 |
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
Kenny Dalglish
| Category: | Male Player |
| Year Inducted: | 2002 |
Profile by Robert Galvin, the author of Football's Greatest Heroes, the official book of the National Football Museum Hall of Fame:
Kenny Dalglish repaid the fans on the Kop for their rapturous welcome on his arrival at Anfield in 1977 by inspiring Liverpool throughout a period of consistent and unprecedented success for the club.
When he emerged from the tunnel for his home debut – wearing the same number on his back as Kevin Keegan, his predecessor – the fans gave him what was later judged to be the loudest cheer for a newcomer in living memory. Liverpool had a new number seven, and a new hero.
Bob Paisley had paid Celtic £440,000 for the 27-year-old international. ‘We knew that it would take a player of the highest quality to replace Keegan following his transfer overseas,' Paisley said, ‘and we found him in Kenny.'
Like Keegan, the Scotsman could play either in midfield or up front. He faced a daunting challenge: Liverpool had just been crowned European champions. Could Dalglish keep the momentum going?
At the end of that season, the doubters had their answer, when Dalglish scored the winning goal against Bruges in the European Cup final with a sublime piece of skill, chipping the advancing keeper from an acute angle. His exuberant leap over an advertising hoarding at Wembley in celebration is now part of Anfield folklore.
Another 12 months on, Liverpool were First Division champions again, and Dalglish was voted Footballer of the Year.
Emlyn Hughes played alongside Dalglish for Liverpool and against him as a defender with England during those years. It was obvious which scenario he preferred. ‘Kenny is almost impossible to mark,' Hughes, the Liverpool captain, said. ‘His brainwork during a game is incisive and decisive.'
‘Physically, Kevin Keegan was quicker,' Bob Paisley said in 1981, ‘but Kenny runs the first five yards in his head.' According to Ray Clemence, the Liverpool and England goalkeeper, Dalglish was ‘three or four moves ahead of everyone else'.
‘What made him unique was his vision,' Paisley added. ‘He had this rare quality of being able to know where the other players were without even looking, and to find them with a perfect pass.'
And he wasn't one to be intimidated, either. Alex Ferguson, the one-time Scotland manager, recalled. ‘Because Kenny was so skilful, his courage as a player was seldom stressed, but he had a heart of a lion.'
In his thirties, Dalglish switched to a deeper midfield role. ‘I just made the runs knowing the ball would come to me from Kenny,' said Ian Rush, who was leading goalscorer in the First Division in 1983-84 with 32 goals, as Liverpool won yet another title and a fourth European Cup in eight seasons.
In 1985, as his playing career was winding down, Dalglish succeeded Joe Fagan as Liverpool manager, winning the League and FA Cup double at the end of his first season in charge.
‘Kenny made a successful transition because he behaved like an orchestra conductor,' Paisley said. ‘He brought others into play. He understood that not everyone was blessed with great skill. He had patience, both as a player and as a manager.'
He made a huge impression, even on the blue half of the city. Late in life, Dixie Dean described Dalglish as ‘a wonderful player, such skill, so brave. Probably the best combination of goalscorer and goalmaker I've ever seen'.