Kenny Dalglish was nervous. He’d been here before, thousands of times, in fact. This, though, felt different. Liverpool’s greatest ever player, its most iconic figure, wondered if maybe he’d done something wrong?
He’d been summoned to Melwood by Mike Gordon, the president of Fenway Sports Group. Awaiting him in the manager’s office was a conference call. “I thought I was getting the sack again,” Dalglish would later joke. He wasn’t.
In fact, he was to be honoured, immortalised at Anfield forever. The Centenary Stand was to be renamed The Kenny Dalglish Stand. Tributes don’t come much bigger. This week's knighthood, too, is a worthy honour to King Kenny... OBE!
And now Liverpool’s main sponsor, Standard Chartered Bank, are bringing his story to life for a new generation via a children’s eBook. ‘King Kenny’ traces Dalglish’s life from his beginnings in Glasgow right the way through to his legendary and unrivaled achievements with the Reds.
The term ‘legend’ is used rather liberally these days, yet in Dalglish’s case it feels insufficient. “What does Kenny Dalglish mean toLiverpool? Absolutely everything,” says Ray Clemence. The 515 games and the 172 goals. The eight League Championship medals, the three European Cups, the two FA Cups and the five League Cups make him one of the Reds’ most decorated figures.
He achieved glory as a player, then matched it as a manager. He’s the only man in Liverpool history to guide the club to a league and cup double, doing so in his first season as player-manager. If Bill Shankly built the modern Liverpool, Dalglish is the one who epitomises the club as we know it; successful, driven, humble, but, most of all, human.
“As a player he was fantastic,” says Bruce Grobbelaar. “As a manager, even better. And as a person, well, I can’t find the words there.”
Dalglish ticks every box. He arrived at a time when Liverpool were dominating at home and abroad, and took them even further. In his first eight years at Anfield, he won 12 major trophies. He was, in the opinion of both Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley, the greatest player ever to pull on a red shirt.
Then, in 1985, he took on his biggest challenge yet, agreeing to become player-manager, replacing the departing Joe Fagan. He inherited a good team, but a club with its reputation in tatters. News of Dalglish’s appointment had been confirmed on the morning of Wednesday 29 May. That evening, 39 Juventus supporters died during clashes with Liverpool fans at the European Cup final at the Heysel Stadium, Belgium.
Dalglish, 34, and with no coaching experience – “I have no idea why they offered me it,” he would later say – had to steer the club through some dark days.
He did so with dignity and skill. Liverpool were banned from Europe, their supporters ostracised and criticised across the country, and under pressure on the pitch from an emerging Everton team. They finished the season as double-winners; Dalglish, at Chelsea, scored the goal which secured the league title. Then he won it again – at a canter.
The following season, though, the world would change. On April 15, 1989, 96 Liverpool fans died attending their side’s FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough, Sheffield. Dalglish’s conduct in the aftermath set him apart.
He opened the doors of Anfield, he and wife Marina acting as counsellors for grief-stricken friends and families. He listened, he talked, he comforted. He supported, with words and with actions. He attended funeral after funeral, four in a single day at one stage. He carried the club, the city.
"The greatest player ever to pull on a red shirt"
“He’s always been there for the families,” says Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group. They know what Dalglish has given, and what it cost him. He resigned as Liverpool manager 22 months after Hillsborough.
He would return, of course. With Blackburn Rovers, for example, where he would lift the Premier League title in front of the Kop in1995. Later, he would take up an ambassadorial role with Liverpool and then, in 2011, he would answer an SOS call to replace Roy Hodgson as manager. His second spell lasted less than 16 months, it more but brought silverware with the League Cup. Liverpool have had none since.
It is 40 years since perhaps THE iconic Dalglish moment. The European Cup final at Wembley. Graeme Souness’ pass, King Kenny’s dink. The image that defines the man.
Arms aloft. Smiling. Happy. Successful. Adored. Unique.
There’s only one Kenny Dalglish, and he's Liverpool's.
He always will be.
