Liverpool Football Club’s Irish Connection

As a city, Liverpool has deep ties to the Emerald Isle, with more than a few Scousers coming from a family that boasts Irish roots. In fact, even the Scouse accent itself has more than a touch of the Irish about it, thanks to the number of people who left the island of Ireland in order to setup a new life on Merseyside. It naturally followed that both Liverpool and Everton football clubs would gain supporters from Ireland as more people moved over, as well as the notion that they would send their love of their club back to those still living in Ireland, forming a solid supporter base.

Liverpool’s Irish Players

Conor Bradley playing for Liverpool (Credit: Vitalii Vitleo / Shutterstock)

In the book The Irish Kop, the foreword, written by Ken Rogers, states that ‘Liverpool is the capital of Ireland’. Although obviously tongue in cheek, it is a reference to the love of the city by the Irish and the manner in which that love is very much reciprocated. It also isn’t something that seems to be limited to one side of the country over another, with those from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland supporting the Reds. When you look at the stats, you can see that there have been 18 Irish internationals and 10 Northern Irish ones at Liverpool.

Here is a look at the records of those who have played for either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland at one point or another, as well as how they got on in the national team during their Liverpool career:

*Conor Bradley is still playing at the time of writing

Whilst the combined total of players who lined up for either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland at one point or another of 28 pales in comparison to the 100 English internationals and the 48 that played for Scotland, it is equal to the number of Welsh players that have pulled on the iconic Red jersey at one point or another. It is also a good showing of Liverpool’s popularity in Ireland, even if some of the players, such as John Aldridge, decided to play for the Republic of Ireland because they felt that it gave them a better chance of playing international football than with England.

Why Liverpool?

Liverpool Store in Dublin (Credit: ArDanMe / Shutterstock)

Although it would be untrue to suggest that other popular clubs like Manchester United don’t also have a decent Irish contingent within their supporter base, it is certainly the case that Liverpool as a city has long been a popular place for Irish people to travel. This can be dated back to the likes of the industrial age, when a large number of people left Dublin for Merseyside in the search for work. One such settler in the area actually went on to become Liverpool’s first manager, solidifying the connection between the Reds and the Emerald Isle.

In a survey carried out in 2020, The Irish Times revealed that 29% of Irish adults called themselves Liverpool supporters. There can be no denying the fact that the success of the Reds during the 1970s and 1980s helped to shore up that support base, aided and abetted by much-loved Irish players. There is also evidence to suggest that the name of the area in which the club’s stadium stands, after which it was named, comes from the land of Annefield in New Ross, County Wexford (via irishbettingsites.com). Although Elisha Scott didn’t play many games for Northern Ireland, he was one of the first great Liverpool players and came from Belfast.

Liverpool’s Success is Owed to an Irishman

It is unlikely that the name of Seán MacCionaoith will mean much to most Liverpool supporters, but when you learn that his name was later Anglicised to become John McKenna, it might make a bit more sense. Born in Ireland on the third of January 1855, McKenna arrived in Liverpool in 1872 looking for work before joining the 4th Lancashire Artillery Volunteers, where he helped to set up a regimental rugby team. It was during a meeting at an Orange Lodge that he met John Houlding, who saw him as a man of vision and invited him to attend Everton games at Anfield.

When Everton departed the ground over a rent dispute, Liverpool was formed. McKenna took on the role of joint secretary, taking charge of team affairs. It was also McKenna who saw a notice inviting teams to join the Second Division, filling in the paperwork to do so. The club went on to win the Second Division at the first time of asking, with McKenna making the choice to change the kit from blue and white to red shirts and black shorts, taking us one step closer to the kit that we know and love today. In some ways, therefore, you could say that Liverpool was shaped to become what it is today by an Irishman.