Exploring Liverpool identity: What makes a person a Scouser, Liverpudlian or Wool?
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Identity is something we hold in high regard here in Liverpool. The majority of us would probably call ourselves Scousers. However, it wasn't until the mid-20th century that the term 'Scouser' became popular.
Before that, a number of different names were used to describe us Mersey natives. In fact, Merseyside itself didn’t exist as a region until 1974. Liverpool was part of Lancashire just over 50 years ago and many people still consider themselves Lancastrians.
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Hide AdSo, are you Scouse, Liverpudlian or something else altogether? And what is the cut off point for being a Scouser? Do you have to live within the Liverpool City Council area and have a purple wheelie bin?


But what about Huyton? Are Steven Gerrard and Peter Reid not Scousers? And who is going to tell Bootle-born Jamie Carragher he is a Wool?
A Wool or Woolly Back is a local slang term used to describe anyone from outside of Liverpool who is not a 'real Scouser'. It usually refers to someone from nearby Wirral, St Helens, Warrington and other neighbouring areas. Or is being a Wool now just a state of mind rather than based on geography? As in: “That's proper Wool behaviour.”
To find some answers to these questions, we hit the streets of the city centre to ask how you self-identify (no matter what colour your wheelie bin is). Watch the video to see what the Liverpool public had to say.
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