Already established as a legend at Celtic after a decade of service to the club he joined straight from school, Kenny Dalglish transferred to Liverpool in 1976. A month after Kevin Keegan had left Anfield for SV Hamburg, Liverpool boss Bob Paisley sA/ooped to buy the most feared striker in the Scottish League.
Hundred league goals for Liverpool
Dalglish proved his worth to the club over the next 14 years, both as a player and as a manager: he became the idol of the Kop. In November 1983, he scored his hundredth league goal for Liverpool, the first player to reach that landmark either north or south of the border He won five championship medals and three European Cups before taking over the reins from Joe Fagan in May 1985, in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster With Dalglish as player-manager; Liverpool won the coveted Double in the 1985-86 season.
On the international stage, the player widely considered to be the greatest ever to wear the red of Liverpool also won a record 102 caps for Scotland, scoring 30 goals at international level to match Denis Law’s record.
Forest storm to the championship
Kenny Dalglish had arrived at Anfield in a blaze of pubhcity. There had been less of a fanfare when Paisley signed centre-back Alan Hansen from Par tick Thistle for ?100,000 a couple of months earlier. The 1977-78 season also saw the arrival of a third Scot who would become an Anfield legend. Paisley paid Middlesbrough ?350,000 for midfielder Graeme Souness, who provided skill and steel in the heart of the midfield.
Three quality additions to a European Cup-winning side wasn’t enough for Liverpool to retain the title in 1977-78. The Reds trailed in seven points behind Brian Clough’s newly-promoted Nottingham Forest. Following the Leeds debacle, Clough had been reunited with Peter Taylor and taken over at Forest. The team only went up in third place behind Wolves and Chelsea and were tipped to make a rapid return to Division Two. Instead, Forest made it a Championship and League Cup double, with mighty Liverpool having to settle for second-best in both cases.
Opposite above: Kenny Dalglish moves in to score the goal that put the holders of the title, Ipswich, out of the 1978-79 FA Cup competition. It was Dalglishes second season at Liverpool and he had proved worthy of the record ?440,000 paid to bring the Celtic striker to Anfield as a replacement for Kevin Keegan. In his first season, Dalglish scored 31 goals in 62 appearances for the club.
Opposite below:A Dalglish diving header beats Chelsea's Micky Droy but hits the woodwork in a league game in March during the 1977-78 season when Liverpool turned out runners-up to Nottingham Forest in the championship. Above left: Ipswich's Mick Mills holds up the Cup for the fans after the team's 1-0 win over Arsenal in the 1978 FA Cup Final.
Above right: Just one year later and Arsenal reverse their fortunes to take the Cup to Highbury in a 3-2 win over Manchester United.
Forest lose only three games all season
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