Exploring Liverpool identity: What makes a person a Scouser, Liverpudlian or Wool?

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Are you a Scouser, Liverpudlian, Lancastrian or even a Wool? Discover how the people of Liverpool identify themselves.

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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So, 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?

Are you a Scouser, Liverpudlian, Lancastrian or even a Wool? We discover what the people of Liverpool use as cultural and geographical identifiers.Are you a Scouser, Liverpudlian, Lancastrian or even a Wool? We discover what the people of Liverpool use as cultural and geographical identifiers.
Are you a Scouser, Liverpudlian, Lancastrian or even a Wool? We discover what the people of Liverpool use as cultural and geographical identifiers. | Emily Bonner

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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