Liverpool FC Forum

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Ian Callaghan book signings

Ian Callaghan is the record appearance maker for Liverpool Football Club.
Cally wore a Liver bird on his chest a remarkable 857 times during 18 years at the club.

Over the past 50 years he has been constantly involved with the club and is able to recount a host of inside stories about Merseyside's biggest football team. Cally On The Ball is easy to read and modestly priced for a hardback and will make an ideal gift book for all Liverpool fans, especially the older generation.

The Liverpool Daily Post & Echo will be running a series of special features in April 2010, celebrating the 50th anniversary since Ian made his Anfield debut.

We also have author signing sessions arranged across the region so why not pop along and have your copy personalised?


Pritchards, Crosby @ 1630hrs 6th May 2010

Pritchards, Formby @ 1630hrs 14th May 2010

Waterstones, Liverpool One @ 1200hrs 12th June 2010

WHSMith, Liverpool One @ 1300hrs 19th June 2010

Saturday June 5 12.30 Shankley Suite, LFC.
Lunch with Ian Callaghan followed by a Q&A session with him and John Keith. Ian will be signing books after the lunch and special historic footage of him in action will be screened.
All profits to the Wirral Autistic Society.
Tickets £40 from Rick Myers, Wirral Autistic Society 0151 334 7510, 07887 631218, rick.myers@wirral.autistic.org

Would be brilliant to meet the great man again
a true legend and an absolute Gentleman
This is the link courtesy of The Echo
Callys autobiography

[Rush Job]

Cheers mate.
Cally what a legend!

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Cheers mate.
Cally what a legend!

My Mums favourite player ,she fancied him like crazy ...
Obsessed would be the word ,my Mum loved Liverpool with a passion I have yet to see equalled ,and it was this passion that she instilled in her Sons ,and that's why Ian Callaghan will always remind me of her total devotion....... Love you Mum   

[NANNY RED]

My favorite ever Liverpool player . adored him

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My favorite ever Liverpool player . adored him

Never had a bad word to say about the Club or anyone ,complete Gentleman ,footballers of this generation would benefit from showing a modicum of the dignity and humility he has shown ...

[Greavesie]

you're all well old

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you're all well old

But  learned and wise my young friend 

[account deleted by request]

Once you get past the feminine drooling over his looks, he wasn't a bad player either 

Callaghan had only been on a professional contract for six weeks when he faced Bristol Rovers in the 2nd division on the 16th of April 1960. Liverpool won the game 4-1 with goals from Jimmy Melia, Alan A´Court, Bobby Campbell and Dave Hickson. Callaghan's accomplished performance made the headlines. It's hard to find a debut that has created as much stir as Callaghan's show did. All 27,317 spectators gave him a standing ovation as did the players on both teams and the referee as well! The headline in the local paper The Daily Post read "A Callaghan debut to remember." In The Daily Express Graham Fisher wrote: "For Liverpool right winger Ian Callaghan, veteran of four Central League games, he just ended the most accomplished League debut I´ve had the pleasure to witness."

I only really saw the one season of him as an out and out winger, he had a knee injury and when he came back was drafted into midfield..... second career maybe even better than his first! I think Shanks once said that he was ALWAYS the first name on the teamsheet , with over 800 games thats a lot of teamsheets.

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Lifted from  Lfctv,
I think this sums up the Man ,and his obvious qualities ........

No one has played more games for Liverpool than Ian Callaghan. Chances are, no one ever will.

Cally wore a Liver bird on his chest a remarkable 857 times during 18 years at the club.

There can be no better role model for aspiring footballers than a midfielder who represented everything that's good about the game.

A true gentleman in every sense of the word, the Toxteth boy was the only player to survive Liverpool's fairy-tale journey from life as a mediocre Second Division outfit to the lofty summit of European football.

Along the way he won almost every honour possible, including the highest respect from his fellow professionals and the adulation of the fans, and was booked just once.

Cally initially joined the Reds as an apprentice and made his senior debut after just four outings for the reserves. The momentous occasion came in April 1960 at home to Bristol Rovers.

If that wasn't daunting enough, he also faced the added pressure of replacing Liverpool idol Billy Liddell. But while other youngsters may have buckled in such circumstances, the fresh-faced 17-year-old turned in a performance that belied his tender years and was deservedly applauded off at the end by both teams, the crowd and the referee!

It signalled the start of a remarkable career that can be divided into two distinct sections: the first as a winger, the second in the middle of the park.

Fast, direct and possessing incredible stamina, it was during the promotion winning campaign of 1961-62 that he became an established first-team regular and it was his pinpoint crossing that supplied many a goal for the prolific strike partnership of Hunt and St John.

Cally was one of the first names on Bill Shankly's teamsheets as League and FA Cup glory came Liverpool's way during the heady years of the mid to late Sixties.

However, a cartilage operation meant he missed a large chunk of the 1970-71 season and his long-term future at the club was considered to be in jeopardy.

Thankfully he came back fighting fit and the evergreen Callaghan was given a new lease of life in a central midfield role, confounding any doubters by raising his game to an even higher standard.

A tireless worker with bags of energy, he peaked in 1973-74 - a campaign in which he notched his one and only senior hat-trick, overtook Billy Liddell's record of 492 Liverpool appearances, helped the Reds to a second FA Cup success and became the first Anfield player to win the Football Writers' Player of the Year award.

If that was not enough, he was then recognised in the New Year Honours list with an MBE for services to the game.

Cally's remarkable longevity meant he was still an important part of the team when Europe was conquered for the first time in 1977, an emotional occasion for a man who'd played in the club's first game in continental competition 13 years earlier.

At 35, there was still one final chapter to the fairytale: a surprising recall to the England squad 11 years after last featuring during the early stages of the 1966 World Cup.

Despite all his success, the self-effacing Callaghan never changed and walked out of the Anfield dressing room for the final time in 1978 as the same affable individual who had joined the club for a £10 signing-on fee all those years before.

He left with an envious medal collection, a glowing reputation and a total number of appearances that is unlikely to ever be surpassed. Who said nice guys don't win?


Other clubs:
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (USA - on loan) Swansea, Canberra City (on loan), Cork, Crewe

[tubby]

They had some great clips of him on that kirbys top 10 scouse reds the other night. Gonna order it now.

[account deleted by request]

Best goal he scored for Liverpool was against Stoke in Gordon Banks last match before his accident. Banks played out of this world that day, and it looked like we would never score. Cally hit one from outside the box at the kop end that Banks never even saw. Bet Nan remembers that one.

However, a cartilage operation meant he missed a large chunk of the 1970-71 season and his long-term future at the club was considered to be in jeopardy

I must have seen him for 2 seasons as a winger.

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Here you go people
Cally

I particularly like the innovative set piece  genius at work   

[Reg]

Modern players could learn from Cally only being booked once in 857 appearences.

Cally interview

[crazyhorse]

Legend...deffo buying this one.