The first ever match played at Anfield was Everton v Earlestown on 28 September 1884, which Everton won 5 - 0.

Anfield's first Football league match was played on 8 September 1888, between Everton and Accrington

Everton continued to improve the ground leading to an England v Ireland international being played there in 1889.

Champions  Anfield witnessed its first League Champions when Everton won the league in 1890 - 91. Fred Geary was our leading scorer with 20 goals.
The Liver bird featured in Everton's league championship medal. (above & right)

Everton dumped Anfield in 1892 due to a dispute with the then chairman Mr Houlding and moved to Goodison Park. Houlding remained at Anfield, and left with an empty stadium decided to create a new club to occupy it which he named Everton FC and Athletic Grounds Limited.

However the FA ruled two clubs of the same name representing the same district would be confusing and ordered Houlding to change the name of his club, concurring to a protest from the original Everton FC. Houlding had to change the name and called the club Liverpool AFC, would history have been any different with Everton and Everton Athletic.

In 2008, Liverpool AFC attempted to register the Liver bird which features on its club badge as a trademark. The origins of the Liver bird can be traced back to 1207 when King John granted the then town of Liverpool its Royal charter. The earliest known use of a bird is on its corporate seal, dating from the 1350s. King John frequently used the device of an eagle, and indication that the seal may have been homage to him is found in the sprig of broom shown in the bird's beak, broom being a symbol of the royal family of Plantagenet. The Liver bird features on public buildings and the councils crest as well as the two universities, not to mention having featured on Everton's shirts and medals in the past. The deputy council leader in 2008 stated:

"The Liver bird belongs to all the people of Liverpool and not one company or organisation".

Have the origins of the bird been forgotten as people began to refer to it as a cormorant? still a common bird in the coastal waters of the Mersey, and to the sprig in the mouth as laver, a type of seaweed, thus implying that the bird's name comes from the sprig. We either have a common bird with a piece of seaweed in its gob, or an eagle with royal connections depending on which view you take. Either way it belongs to the people and the City and it is not trademarked.