When we look at the league table in the programme for this match, it reads that Everton are in third place behind Tottenham and Leicester with ten games to go (Everton have a game in hand). Spurs are in first place with Leicester two points (one win) behind in second. This is ironic because I am writing this some 53 years mater and there are currently ten games to go in the Premiership. The top of the table reads Leicester City in first with Tottenham three points (one win) behind.
In the intermediate 53 years, Leicester have not challenged for the title on any occasion, and Spurs have been in the race with ten games to go on a handful of times at best - but whereas this season Leicester City won the title for the first time in their history, back in 1963 things panned out differently.
Everton had not won the league since the final season before the war in 1939 when Tommy Lawton, Ted Sagar and the great Joe Mercer wore the Royal Blue, but buoyed by a point from this uneventful away derby, Everton went on a run of seven wins and two draws in the last nine games, including a home win over main rivals Spurs, to secure their 6th league title.
Whereas the game itself was relatively uneventful, it was the first major milestone for one Liverpool great; Gordon Milne who made his 100th appearance for the club.
When I first started really getting into football at the age of around seven, I knew Gordon Milne as Manager of Coventry. My first ever match had been against Coventry away in 1973 and Gordon Milne was the Manager with Joe Mercer as General Manager. Mercer had kicked a ball about with my 13 year old Dad for an hour in the Anfield Car Park, the week before the 1950 F.A. Cup Final (which he won and we lost) and so is a legend in our family despite playing for Everton and Arsenal.
My first ever match at Anfield was also against Coventry in 1976, and Milne was now the established sole manager of Coventry City, and whilst he later managed Leicester in England (and others outside), it is with Coventry that he is best remembered in a managerial role.
I remember the journey back from Anfield after a Coventry match, probably around 1978 or 1979 that I found out for the first time that Gordon Milne had played for Liverpool. My Dad had always told me stories about previous football events, matches, players etc. and I loved hearing them, but this was the first time that I learned about Inter Milan and the 1965 European Cup Semi Final first leg and that today’s opposition manager was the star of the show.
Whilst I write later in this book in more detail of the Cup Final and the Inter Milan games, Liverpool had played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 16th April 1965, in which Ian St John and Ian Callaghan had got injured, both to recover for the Cup Final two weeks later and the subsequent home leg of the Semi the following Wednesday. Gordon Milne had also picked up an injury in the same game after jarring his knee halfway through the first half after being nobbled by Eddie McCreadie, with Chelsea being a goal to the good at the time. After initial strapping was applied, he limped around the field for the rest of the half and actually came out for the second half with his leg further strapped up, lasting until halfway through until he could walk no longer and have to come off (this was the days before Substitutes). The final score was a Chelsea 4:0 victory with famous Echo writer Horace Yates stating that “Milne’s injury prevented them [the 62,587 spectators] from seeing the spectacular combat they had anticipated, but if it is possible to gain revenge for the loss of a Cup Final appearance, this Chelsea accomplished with something to spare.”
This injury to Milne, unlike that of St John and Callaghan, was more serious, damaging the knee ligaments and would keep him out for the rest of the season - including the historical F.A. Cup Final against Leeds United (in which Liverpool won the Cup for the first time), as well as the European Cup Semi Finals against Inter Milan.
Milne is famous for Inter Milan, even though he didn’t play. After the euphoria of winning the Cup the previous Saturday, an expectant Anfield was packed to the rafters to witness our first European Cup Semi Final (in what was our first European campaign) against reigning European Champions; F.C. Internazionale of Milan. Shanks decided that he could raise the crowd to fever pitch by sending injured Gordon Milne and Gerry Byrne; who had broken his collarbone in the Cup Final, around Anfield with the newly won F.A. Cup prior to kick-off. Milne himself can take up the story from here. “We were in the dressing-room and Shanks walked in with the cup, as a bit of motivation. Then he turned to me and Gerry and said ‘You two go around the pitch. Let the fans have a look at it’. And I can honestly say that, in all the games I’ve been at or played in, I have never felt an atmosphere like that. It was a magical move on Shankly’s part. On the night the Cup got closer to the fans that it’s ever got – they could almost touch it. It took forever to get round. How Gerry managed to lift the bloody thing with just one arm I’ll never know.”
It had the desired effect as Anfield and The Kop went crazy, and in what was one of the greatest atmosphere’s ever at Anfield, Liverpool defeated Inter Milan 3-1. Since then, every Liverpool supporter associates that famous game with Gordon Milne and Gerry Byrne, neither of whom played.
In the second leg, the Italians cheated and won the game 3-0 with some very dubious refereeing decisions. The referee was later found guilty of accepting bribes from Inter Milan including a new yacht. Bill Shankly always hated the Spanish referee Ortiz de Mendibil JM (and rightly so), but I remember my Dad and my Uncle Michael talking about how if either Gerry Byrne or Gordon Milne were available in the San Siro instead of Geoff Strong or the aging Ronnie Moran who replaced them, then no matter what the Referee had done, Inter still would not have scored three goals.
Gordon Milne played 282 times for Liverpool with 236 of them being in the league. He scored 18 goals, 17 of them in the league and one in the F.A. Cup. The F.A. Cup goal was the equalising goal against Stockport County in the fourth round of the 1964/65 F.A. Cup at Anfield, thus forcing a replay. The replay was won 2:0 at Edgeley Park. Had Milne not scored that goal, then Liverpool would not have won the F.A. Cup and Milne’s most famous moment for Liverpool would not have happened. Shankly missed that equaliser because he was out in Germany watching European Cup opponents, F.C. Köln play in a local derby against SC Viktoria 04 Köln, which they won 2:0.
The fact that Milne is most famous for a game in which he did not play annoys me. Milne is a true Liverpool great and is one of the players that came from the Second Division to win the title, and were it not for his injury, perhaps to the ultimate European glory – although he did get a runners up medal in the European Cup Winners Cup Final the following year after our defeat by Dortmund at Hampden Park.
Milne made his debut against Southampton on Wednesday 31st August after signing for the Reds the previous day. That game was also Billy Liddell’s last game for Liverpool and ended up in a 0-1 defeat with George O'Brien scoring the Southampton goal. O’Brien would score three times in the four games that he played against us.
Milne had signed from Preston North End, who at the time was managed by former Evertonian Cliff Britain, both playing for and managing the Blues. Ironically, when he resigned after taking Preston down into the second division at the end of the season that he sold Gordon Milne, it would be Brittain’s assistant, Gordon Milne’s father and former team-mate of Shankly; Jimmy Milne, that would take over the reins at Preston for the next seven years.
Gordon’s career with Liverpool would in some ways be a mirror of his fathers at Preston. His father played 230 league games for Preston North End, Gordon 282 for Liverpool. Both players stayed at that respective club for seven seasons, and most significantly, both would miss an F.A. Cup Final due to injury, with their respective teams winning on both occasions.
Gordon’s bad fortune is described above, but his father’s was as a result of a broken collar-bone sustained a week earlier after a collision with Arsenal’s Alf Kirchen. Both Gordon’s and Jimmy’s cup final missing injuries came against teams that they had put out in the previous rounds of the Cup in those seasons.
Milne’s Liverpool career got off to a difficult start by his own admission. The quiet star is quoted as saying “My first year was no good at Liverpool – I struggled. At the time there were a lot of older players and looking back I can see that Shanks was still in the process of clearing them out when I arrived. But that first year; it just didn’t happen – for me or the team. I was starting to think I’d made a mistake in coming to Liverpool. But then Shanks went out and bought more players over the summer and it just gelled.”
It did gel and Milne was pretty much an ever-present from1961 to 1964, missing only one league game in that period, with Liverpool winning Promotion in 1962 and then that period of Milne consistency culminating in Liverpool winning its’ 6th league title in 1964.
Milne’s initial assessment of his Liverpool move had changed. “Arsenal had come in for me when Tommy Docherty recommended me to them. Arsenal were the famous Arsenal of the First Division, Liverpool were in the Second, going nowhere. I’ve often thought about why I made the decision I did and I still don’t know why. My dad wrote in his diary that Shanks had spotted me when I was five and come back for me later – our families had a connection from when dad and Shanks played in the great Preston team of the 1930’s. I just had a gut feeling for Liverpool. There was something special about them. United had a good team and Everton were just down the road, but if I hadn’t gone to Liverpool I would have missed out on the most magical time. I was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.”
Milne had become known as an honest and skilful player who was uncomplicated and unselfish – a real team player, and it was during this period that Alf Ramsey first picked him for England, giving him his debut against Brazil on 8th May 1963 in a 1-1 draw.
The injury problems that Milne sustained the following season are recorded above as Milne played only 34 of the 42 league games, and the following season was also blighted by injury with Milne making only 28 league appearances. The main injury problems came early on with most games missed in the autumn and then again over Christmas. It would be in a 1-0 victory at Anfield over Tottenham Hotspur that Milne would again succumb to injury – this time severely damaging his ankle after only six minutes. Some believe that this injury cost Milne a place in the 1966 World Cup squad alongside team-mates, Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan and Gerry Byrne. Gordon had been named in the 28 man squad that Alf Ramsey named on 6th May, less than a month after Milne’s return to football after his injury break. I think this is unlikely; however, since Milne had not played for England since October 1964, nearly two years prior and by his own admission, was not the same player as he was prior to his 1965 injury.
Gordon Milne’s career outside of Liverpool is also impressive. He made his debut for Preston North End against Portsmouth alongside arguably the greatest player that ever lived; Tom Finney, and went on to play for the club 83 times. Many of these games were alongside the great man, but he faced opponents that are also footballing greats too - including doing a man marking job on Chelsea’s great goal scorer; Jimmy Greaves, where Greaves scored five in a 5-4 PNE defeat!
After he left Liverpool in the summer of 1967 he joined Blackpool, who Milne had helped Liverpool beat in Milne’s last game. Blackpool had been relegated, but Milne took the opportunity to team up with Jimmy Armfield for the Tangerines under the Management of Blackpool legend; Stan Mortenson, who had scored a hat-trick in the 1953 F.A. Cup Final, only for it to be christened ‘The Matthew’s Final’!
After retiring from top class football, Milne went into management, starting with (then) Northern Premier League Wigan Athletic as player manager, winning the Northern Premier League in ‘71 and then the Northern Premier Cup the following year. He was appointed England U18 part-time manager in 1972, and led them to the European Youth Championship that year.
My best memory was as manager for Coventry City, as detailed above, but he then took the reins at Leicester in 1982 until June 1986, with his last game at Anfield in an official capacity coming on 2nd November 1985, where Ian Rush scored an 85’ goal to seal the game for Liverpool.
After leaving Leicester, Milne went on to a successful overseas career beginning with Beşiktaş where he won three leagues and three cups in his six years, followed by a spell at Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan where he managed Gary Lineker for the second time, before returning to Turkey with Bursaspor and then Trabzonspor.
There is no doubt that Gordon Milne is a true Liverpool legend. He made up for the disappointment of his debut defeat against Southampton by helping Liverpool beat the same team 2-1 to gain promotion to the First Division the following season after playing all 42 league games. He was then an ever-present two years later when Liverpool won Division One by beating Arsenal at Anfield. He played in Liverpool’s first ever European game against Reykjavík in Iceland, and was one of the first eleven Liverpool players to wear the all red kit against Anderlecht in November 1964. He played in the three games against Koln that culminated in progression via the toss of a coin and helped us beat Chelsea to get to Wembley ’65 (after securing a replay against Stockport in the 4th round). He played against Chelsea in 1966 when we won the league as well as the games four days before and 7 days after – both legs of the European Cup Winners Cup Semi Final against Celtic. He then played in the Final too. He also captained Liverpool on six occasions. This is what Milne should be remembered for as a true Liverpool legend - not for parading a cup he didn’t win during a semi he didn’t play in.
