7 Things That Have Happened Since Liverpool Last Won The League

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah reacts after sustaining an injury.

REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

It was in the 1989/1990 season that Liverpool last claimed an English League title, then known as the Championship.

At the time that this article was written, the Merseyside club sat atop the Premier League table with a 3-point lead, the closest they have come to winning it in a long time.

While the very nature and name of the competition has changed in the nearly 29 years that have passed since that feat was achieved, so much more has changed elsewhere as well. Let us take a look:

 

1. Technological Advancements

In the nearly three decades since Liverpool last won the league, technology has leaped forward to unfathomable means. The smartphone was an unthinkable peace of innovation, and the Internet wasn’t the massive source of information and content.

In terms of in-game changes, instant replays, goal-line technology, and now VAR have drastically improved both the playing and the viewing experience of football.

 

2. Manchester United Rose To The Helm And Fell

When they had last won the league, the Merseyside giants were seated pleasantly at the top of English football. However, the arrival of a gaffer by the name of Sir Alex Ferguson in Manchester changed all of that.

Liverpool’s descent was engineered by the legendary Scot, who took United to incredible and unprecedented heights, securing 13 Premier League titles and 2 Champions League glories, also making them the most successful side in English football, overtaking Liverpool in the process.

Following SAF’s departure, United fell miserably, having to deal with four managers in the nearly six-year-long period.

 

3. Blackburn Rovers

Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish managed a lesser-known English side by the name of Blackburn Rovers. He took reigns of this team back when they were in the second division. However, in 1992, he got them promoted to the top flight.

Here, they enjoyed two incredible seasons, and then broke a long-held deadlock by winning the league title in 1995.

 

4. Leicester City And The Schmeichels

Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel won the league in 1993. He then went on to ape this feat five more times, including the historic treble in 1999.

However, the winning DNA didn’t stop there, as his son Kasper Schmeichel joined Leicester City, got promoted in 2014, narrowly escaped relegation in 2015, and then won the hearts of the globe by clinching the historic Premier League title in 2016.

 

5. The Young Lads Of Manchester

Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes would go on to spend their entire playing careers with Manchester United, glorifying their respective spots for decades to come. While Giggs amassed 13 titles during his time, the tally of Scholes is even more memorable.

The midfield maestro would go on to win 10 titles, go into retirement, come back from retirement, and then win another one to make it 11, after which he would retire again and become a pundit.

David de Gea was born in the year Liverpool last won the league. The shot-stopped has since gone on to join Manchester United, and won the league himself.

 

6. Pep Guardiola And Jose Mourinho

Pep Guardiola’s entire playing career covers this period. The Spaniard would win 6 La Liga titles with Barcelona as a player. He’d then go on to retire, and then return as a manager. Under his tenure, Barca would win the La Liga title 3 more times and amass 11 more trophies.

Guardiola would then take a year off, move to Bundesliga side Bayern Munich and win back to back Bundesliga titles with them amidst other German honors. He would then leave the side and move to England and win the Premier League title with Manchester City. This season, he’s most likely to ruin Liverpool’s ambition of ending their long-standing drought.

Further, during the same time period, Jose Mourinho went from being a translator at Barcelona to a world-class manager who has won 25 major trophies in 4 different countries till date.

 

7. The Normal One

Another gaffer to have a magical career arc during this extensive period is Jurgen Klopp. The German retired from his playing career at Mainz in 2001.

He then returned to manage the same side and lead them to promotion to the Bundesliga in 2004. However, the 2007 season saw them relegated, following which Klopp resigned.

The tactician then joined Borussia Dortmund and won the Bundesliga with them. Now, on his Premier League mission with Liverpool, it is his brand of attractive football that may break their long parched drought.