After 30 years of hurt and waiting, Liverpool Football Club finally have their hands on a Premier League trophy.

From Hicks and Gillett, Hodgson and Cystanbul to ecstasy and elation, Champions at last.

This group of players along with Jurgen Klopp and his management staff will go in history and be claiming Liverpool’s first Premier League trophy will be legends to the club.

  • 30 years waiting no more

The last 30 years have seen both good and bad times for the Reds.

Liverpool have won a number of cups including the FA Cup and Champions League a couple of times.

However, it has been the Premier League that every Liverpool fan has wanted to see their team lift.

Roy Hodgson took over the side in 2010, lasting only six months in the job after the club started the season poorly. 

On a number of occasions the Reds came so close to winning it, coming second in the 2001/02 and 2008/09 seasons.

  • Liverpool have come so close in recent years

More recently Liverpool came close in the 2013/14 season. Under Brendan Rodgers Liverpool played scintillating football throughout the year, capitalising on their deadly strike-force of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. 

Along with Raheem Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Steven Gerrard in the team, the Reds were electric in attacks and often won games within the first 15 minutes. Blowing teams away in the opening exchanges became their speciality. 

However, the infamous ‘Gerrard slip’ followed by the Reds throwing away a 3-0 advantage to draw to Crystal Palace saw their title hopes vanish.

The club fell into free-fall, losing Suarez in the summer and finishing sixth the following season. Steven Gerrard announced he would leave the club at the end of the season and finished his Liverpool career with a 6-1 defeat to Stoke City.  

Liverpool also came close last season, reaching a club record 97 points in the Premier League. 

Liverpool were seven points clear at the top of the table entering the New Year, but disappointing lost this lead after a poor start to the New Year. A defeat to Manchester City and draws to Leicester City, West Ham United, Manchester United and Everton allowed City to overtake the Reds.

Despite a strong finish to the season, City were able to hold on to the lead and finished above Liverpool by one point.

Had it not been for Liverpool’s Champions League triumph, the Premier League loss would have felt a lot worse.

  • A team of the best players

Throughout the last 30 years and certainly more recently, Liverpool have been blessed with many fantastic players. The likes of Suarez and Fernando Torres have graced Liverpool with their skill and talent.

However many Liverpool sides haven’t been good enough to grasp the trophy. This is often in defensive positions where Liverpool have tended to lack real quality. 

However, in this team of legends, that is not the case. 

Some of the best players in the world now play for Liverpool. Virgil Van Dijk came second in the Ballon d’Or, only behind Lionel Messi. This even surprised a fair few people, who thought the Dutch defender was the rightful winner and deserved recognition for the unbelievable season that he had had. 

Along with Van Dijk, Liverpool defence is now the best in the Premier League. The goalkeeper, Alisson has kept the most clean sheets in the league this season. This is especially impressive considering that he has missed a number of games to injury. It is no surprise that he is now regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment. 

Liverpool’s fullbacks have also raised the level for the next generation of fullbacks. Alexander-Arnold is second for the most assists in the Premier League this season, behind Kevin De Bruyne. He has completely changed the role of a fullback in football and again is the best in his position. 

As far as attacking options go, Liverpool have been one of the best attacking teams in the world for a number of years now.

Their front three of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah is one of the world's best and probably one of the best attacking forces that Liverpool have ever seen.

Their pace, vision and technical ability make them unplayable. Salah scored 44 goals in all competitions in his first season and has since been one of the best players in the world.

Along with the team being filled with world-class players, the mentality of the team is also outstanding. So often when the team has their backs against the wall, they find a way to win. 

Aston Villa away was a clear showing of how strong this team is mentally. An 87th-minute equaliser then followed by a 94thminute winner showed how Liverpool refused to be beaten.