Liverpool U23

Formation and league application

The first meeting that led to the formation of the club was proposed in October 2014 by Paul Manning; also present at that first meeting were Peter Furmedge, Kevin Morland, and Nicky Allt. Names including "Liverpool City FC" and "Merseyside FC" were considered before the club was officially established in May 2015 as "City of Liverpool FC". The club chose to play in the colour purple due to its reputation as the "civic colour" of the city, because the city's two most famous football teams are Everton FC, whose colour is blue, and Liverpool FC, whose colour is red.

Due to work commitments and other issues, Allt and Morland had left the venture by December 2014, and Stuart Fitzgerald joined the remaining committee members in February 2015. The club held an open public meeting in September 2015. The community voted to form the club as a community benefit society on socialist principles and the club held its first members' meeting at Jack Jones House in Liverpool city centre in February 2016.

Simon Burton, formerly of Runcorn Town, was appointed as the first manager of the club in March 2016. The club applied to join the North West Counties Football League in early 2016, but their application was rejected by the Football Association in May and they were instead placed in the Liverpool County Premier League. They chose to take up their option to appeal against the decision, particularly in light of the league being left with a vacancy following the resignation of Northwich Manchester Villa, and attended an appeal hearing at Wembley Stadium on 8 June 2016. The appeal was successful, allowing the club to join the First Division of the North West Counties Football League for the 2016–17 season.

2016–2019: North West Counties years

The club played their first game away to Prestatyn Town of the Cymru Alliance on 9 July 2016 in a pre-season friendly, which resulted in a 3–2 win. An unbeaten start throughout August in the NWCFL inaugural season boded well for the season, until a 2–1 defeat at Daisy Hill in early September. However, a 2–1 win away to Whitchurch Alport in November saw the team reach the top of the league and they remained in the promotion race until late into the season. The club missed out on automatic promotion in the end, but secured a place in the playoffs after finishing fourth. In December 2016, the club secured a two and a half year sponsorship agreement with local social housing provider Regenda Homes.

The club reached two cup finals in their first campaign, defeating Widnes 4–0 on aggregate to reach the final of the NWCFL First Division Challenge Cup, and then overturning a two-goal deficit against Chadderton before eventually winning a penalty shoot-out to reach the final of the NWCFL League Challenge Cup. They faced Sandbach United in the First Division Challenge Cup final on 1 May 2017 in Runcorn; Jamie McDonald scored the only goal of the match, which led the club to win its first ever trophy. They defeated Whitchurch Alport 1–0 in the playoff semi-final and beat neighbours Litherland REMYCA 3–0 in the final, also facing Premier Division side Barnoldswick Town in the final of the League Challenge Cup and winning the game 3–2 on penalties, despite having two players sent off. The match finished 1–1 aet. City of Liverpool FC became second team in the history of the North West Counties League to win the Cup double after Cammell Laird did the same in season 2004–05.

At the NWCFL AGM held at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool on 17 June 2017, Simon Burton was awarded the title of "1st Division Manager of the Year" and Stephen Longrigg was awarded the title of "1st Division Goalkeeper of the Year". On 10 May 2017, the club was awarded the title of "Non-League Team of the Season" by bookmaker Coral. The club held its first annual AGM in July 2017, at which the existing board of directors was voted to remain in place for a period of three years.

The 2017–18 season started with another trophy, beating Atherton Collieries 4–3 on penalties after a 3–3 draw in 90 minutes, in the annual Champions Cup game between the Premier Division Champions and Challenge Cup winners. On 5 August, the club travelled away to fellow Premier Division side Padiham for its first-ever game in the FA Cup, which City of Liverpool won. On 1 September, the first FA Cup run came to an end with a 95th-minute winner handing Nantwich Town a 2–1 victory in front of a record crowd of 1,022.

In the FA Vase, the club progressed to the third round before being beaten by Stockton Town of the Northern League, who themselves went all the way to the final at Wembley Stadium. The season concluded with a creditable fourth place finish in the Premier Division. In July 2018, the club announced that it had parted ways with manager Simon Burton by mutual consent after two years in charge. Two days later, the club announced that it had appointed veteran centre-half Craig Robinson as manager.

On 14 July, the club travelled to Merthyr Town of the Southern League to play for the prestigious Supporter's Direct Shield, losing 3–1 in what was new manager Craig Robinson's first full game in charge. After a debut season, Robinson led the team to its first title success, winning the North West Counties Football League Premier Division with 91 points. At various points of the season, the title seemed to be a formality, but with rivals (and landlords) Bootle FC going on an unprecedented 20-game winning run in the league, culminating in a 1–0 victory over COLFC in front of a record crowd of 1,344, the team dropped to second place in the table.

A 2–0 away victory at Irlam on the last day of the season, as Bootle drew 1–1 at home with Northwich Victoria, saw the lead change hands again and City of Liverpool crowned champions. In the FA Cup, the team reached the second qualifying round before losing to Chester FC of the Conference North in front of the club's record crowd of 1,834. In the FA Vase, a disappointing 0–4 away loss at Hebburn Town in front of yet another record crowd, this time 1,304, ended the club's hopes in the first round.

Having beaten Avro FC 6–2 on aggregate in the Macron Cup Semi Finals, City of Liverpool FC met 1874 Northwich in the final on 4 May at Altrincham FC. 1874 scored an 88th-minute winner.

At the NWCFL AGM on 15 June, Robinson was named as Premier Division Manager of the Year. On the same day, the club was officially accepted into the Northern Premier League for the 2019–20 season.

2019–2025: Northern Premier League years

The club's inaugural season in the Northern Premier League saw the club adapting to life in Step 4 of the non-League Pyramid.