Liverpool F.C. Women

History

Formation and early years

The club was founded in 1989 as Newton LFC, by former England international, Liz Deighan. The club rechristened as Knowsley United WFC two years later; becoming the founding members of the National Premier Division organised by the WFA. Knowsley United reached the final of the Premier League Cup in 1993, but lost to Arsenal at Wembley. The local MP, Eddie O'Hara, tabled an Early Day Motion congratulating the club on extending the annual sequence of Merseyside clubs playing in Cup finals at Wembley. In 1994, the club reached the final of the FA Women's Cup, but lost 1–0 to Doncaster Belles at Glanford Park.

In mid-1994, the club linked with Liverpool F.C. and took on the name Liverpool Ladies F.C.

The club finished runners-up in the following two FA Women's Cups. They lost the 1995 final 3–2 to Arsenal at Prenton Park; after twice being ahead through Karen Burke goals, Marieanne Spacey scored a late winner for Arsenal. In the 1996 final, Liverpool and their 15-year-old goalkeeper Rachel Brown, drew 1–1 with Croydon at The Den, but ultimately lost on penalties after extra time.

For most of the 1990s Liverpool were National Premier League mainstays but a lack of support and investment saw them relegated to the Northern Division in 2003. In 2004, they won the Northern Division and earned promotion, but did not stay long as they were relegated again at the end of the season, having won only two games.

Their biggest rivalries were with Everton, but their spells in the second tier led them to develop rivalries with counterparts of male rivals in the lower tiers, such as Tranmere Rovers. The Merseyside derby was rekindled in the 2007–08 season, after Liverpool won back promotion as 2006–07 Northern Division champions.

Surviving their first season back in the FA Women's Premier League National Division, finishing third bottom, they sacked manager David Bradley at the end of the season. The club were relegated into the Northern Division for 2009–10, but won the league losing just one game all season. Liverpool also won the FA Fair Play Award after playing for the whole season without having a single player booked or sent-off.

Full time professional era and title winning years

In August 2012, former Chelsea manager Matt Beard was appointed manager on a full-time contract until 2014. When the club finished bottom of the WSL for the second successive season, Beard overhauled his squad by releasing ten players and making high-profile signings including United States national team defender Whitney Engen. The club then announced a move from the West Lancashire College Stadium in Skelmersdale, to the Halton Stadium in Widnes for 2013. In April 2013, Liverpool became the first football club in England to offer their female athletes professional contracts, pioneering the professionalisation of the women's game in England. This ultimately helped lead Liverpool to end Arsenal's nine year dominance and on 29 September 2013, Liverpool won their first top flight title, winning the Women's Super League by beating Bristol City in the end-of-season decider. They retained the title on 12 October 2014 by beating Bristol City 3–0 despite entering the final day in third behind Chelsea and Birmingham City. During that season, Liverpool made their UEFA Women's Champions League debut but were knocked out in the round of 32.

During the 2013 and 2014 title winning seasons, then men's first team manager Brendan Rodgers showed his support to the Women's first team. He believed in the one club mentality with everybody at all levels of the football club being of equal importance. Working alongside Matt Beard, both men and women's first teams would regularly train together at Melwood. In the days leading up to the Bristol City game which would see the women go on and clinch their first title, Rodgers said:

"It's brilliant how well they have done and it's a great effort by all of the players. I met with Matt in pre-season and understood what was a huge task for them but they have had a brilliant season, and now they head into the last game with the title in their hands - which is all you could ever want. We had the chance to work with them here at Melwood and you could see the professionalism. They wanted to do it right and all the staff were brilliant, and very importantly the quality was very good on the day as well. I'm delighted for them. We've tried to make sure we have drawn everyone into the one-club mentality this season. I said to Matt no matter how they do on Sunday, we are very proud of them. The work he's done, his staff and the players, they have been brilliant and they have been right up there at the top of the league all season. It's a game that if you win it, the memories can live with you for a lifetime, and they can go and celebrate then rightly so - so we are hoping they can do that on Sunday. We are all very proud of their achievements and what they have done this season. It has been a great effort and the biggest message is: It's in your hands so go and do what you have done all season and play for the win. If you do that, the quality and determination will come through and let's hope on Sunday night we are all celebrating the title by the women."

Decline and resurgence

Over a period of several years, Liverpool never reached the heights they reached from 2013 to 2015. Not properly replacing Matt Beard, lack of funding and investment, being overlooked when the men's team moved to their new £50m facility in Kirkby and the departure of then emerging star players such as Niamh Charles, Caroline Weir, Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood, Shanice van de Sanden and Asisat Oshoala ultimately led Liverpool to be relegated on a points-by-game basis in the 2019–20 FA WSL season to the FA Women's Championship for a fourth time, after being in the Women's Super League since its inception.

After a great deal of backlash, the first steps were taken to rectify the mistakes made by making a number of positive changes. In September 2020, Director of Communications, Susan Black, a key member of the club's senior executive team, was appointed as executive director of Liverpool FC Women in addition to her role. Black was also appointed to the board of Liverpool FC Women alongside Billy Hogan, the club's Chief Executive Officer. During her time at the club, Black has had an extensive portfolio working on multiple projects. From equality, diversity and inclusion programs, to overseeing the club's social responsibility programme, Red Neighbours initiative and a board member of the LFC Foundation.

In the 2020–21 FA Women's Championship season, Liverpool Women finished 3rd, after a 1–1 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers narrowly ended their promotion hopes. Midway through the season, manager Vicky Jepson left the club by mutual consent. Assistant manager, Amber Whiteley took charge on an interim basis.

In May 2021, former manager Matt Beard, who led Liverpool to back to back Women's Super League titles seven years prior, was reappointed Liverpool Women's manager. Beards's start in his second stint with the club proved to be a success. In his first season, Liverpool won the 2021–22 FA Women's Championship in stunning fashion winning sixteen out of their twenty two league games, earning their promotion back to the FA Women's Super League. Upon securing promotion Liverpool men's first team manager Jürgen Klopp said :

"Obviously, Liverpool was in the last years not famous for treating or dealing with women's football outstandingly well. They didn't go down to the Championship for no reason....Now they are back and we have to make sure that we use the situation. It is a wonderful team, great coach and I'm really happy for them to get promoted."

Kits, badge and Sponsorship

Kits

Since being brought into the Liverpool Football Club family in 1994, the Women's First Team, Youth Teams and Academy have worn the same kits as the Men's First Team. The only differences on the shirts were the shirt sponsors on the front of the shirts during brief periods between 1994-2006 and 2017–2019. From 2006 to 2017 and from 2019 to the present day, all teams representing the club wore and will wear the same kit with the same sponsors. On the back of every shirt, the 97 emblem encased by the Eternal Flames sits at the nape of the neck in memory of the men, women and children, who lost their lives in the Hillsborough tragedy.

On 27 August 2024, Liverpool for their final season with kit sponsors Nike, wore a third kit worn by both women's and men's teams, featuring a customised Nike tick which was part of Nike's ‘Together We Rise’ collection to celebrate the women's game and its acceleration in world sport, with the emphasis of a one club mentality “Two Teams, One Club”. The tick featured on the third kits worn by Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Corinthians, Pumas UNAM, Club America and Inter Milan. The kits from those clubs also celebrated female artists and cultural movements that left their mark on their club and their city.

Badge

The Liverpool badge is based on the city's liver bird symbol, which in the past had been placed inside a shield. In 1977, a red liver bird standing on a football (blazoned as "Statant upon a football a Liver Bird wings elevated and addorsed holding in the beak a piece of seaweed gules") was granted as a heraldic badge by the College of Arms to the English Football League intended for use by Liverpool. However, Liverpool never made use of this badge. In 1992, to commemorate the centennial of the club, a new badge was commissioned, including a representation of the Shankly Gates. The next year twin flames were added at either side, symbolic of the Hillsborough memorial outside Anfield, where an eternal flame burns in memory of those who died in the Hillsborough disaster. In 2012, Warrior Sports' first Liverpool kit removed the shield and gates, returning the badge to what had adorned Liverpool shirts in the 1970s; the flames were moved to the back collar of the shirt, surrounding the number 97 for the number who died at Hillsborough.

Sponsorship

On 19 April 2017, the club announced a landmark shirt sponsorship deal with beauty and cosmetics company Avon Products. This three-year agreement saw Avon become an independent shirt sponsor for the club, replacing Standard Chartered from the men's side. As part of the agreement, Avon also became Liverpool Ladies FC's principal partner and ladies beauty partner.

In 2019, Standard Chartered announced a gear-change in its sponsorship of Liverpool Football Club Women's first team, moving to the front of their shirt and saw it emerge as Main Club Partner running in line with the men's first team.

In October 2022, Liverpool launched a new initiative for supporters courtesy of the club's official travel partner, Expedia. A special customised coach provided by Expedia provided free transport to fans for all of Liverpool Football Club Women's first team away matches outside of Merseyside throughout the 2022–23 Barclays Women's Super League season.

In May 2023, Liverpool announced its partnership with the Her Game Too campaign through the club's Red Together Program. Its goal is to raise awareness of and help eradicate sexism in football.

In June 2023, Liverpool and their official shirt sponsor Standard Chartered launched a new campaign titled "Play On". The aim is to inspire, empower and educate girls to participate in sport. The campaign was launched with the help of Liverpool men's first team manager Jürgen Klopp and several players from the men's first team. It is not the first time both club and sponsor collaborated to support female athletes in sport. In March 2023 at the home game against Spurs, Standard Chartered celebrated International Women's Day by hosting a range of family-friendly activities at Prenton Park.

In July 2023, Liverpool announced that the women's first team and academy would be included in the official sponsorship deal with new digital fitness partner Peloton Interactive and an extension by the club's official publication partner Kodansha alongside the men's.

On 9 August 2023, Liverpool announced a new long-term partnership with Google Pixel to become the club's official mobile phone partner, working with the club's men's and women's teams to create exclusive content on the Pixel devices for fan experiences across Anfield, Prenton Park and fans watching at home. Part of the aim of this project was to help close the visibility gap between men's and women's football, while inspiring more girls and women to get involved in the game. Both club and partner would also create a dedicated women's football show on YouTube, going behind the scenes during the Women's Super League season. A new series called 'Pitchside, Presented by Pixel' would take fans closer to each game with exclusive viewpoints from the touch lines, all shot on Google Pixel phones. Finally, Liverpool joined Pixel FC, which is a collective of dedicated women's football content creators and presenters.

Club partners

As of 8 August 2025, Liverpool has partnerships with:

Stadium

From the 2024–25 season onwards, Liverpool played the majority of their home matches at the Totally Wicked Stadium, the home of Super League side St Helens RFC. The stadium has a capacity of 18,000 including standing sections. A number of matches will be played at Anfield making it the semi-permanent home of the women's first team. On 3 May 2024 it was announced by the club, that they had signed a ten-year lease with St Helens RFC to host Women's Super League, Women's FA Cup and FA Women's League Cup matches, alongside Men's Youth team and academy matches. Liverpool would have sole exclusivity of the stadium from September to February each season. A number of upgrades to the stadium are to take place including the installation of a Premier League standard pitch, a bespoke dressing room and recovery area for the Women's first team and cosmetic upgrades to the stadium to accommodate LFC branding.

From 2018 to 2024, Liverpool played their home games at Prenton Park, the home of EFL League Two side Tranmere Rovers. After the Lionesses won the record breaking UEFA Women's Euro 2022, domestic attendances continued to rise for the women's side of the game throughout 2022–23 season. Liverpool's average attendance throughout the campaign was 4,758. Liverpool's highest attendance ever at Prenton Park came against Arsenal in the 2023–24 season in front of 6,085.

Liverpool's key fixture at Anfield is the Merseyside Derby against Everton. The first match took place in 1997 and has been played as an annual fixture since 2019 in the Women's Super League, with the reverse played at Goodison Park. Their second game on 25 September 2022, a club record 27,574 attended the televised Merseyside Derby against Everton. This record would go on to become the 7th highest attendance of the 2022–23 season.

Support

Liverpool is one of the best supported clubs in the world. The club states that its worldwide fan base includes 300 officially recognised Supporters Clubs in 100 different countries. Notable groups for the women's first team include Spirit of Shankly, Liverpool Women's Supporters Club, Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association and Kop Outs. Liverpool fans often refer to themselves as Kopites, a reference to the fans who once stood, and now sit, on the Kop at Anfield.

The song "You'll Never Walk Alone", originally from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel and later recorded by Liverpool musicians Gerry and the Pacemakers, is the club's anthem and has been sung by the Anfield crowd since the early 1960s. It has since gained popularity among fans of other clubs around the world. The song's title adorns the top of the Shankly Gates, which were unveiled on 2 August 1982 in memory of former manager Bill Shankly. The "You'll Never Walk Alone" portion of the Shankly Gates is also reproduced on the club's badge.

Many of the families who began supporting the Women's team since being incorporated into the club in 1994, lost loved ones in the Hillsborough disaster. The disaster took place during the men's FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, on 15 April 1989. Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died as a consequence of overcrowding at the Leppings Lane end, in what became known as the Hillsborough disaster. In the following days, The Sun's coverage of the event spread falsehoods, particularly an article entitled "The Truth" that claimed that Liverpool fans had robbed the dead and had urinated on and attacked the police. Subsequent investigations proved the allegations false, leading to a boycott of the newspaper by Liverpool fans across the city and elsewhere; many still refuse to buy The Sun 30 years later. Many support organisations were set up in the wake of the disaster, such as the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, which represents bereaved families, survivors and supporters in their efforts to secure justice.

Players

First-team squad

As of 14 August 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Former players

For details of current and former players, see Category:Liverpool F.C. Women players.

Club captains

Period between 2012–present from when Liverpool Football Club professionalised the women's first team by offering their players full-time contracts.

Club officials

As of 7 June 2026

Seasons

Record in UEFA Women's Champions League

All results (away, home and aggregate) list Liverpool FC Women's goal tally first.

Honours

Recognitions

FA Club of the Year

Winners (1): 2014