My uni played Liverpool in the North West UAU but then there was one. Can't imagine playing that lot five times in a season. It was always an ugly game and their squads were always full of Scousers.
Cap and gown - not the best situation for social harmony. Universities in isolation can rip the guts out of a local community. They are good for the students and professors but do little for their communities and offer only menial lower paid jobs, which fuels local resentment. Students move on, professors never identify with anything but themselves anyway, while the locals get left behind - not just a Liverpool issue but a growing problem across Europe.
Can definitely see that being an issue. I know a lot more people that stayed in Liverpool after uni than with people that went to other places though.
There's a large Irish student population and a good number of those seem to stay.
A big part of Liverpool is the nightlife, and I know of a lot of student run (or originally student run) electronic music nights (way more than in Manc for example). That kind of thing contributes a lot to the city, entertainment-wise, socially, and economically. I know students aren't famed for spending much but most of what they do spend is on nights out, and these events aren't just aimed at students anyway.
I think the youthfulness keeps the place vibrant and moving.
Another big plus is that it's quite a concentrated city centre, which makes getting around pretty easy.
I feel wrong praising the city in this thread.
Who exactly were you playing? Uni of is very middle class, JMU team didn't have loads of scousers when I was there, (no) Hope might've done, there's LIPA which is performing arts, and then Edge Hill which I can't imagine being rough.