With a record seven League Cup trophies being lovingly stored in the Anfield cabinet, Liverpool’s thirst for the Milk, Coca Cola, Worthington or Carling Cup is as unquenchable as ever. From its infancy in the early days of the 60’s when floodlights introduced us to mid-week action, right through to its present incarnate the competition has always played second fiddle to the more traditional and glamorous curtain closer of the F.A Cup. But to a Kopite it is another day out to Anfield South to pick up the currency which we value the most – silverware. From the early 80’s glorious quintet through to the respite from the baron years of the 90’s and a couple of wins in the noughties we will be hopeful that by 5.45 (or later) on Sunday we will be toasting an eighth title in a competition we will always respect. In each final there was a moment which turned the tide in our direction, a piece of inspiration or a key component which symbolizes the club and emphasizes why Liverpool and trophies go hand in hand.
1981 – Kenny’s equalizer v West Ham at Villa Park replay:
We were a goal down in the mid-week replay. This was where the big players shone, after an exchange of passes the tireless Terry McDermott picked out Dalglish’s instinctive run with a lofted pass which found “the King” who ghosted past the helpless claret and blue shirts to meet the ball, having stretched every sinew to connect powerfully past the advancing keeper. Alan Hansen scored the winner with a deflected header and in the midst of the celebrations, the trophy was left on the team bus only to be discovered the next day when the driver was cleaning his bus at the depot!
1982 – Paisley: the master of psychology:
It was 1-1 after 90 minutes against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley and the players took a seat on the pitch to catch their breath awaiting instructions on how to beat a decent Spurs side. “Get up” he shouted “don’t let them see you’re tired”. From a far, rival players and managers would look across at this team and wonder what they must be doing at Melwood to produce such well drilled, successful side time and time again. But it was simple, uncomplicated common sense like this which served Paisley and the Boot Room so well. Inevitably the red men came through with a second goal from Whelan and a tap-in from Rush. Looking back at the late equalizer in normal time Paisley remarked: “I thought the Milk Cup was about to go sour!”
1983 – The Team Togetherness:
Ron Atkinson’s Manchester United were this year’s final opponents, and the game is memorable for Ronnie Whelan’s one-two with his marker followed by an audacious curling effort which nestled gratefully in Gary Bailey’s goal to settle the tie. But as the final whistle blew and elation set in, the players approached the out-going Bob Paisley to lift the trophy. The day was about his achievements as the most successful manager the club ever had and an example of the respect and admiration held for him by his charges
1984 – The Fans:
In a city suffering a crippling recession with soaring rates of unemployment during the depths of ‘Thatcher’s Britain’, Everton were the opponents. In an act of solidarity in a time where football hooliganism was rife the two sets of supporters rallied together to get to Anfield South echoing chants of “Merseyside! Merseyside!” which was a well needed positive message to the rest of the country during economic hardship. The game ended goalless taking a Graeme Souness 20-yard drive to decide matters 3 days later at Maine Road in a historic treble year.
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1995 – The McManaman final:
This Liverpool side was certainly in the shadow of the team a decade earlier. There was excitement and goals but a sense that they lacked the willingness to sacrifice themselves to overcome the final hurdle when it came to winning medals. This is where the “Spiceboys” reputation stemmed from – celebrity before extra training, style over substance. Perhaps this was unfair but mud sticks and this was an opportunity to prove a lot of people wrong. McManaman was the “go to” guy, the outlet, his quick feet and constant movement was the perfect accompaniment to the master finisher Fowler. On the day “Macca” was magnificent with his knack of making the difficult look easy, gliding past Bolton shirts and finishing the game off with two neat finishes and also bagging the man of the match award. Not a bad days work!
2001 – A Nerveless Performance:
Similarly to this year we were up against second tier opponents and were expected to win comfortably, but there is no script in football. The Blues cancelled out Robbie Fowler’s typically opportunistic opener in a final which the Red Men were far from their best, so they dug in. A term which is over-used in football is “bottle” and after the two sides could not be separated after 120 minutes and 10 penalties in the shoot-out, a man stepped up who epitomised this term for many years to come. Jamie Carragher finished the job which set the wheels in motion for the treble under the guidance of Gerard Houllier and Phil Thompson.
2003 – Bragging Rights:
The seventh and probably the sweetest was a 2-0 victory over Manchester United. Gerard Houllier was getting criticized for his team selections all year and the team’s inconsistent form did not help. The Worthington Cup took a lot of pressure off him and the club which arguably earned him a final season at the helm. A trademark strike by Steven Gerrard wickedly defected off David Beckham and past the erractic Fabian Barthez. This was followed by a lung busting run from Didi Hamman who laid the ball off to the onrushing Michael Owen to settle the contest.
With our first trip to Wembley since the 1996 FA Cup final debacle on Sunday, it will certainly bring back hazy memories to Reds of glory days gone by and hopefully Steven Gerrard will be leading the players up those familiar steps to lift the cup.
We can now change this to 8!