What better way to commemorate such a milestone than to be lucky enough to finally meet some of the heroes and genuine club legends that helped shape such a huge part of my life.
On Wednesday 15th May 2024, at Liverpool's iconic Empire Theatre, I was fortunate enough to attend 'Bill Shankly's FA Cup Farewell' which celebrated the 50th anniversary of that famous victory with a fond look back at our former manager, who was truly larger than life. Also in attendance on stage was Karen Gill, Bill Shankly's grand-daughter. What made that extra special for me was that her book 'The Real Bill Shankly' provided many of the quotes that have been used on this site. I thoroughly recommend it.

We also had the pleasure of Nicky Allt and Stephen Monaghan's company. Both Nicky and Stephen are amongst the co-founders of the Liverpool Supporters Union 'Spirit of Shankly'.
The importance of the Union's work and the role it plays in maintaining a voice for all LFC fans simply cannot be over-stated.
It is a safe bet that Mr Shankly would have approved!

That was the first season I started to keep LFC stats seriously and meticulously. Prior to that, the info I held didn't have sufficient detail or consistency and I have found it extremely difficult to verify information that I did not personally record at the time.

However, I do have exceptions to this rule. First of all, you will have already spotted that I couldn't help myself and I've included the line-up from "my" 1974 Cup final!

My start date also meant that I had just missed the launch of Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher's careers, which began the previous season. Therefore, I deliberately sought out the info that specifically pertained to them during 1996/97 and in the course of this research, I realised that David Thompson could also be added. A total of 14 matches from that season are now included.

Furthermore, I spotted another individual who illustrated just how tough it can be to make it at the club. His story can be found in 'The Jamie C Files'.

I have spent more hours than any normal person should in checking such fascinating things as goal details, team formations and the times of bookings!
Rather than just record the line-up on a match day, I have always taken note of the players starting positions. These can obviously change at any stage but what is shown is how the team was set-up at kick-off. And just to confirm, the player's names that I display "on the pitch" are the same as what was on their shirts (e.g. "Virgil" rather than "van Dijk").

I always check that the times I've recorded for all match events are accurate. For example, the time of a goal is determined by the instant the ball crosses the line rather than what is displayed on screen. For example, if the clock says "83:59", I'll record it as the 84th minute, even if the TV coverage and subsequent 'official' records show "85 mins".

Every competitive goal has been analysed and a simple summary provided along with a graphic. Ultimately, these can only be as good as the camera angles available but a lot of research has gone into making a true representation of how we scored. However, please note that the path of the ball is what I focused on, rather than the player position, which occasionally gets in the way!

That's a bit of the background to this website and its author. I certainly don't profess to be more knowledgeable than other fans - a fact that I very publicly displayed whilst achieving the second lowest score on LFCTV's inaugural 'Quiz is Anfield' series!

This site was born out of a curiousity to learn web design and has given me headaches and happiness in equal measure.
It's been a mammoth solo project and when I started out, I was armed with nothing more than Notepad and Google and that's the reason why it's taken so long to get the site up and running.

But do not underestimate the information stored within it. Hopefully I've explained why some of you may spot some differences but suffice to say that many officials or TV companies record a stat in the moment and are unlikely to revise it after the final whistle. Only a 'statto' goes through the match later with a fine toothed comb and a thumb over the 'pause' button!

That said, should you spot a glaring error then please let me know (although some supporting evidence would be appreciated).

Thank you so much for visiting The Anfield View. I'm sure many of you sane people really don't care about such attention to detail but my main hope is that you can find something of interest here.

That's the only dividend I seek for my labours!