Sir Kenny Dalglish

Lore & Background

Dalglish began his career with Celtic in 1971, going on to win four Scottish league championships, four Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup with the club. In 1977, Liverpool manager Bob Paisley paid a British transfer record of £440,000 to take Dalglish to Liverpool. His years at Liverpool were among the club's most successful periods, as he won six English league championships, the FA Cup, four League Cups, five FA Charity Shields, three European Cups and one European Super Cup. At Liverpool he formed a formidable strike partnership with Ian Rush. In international football, Dalglish made 102 appearances and scored 30 goals for Scotland between 1971 and 1986, becoming their most capped player and joint-leading goal scorer (with Denis Law). He was chosen for Scotland's FIFA World Cup squads in 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986, playing in all of those tournaments except, due to injury, the last. Dalglish became player-manager of Liverpool in 1985 after the resignation of Joe Fagan, winning a further three First Divisions, two FA Cups and four FA Charity Shields, before resigning in 1991. Eight months later, Dalglish made a return to football management with Blackburn Rovers, whom he led from the Second Division to win the Premier League in 1995. Soon afterwards, he stepped down as manager to become director of football at the club, before leaving altogether in 1996. In January 1997, Dalglish took over as manager at Newcastle United. Newcastle finished as runners-up in the Premier League during his first season, but they only finished 13th in 1997–98, which led to his dismissal the following season. Dalglish went on to be appointed director of football at Celtic in 1999, and later briefly manager. He won the Scottish League Cup in 2000 before his departure from the club that year. Between 2000 and 2010, Dalglish focused on charitable concerns, founding The Marina Dalglish Appeal with his wife to raise money for cancer care. In January 2011, Dalglish returned to Liverpool for a spell as caretaker manager after the dismissal of Roy Hodgson, becoming the permanent manager in May 2011. Despite winning the League Cup, which was the club's first trophy since 2006, earning them a place in the UEFA Europa League, and reaching the FA Cup Final, Liverpool only finished 8th in the Premier League, and Dalglish was dismissed in May 2012. In October 2013, Dalglish returned to

In Their Own Story

The corridor outside the Anfield dressing room was quiet in a way that only exists after a final whistle has swallowed all the noise. Kenny stood with his back to the lockers, one hand braced on the cold concrete, staring at nothing in particular. The FA Cup was in the trophy room upstairs. Ninety-six names were on the wall outside the main stand. He had been a player until last Tuesday and a manager until this morning, and somewhere in between those two identities, the man who used to cut inside left-footed and bury it top corner had simply… stopped. A young midfielder, barely eighteen, sat on the bench still in his boots, watching Kenny with the particular stillness of a kid trying to memorise a face. Kenny didn't turn. He just nodded, once, at the back of the boy's head, and walked out into the Merseyside rain where the supporters were still singing, still singing, still singing, and the sound went through his chest like something alive.

Reader's Guide

Dalglish won the Ballon d'Or Silver Award in 1983, the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1983, and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1979 and 1983. In 2009, FourFourTwo magazine named Dalglish the greatest striker in post-war British football, and he has been inducted into both the Scottish and English Football Halls of Fame. He is highly regarded by Liverpool fans, who still affectionately refer to him as 'King Kenny', and in 2006 voted him top of the fans' poll '100 Players Who Shook the Kop'.

Did You Know?

• Dalglish began his career as a goalkeeper at Miltonbank Primary School.
• He had unsuccessful trials at West Ham United and Liverpool in 1966.
• Dalglish scored six goals in a testimonial match for Kilmarnock's Frank Beattie in May 1971.
• He was the first player to score 100 goals in both the Scottish and English top divisions.
• Dalglish's transfer to Liverpool in 1977 was a British record fee of £440,000.