Hi!

For this second article about my travels in the UK, I will talk with you about my trips in Liverpool!

Liverpool is at approximately 63 miles from Lancaster and it takes an hour and a half by train to get there.

Liverpool is the 4th largest city in the United Kingdom and the 3rd of England. It is also the second economic center of the country after London, thanks to its important industrial basin. Indeed, thanks to its port, Liverpool has been able to acquire some power over time: in the nineteenth century, 40% of world trade transited through the city.

In 2004, several areas of the city obtained the World Heritage status and in 2008 Liverpool was European Capital of Culture.

Indeed, the city has an important cultural richness. The city is famous at first for being the birthplace of the Beatles, which gave more than 300 concerts at the "Cavern Club" in Liverpool. Lots of entertainment and attractions revolve around them elsewhere: a museum dedicated to them in the docks (Albert Dock), the Cavern Club, childhood homes, shops, streets and places amblématiques (Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields), hotel ...

The city also hosts numerous theater festivals each year: the Shakespeare Festival, the Everyword Festival of new theatre writing, the Physical Fest and the annual Festival of the dramatic faculty of the John Moores University. Liverpool has no less than six major theaters.

Blockbuster movies have also been shot in Liverpool: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Sherlock Holmes, Yellow Submarine ...

Finally, in 2008, the city hosted the MTV Europe Music Awards.

From the sport point of view, Liverpool hosts, at a high level, several sports like basketball (Everton Tigers), horseback riding (horse race known worldwide: Aintree race), and also rugby, golf ...

But the most popular sport is football Liverpool. The city has two clubs in the Premier League: Everton FC and Liverpool FC.

Everton Football Club is the oldest of the two. The Liverpool Football Club is the most known and appreciated of both in the world because of its important achievements: 18 championships, 7 FA Cups, 8 League Cups, 5 Champions League and 3 UEFA Cups. The club plays at Anfield stadium on which I will talk later.

One of its most emblematic players is Steven Gerrard, a native of the city, he is also a symbol, a legend of the city. He played 17 years in the club and was captain for 11 years. He scored over 180 goals for the Reds. The beautiful story with the club stopped in May 24th, 2015 where he played his last game under the colors of Liverpool. He will play next year in MLS in the United States with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

To return to the club itself, I am eager to talk about it because it is my favorite English club. I also regret not having had the opportunity to go and see a game during my stay.

The club is also linked to some dramas due to some of its supporters quite violent before, and who had given a negative image of English football: the Hooligans. They are indeed the cause of the Heysel tragedy. Briefly, in 1985, the final of the Champions League in Brussels, opposes in the final, Liverpool FC and Juventus FC (my favourite club of all time). English hooligans have created there a riot that resulted in the death of 39 Juventus fans. After this incident, all English clubs were excluded from all European competitions for 5 years, and 6 for Liverpool. In 1989, the Hooligans caused another riot at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. 96 Liverpool fans died crushed. After this tragedy it was decided to prohibit standing places in the stadiums.

Now we can say that the fans have calmed down in England and that these facts are not to be deplored anymore, even if they have given a negative image, which has helped to put families away of the stadiums, they were fearing for the safety of their children. Now they return to the stadium.

Anfield was built in 1884 and its current capacity is 45,276 seats (an expansion project to reach 60,000 seats is planned). He is one of the largest stadiums in England and is famous for its fervent supporters and their famous anthem: You'll Never Walk Alone.

The stadium, which is meeting the criteria of category 4 of the UEFA, was able to welcome, thanks to this statute, games of the European Football Championship 1996, national teams of England and Wales of football and FA Cup football games on neutral ground. It is also preparing to host matches of the Rugby World Cup in 2015.

I went to Liverpool twice. The first time with my French roommates and our Erasmus friends, we visited the city and did some shopping. The second time was during the Easter holidays, I spent there 3 days with other of our friends of ESDES which were in Erasmus in different places of the United Kingdom. I liked this city a lot, it is very beautiful and attractive. I wish I will be able to come back there one day!

Here is a little video recap of this wonderwul trip!

Thank you for still reading me, I hope that this free article about Liverpool and, as always football, gave you the wish to discover the wonderful city that is Liverpool!

See you!

Emilie

Video sources:
Personal pictures