Liverpool FC

Doff o' the cap to Evertonians and Beatle-maniacs, but no single institution represents the Mersey spirit and strong sense of identity more powerfully than Liverpool FC , England's most successful football club. Virtually unbeatable for much of the 1970s and '80s, they haven't won the league championship since 1990, but they did bag the European Champions' League in 2005 for the fifth time under the tenure of Spanish manager Rafael Benitez, who left the club in 2010 after yet another disappointing season.

The fans' disaffection is aimed primarily at George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the US owners who bought the club in 2007 with the promise of a new stadium and plenty of funds to restore the club to its former glories. Neither happened and in 2010 the two owners put the club up for sale: as of recently there were no appropriate buyers and the club's fortunes remain unchanged.

But the fans' love of their club remains undiminished, as does their affection for the utterly marvellous Anfield Road, where the experience of a live match is one of the sporting highlights of an English visit, especially the sound of 40,000 fans singing the club's anthem, 'You'll Never Walk Alone', before cheering their heroes, which include local lad and Liverpool le­gend Steven Gerrard. Take bus 26 or 27 from Paradise St Interchange or 17 or 217 from the Queen St Bus Station.