After finishing third in 2000/01, and then second in 2001/02, every Liverpool fan was
certain that this would be the year the reds could finish the season as Premier League
winners, but it was not to be. Liverpool finished the year a very disappointing 5th, now
falling behind Chelsea and Newcastle in addition to Manchester United and Arsenal.
The only consolation came from a Worthington Cup win, but for a club now aiming for
the League title or European success, this was not cause for mass celebrations.

The new home shirt was reminiscent of the 1987/88 home kit design, featuring a plain
red body, and a distinctive ‘cross-over’ round neck collar. The shirt also had very faint
pinstripes that were not obvious to the naked eye on first inspection.

This shirt was worn by Sami Hyypia in the English Premier League. Hyypia signed for
Liverpool in 1999, at a bargain price of £3million, and was a key player during the 2001
treble campaign. Born in Finland, Hyypia has close to 100 caps for his country, and
nearly 500 appearances for Liverpool. His finest hour possibly came in the quarter-final
of the Champions League verses Juventus, when the big-fin blasted a left-footed volley
into the back of the net and sent Liverpool on their way to their fifth victory in the
competition. Hyypia has signed the shirt in black marker next to his number.

Here is the 'Big-Finn' in 2002.

As usual, the best way to confirm a shirt is match issued is to view the Carlsberg
logo. If it is 27cm wide then you can rest assured that it’s a genuine match shirt.
Interestingly enough, Reebok also changed the material the Carlsberg logo was
constructed with for players’ shirts. The larger Carlsberg logos are made from a much
thicker plastic on player shirts, with a slightly ‘pink’ outside border to each letter. A
sponsorless edition was also manufactured for use in the European matches verses
Marseille, as French legislation prohibits the advertising of alcohol on televisions.
Generally speaking the ‘hydromove’ logo found on the bottom left-hand side (when
wearing the shirt) was removed for the player's shirts.

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