On 24 April 1954, Liverpool ended 50 consecutive seasons in the top flight with a 3-0 loss to Blackpool. They would not return for eight years.Founded in 1892, Liverpool joined the Football League in 1893 and had been in the First Division since the 1905-06 season. In 1947, they won their fifth league title, but they had finished no higher than eighth in the intervening years and dropped all the way to 17th in 1953.
The 1953-54 season started poorly, with five losses in their first eight matches. They hit bottom on 19 December after a 5-1 loss to Manchester United and remained there for the remaining 19 weeks. At one point, they set a current club record by going 14 matches without a win.
They rallied in early April, rattling off four wins in six matches, but it was not enough to lift them up from last place. A loss at home to Cardiff City on 17 April guaranteed their relegation. A win against Blackpool in their last match would have put them above Middlesbrough on goal average, but Blackpool won 3-0, firmly sticking Liverpool on the bottom.
They remained in Division 2 until 1962 when Bill Shankly, in only his second full season in charge, guided them back to the top flight, where they have remained ever since.
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