Rivalries

Liverpool's longest-established rivalry is with fellow Merseyside team Everton, against whom the club contest the Merseyside derby. Their rivalry stems from Liverpool's formation and the dispute with Everton officials and the then owners of Anfield. Unlike other rivalries, there is no political, geographical or religious split between Liverpool and Everton. The Merseyside derby is usually sold out. It is one of the few local derbies that does not enforce fan segregation, and hence was known as the "friendly derby". Since the mid 1980s, the rivalry has intensified both on and off the field and, since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, the Merseyside derby has had more players sent off than any other and explosive fixture in the Premier League".

Liverpool's rivalry with Manchester United is seen by many Liverpool supporters as even more intense than the rivalry with Everton, and many Manchester United supporters feel likewise about their rivalry with Liverpool compared to that with their own local rivals Manchester City. The Liverpool-Manchester rivalry is viewed as a manifestation of the cities' competition during industrial times, when they competed for supremacy in north-west England; Liverpool was considered the world's pre-eminent port, while Manchester was famous for its textile industry. The rivalry between the clubs intensified from the 1960s onwards. In 1968, Manchester United became the first English team to win the European Cup, an achievement surpassed by Liverpool's winning four European Cups during the 1970s and 80s. Manchester United started to dominate English football during the 1990s, making the rivalry all the more intense. It is so intense that the last player to be transferred between the two clubs was Phil Chisnall, who moved to Liverpool from Manchester United in 1964.

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