The first meeting that led to the formation of the club was proposed in October 2014 by Paul Manning; also present at that first meeting were Peter Furmedge, Martin Jones, Kevin Morland, and Nicky Allt. [1] Names including "Liverpool City FC" and "Merseyside FC" were considered before the club was officially established in May 2015 as "City of Liverpool FC". [1] [2] The club chose to play in the colour purple due to its reputation as the "civic colour" of the city, because the city's two most famous football teams are Everton FC, whose colour is blue, and Liverpool FC, whose colour is red. [3]
Due to work commitments and other issues, Allt and Morland had left the venture by December 2014, and Stuart Fitzgerald joined the remaining three committee members in February 2015. [4] The club held an open public meeting in September 2015, by which time Jones had also left the organisation. The community voted to form the club as a community benefit society on socialist principles and the club held its first members' meeting at Jack Jones House in Liverpool city centre in February 2016.
Simon Burton, formerly of Runcorn Town, was appointed as the first manager of the club in March 2016. [5] The club applied to join the North West Counties Football League in early 2016, but their application was rejected by the Football Association in May and they were instead placed in the Liverpool County Premier League. [6] They chose to take up their option to appeal against the decision, particularly in light of the league being left with a vacancy following the resignation of Northwich Manchester Villa, and attended an appeal hearing at Wembley Stadium on 8 June 2016, also attended by the two remaining directors Manning and Furmedge as Fitzgerald had left the board in April 2016. The appeal was successful, allowing the club to join the First Division of the North West Counties Football League for the 2016–17 season. [7]
2016–2019: North West Counties years
The club played their first game away to Prestatyn Town of the Cymru Alliance on 9 July 2016 in a pre-season friendly, which resulted in a 3–2 win. [8] An unbeaten start throughout August in the NWCFL inaugural season bode well for the season, until a 2–1 defeat at Daisy Hill in early September. However, a 2–1 win away to Whitchurch Alport in November saw the team reach the top of the league and they remained in the promotion race until late into the season. [9] The club missed out on automatic promotion in the end, but secured a place in the playoffs after finishing 4th. [10] In December 2016, the club secured a 2.5-year sponsorship agreement with local social housing provider Regenda Homes.
The club reached two cup finals in their first campaign, defeating Widnes 4–0 on aggregate to reach the final of the NWCFL First Division Challenge Cup, [11] and then overturning a two-goal deficit against Chadderton before eventually winning a penalty shoot-out to reach the final of the NWCFL League Challenge Cup. [12] They faced Sandbach United in the First Division Challenge Cup final on 1 May 2017 in Runcorn; Jamie McDonald scored the only goal of the match, which led the club to win its first ever trophy. [13] They defeated Whitchurch Alport 1–0 in the playoff semi-final and beat neighbours Litherland REMYCA 3–0 in the final, [14] also facing Premier Division side Barnoldswick Town in the final of the League Challenge Cup and winning the game 3–2 on penalties, despite being reduced to 10 men and subsequently 9 men after Matthew Williams was sent off in the 1st half and Kevin McEllin was sent off in the 1st period of extra time. The match finished 1–1 aet. City of Liverpool FC became only the 2nd team in the history of the North West Counties League to win the historic Cup double after Cammell Laird did the same in season 2004–05.
At the NWCFL AGM held at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool on 17 June 2017, Simon Burton was awarded the title of "1st Division Manager of the Year" and Stephen Longrigg was awarded the title of "1st Division Goalkeeper of the Year". On 10 May 2017, the club was awarded the title of "Non-League Team of the Season" by bookmaker Coral. [15] The club held its first annual AGM in July 2017, at which the existing board of directors was voted to remain in place for a period of three years. The existing board of directors consisting of Paul Manning and Peter Furmedge had been augmented during the season by Peter Manning as club secretary and Gary Johansen as media director. At the AGM, Cathy Long was also voted onto the board. Subsequently, a member's council was formed and voted Sarah Comber as its chairman, with initially Francis Stanton and latterly Andrew Lavin elected as secretary. Upon her election, Comber took up an automatic place on the board of directors as chair of the member's council.
The 2017–18 started with another trophy, beating Atherton Collieries 4–3 on penalties after a 3–3 draw in 90 minutes, in the annual Champions Cup game between the Premier Division Champions and Challenge Cup winners. On 5 August, the club travelled away to fellow Premier Division side Padiham for its first-ever game in the FA Cup, which City of Liverpool won. In the second preliminary round, they played Northern Premier League side Prescot Cables. After a 2–2 draw at Prescot in the first match, a new record home crowd attendance of 956 witnessed the club set the highest scoring game of the round as they defeated their opponents 8–2 to secure their place in the first qualifying round, and a home tie against Nantwich Town. On 1 September, the first FA Cup run came to an end with a deflected 95th-minute winner handing Nantwich Town a 2–1 victory in front of a record crowd of 1,022.
In the FA Vase, the club progressed to the 3rd round before being beaten by Stockton Town of the Northern League, who themselves went all the way to the final at Wembley Stadium. Season 2017–18 concluded with a creditable 4th-place finish in the Hallmark Security league Premier Division. In June 2018, Comber resigned her position as chair of the member's council and was subsequently replaced by Paul McGrady, who was co-opted onto the main board of directors on an interim basis pending a full meeting of the supporter's council; however, following a nomination process, no other member was nominated for the role and McGrady was elected unopposed. In July 2018, the club announced that it had parted ways with manager Simon Burton by mutual consent after two years in charge. Two days later, the club announced that it had appointed veteran centre-half Craig Robinson as manager.
On 14 July, the club travelled to Merthyr Town of the Southern League to play for the prestigious Supporter's Direct Shield, losing 3–1 in what was new manager Craig Robinson's first full game in charge. After an excellent debut season, Robinson led the team to its first title success, winning the North West Counties Football League Premier Division with 91 points. At various points of the season, the title seemed to be a formality, but with rivals (and landlords) Bootle FC going on an unprecedented 20-game winning run in the league, culminating in a 1–0 victory over COLFC in front of a record crowd of 1,344, the team were relegated into 2nd place in the table with just 1 game to play (having been in 1st place since 27 September 2018).
A 2–0 away victory at Irlam on the last day of the season, as Bootle drew 1–1 at home with Northwich Victoria, saw the lead change hands again and City of Liverpool crowned champions. In the FA Cup, the team reached the 2nd qualifying round before losing to Chester FC of the Conference North in front of the club's record crowd of 1,834. In the FA Vase, a disappointing 0–4 away loss at Hebburn Town in front of yet another record crowd, this time 1,304, ended the club's hopes in the 1st round.
Having beaten Avro FC 6–2 on aggregate in the Macron Cup Semi Finals, City of Liverpool FC met 1874 Northwich in the final on 4 May at Altrincham FC, with the club looking to become only the 4th team in NWCFL history to win the Double and separately to become also one of four teams to have won the Challenge Cup twice; however, in a dour affair, 1874 scored an 88th-minute winner. At the NWCFL AGM on 15 June, Robinson was named as Premier Division Manager of the Year. On the same day, the club was officially accepted into the Northern Premier League for the 2019–20 season.
2019–present: Northern Premier League years
The club's inaugural season in the Northern Premier League was largely disappointing as the club adapted to life in Step 4 of the non-League Pyramid. At the club's annual AGM, Sean Lindblad had been appointed to a place on the board of directors for "Community" and Mike Caulfield appointed as "Club Welfare Office" having been co-opted during the previous season. The NPL North West Division was considered particularly difficult as due to a re-alignment in the FA's ongoing re-structure; the makeup of the division was to include teams from the North East, making average travelling distances much greater.
In the pre-season, the club once again won the NWCFL Champions Cup, inflicting revenge on 1874 Northwich with a 2–1 home win. In the FA Cup, City of Liverpool reached the first qualifying round game, playing away at Warrington Town. The game saw a 2–2 draw, sending the tie to a replay. In front of a record home crowd of 1,099, City of Liverpool were defeated 4–0. The club fared better in the Liverpool Senior Cup with a 5–1 home win (its first ever home tie in the LSC) over divisional rivals Widnes and a 2–0 win over Everton U23's securing a home semi-final draw with Landlords Bootle. In the league, a seven-match unbeaten run saw the club head the form table early in the season, but a series of heavy defeats were soon to follow as the club hovered around lower mid table. A discrepancy in a loan signing subsequently saw the club deducted six points in February, just before the entire season was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently declared null and void.
Following a disappointing start to the 2020–21 season, Robinson departed as manager with the club bottom of the division, who was then replaced by Michael Ellison. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was curtailed early by the FA. Prior to the end of the season, City of Liverpool defeated Buxton in the FA Trophy before being eliminated 2–0 by National League North side Darlington.
At the club's AGM, both Cathy Long and Gary Walthew stood down as directors. Earl Jenkins was elected unopposed. The season was one of mid-table stability with club finishing in 9th position. The season was affected by a spate of season ending injuries to key players, culminating in the club signing 55 players throughout the season. The club achieved its best FA Cup run to date, reaching the third qualifying round before being eliminated by Buxton. On their cup run, they defeated National League North side Farsley Celtic, 3–0.
The club's one season playing at Vauxhall Motors ended, with The Purps currently playing at Bootle FC's Berry Street Garage Stadium since the 2022–23 season. Michael Ellison was relieved of his duties after a defeat to Bootle and was replaced by Paul McNally. The club also brought in former Football League player Kevin Ellison.
In the 2023–24 season, the club reached the third round of the FA Trophy for the first time after beating Buxton. [16] In the third round, City of Liverpool faced a professional team for the first time in a competitive fixture, facing National League side Hartlepool United at home. [17] Although the Purps were leading 1–0 at half time, they would eventually lose 5–1. [18]
The club reached the final of the Liverpool Senior Cup for the 1st time with a Semi Final victory over Tranmere Rovers.
