Topic: The history of Liverpool FC in pictures

[RedBoywonder]

God

[RedBoywonder]

May 2001

[RedBoywonder]

Jari & God

[RedBoywonder]

Double winners 86.

[RedBoywonder]

Eeeeey .......MILK!

Its what Ian Rush drinks & he said if I dont drink milk, when I grow up I'll only be good enough to play for Acrington stanley!

Accrington Stanley, who are they?

Exactly!!!  

[RedBoywonder]

Nico

[RedBoywonder]

Fa cup final

[RedBoywonder]

Cup winners 2001

[RedBoywonder]

1-0 down, 2-1 up, Michael Owen won the cup

When a quick class Paddy pass gave the lad the ball

poor old Arsenal won fuck all.

[RedBoywonder]

God

[Mottman]

[Mottman]

[Mottman]

The magic moment - in Rome 1977. A calm Phil Neal
stepped up and with just seven minutes
remaining slammed the spot kick into the net.
Liverpool 3 - Borussia Moenchengladbach 1.
The first Liverpool goal scored by Terry McDermott,
the second by Tommy Smith.

Liverpool team:
Clemence, Jones, Neal, Smith, Kennedy, Hughes,
Keegan, Case, Heighway, Callaghan, McDermott.

[Mottman]

Liverpool's second title winning team in 1905-06 rattled in 79 goals
to clinch the First Division championship by four points from Preston North End.
Joe Hewitt was the leading marksman with 23 goals.
Back row (left to right):
Connell (trainer), Hewitt, Wilson, Hardy S., Parry, Doig, Dunlop, Hardy J.
Middle row:
Robinson, Gorman, Murray, Hughes, Raisbeck, Cox, Fleming, Raybould, West.
Front row:
Goddard, Latham, Carlin.

[Mottman]

Shankly, Keegan and all other Liverpool fans celebrate.
What a time!!! And soon we'll be there again...

[Mottman]

Bill Shankly with his backroom boys -
Bob Paisley, Ronnie Moran, Joe Fagan and Reuben Bennett.

[Mottman]

Gerry Byrne, hero of Liverpool's Cup final victory over Leeds in 1965.
He played most of the 120 minutes with a broken collar bone,
made a total of 329 appearances for the club and joined the coaching staff in 1969.

Gordon Milne in the background. Howard Kendall is to the right.

[Mottman]

A dream comes true - in 1965. Ron Yeats becomes
the first Liverpool player to lift the Fa Cup. Here the historic moment -
when he gets the Trophy from The Queen.

[Mottman]

The Liverpool team who won the League
Championship 1965/66.

Back row:
Gordon Milne, Gerry Byrne, Tommy Lawrence, Chris
Lawler, Ron Yeates, Willie Stevenson.
Front row:
Ian Callaghan, Roger Hunt, Ian St. John, Tommy
Smith, Phil Thompson.

Liverpool won also The Championship in the 1963/64.
As FA Cup winner 65, Liverpool competed in The European Cup Winners Cup the following season. And with great success.

They went all the way to the final. But here German Borussia Dortmund was a little too strong, and won 2-1 after extra time

[Mottman]

Bill Shankly (right) and Leeds Don Revie in front of
their teams entering Wembley Stadium in May 1965.

Until that day Liverpool never had won The FA Trophy.
And this final became both dramatic and historic for
The Reds. Only five minutes into the game Gerry Byrne
broke his collarbone.

However the tough Byrne continued since no substitutes were allowed. 0-0 at final time. Roger Hunt gave Liverpool 1-0 in the extra time, and Leeds equalised some minutes later.

Then Ian St. John scored the glory goal, which consolidated Liverpools victory. And Ron Yeats became the first Liverpool captain to lift the FA Cup Trophy.
Since then The Reds have won this trophy four times.

[Mottman]

[Mottman]

Both on the field and off it, Billy Liddell lived up to the very highest of standards and was an example and inspiration to all. A supreme athlet, he was one of the most complete players of his day and to many seasoned observers is still the greatest performer the club has seen.

Away from the game he did a vast amount of voluntary work for local boys' clubs and after his retirement he became a magistrate, a lay preacher and bursar of Liverpool University. The selflessness and sense of duty that guided his life outside football was as central to his approach as his vocation itself, and he was never anything less than a model proffesional.

It was his misfortune that,  for the greater part of his two decades at Anfield, there were too few other players of his ability at the club. The most modest of men, Liddell would deny  that he was forced to carry the team by himself for long periods of his career, but the fact that his side was universally known by the nickname "Liddellpool" provides the most telling measure of his influence.

Liddell won 28 peacetime caps for Scotland, a figure that does little justice to his dashing skills. A fairer indicator of his standing on the international stage is his status as one of only two players - Stanley Matthews being the other - chosen to appear in both Great Britain sides that faced the Rest of Europe and the Rest of the World in 1947.

Billy's modest international career was handsomely compensated for by the adulation  he earned in front of the Kop. Once the war was over, a full debut hat-trick showed that the powerful outside-left intended wasting little time in making his presence felt and although Albert Stubbins scored the goals that won the 1946-47 Championship, he never hid the fact that the vast majority of his chances were carved out for him by Liddell.

During 1950, Liddell's goals put Liverpool into the semifinal and then the final of the FA Cup, but at Wembley he was unable to add to his medal collection as the Reds went down 2-0 to Arsenal. After that defeat, the team began to go into decline and even Billy's individual brilliance and bravery could not prevent them from dropping out of the top flight.

With each succeeding season the task of trying to haul the Reds to promotion grew tougher and tougher, and when Billy finally decided to hang up his boots in 1960 the Anfield side were still stranded in the Second Division.
It took another Scot, Bill Shankly, to restore them to the top flight, but the exploits of Billy Liddell throughout the 21 years that he devoted to Liverpool Football Club show that greatness should not always be measured by the contents of a player's trophy cabinet.

[Mottman]

 
A man from the 'school of hard knocks', Shankly was one of ten children
and his humbe beginnings in a small coal-mining community
in Ayrshire, Scotland, made him the man he was.

An uncompromising wing-half as a player with Preston North End
and Carlisle United, Shankly joined The Reds after spells in charge at Grimsby,
Workington and Huddersfield, and went on to make
Liverpool the greatest club in the world.

Shankly rebuilt the club around two key players he brought in, both Scotsmen.
After dispensing with the services of 24 members of the playing
staff (he kept the backroom staff though), shankly brought in Ron Yeats
and Ian St John, and The Reds romped away with the Second Division title
in 1961-62, finishing 8 points clear of their nearest rivals and amassing a
stunning - in days of two points for a win - 62 points and scoring 99 goals in the process.

Shankly was a simple man, with simple footballing principles. His sides
played creative, attacking football, passing their opponents off the park.
His attacking force of Peter Thompson and Ian Callaghan on the wings,
with Ian St John and Roger Hunt there to put the ball in the back of the net,
would be just as lethal today as it was then.

His teams always played football the right way, and he
brought unprecendented success
to the club, including their first forte into Europe.
Shankly also created the 'bootroom' philosophy of promotion from within.
In his backroom staff were three future managers - Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan;
and Roy Evans of course.

He died following a heart attack on September 29, 1981,
and the footballing world mourned.
His spirit lives on at Anfield to this day, where the gates at the ground
bear his name and the immortal words "You'll never walk alone".
Certainly Shankly never walked alone and he is revered
by all Liverpool supporters to this day.

Some Shankly quotes:
"For a player to be good enough to play for Liverpool, he must be prepared
to run through a brick wall for me then come out fighting on the other side."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On one of Liverpools European trips, he was filling in the hotel registration form
where he wrote Football for occupation and Anfield for the address.

"Sir, said the receptionist, you need to fill in where you live.
"Lady", he replied, "in Liverpool there is only one address that matters and that is where I live."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Of course I didn't take my wife to see Rochdale as an anniversary present.
 It was her birthday. Would I have got married in the football season? Anyway,
it was Rochdale reserves."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very
disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more
 important than that."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain
an advantage, then he should be."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd pull the curtains."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Tommy Smith, who tried to explain that his bandaged knee was injured:

"Take that bandage off. And what do you mean
about YOUR knee? It's Liverpool's knee!"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To the journalist suggesting Liverpool were in difficulties:

"Ay, here we are with problems at the top of the league."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To a translator, when being surrounded by gesticulating Italian journalists:

"Just tell them I completely disagree with everything they say!"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the "This is Anfield" plaque:

"It's there to remind our lads who they're playing for, and to remind
the opposition who they're playing against."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Alan Ball, who'd just signed for Everton:

"Don't worry, Alan. At least you'll be able to play close to a great team!"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Dixie Dean's funeral:

"I know this is a sad occasion but I think that Dixie
would be amazed to know that even in death he could draw
a bigger crowd than Everton can on a Saturday Afternoon."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After beating Everton in the '71 cup semi:

"Sickness would not have kept me away from this one.
If I'd been dead, I would have had them bring the casket to the ground,
prop it up in the stands and cut a hole in the lid."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Although I'm a Scot, I'd be proud to be called a Scouser."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 "A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe
 you are the best and then make sure that you are. In my time
at Liverpool we always said we had the best two teams on Merseyside,
Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If you are first you are first. If you are second, you are nothing."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking to a very nervous looking Alec Lindsay on his debut:

"When you get the ball, I want you to beat a couple of men and smash the ball into the net,
just the same way you used to at Bury. Bemused Lindsay said:
But Boss that wasn't me it was Bobby Kerr.
Shankly turned to Bob Paisley and said: Christ Bob, we've signed the wrong player."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The trouble with referees is that they know the rules,
but they do not know the game."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To a reporter in the 60's:

"Yes, Roger Hunt misses a few, but he gets in the right place to miss them."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After signing Ron Yeats:

"With him in defence, we could play Arthur Askey in goal."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a hard fought 1-1 draw:

"The best side drew."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a 0-0 draw at Anfield:

"What can you do, playing against 11 goalposts?"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes,
of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass.
It is terribly simple."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Tommy Smith:

"You son, you could start a riot in a graveyard."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the day he signed Ian St John:

"Son, you'll do well here as long as you remember two things.
Don't over-eat and don't lose your accent."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Kevin Keegan:

"Just go out and drop a few hand-grenades all over the place, son."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


About Brian Clough:

"He's worse than the rain in Manchester.
At least the rain in Manchester stops occasionally."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


When told he had never experienced playing in a derby:

 "Nonsense! I've kicked every ball, headed out every cross. I once
 scored a hat-trick; One was lucky, but the others were great goals."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Talking to a Liverpool trainee:

"The problem with you, son, is that all your brains are in your head"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


About Ian Callaghan:

"He typifies everything that is good in football, and he has never changed.
You could stake your life on Ian."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


About Ian St.John:

"He's not just the best centre-forward in the British Isles, but the only one."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taken from Bill Shanklys autobiography...it sums the man up:

Above all, I would like to be remembered as a man who was selfless,
who strove and worried so that others could share the glory,
and who built up a family of people who could hold their heads up high and say

'We're Liverpool'.

[RedBoywonder]

Nice one Robbie, they're brilliant them mate.

[Mottman]

Born:                  Hetton-le-Hole, Co Durham 23.1. 1919
Died:                   Liverpool 12.2. 1996
Transfer Fee:       Undisclosed (from Bishop Auckland, May 1939)
Games:                278
Goals:                    13
Player:                1945-54
Manager:             1974-83
Other clubs:         Bishop Auckland
Honours:
Division 1 champions 75-76, 76-77, 78-79, 79-80, 81-82, 82-83
League Cup winners 80-81, 81-82, 82-83
UEFA Cup winners 75-76
European Cup winners 76-77, 77-78, 80-81
European Super Cup winners 77
Charity Shield winners 74, 76, 77 (shared), 80, 82
Division 1 runners-up 74-75, 77-78
FA Cup runners up 76-77
League Cup runners-up 77-78
European Super Cup runners up 78
World Club Championship runners up 81
Manager of The Year 75-76, 76-77, 78-79, 79-80, 81-82, 82-83


Note: Received an FA Cup runners-up medal in 1950 although he did not play in the final against Arsenal. He scored Liverpool's first goal in their 2-0 semi-final vs Everton and Liverpool asked the FA to strike a special medal for him.
 
   
Bob Paisley was a reluctant genius. He never wanted to go into management. But having been persuaded to take command of Liverpool he proceeded to surpass the achievements of every manager in the entire history of British football.

The humble son of the North East, always more at ease in the wings than on centre stage, was indisputably Manager of the Millennium. And as we approach the 21st Century perhaps his record will stand forever as a tribute to his towering feats.

Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Graeme Souness, the world class Scottish trio signed by Paisley and a threesome not given to hyperbole, unhesitatingly place him at the management summit.

"There was only one Bob Paisley and he was the greatest of them all," says Dalglish. "He went through the card in football. He played for Liverpool, he treated the players, he coached them, he managed them and then he became a director."
"He could tell if someone was injured and what the problem was just by watching them walk a few paces. He was never boastful but had great football knowledge. I owe Bob more than I owe anybody else in the game. There will never be another like him."

Hansen agrees, declaring: "I go by records and Bob Paisley is the No.1 manager ever."

While Souness salutes him thus: "When you talk of great managers there's one man at the top of the list and that's Bob Paisley."

Paisley's amazing collection of 19 trophies in nine seasons makes you rub your eyes in wonder. It is the supreme testimony to his magnificent response to what many believed was Mission Impossible...

...After all, ask pundits and public alike, how could anybody follow the legend of Shankly?

When Shanks dropped the bombshell and retired in July 1974 Paisley was the man Liverpool wanted to succeed him. He had been at Shankly's shoulder since the great Scot crossed the Pennines from Huddersfield to transform Anfield's fortunes in December 1959. And his own connection with Liverpool stretched back a further two decades to his arrival at Anfield as a 20-year old left-half on May 8, 1939 for a £10 signing-on fee and weekly wage of £5.

Paisley, born the son of a miner in the County Durham village of Hetton-le-Hole on January 23, 1919, had signed the transfer forms in the Sunderland board room after helping Bishop Auckland beat Willington 3-0 to lift the FA Amateur Cup. During his childhood, spent in a harsh economic climate, he had a talent for absorbing knowledge and advice. His widow Jessie recalls: "Bob always tried to remember what his headmaster told him. That if you speak softly people will try to listen to what you're saying. If you shout they're liable to walk away and not take it in."

Such homespun psychology would serve Paisley invaluably during his management years when Europe bowed to the stocky figure in a flat cap that belied a masterful football brain. Wartime service in Egypt and the western desert delayed Paisley's League debut as a Liverpool player until 1946-47 when he won the first of 10 championship medals in his various Anfield roles in a team that included Scotland and Great Britain star Billy Liddell and centre forward Albert Stubbins.

And despite being readdy to leave the club after being dropped by the directors who picked the team for the 1950 FA Cup Final he played on to captain the side and hung up his boots after Liverpool's relegation in 1954 to become reserve team trainer. He also became a renowned, self-taught physiotherapist and Shankly's idiosyncratic apprehension, even fear, of injuries made Paisley's treatment room role even more crucial in their partnership of opposites, one often outrageously extrovert, the other happy in the background.

It was to Paisley, though, that Liverpool turned to follow Shankly. He needed much persuasion from the club and his family to take on the challenge at the age of 55. Finally, he agreed and exclaimed: "It's like being given the Queen Elizabeth to steer in a force 10 gale." But he steered it brilliantly even though he was disappointed with a championship runners-up spot in his first season. Borrowing a phrase from his other great sporting passion of horse racing, he said: "I was like an apprentice that ran wide at the bends."

But Liverpool galloped past a couple of winning posts the following season with a League title and UEFA Cup double. The championship was secured with a 3-1 win on a heady night at Wolves in the final league fixture while European success was clinched with a 4-3 aggregate win over Bruges.

It was the forerunner to a season climaxed by what Paisley termed "my perfect day" when he and his team lifted the European Cup for the first time with a 3-1 conquest of Borussia Moenchengladbach in Rome in May 1977. Four days earlier, having already retained the championship, his team had lost the FA Cup Final to Manchester United. But the gloom of Wembley was banished by Liverpool's sparkling display in the Eternal City, which Paisley had helped liberate in wartime.

The victory installed Paisley as the first English-born manager to lift Europe's greatest prize following the success of Scottish duo Jock Stein's Celtic in 1967 and Sir Matt Busby, captain at Liverpool when Paisley first arrived, with Manchester United in 1968.

As the celebratory champagne flowed Paisley, later honoured with an OBE, sat quietly in a corner of the team hotel and said: "I'm not having a drink becacause I want to savour every moment. The Pope and I are two of the few sober people in Rome tonight!"

The Roman carnival also heralded the end of Kevin Keegan's fine Anfield career in which he had forged a potent attack partnership with John Toshack. The England striker, who would go on to manage his country, departed for Hamburg.

But Paisley, revealing that his superb command of tactics was matched by his judgment of football talent, soon had Keegan's replacement at No. 7 lined up. He signed Kenny Dalglish from Celtic for £440,000, £60,000 less than the income from Keegan's transfer.

"There's never been a better bit of business than that," said delighted Anfield Chairman John Smith. Paisley's genius for team building had already been evident in his capture of Phil Neal, Terry McDermott, Joey Jones and David Johnson, his switch of Ray Kennedy from a powerful striker to a left midfielder who terrorised Europe and his use of David Fairclough as football's prototype "super sub". Paisley, aware he was not the greatest orator, would say: "I let my side do the talking for me." It did with deafening volume thanks to a litany of Paisley recruits including Hansen, Souness, Alan Kennedy, Ronnie Whelan, Ian Rush, Craig Johnston, Mark Lawrenson, Bruce Grobbelaar and Steve Nicol.

And he soared into the stratosphere of managerial achievement by guiding Liverpool to two further European Cup triumphs, at Wembley in 1978, overcoming Bruges, and in Paris three years later when Real Madrid were put to the sword.

Paisley's teams annexed a total of six championships, the most remarkable being in 1978-79 when they emerged with a record 68 points under the old two-points-for-a-win system, conceded a record low 16 goals in their 42 games, scored 85 and lost only four times. He also guided Liverpool to a hat-trick of League Cup successes, failing only to land the FA Cup. But that gap in his collection was bearable given his torrent of triumph before passing on command to Joe Fagan in 1983, having amassed a grand total of 23 Bells Managerial Awards.

After retiring in 1983, he was elected to the board of directors and was an advisor to Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool's first player-manager, before being tragically stricken with Alzheimer's Disease.

Bob Paisley and his deeds were summed up perfectly by Canon John Roberts at his funeral service at St. Peter's, Woolton in February 1996 when he saluted him as an ordinary man of extraordinary greatness. The world of football, not least Liverpool FC, was enriched by his massive and exemplary contribution to it.  
On Thursday 8th April 1999 Liverpool FC officially opened The Paisley Gateway as an enduring monument to this great man.  

 

[Mottman]

Born:              Seaton Delaval, Northumberland - July 28th 1951
Transfer Fee:   £180.000 (from Arsenal, July 1974)
Games:           384 (3 as sub)
Goals:               72
Honours:         European Cup 76/77, 77/78, 80/81
                      UEFA Cup 75/76
                      League Cup 80/81
                      First Division 75/76, 76/77, 78/79, 79/80, 81/82
                      England Caps: 17
Other clubs:    Arsenal, Swansea City, Hartlepool United, Sunderland.
 
   
Even in a modern game that rarely finds room for sentiment, the most hard-hearted of observers would have struggled to remain unmoved by the appearance on the pitch of an emotional Ray Kennedy, wracked by Parkinson's Disease, at his 1991 benefit match between Arsenal and Liverpool.
The illness had already cost him his career and his health, had ruined his private life and would soon force him to sell his enormous collection of medals to make ends meet. His tearful struggle to greet the fellow greats who had turned out to play for him that day in front of a Highbury crowd of more than 18.000 was touching enough in itself, but the immediate contrast cut by his gaunt figure against the memory of the strong, athletic footballer who had graced the shirts of both sides was the saddest moment of an emotional afternoon.

Kennedy was only diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's in 1987, when he was 35, but had been fighting an unknown battle against the disease for the previous ten years. To have achieved as much as he did - he left Anfield in 1982 as the only Englishman to have been both a Double-winner and three times European Cup-winner - in the face of such sapping condition was a true act of sporting heroism.

Ray joined Liverpool on the same July day in 1974 on which Bill Shankly shocked the city by announcing his retirement. He was left with the worry of wondering whether the new manager, Bob Paisley, would think as high of him as his predecessor had. The initial answer appeared to be in the negative, for although he scored on his debut it took Kennedy well over a year to establish himself in Paisley's team.

It was Kennedy's standing as one  of the best all-round strikers in the country that had set his price so high - he was great in the air, clever on the ground, powerfully built and the owner of a devastating left-foot finish - and although he never lost any of those attributes after his move, Paisley recognised that there was even more to his game than that.
Ray had lost much of his appetite for playing up front by the time he came to Liverpool, where Toshack and Keegan were forging the most irresistible forward partnership around, and the knowledge that he had played in midfield as a schoolboy prompted the manager to look for a new role for him.

The dark-haired attacker's skill on the ball, his vision, control and passing ability had already revealed themselves on the training ground, but even Paisley had to admit that he could never have foreseen how successfully they would fit into the left-hand side of his first team's midfield from the moment he began experiment in the autumn of 1975.
Over the next six years, Kennedy blossomed into one of the finest footballers in Britain and became, in many judges' mind, the player of the 1970s. Demonstrating the great positional sense which convinced his boss that he could even have played at centre-back had the need arisen, he gave his team invaluable width on the left and could open a game up with an instant, telling pass.

In January 1982 he moved on to John Toshack's Swansea, but he was already on the downward path that would lead eventually to the doctor's appointment five years later at which his condition was finally recognised.
The hardships that followed have left him facing a more formidable opponent than any of those he ever came up against on the field of play.

Ray Kennedy may often have been underrated by many among the Liverpool crowd. But in his eight years at the club he proved himself one of his country's finest players.
A benefit match at Anfield would be as fine way as any to show him the belated appreciation his talent deserved.  

 

[Mottman]

Born:             Cardiff, 22.3.49
Transfer Fee:  £110.000 (from Cardiff City, November 1970)
Games:         236 (9)
Goals:             95
Honours:        UEFA Cup 72/73, 75/76
                     First Division 72/73, 75/76, 76/77
                     FA Cup 73/74
                     Wales Caps 40 (26 with Liverpool)
Other clubs:   Cardiff City, Swansea City
Manager:       Swansea City, Sporting Lisbon, Real Sociedad,
                     Real Madrid, Wales, Deportivo La Coruna,
                     Real Sociedad, Beşiktaş, Real Madrid, St. Etienne,
                     Real Sociedad; Catania
 
   
The lanky striker formed with Kevin Keegan one of the great attack partnerships of Liverpool history, a "double act" that succeeded the bountiful 1960's combination of Roger Hunt and Ian St John.
After becoming, at 16, the youngest player ever to appear in a League game for Cardiff City the Wales international was signed by Bill Shankly for £110,000 in November 1970 and took a while to establish himself as a first team regular.


But after Keegan's arrival the following year the pair dovetailed into a menacing "Little and Large" strike force with 6ft 1in Toshack a perfect foil for his smaller colleague. They scored and created goals for each other with a seemingly telepathic understanding, Toshack's great aerial power a crucial factor as they helped capture domestic and Eurpoean prizes.


Toshack, who also penned poetry, became Swansea player boss in 1978 after scoring 96 Liverpool goals. He led the Welsh club from the Fourth to the old First Division in successive seasons and was awarded an OBE. His managerial talents have taken him around Europe, including a brief spell in charge of Wales and two stints at Real Madrid. (LFC Official Website)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fact File

1966: Signed professional terms with hometown club Cardiff City. Welsh Cup winner in 1968, 1969   and 1970.

1970: Signed by Liverpool.

1979: Became player-coach at Swansea City, moving from Liverpool on a free transfer. Took the Welsh club from the English fourth division to the first division and completed second hat-trick of Welsh Cup wins, from 1981-83.

1984: Moved to Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon.

1985: Signed as coach of Real Sociedad of Spain. Won the Spanish Cup in 1987 and the following season guided the side to second place in the league.

1989: Appointed Real Madrid coach. Won league championship in first season in charge as side scored 107 first division goals - a record that still stands.

1990: November 18, sacked as Real Madrid after three successive defeats.

1991: Began second spell at Real Sociedad, originally as an adviser and later as head coach.

1994: January 28, appointed Wales coach on a part-time basis after the sacking of Terry Yorath. Resigned after just one game in charge, a 3-1 defeat by Norway. November 24, sacked as Real Sociedad coach.

1995: March 23, appointed coach of Deportivo Coruna taking over on July 1.

1997: February 9, resigned from Deportivo Coruna.

1997: June 25, appointed coach of Turkish club Beşiktaş. Finished a disappointing sixth in the league in his first season in charge.

1999: February 24, in negotiations with Real Madrid directors over becoming new coach following the sacking of Guus Hiddink.

1999: November, was sacked by Real Madrid having taken over from Dutchman Guus Hiddink in February of that year. It was Toshack's second dismissal as Real coach, after he lost his job for the first time in 1990.

2000: October 6, has been appointed the new boss of French League strugglers St Etienne.

2001: January 2, is to leave St Etienne after just 10 weeks in charge to rejoin Spanish First Division club Real Sociedad.

2002: November 7, takes over as manager for Serie B side Catania, his first job in Italy.

2003: January 28, quits as manager for Catania.

 

[Em5y]

[Em5y]

Roy Evans

[Mottman]

The 1960s Liverpool team had a defence that picked itself: 'Lawrence, Lawler, Byrne, Milne, Yeats...' was a litany that rolled off many a schoolkid's tongue. But when Chris Lawler bowed out in 1973, no ready-made reserve existed to fill the right-back's stylish boots. Fortunately for Bob Paisley, who inherited the problem, he bought a replacement off the peg in October 1974 in the shape of Northampton's Phil Neal

Neal, 23, was ready for the challenge, and after making his debut in the white heat of a Merseyside derby, proved as unflappable as they come. This would come useful in proving Liverpool with a regular penalty-taker: given the job in 1975 after converting two in one match, it boosted his goal total over the years to a respectable one in ten games. He did likewise for England, 50 caps yielding exactly five goals.

Phil Neal was the only player to appear in all five of Liverpool's European Cup Finals, but though he seemed bound for a back-room role, was never to graduate to Anfield's bootroom. Instead, after team-mate Kenny Dalglish had beaten him to the seat vacated by Joe Fagan, he moved across Lancashire to Bolton where he'd begin his climb up the managerial ladder.

Sadly, this wouldn't prove as smooth sailing as had his playing career, and spells with Coventry, Cardiff and Manchester City all failed to bring similiar success. His England record also gave him a place on Graham Taylor's staff during his turbulent reign. But Phil will always be remembered by Liverpool fans for his cultured consistency in their club's most successful period.

[Mottman]

The boys having a quick gab.

[Em5y]

Skem legend.

[Mottman]

The one and only Albert Stubbins.

[Mottman]

"I was only in the game for the love of football - and I wanted to bring back happiness to the people of Liverpool."

[Mottman]

Joe Fagan - 1983-1985

Joe Fagan may only have been manager of Liverpool Football Club for a couple of season but that doesn't tell the story of a fantastically loyal man. Nor does it tell you about his achievemts of winning the very first treble. The saddest part about Joe Fagan's career is that his retirement will always be remembered as post Heysel.

Joe Fagan started his career as a player with Manchester City, Bradford, Altrincham and Nelson. He was a player manager at Nelson and later went on to become a trainer at Rochdale. His playing days should actually be noted for the fact that the great Bill Shankly tried to sign him for his then club Grimsby Town.

Fagan joined the Reds ' backroom staff in 1958 shortly before the arrival of the great Scot and it was actually on the recommendation of future Everton boss Harry Catterick. fagan worked his way quietly through the ranks of the club picking up vast amount of knowledge along the way.

When Bill Shankly retired in 1974 Smokin' Joe became assistant manager to Bob Paisley. Fagan was always there for the club and he became a natural successor for the managerial role at Anfield when Paisley retired at the end of the 1982-83 season.

Joe Fagan inherited a quality side and young. With his side making an assault on four fronts that first season as well no-one could quite believe how successful he became when he won three trophies - the first English club manager to achieve such a feat.

Fagan firstly won the League Cup with the Reds seeing off Everton in a replay at Maine Road before capturing the League title for a third successive year. That treble achievement was completed in Rome when a whistling Joe Fagan saw his side win the European cup for a fourth time against a side playing at home.

Fagan stayed on for another season although a few months before it had ended he had already informed the club of his decision to step down. The Reds had had a difficult season, ending second in the league after a slow start and were knocked out of both cup competitions at home. In Europe though the Reds marched on to meet Juventus in the 1985 final. Sadly thugh this was marred by the Heysel disaster and Joe returned hom after the match with tears in his eyes. A sad end to a great man's career.

Joe Fagan witnessed the clubs second treble in 2001 but sadly died aged 80 during the summer of 2001.

Joe Fagan - The original Treble Winner

[Mottman]

"Honest" John McKenna
Two spells as Liverpool Chairman
President of the Football League for 26 years.  
 
 

 
 

McKenna, although never actually holding the post of manager, took over the mantle from the founder of the club John Houlding and his duties included many of the tasks of a manager.
'Honest' John was one of the greatest driving forces for Liverpool throughout the early years. An Irishman, Tory, Freemason and friend of John Houlding (founder) - who started off as a grocer's errand boy - he would regularly visit Anfield before the split with Everton, and became an avid supporter of the football played there.

In 1892, 'Liverpool Association' were denied entry into the Football League by the F.A. This forced McKenna to guide Liverpool through the ranks of the Lancashire Association. Needing players and needing to prove a point, he turned to Glasgow and the Irish community for his contacts. On September 1st 1892, the day Liverpool were to play their first game on their new ground, the Liverpool Echo reported that, "The old Anfield ground will be occupied by the newly organized club known as 'Liverpool Association', and claim for it that no better game be witnessed on any other plots in the neighborhood". (Everton playing their first game at Goodison park that same evening against Bolton Wanderers). McKenna could not have had a better start to his new career, beating Rotherham Town 7-1.

Due to his trips north of the border, the first team he fielded, had no Englishmen. They were known as the team of 'Mac's', McBride, McQueen, McVean etc., eight in all. Almost a century later, when Liverpool completed their first double, again no Englishmen were fielded.

At the end of the first season, McKenna, also acting as secretary to the club, had written to the F.A. without anyone's knowledge, and requested election to the Football league. This was on the understanding that at least one of two financially stricken clubs, Accrington Stanley or 'Brutal' Bootle, would be stepping out.

McKenna's vision for the club was now apparent. Their first game saw them dispose of 'Boro 2-0 away. McKenna's struggle to make Liverpool the best in the land, found the club again pushing for promotion at the end of their first season. Due to the old test match system, and no automatic promotion, Liverpool found themselves in a play-off situation with last placed Newton Heath (Manchester United), who were comfortably beaten 2-0. First division status at last.

By the time Liverpool were relegated though, in 1895, McKenna was ruling things with W.E. Barclay, who seems to have acted more as Club Secretary. As Liverpool's first Secretary/Manager, he predicted that the club would only be relegated for one year. Liverpool became renowned for this display of fighting spirit, for years to come.

As McKenna's success flourished, so did the club's. He built a new stand for the fans and was a fierce critic of the maximum wage system. The club could quite easily afford to pay their players well and/or a lucrative bonus scheme. Unfortunately, his players had to seek additional employment or quit the game altogether.

In 1913, the Arsenal Chairman accused Liverpool (and 'Honest John') of match fixing. McKenna immediately demanded an inquiry by the F.A. and was later completely exonerated with deep apologies from the Gunners.

Unfortunately for John, later that year, four players were banned from the game for life, by the F.A. for alleged match fixing with Manchester United. This hurt McKenna deeply.

At the end of the war, the four Liverpool players had their sentences generously lifted by the F.A. as reward for their years of fighting. Given McKenna's earlier distress, three of the four players, Sheldon, Purcell and Miller, did actually play for Liverpool again. Miller even got capped for Scotland and after two more seasons at Anfield, got transferred to, of all clubs, Man Utd.

In 1915, McKenna handed over the chairmanship to W.R. Williams, but remained at the helm. By this time, McKenna was a well respected figure in Football, and quite rightly so.

"Honest" John McKenna had served Liverpool Football Club for over 40 years, he died in March of 1936. Like John Houlding, his friend and business partner before him, his coffin was carried through the city by three Liverpool players and three Everton players, a commemorative plaque to him remains in the foyer in Anfield.

The commemorative scroll and casket presented to him after a record 26 years as Football League President resides in the Club Museum.

 
 

[Mottman]

Tom Watson: Manager (1896-1915)  
 
Previously manager of Sunderland's 'Team of all Talents', where he won three first division championship medals for the club. Tom Watson was unquestionably one of the great figures of the early days of the Football League, and was a tremendous 'catch' for Liverpool. John McKenna was responsible for convincing this highly able man that his future lay at Anfield and his judgement was richly rewarded.

Watson twice brought the League Championship to Anfield and also took Liverpool to their first ever FA Cup final. One of Watson's finest signings was the fiery Scotsman Alex Raisbeck, who was widely held to be the finest Scottish international of his generation. Raisbeck's caps and a rare pink and yellow Scotland shirt reside in the Club Museum as testimony to this day.
 

Watson lived for at least part of his time as Secretary/manager of Liverpool at 106 Domingo Vale and then moved even closer to the ground in 1910 when he resided at 246 Anfield Road.
Watson worked hard for the war effort during 1914-15, encouraging 1 player, 2 directors sons and a great number of shareholders to enlist, and the playing staff donating 12.5% of their salaries to the war. Over £500 was collected at the ground and 18 footballs sent to the trenches to help morale, whilst servicemen were admitted for free into the ground.

Watson died in May 1915 and at his funeral took place on the 11th, the coffin was carried by Alex Raisbeck, Teddy Doig, Goddard, Wilson, Parry, Fleming and Robinson as well as the club trainer William Connell. He is buried at Anfield Cemetery.

Born: April 1859, Heaton Died: May 1915

HONOURS:

2 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
1900-01, 1905-06

1 LIVERPOOL SENIOR CUP
1900-01

RUNNERS UP
FA Cup - 1914-15

Other clubs: Manager - Sunderland
 
 

[Mottman]

     
David Ashworth: Manager (1920-23)  
 
 David Ashworth was a former referee who later moved into a career in football management. He was apparently a very small man, only about five foot according to some accounts, with a carefully manicured, waxed moustache. He became the first manager of Oldham Athletic Football Club in 1906, moving to manage Stockport County in 1914 and staying with them through the First World War.

In 1920 he was appointed manager of Liverpool and in his first season in charge he guided them to their second successive season in 4th place. Two Derby wins over Everton in the autumn had knocked the stuffing out of the Blues' title challenge, but just two wins in their last 10 games meant that Liverpool failed to maintain their own momentum. They finished 8 points behind the Champions Burnley.
 
The following season, 1921/22, Ashworth lead Liverpool to their third League Championship. The season started badly with a 3-0 defeat at Sunderland, but after that they only lost one league game, away to Middlesbrough, until the middle of March. However, after that the team began to stutter, losing 4-0 at Oldham. Then, after beating Cardiff 5-1, they lost the away game against the same team 2-0. West Brom came to Anfield and won 2-1 leaving Liverpool with a tricky return visit to the Hawthorns to wrap up the title - they won 4-1 and the title went to Anfield.
Ashworth's Championship side was built around a strong defence with the Irish International Elisha Scott in goal and Ephraim Longworth, Tom Lucas and Don McKinlay sharing the full-back duties. McKinlay also played in a solid half-back line with Tom McNab, Tom Bromilow or Walter Wadsworth. Up front Harry Chambers was top scorer with just 19 goals, supported by Dick Forshaw, who scored 17, and winger Polly Hopkin, famous for the rarity of his goal-scoring.

This same team were well on their way to a second successive Championship the following season, when in February 1923 Ashworth left the table-topping side to return to Oldham, then bottom of the league. No-one has ever satisfactorily explained why Ashworth should decide to make such a bizarre move, although he presumably had some emotional attachment with his first club. It remains a mystery to this day. Oldham ended the season relegated, while Liverpool only won one of their last seven games, but still won the Championship by six points.

Ashworth only stayed with Oldham for about a year before moving to Manchester City, but he resigned in 1925 as the club struggled towards relegation. He next tried his hand in management with Walsall in 1926, but he lasted hardly any time there either, as he left in 1927. He also had a spell as a scout with Blackpool just before the War. He died in 1947, aged 79.

HONOURS:

2 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
1921/2, 22/3

RUNNERS UP
Charity Shield - 1922

Other clubs: Management - Oldham Athletic, Stockport County,
Manchester City, Walsall
 
 
 
 

[Mottman]

[Mottman]

The glory of Rome 1977.