Legends of club football – Kenny Dalglish

Dalglish made his Anfield debut against Newcastle three days later, and vividly remembers the game: “My Anfield debut came against Newcastle, who counted Tommy Craig, amongst their number. I had grown up with Wee Tam, playing Glasgow Schools, Scottish Schools and Scottish Youth with him. Before kick-off, I found Tam looking up at the sign that declares “This Is Anfield.” ‘How are you?,’ he asked. ‘I’m all right, I think,’ I told Tam, ‘but you see that sign there?’ ‘It’s supposed to frighten the opposition. I’m terrified by it and it’s my home ground.’”

Fortunately for him, he settled his nerves by scoring the first goal of the game. “The goal was at the Kop end and I nearly finished up in amongst them. Their appreciation was magnificent. It really touched me. That was the start of the relationship between the Kop and me. It was a special relationship, hard to articulate how strong the bond was.”

Dalglish seamlessly became a part of the all-conquering Liverpool side and ended his first season at the club as the top-scorer with 31 goals. The most memorable of the goals was the delicate chip over the goalkeeper to the secure the win over FC Bruges in the 1978 European Cup final.

Bob Paisley’s judgement to sign the player was reaping rewards already: “I’d seen Kenny playing for Scotland, watched him on television, and the more I saw of him the more I became convinced that he was what I called a Liverpool-type player. It was his attitude to the game. He wasn’t flashy. He did the simple things and he was consistent too. He was rarely out through injury either. His timing was immaculate and his head ruled his feet.”

With 56 goals in 116 games in his first two seasons at Liverpool, Dalglish became a media favourite, who voted him the Player of the Year in 1979. With the arrival of Ian Rush to Liverpool, Kenny found a very capable partner-in-crime and the duo formed a potent attack-force.

Along with scoring the goals, Dalglish also provided plenty of assists, and his performances won him the PFA Player of the Year award in 1983. Rush paid tribute to strike partner saying, “Kenny is Liverpool’s greatest ever player simply I played with him and he made a lot of my goals. He gave me the confidence that I needed. Whenever Kenny had the ball I always knew it was going to come to me.”

After the retirement of Joe Fagan in 1985 after the Heysel disaster, Dalglish became the first player-manager in England. He had agreed to take on the role on the condition that Paisley would assist him for the first two years. He secured the League and FA Cup double in his first season at the helm. He reduced his appearances on the field, preferring to give more chances to younger players.

Teammate Gary Gillespie quoted: “Kenny’s transition to manager was so smooth. He was amazing because he combined being your mate and being your boss at the same time. Not many more managers could pull that off and it was tricky sometimes because you didn’t know if he was talking to you as a mate or a boss.”

When Rush left to join Juventus, Dalglish rebuilt the Liverpool strike-force by signing John Aldridge, Peter Beardsley and John Barnes. The team enjoyed an excellent season and secured the league title with four games remaining.

The 1988-89 season saw the return of Ian Rush to Anfield, losing the league to Arsenal in the last game, but more significantly, the Hillsborough tragedy. Football lost its significance in comparison to loss of 96 lives in the disaster. Dalglish gave personal support to the families of the victims, and proactively took part in the “Justice for the 96” campaign that followed.