the return leg shortly after. Fowler went on to score over 30 in three consecutive seasons, scoring 28 in 38 league games in 95-96 alone, as his predatory ability and natural skill on the ball made him one of the game's finest attackers at the time.
Injuries and fallings-out with his coaches ended his time early, though he returned to Liverpool in 05-06 for another season and a half. Fowler scored 183 times in total, the fifth-highest in Liverpool history, in 369 games.
Subs
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Tweak the formation to suit your purposes and any of these players could come in and continue to grace the side:
Tony Warner, goalkeeper—though he never actually featured for a senior game for Liverpool.
Ronnie Moran, left-back
Chris Lawler, right-back
Jimmy Case, midfielder
Sammy Lee, midfielder
Raheem Sterling, forward
David Fairclough, striker
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