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Kenny Dalglish
| Category: | Special European Hall of Fame - one of the five all-time best players from the English game based on performance in Europe |
| Year Inducted: | 2008 |
Profile by Robert Galvin, the author of The Football Hall of Fame, the official book of the National Football Museum Hall of Fame:
Kenny Dalglish is best remembered by the Kop for a single piece of inventiveness in front of goal that enhanced Liverpool's status as the most powerful side in Europe in the late 1970s. ‘Kenny's from Heaven', the fans joked, re-writing the title of the famous Dennis Potter musical, and here's why.
With the minutes ticking away in an otherwise unexceptional final of the European Cup against Bruges in 1978, Dalglish was about to experience ‘the sweetest moment of my football life'. Reacting sharply to a precise, superbly disguised through-ball from Graeme Souness into a crowded opposition penalty area, Dalglish let the ball run, delaying his shot long enough to draw the Bruges keeper into diving at his feet. Then, with a typically deft touch, the Liverpool forward chipped the ball into the opposite corner of the net from a narrow angle. ‘I dummied to shoot,' a typically matter-of-fact Dalglish explained later. ‘And when the keeper reacted, I lifted the ball over him.' Simple as that.
It would prove to be the only goal of the game, as Liverpool retained the trophy at Wembley Stadium. Watching from the other goalmouth was Ray Clemence, the England keeper, who marvelled at what he would later describe as ‘the bit of magic that won us the game', a theme echoed by Bob Paisley, the Liverpool manager, who said: ‘ We needed a spark of individualism to give us victory and it was provided by Kenny'
Famously, a delirious Dalglish jumped over the advertising boards at the side of the pitch in celebration. ‘Of all the goals I scored, I never celebrated one as much as I did this one.' But the emotion of the moment had sapped his strength; his leg muscles were suddenly and momentarily like jelly, forcing Dalglish to clamber rather ungainly over the same hoarding on his way back to the action. On hearing the final whistle, Dalglish knew that he had finally achieved his great ambition: to be part of a European Cup-winning side.
His determination to win Europe's most prestigious club prize lay at the heart of his decision to leave Celtic, the club he signed for as a teenager and the dominant force in Scotland in the early 1970s. Frustrated at the club's failure to repeat their European Cup triumph of 1967, Dalglish concluded that a move to a big English club was his only option. At the time, the summer of 1977, they didn't come any bigger than Liverpool, the newly-crowned champions and European Cup holders. Needing a replacement for the departing Kevin Keegain, Paisley did not hesitate to fork out a record fee of £440,000. Liverpool had found their man.
The arrival of the Scottish forward did force Paisley to change his side's tactics, however. Previously, Liverpool had relied heavily on John Toshack's aerial ability, with Keegan buzzing about around him, picking up the pieces. Now, in order to make best use of Dalglish's vision, close-control and outstanding ability to shield the ball, Liverpool increasingly played the ball forward to feet. There was another explanation for the change of style. As Dalglish himself conceded, he was never the quickest of players. ‘I would never have reached all those flick-ons, which had been the key for the Keegan-Toshack partnership,' he explained. ‘There's a misconception that Liverpool radically changed their tactics following my arrival at Anfield. But that's not the case. Liverpool had been passing it across the back for about two years.'
In 1981, when Liverpool faced Real Madrid in the final of the European Cup in Paris, Dalglish demonstrated his tactical versatility. Though far from match-fit, Dalglish was named in the starting line-up, such was the extent of his psychological value to Paisley's side. Dropping back into midfield, the Scot worked diligently, if unobtrusively, repeatedly dragging his marker out of position, before inevitably tiring. Unable to train properly for several weeks, and targeted for some rough treatment by Real defenders, Dalglish eventually succumbed to cramp, forcing Paisley to make the late substitution. Dalglish was still on the field, though, to witness the decisive moment of an otherwise tense and disappointing final. ‘I saw Alan Kennedy get the ball and start his run forward,' Dalglish recalled later. ‘ I remember thinking to myself: “W here ' s he going?“ Alan got past one opponent and just kept running. Then he let fly from a narrow angle. And what a strike it was. When it went in, the rest of us just looked at each other, stunned .'
Remarkably, the details and names of the principal characters would be much the same story three years later when Liverpool faced Roma in the European Cup final of 1984. Once again, full-back Alan Kennedy was the unlikely match-winner for Liverpool; once again, Dalgish started the game impressively, but, short of match-fitness, was unable to last the full 120 minutes of an absorbing game. Substituted early in extra-time, with the score locked at 1-1, Dalglish watched from the sidelines as Kennedy converted the vital penalty in the shoot-out in Rome's Olympic Stadium.
On the way to the final, Dalglish achieved a notable landmark. When he found the three times over two legs in the first-round tie against BK Odense, the Danish champions, Dalglish took his tally of goals in the European Cup to 15, breaking the British record held by Denis Law of Manchester United.
Bob Paisley always appreciated the scale of the contribution made by Dalglish in lifting Liverpool to the top of the European game. ‘Of all the players I have played alongside, managed and coached in more than 40 years at Anfield, Kenny is the most talented,' Paisley once said. ‘When Kenny shines the whole team shines.'