A lot has been said recently about how our history is fast disappearing in front of our eyes.
Is it due to a lack of interest in our younger fans ? I'm not sure it is.
Untold stories of our forefathers are going to the grave without ever being told.
I believe this is mainly due to "Old Grampa" not having access to "The Tinternet" let alone understand it.
As a tribute on Fathers day I would like all RAWKITES to get involved in a project.
Talk to your Dads and Granddads and ask them who their favourite players were.
Who knows perhaps you might even pick up a bit of knowledge yourselves.
What I want you to do is find out who their favourites were. Search the internet for a picture and profile of the player and add a small personal story of your own with a bit of family history.
Too many fans stories are going to the grave.
Make a difference. Show you care about your family & club history.
What you write today could be accessed by your Grandchildren if we archive correctly.
leave an indelible mark in our clubs history.
Here is my example which may help you.
William Brodrick ; Liverpudlian (Birkenhead - Prescot - Garston) 1855-1920All I know about my Great Grandad Billy was told to me by my nan Rose who died recently. He worked on the railways, docks and ended his life as a gardener at Speke Hall.
Finances meant he couldn’t afford to go to every home game but I’m told he went about 10 games a season. He called his favourite player “Prettyboy”
Below is his profile from .tv
Alex Raisbeck is regarded as the club's first star player.
If the centre-back was around today, he'd undoubtedly be a pin-up of the Fernando Torres ilk.
Instead, Raisbeck plied his trade at the turn of the twentieth century and played a prominent part in Liverpool's early success.
His Anfield career spanned eleven seasons, during which he evolved into one of the best defenders of his generation.
The Scot first came to the attention of scouts on Merseyside while playing for Stoke. In the kind of transfer swoop that would later become a Liverpool trademark, secretary-manager Tom Watson was sent to the Potteries and instructed not to return without sealing a deal.
It cost Liverpool £350 to tempt Stoke to part with their prized asset in 1898 but it was to prove money well spent.
Raisbeck was an instant hit with the Anfield faithful, not least because, during his first season, he declined the chance of a first international cap in order to help THE Reds' chase for a League and Cup double.
As it turned out, his efforts were in vain. Liverpool lost out on both fronts but it was a tremendous display of loyalty from the new man.
The defender would eventually gain representative honours for Scotland and domestic prizes were also on the horizon. Two seasons after that double disappointment, Raisbeck captained the Reds to their first League Championship.
Despite standing at just 5ft 10ins, the Stirlingshire lad was a commanding centre-half whose timing and athleticism enabled him to reach the ball before taller opponents.
It wasn't just on the pitch where he excelled, though. The club supplemented his wages by giving him the job of bill inspector, overseeing the public hoardings and notice boards advertising Liverpool matches
Raisbeck stayed loyal to the Reds following the shock relegation of 1903-04, helping his team-mates bounce straight back before leading by example once more as Liverpool became the first club to win the Second and First Division titles in successive years.
When his glorious Anfield career eventually came to an end, the Scotsman returned to his homeland to play for Partick Thistle and Hamilton Academicals before spells at the helm of Bristol City, Halifax and Chester.
His love of Liverpool never died, however, and he later came back to take up a scouting position.
One of this club's finest ever servants eventually passed away in 1949 but Alex Raisbeck will forever be remembered as the first in an illustrious line of great Scots to grace Anfield.
Peter John Brodrick ; Liverpudlian (Garston - Woolton - Lee Park) 1908-1967Grandad Peter nickname “Yannah” was a docker all his life. He fought in the “Red Corner” literally. His favourite player was Gordon Hodgson. Gordon played on Merseyside at the same time as the legendary Billy “Dixie” Dean. I’m reliably told Peter was involved in many pub scuffles defending his favourite player, from an onslaught of Dixie-mania blue fans. It seemed whatever Gordon did Dixie did more.
“Aye” said Peter “including playing in the Second Division” - Seconds away round 2.
Here is Gordon’s profile.
No list of great Liverpool goal scorers is complete without the name Gordon Hodgson.
The inside forward netted an incredible 240 times in 378 games during the 1920s and 30s, an era when the Red half of Merseyside often found itself in the shadow of the Blue.
Hodgson was a ray of hope, providing the Kop with a riposte whenever Evertonians bragged about the exploits of Dixie Dean.
Born in South Africa to English parents, Hodgson was spotted by Liverpool officials when visiting England with a touring side in the early 1920s.
He was signed up in December 1925 along with compatriots Arthur Riley and James Gray, and quickly set about re-writing the club's goal scoring records.
The forward served notice of his potential in his first full season with the club when he netted a 22-minute hat-trick against Derby County. It was the first of many.
In 1930-31, Hodgson set a new Reds record of 36 league goals in a season – a feat not surpassed until the emergence of Roger Hunt in the Sixties – while his tally of 17 Liverpool hat-tricks has yet to be beaten.
In 10 years at the club, the hitman averaged more than 20 goals a season and was worshipped by adoring fans on the Kop. International recognition also came his way in the form of three England caps, in which he scored one goal, and a single appearance for South Africa.
On completion of his decade of service, he was honoured by the club with a benefit sum of £650.
Hodgson pulled on the jersey 17 more times before Aston Villa bid £3,000 for the ageing striker in 1936.
He went on to finish his playing career with Leeds United and then became manager of Port Vale in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Despite leaving the Reds, he remained a highly popular figure among the Anfield faithful and it came as a great shock when Hodgson suddenly passed away on June 14, 1951.
His phenomenal goal scoring exploits deserved to reap greater reward in terms of silverware won but it's testimony to the loyalty Gordon Hodgson displayed towards Liverpool Football Club that he remained at Anfield for so long.
Without his goals, the barren years between the wars would have been unbearable and Liverpudlians of that generation were eternally grateful to him for that.
William John Brodrick ; Liverpudlian (Toxteth - Garston - Woolton) 1933 -My father did national service like most people his age. He did his time in Malaya.
Later working on the Docks, in Fords and eventually as a Union Official for T&GWU.
In his lifetime he has seen everything we have and a lot more. An ex season ticket holder and traveller to some away fixtures I'm guessing my father has been to about 800 matches.
Pushed to name his favourite player, he winces at the thought of all the greats he’s seen, but eventually a smile crosses his face. “It’s got to be LIDDELL”
“Right foot THUNDER left foot LIGHTNING”
“He simply terrified full backs”
“8 quid a week, 8 QUID, that’s all we paid him”
There is a dullness in my Dad’s 80 year old eyes, but every time someone mentions Liddell, all the exuberance of his youth returns. You can see a sparkle in his eyes that if he’s not careful could turn into tears.
Billy’s .tv profile
For Liverpudlians of a certain generation, Billy Liddell remains the greatest player ever to pull on a red jersey.
Such was his impact, supporters even renamed the club in his honour by coining the nickname Liddellpool.
The winger came to prominence amid the gloom of the 1950s when relegation from the top flight and humiliating cup exits meant the Kop had little to smile about.
The one shining light was William Beveridge Liddell, a player whose name to this day evokes dewy-eyed reminisces of a bygone football age.
During a barren era which commands little coverage in Liverpool history books, the Scot ensured crowds continued to flock to Anfield in their thousands and was largely responsible for keeping the club's head above the abyss of Football League oblivion.
Although his modesty would never have allowed him to admit it, without Liddell the Reds could well have sunk into the murky depths of the old Third Division. And if they had, who's to say they'd ever have escaped?
Who, when the 17-year-old arrived on Merseyside back in 1938, imagined the club would one day owe him such a debt?
It is Manchester United legend Matt Busby, at the time Liverpool captain, who the Reds have to thank for tipping off scout Johnny Dougary about a precocious youngster plying his trade for Lochgelly Violet.
Here was a thrilling, skilful, two-footed winger - fast, direct and capable of bursting the back of any opposition net with one of his trademark thunderbolts.
Liddell's fame soon spread far beyond the boundaries of Merseyside, even if a quick glance at his medal collection does not make for impressive reading. A solitary League Championship, won in 1946-47, was scant reward to the talent he possessed.
But the fact he was twice selected to represent Great Britain during the course of his career – a feat matched only by the legendary Stanley Mathews – is ample proof, if needed, of his immense stature in the game.
Like all players of his generation, the outbreak of war proved restrictive but, having scored on his Liverpool debut in a wartime fixture, he was ready to take a place in the first team when league football resumed.
The flying Scotsman's league debut was a memorable affair, a 7-4 thriller at home to Chelsea in which he scored two, one direct from a corner. It was the start of a campaign that was to see Liverpool crowned the first post-war champions.
Unfortunately, George Kay's team failed to build on that success but Liddell's performances continued to be of the highest standard. In 1950 he inspired the Reds to their first Wembley FA Cup final, but on a grey day in the capital the Kop's star man was infamously kicked off the park as Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners.
The following year, King Billy of Anfield almost became one of the British game's first exports when he was offered £2,000 to go and ply his trade in Colombia. It was a tempting proposition and one he seriously considered but, given the tender age of his twin sons, the Scottish international politely declined, much to the relief of his adoring fans around Stanley Park.
On the pitch, Liverpool was a club in decline, and in 1954 the unthinkable occurred when the Reds suffered the indignity of relegation to the Second Division. Many players of his ability would have jumped ship but Liddell's unswerving loyalty ensured he stayed to help rebuild.
A player of great versatility, Liddell filled every outfield position at one time or another but excelled most in an attacking role. A move from inside to centre forward resulted in him notching a career best 33 goals in 1955-56 – a tally which would have been 34 had referee Mervyn Jones not controversially disallowed his late, late equaliser in an infamous FA Cup replay defeat against Manchester City.
Ever the gentleman, Liddell – an accountant by trade - didn't complain. During the course of his illustrious career he was never booked and captained the club with distinction. One of the finest role models ever to play the game, he was the perfect club ambassador: a devout Christian who never drank, smoked or swore, he did a lot of work for charity, helped out at local boys' clubs and was a qualified Justice of the Peace.
But while he kept on banging in goals, promotion continued to agonisingly elude Liverpool. In November 1957 Liddell achieved a major milestone when he surpassed Elisha Scott's all-time appearance record for the Reds. However, the following season he missed his first FA Cup tie for the club when he was dropped for the humiliating third round defeat at non-league Worcester City - and it signalled the beginning of the end for the ageing Liddell.
His popularity remained as strong as ever with the fans, who campaigned for his recall, but on August 31, 1960, Billy Liddell represented the Reds' first team for the final time. It was his 537th appearance for the club – a record that remained until Ian Callaghan's 18-year stint in the 1960s and 70s.
When the forward's loyalty to the club was rewarded with a well-deserved testimonial, a crowd of almost 40,000 turned up to pay homage to a player who is still held in the highest regard over half a century since his heyday.
It was an unfortunate fact of life that Liddell's prime did not coincide with the Shankly revolution that followed. Had it done, who knows what he'd have gone on to achieve?
The great man is sadly no longer with us having passed away with Alzheimer's, but visit Anfield on a quiet day and old-timers will swear they can still hear the once famous roar of 'give it to Billy' ringing around the Kop. Gone but never forgotten.
Karl William John Brodrick (1957-One Day I’ll write my own story, but it’s too early yet. I plan on living until I’m 100.
Contenders to date ;
Willie Stevenson
Graeme Souness
Steven Gerrard
HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL MY FOREFATHERS
XXXX
Karl
