Where the facts come from
- Official club, competition, league, federation, court, inquest and governing-body records.
- National museums, libraries, archives and established statistical institutions.
- Reputable contemporary reporting for appointments, departures and events not fully recorded officially.
- Reference works for discovery and cross-checking, not as the sole authority for important disputed claims.
Comparing seasons
Season records preserve the competition names, points systems and fixture totals in force at the time. Old two-points-for-a-win totals are not converted into hypothetical modern points. League positions are compared only with their division and competition structure visible. Wartime regional leagues are not treated as ordinary Football League seasons.
When sources disagree
Sources can differ on caretaker status, appointment dates, competition naming, appearances and whether scorers are league-only or all competitions. Conflicts are not silently averaged. The archive explains which definition it uses and points out uncertainty when it could change the story.
How the archive is prepared
Repeated season and player records are prepared in a consistent format. Automated assistance may help organise information and check for inconsistencies, but the editor reviews the sources, writing and historical interpretation before publication.
Writing and review
Numbers can show results and patterns; they cannot, on their own, explain tactics, motives or what a match felt like. Long-form pages state a thesis, page-specific sources and the original contribution. Current facts are dated. A page's substantive-update date changes only when its content or evidence changes, not merely to imply freshness.
How conflicting records are resolved
The source hierarchy is applied to the particular claim, rather than treating one publisher as authoritative for every subject. League positions and modern tables are checked against the Premier League tables archive; earlier league records are cross-checked with the RSSSF English league tables and Liverpool FC's published history. European honours and final records are checked against UEFA's Liverpool competition record. Managerial dates begin with the club's manager archive, with dated contemporary reporting used when an interim role or departure needs clarification.
For sensitive events, legal and public-record findings take priority over later summaries. The Hillsborough account, for example, distinguishes the Independent Panel report, the 2016 inquest determinations and later investigation outcomes. When reliable sources still use different definitions, the page states the definition it follows and preserves the uncertainty instead of manufacturing a single answer.
Facts and comparisons
Reported fields include dates, appointments, results, competition outcomes and published appearance or scoring records. Calculated fields are limited to transparent arithmetic from displayed inputs, including goal difference, win rate, unbeaten matches and per-match scoring rates. Calculations are labelled and never used on their own to infer tactics, motives or causation.
Checking each article
Every substantial article is reviewed against its cited sources before publication. The editor checks names, dates, scope definitions, links, calculations, sensitive wording and whether interpretation goes beyond the evidence. A consistency check may reveal a mistake, but the editor decides whether the evidence supports each historical claim.
How the archive is organised
Related season, manager, player, rivalry and era material is brought together on substantial archive pages rather than scattered across short, repetitive entries. Older links take readers to the relevant section of the consolidated record, while the site search remains available for finding a person, season or subject.
Advertising separation
Advertising appears only on selected, source-led research articles. Data tables, navigation and search utilities, profiles, trust pages, disaster coverage and memorial pages remain ad-free. Editorial conclusions and corrections follow the evidence regardless of whether a page carries advertising.
Corrections & feedback
To report an error, use the corrections page and include the page address, the statement or data field concerned, the proposed correction and a reliable source. General questions can be sent through the editor contact page. Confirmed errors are corrected wherever they appear, and material changes are recorded in the editorial change log.
Method last reviewed: 2026-10-04.