Liverpool FC Forum

[supersub]

Who were you when you kicked a ball in the park or a tin can in the street.I'm going to post about some of the players that influenced my life as a Liverpool supporter,I hope others will join in.I've dragged up an old post I did in July because it was buried in general discussion and I have to start somewhere.
      I will write about some of my heroes,not necessarily superstars,but players I felt made me want to go to matches or gave me a day I'll never forget.
      My first hero was a player who made me hungry to go to Liverpool matches week after week,nagging my dad or uncle constantly.Alun Evans took over the no.8 shirt that "Sir"Roger Hunt had worn for the last ten seasons.I too wore the no.8 shirt in honour of the great man but here was a young kid that looked just like me.Older kids in the street would call me "Alun Evans"jokingly.So it was fitting when I went to watch the first home game of the season 1970/71 Evans netted 2 goals.He scored again when I went back two weeks later and again at my first Man.Utd. game.Evans then scored the winning goal in my next 3 games.I had become a hero in my street,yes it was me that had brought good fortune on a player who had struggled to impress,after signing for Liverpool as the most expensive teenager in English football.
   Then disaster,Alun Evans was out of the side.He was injured I thought but years later I heard he had been caught up in a night-club brawl and had his face slashed.Still I had the Liverpool bug in me and I went to as many games as my dad/uncle would allow.When Evans came back from his lay-off,boy did he come back.Bayern Munich arrived at Anfield,this was my first ever European game and my hero Alun Evans was back in the team.That night he ran the great Franz Beckenbauer wragged and promptly scored an unforgettable hat-trick in a 3-0 victory.This season was turning out to be fantastic for such an impressionable kid like me.What more could the season have left to fill me with such delight.F.A. Cup Semi-Final day arrived and my uncle took me off to Old Trafford to watch us beat Everton 2-1 with Alun Evans scoring the equaliser.When the crowd sang his name Ifelt they were singing about me.Sadly he never went on to achieve the expectations afforded him and was sold to Aston Villa.My no.8 shirt was retired in 1971 and replaced by a new no.7 shirt as worn by Kevin Keegan.............and that is another story.

[supersub]

you could have been a contender kid....

[RedSi]

Supersub you are a legend, I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading your tales from yore - keep them coming....!!!

Being of a slightly later vintage, there is one player who stands out as my all time hero........King Kenny........I'm afraid I've no anecdotal stories to relay but I did spend my entire childhood footballing years down the local rec in my Reds kit and tracksuit shouting "Dalglish 1-0" every time I banged one into the net-less goal sending my mate scurrying for miles to retrieve the ball, only to have to do it again 30 seconds later!!!

In more recent times whilst I have massive love and admiration for the Stevie Gerrards and Michael Owens of this world, Robbie's got to be my favourite, I was heartbroken to see him go (thanks a lot Gonzo!!) and continue to be so at the way his career has gone since then. We may not always look back fondly on the Roy Evans era (although personally I don't think he was far away from doing something special) but I loved the Fowler/Collymore partnership, exciting if not unpredictable times........if we'd had a defence from any other era we'd have been champions no doubt about it

[oldredeyes]

As one of the 'longer in the tooth guys' on the site I am probably one of the luckiest. For I have seen every great Liverpool team since 1958, the year I seriously started to go to the matches. First in the boys pen and then in the 'Kop'. The feeling of going in the kop for the first time for a first team match was fantastic. So, since then I've seen all the players that are probably just names to many people. My first hero(becauase I just missed Billy Liddel) was Roger Hunt(41 goals in 41 games when Liverpool won promotion from the old second division). When Shanks arrived it was better than signing any player in the world. His emotion for the game and Liverpool people was incredible. It was Shankly himself rather than the players that made me fanatical about the game. He was my first real role model, and still is!
He bought well and wisely as he set about making Liverpool the most successful British team in the history of football.
I remember his 'Backbone' of Lawrence Yeats and St John. The great Willie Stevenson and the amazing Peter Thompson.
I went to the same schools as Ian Callaghan and then Tommy Smith(they were both a couple of years older than me and were heroes in the schools). I remember Shanks giving Tommy the No 10 shirt to everyones's amazement - for in those days players numbers really did represent the position they played in. People couldn't see a young 18 year old defender playing inside left. Shanks just told them 'numbers don't count anymore - it's where you play that matters'.
Tommy played as  sweeper behind big Ron Yeats and started a whole new trend in football.
I was at Wembley to see Cally and the Saint team up to score the great winner against Leeds to win our first FA cup. That memory still sticks out above all the rest, which is remarkable when you consider all the great domestic and European finals I've seen. But to appease the guys who are more up-to-date than me I will say that the best Liverpool player I have ever seen in all those years, the one with the most all round ability and the one who did his job better than anyone else was - Kenny Daglish.

[jonnymac1979]

Years ago, as a young boy, I recall my Dad watching a video tape (which the original copy is still in my possession 17 years later) of the 1986 FA Cup Final, so I sat there with him and watched the full 90 minutes with him - and I was hooked, this is where my passion for Liverpool Football Club started, particularly Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish!!!!!!!!!

The very first match I ever went to was in the 1986/87 season.  Liverpool were entertaining Arsenal at Anfield, a game we won 2 - 1.  I have a few memories of the day.

My cousin Alan who was ten years older than me, a current season ticket holder now, brought me to the match and went through a few pre match routines, buying drinks, programmes etc...  I was in awe of Anfield, the perfect green pitch surrounded by a sea of red, even now when I go back to Anfield and walk up the steps leading into the stand, I get the very same feeling I first felt that day.

Instead of going straight to our seats, we walked along the bottom of the stand to where the players tunnel is.  There was a small commotion because Viv Anderson and Kenny Samson were signing programmes.  I was only about seven years old, and I remember some boy a few years older than me taking my programme off me, and returning it autographed!!!!  Even if it was by Arsenal players, it was still exciting for a kid to have the signatures of these players I had only seen pictures of in sticker albums!!!!

Next though, Alan told me that when the Liverpool players come out onto the pitch, they bring red and white footballs out with them autographed, which they kick into the crowd, but I should go and get one for myself. 

So when the players came out, I dashed on to the green turf - and ran straight for Kenny!!!!!

I can still picture it to this day, I was running towards him and he was running towards me, and I said to him "Can I have the ball?" and my arms were outstretched.

And Kenny runs right past me, ruffling my hair as he goes past with his right hand, straight over to a young disabled lad and gives him the ball.

I turned round and ran back to Alan.  Never mind, the moment had gone, a couple of stewards gave us a ticking off and we went to our seats.  No complaints.

Sad but true? 

No, an unforgettable memory.

[supersub]

During the summer all the talk was about who we should get to play the left-wing,Duff or Kewell.That inspired me to post a little piece about a magnificent left-winger,who time after time thrilled me and thousands like me.If TV can have repeats why can't we,so here it is........
      The signing of John Barnes during the summer of 1987 was greeted with some scepticism by many Liverpool supporters,including myself.For weeks the 'will he won't he sign' headlines had been dominating the back pages,with Barnes said to be holding out for a better offer from a top continental club.There was also a school of thought that John Barnes was perhaps a little to individualistic for the Liverpool side.But he eventually signed for a fee of £900,000 and almost from the start set the Football League and Merseyside alight with his exhilarating displays.Dalglish's intuition had paid off yet again.With Beardsley and Aldridge in attack,Ray Houghton added to the midfield and John Barnes on the wing,Liverpool took on a new look.The endeavour and commitement that had been the hallmark of so many Liverpool sides of the past suddenly gave way to a new adventurous flair,epitomised by Barnes' dashing chases down the flanks.He was a revelation.Barnes had never shown the same spirit in an England shirt,although one of his mazy dances through the Brazilian defence had resulted in what was described as the best goal ever scored in the Maracana stadium.Now John Barnes was repeating that sort of form at Anfield and the crowds flocked to see him,with the 'gates closed' signsgoing up every week.When he was on the ball there was a sense of expectation.Against Queens Park Rangers Digger,as he was known by players and fans alike,scored,in my humble opinion,the best individual goal I've seen at Anfield.He pulled the ball over the half-way line and began a run that swept him past four defenders before he fired a low shot into the corner of the net.By the time he was approaching the penalty area the whole of Anfield was on its feet.You could feel the roof lift when the goal was scored.By the end of the season John Barnes had scored 15 goals in 38 games and was voted Player of the Year by both the Football Writers and the PFA.He won Championship medals in 1988 and 1990 and a Cup winners medal in 1989.He missed most of season 1991-92 through injury.Season 1994-95 saw John Barnes in a new position,operating in front of the defence,where his ability to hold the ball and set up passes proved to be highly effective.This was a major factor in Liverpool's victory in the Coca-Cola Cup against Bolton.At the end of season 1996-97 John Barnes left Liverpool and joined Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle.John Barnes will always be remembered as one of the most cavalier attackers in the club's history.

[supersub]

John'Digger'Barnes a master at wing-play.

[oldredeyes]

You may not remember this fella SS - but when the great Roger Hunt was injured(which was very rare) and during the later days of RH's career, Liverpool had a lad called Alf Arrowsmith. A big bustling old fashioned centre forward in the Nat Lofthouse mould. I remember him scoring four goals in a 5-0 beating of Derby. One of them was a 'back healer' on the volley from outside the penalty area into the Kop goal.
Alf only played about 50 games but scored about 24 goals. Nice lad, fun to watch and Emile Heskey should take a leaf out of his book.

[supersub]

Alf Arrowsmith was before my time,in fact when you watched him banging in those four goals against Derby in the FA Cup,I was not far off my 2nd birthday.

[oldredeyes]

Fair enough! But Alf was a legend in his own lunchtime.

[supersub]

I've been hearing a lot of criticism aimed at Sammy Lee because of the Liverpool's stuttering start to the season,un-justified of course.So I've decided I will write about this unsung hero who loves everything that is Liverpool.
      Sammy Lee was born in Liverpool and came to Anfield as a 16 year old in 1975.He made his debut against Leicester City in April 1978,in a cracking game.He scored in a 3-2 victory at Anfield.It took Sammy a couple of seasons to establish himself,but by 1980 he had ousted Jimmy Case for the no.8 shirt and went on to win a crop of honours,including 2 European Cup winners medals,3 league championship medals and 4 league cup winners medals.He was always popular with the fans and was passionate about the club as any player who has ever worn the red shirt.At 5ft 7in.and weighing 10 stone and a bit,Sammy did not at first appear to have the build of a footballer.But it was a deception:he was fast,resilient and determined as any man on the pitch.He was a driving force,urging the team forward all the time with his boyish enthusism but just as ready to sprint back into defence.Sammy Lee was the one player on the pitch who was always there looking for the pass.He helped other players,play better and he's doing that still today.His form dipped in the 84-85 season,he never seemed to recover and was transferred to QPR in 1986.A spell in Spain with Osasuna followed a year later.But like so many Liverpudlians he found his way back to the city and was appointed reserve team trainer by Graeme Souness.He is know the first team trainer and it's a privilege to watch this little Anfield dynamo put the lads through their warm-up exercises before each game.
      Keep it going Sammy....

[oldredeyes]

Nice one supersub. A good - and accurate plug for Sammy -who is Liverpool through and through (unlike some of the mercenary's we have had recently).
Interesting that you mentioned that he took over from Jimmy Case. I was only thinking the other day that what we need at the moment is a midfield player with the aggression and shooting power of Jimmy Case allied to the skill and boundless energy of Sammy Lee. Some player that would be!

[THEBARON]

Yes Jimmy Case was a great player who was probably underrated in his time at Anfield.
He was part of one the greatest midfield quartets we have had , his main assets being aggression , powerful shooting , great passing and versatility. He worked hard and played hard as well as a publican in North Wales will testify. Not that it did him any harm as he outlasted all his contemparies and played well into his 40's. One of the few players in the great years that we probably let go too early ! ( although we didn't do too badly after he left I recall ).

[supersub]

johnnymac1979 this is the thread you asked for.

[Supermarius]

Nice one supersub...love them threads ...brings back the great times ...keep them coming!