- Liverpool F.C. Reserves and Academy
Infobox Football club
current = Liverpool F.C. season 2008-09#Reserves_and_Academy
clubname = Liverpool Reserves
fullname =Liverpool FC Reserves
nickname = The Reds
founded = 1892
ground =Halliwell Jones Stadium Warrington
capacity = 13,024
manager = flagicon|ENG Gary Ablett (Reserves)
flagicon|ENGHughie McAuley (Under-18s)
league =Premier Reserve League
Premier Academy League
season = 2007-08
2007-08
position = Premier Reserve League
National Champions
Premier Academy League
Under-18 Group C, 5th
pattern_la1 = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_half | pattern_b1 = _liverpoolfc_0810_h | pattern_ra1 = _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes_half | pattern_sh1 = _white_stripes | pattern_so1 = _3_stripes_white
leftarm1 = dd0000 | body1 = dd0000 | rightarm1 = dd0000 | shorts1 = dd0000 | socks1 = dd0000
pattern_la2 = _shoulder stripes red stripes half | pattern_b2 = _shoulder stripes red stripes lfca0809 | pattern_ra2 = _shoulder stripes red stripes half | pattern_sh2 = _red stripes | pattern_so2 = _3 stripes red
leftarm2 = bbbbbb | body2 = bbbbbb | rightarm2 = bbbbbb | shorts2 = bbbbbb | socks2 = bbbbbbReserve team
Liverpool Reserves play in the Barclays Premiership Reserve League North. In their division, the reserves became Champions in 2000. They competed in the
Lancashire Combination from 1896 to 1911, with the exception of the 1898-99 season, in which they joinedThe Combination . From 1911 on they took part in the Central League until becoming inaugural members of the Premier Reserve League North in 1999. They also participate in theLiverpool Senior Cup , although in recent years the teams entered in this competition have featured an increasing number of youth players.The current Reserve team manager is Gary Ablett, who was appointed in the summer of 2006. His assistant will be
Hughie McAuley . Liverpool Reserves play their home games at theHalliwell Jones Stadium , the home ground ofWarrington Wolves RFC . In previous seasons the team has also played atHaig Avenue , the home ofSouthport F.C. ,Knowsley Road , the home ofSt. Helens RFC andWrexham A.F.C. 'sRacecourse Ground .The team was the subject of a famous quote from legendary Liverpool F.C. manager
Bill Shankly , who while telling a joke at the expense of local rivals Everton, declared "In my time atAnfield we always said we had the two best teams onMerseyside , Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves." Another version of the quote has Shankly saying "There's only two teams in Liverpool: Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves".The most successful Liverpool Reserves coach has been
Roy Evans . Evans spent most of his playing career as a reserve team player, making only 11 appearances for the first team. After an injury ended his career in 1974, he was appointed coach of the reserves byBob Paisley . Evans subsequently led the reserves to victory in a series of Central League championships, including three in his first three seasons, a four in a row sequence from 1978 and two more in the early 1980s. Throughout the history ofLiverpool F.C. many of the club's best known players have progressed through the reserve team. These include current first team squad membersSteven Gerrard andJamie Carragher as well as the likes ofRobbie Fowler ,Michael Owen andSteve McManaman .The Academy
In 1998, a new state-of-the-art Youth Academy was opened in
Kirkby , to the north of Liverpool. It replaced the older, more informal youth system, and enables the club to focus their youth development and scouting, employing new techniques and FA standards.It is overseen by former Liverpool FC player
Hughie McAuley , who had been the Director of Youth development at the club. The Academy now allows the main training ground atMelwood to be kept solely for the first team squad and allows all the areas there to be kept in tip-top condition. It also provides is a stepping stone for youngsters to progress to the highest levels of football at Liverpool.Scouts attend many local youth matches looking for talented boys. A boy will then be invited to attend training sessions at the Academy. They are taken in as young as the age of eight. Former England International player
Jamie Carragher started at Liverpool when he was aged just nine, withMichael Owen andSteven Gerrard joining at the age of eleven. At this age, the boys start by simply attending after-school training sessions, but as they reach their middle-teens, their academic needs will be taken over by the Academy if they are deemed athletically-talented enough. As such, the Academy has a lecture theatre and a computer-equipped classroom.The Academy can handle up to twenty boys in each year group, though more usually the figure is around eighteen. Between the ages of eight and twelve the boys play in eight-a-side games of three twenty-minute periods. It allows the boys to play as defenders or as attackers in small groups within a system and is not as physically-demanding as playing eleven-a-side matches.
There are four full-size grass pitches and one with a
Polytan surface. There are also a further seven smaller pitches and an indoor arena. The grounds cover an area of 56acre s.On the walls of the indoor centre hang the words 'Technique', 'Attitude', 'Balance' and 'Speed'. 'TABS' is the key word preached at The Academy. [http://travel.guardian.co.uk/cities/story/0,,919340,00.html]
Players
Reserves
The following players are expected to play for the reserves during the
Premier Reserve League 2008-09 . In addition, all members of the first team squad are eligible to play for the reserves, as are players from the Academy. Additionally, some of the younger players in the reserves may still feature for the academy side:
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