Honestly, if you ask a casual fan at the pub about the trophy cabinet at Anfield, they’ll probably give you a number that’s already out of date. It happens fast. One minute you're talking about the "drought" and the next, the Reds are stacking silver like it’s going out of style. If you’re looking for the quick answer to how many league titles do liverpool have, the number is 20.
But that "20" isn't just a digit. It’s a decades-long saga of dominance, a 30-year agonizing wait, and a recent resurgence that basically rewrote the script of modern English football. To really get why this number matters—and why rivals like Manchester United are suddenly looking over their shoulders—you’ve got to look at the breakdown.
The Magic Number: 20 and Counting
Liverpool officially hit the big 2-0 quite recently. For the longest time, the tally sat at 18. That number was frozen in time from 1990 all the way until Jurgen Klopp finally broke the curse in 2020. Then, just when people wondered if they’d have to wait another three decades, Arne Slot stepped into the technical area and secured the 20th title in the 2024-25 season.
It’s kinda wild when you think about it. Most of that history was written in the "Old" First Division.
- First Division Titles: 18
- Premier League Titles: 2
Wait, only two? Yeah. That’s the quirk of English football history. Before the Premier League rebrand in 1992, Liverpool was the undisputed king. They won nearly everything in the 70s and 80s. But since the "modern era" began, they’ve actually found it much harder to cross the finish line first, despite coming agonizingly close under managers like Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers.
A Quick Trip Down Memory Lane
The first-ever win happened way back in the 1900-01 season. Back then, football looked more like a muddy brawl than the tactical chess match we see today. They followed it up in 1905-06, and then grabbed back-to-back wins in the early 20s.
But the real "Golden Era" started when Bill Shankly took a struggling second-tier club and turned them into a "bastion of invincibility." Shankly won three titles (1964, 1966, 1973), but his successor, Bob Paisley, turned the dial up to eleven. Paisley won six league titles in just nine years. Just let that sink in. Six. In nine years.
How Many League Titles Do Liverpool Have Compared to Others?
This is where the bragging rights get heated. For years, Liverpool fans would chant about being the most successful club in England. Then Sir Alex Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford with the explicit goal of "knocking them off their perch." He did exactly that, leading Manchester United to 20 titles.
For a while, United stood alone at the top. But with Liverpool’s win in 2025, the two giants are now officially neck-and-neck at 20 top-flight titles each. It’s the ultimate stalemate in English sports.
Basically, if you’re arguing with a United fan, you’re now on level terms. If you’re talking to a Manchester City fan, they might point to their recent "four-in-a-row" streak, but in terms of the all-time history of the English game, they’re still chasing the shadow of the Big Two.
Why the 20th Title Was Different
The 2024-25 win under Arne Slot was a massive statement. Most people expected a "transition period" after Klopp left. You know the narrative: a big manager leaves, the squad loses its identity, and the club slides into fifth or sixth place. Instead, Slot’s Liverpool played a slightly more controlled, perhaps less "heavy metal" style, and clinched the league with four matches to spare.
They finished with a massive points gap over Arsenal and City, proving that the culture Klopp built wasn't just about one man. It was about a recruitment system and a winning mentality that stayed in the walls of the AXA Training Centre.
The Heartbreak Years: The Titles That Got Away
You can't talk about how many league titles do liverpool have without mentioning the ones they didn't get. This is the part that keeps Scousers up at night.
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In 2013-14, the "Gerrard Slip" season, they were mere minutes away from glory. In 2018-19, they finished with 97 points—a total that would have won the league in almost any other year in history—but lost out to City by a single point. Then there was 2021-22, where another 92-point haul wasn't enough.
If luck had been just 1% more on their side, we might be talking about 23 or 24 titles right now. That’s the razor-thin margin of the Premier League.
Beyond the Top Flight
Just for the sake of being thorough, it's worth noting that Liverpool has also won the "Second Division" (now known as the Championship) four times.
- 1893–94
- 1895–96
- 1904–05
- 1961–62
Fans don't usually count these in the main tally—nobody's bragging about winning the second tier—but it’s a reminder that even the biggest clubs have had to climb their way up from the bottom. The 1962 win under Shankly is probably the most important one in the club's history because it ended an eight-year stint in the wilderness and set the stage for everything that followed.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
If you're looking to win your next football trivia night or just want to stay sharp on your Reds history, keep these specific stats in your back pocket.
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- Total Top-Flight Titles: 20 (Joint record with Manchester United).
- The Most Successful Manager: Bob Paisley with 6 titles.
- The Longest Wait: 30 years (1990 to 2020).
- Recent Success: 2 titles in the last 6 seasons (2020, 2025).
The best way to keep track of this is to bookmark the official LFC honours page, but honestly, the way the league is looking lately, you might need to check back every May. The power struggle between Liverpool, City, and Arsenal is so tight right now that the "all-time" record is likely to change again before the decade is out.
If you’re planning a trip to the Anfield Museum, make sure to look for the specially commissioned "20" display—it's a focal point of the tour for a reason. Knowing the history of these wins gives you a much better perspective on why every single match in August matters just as much as the ones in May. It’s all about the aggregate of those points over 38 games.
To stay truly updated, follow the official Premier League table and the club’s news feed, as the current 2025-26 season is already shaping up to be another high-points-total race. Keep an eye on goal difference as well; it’s been the deciding factor more often than you’d think in the club's long history.