Former Liverpool chairman David Moores has died at the age of 76.

Moores, whose family founded the Littlewoods retail empire, was a lifelong Reds fan and served as chairman for 16 years from 1991 – his uncle Sir John twice held the same position at Everton in the 1960s and 1970s.

His wife of 39 years Marge died a few weeks ago.

The Moores family held a majority stake in Liverpool for more than half a century and after taking over he and chief executive Rick Parry oversaw the appointments of Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez, winning 10 major honours during his tenure including the Champions League in 2005.

However, in the pursuit of external investment to help develop a new ground Moores sold his controlling interest to Tom Hicks and George Gillett two years later.

It was a move which quickly turned sour with the Americans eventually forced out in a bitter boardroom battle after considerable fan opposition and bank RBS calling in a £237million loan resulted in a sale to New England Sports Ventures (who subsequently became current owners Fenway Sports Group).

“The thoughts of everyone at Liverpool FC are with David’s family and friends at this difficult time,” said a statement from the club.

Former player and manager Kenny Dalglish wrote on Twitter: “Marina and I are both very saddened by the passing of David Moores.

“He was a loyal Liverpool fan whose dream came true when he was appointed chairman, and he did a tremendous amount to help the club.

“Our condolences go to his family. He’ll be greatly missed by all who knew him. RIP.”