Ian RUSH

The leading goalscorer in Liverpool's history, Ian Rush joined the club as a 19-year-old from Chester City in May 1980, the fee of £300, 000 a British record at the time for a teenager. After a slow start to his Anfield career he would go on to terrorise defences at home and abroad for well over a decade, establishing himself as a goalscoring legend for both club and country. A deadly finisher with either foot, he used his sizzling pace and clever movement to get into dangerous positions, often latching on to passes from fellow striker Kenny Dalglish, with whom he formed one of the most outstanding partnerships ever seen in European football.

The complete centre forward, Ian was also adept at holding the ball up and bringing team-mates into the game and formed the first line of Liverpool's defence, constantly harrying opposition defenders when they tried to initiate attacks. Brought along slowly by manager Bob Paisley, Rush made his debut in a 1-1 League draw away to Ipswich Town on December 13th 1980 and did not reappear until April 1st 1981, helping the Reds win the League Cup for the first time with a 2-1 defeat of West Ham United in the replayed final at Villa Park. He ended the season with nine appearances in all competitions but, clearly struggling to adapt to his new environment, failed to find the net in any of them. Things were to change, however, early in the following season.

On his 10th appearance for the club, Ian finally broke his duck, scoring against Finnish side Oulu Palloseura in a European Cup 1st round 2nd leg tie at Anfield on September 30th 1981. Coming on as a 64th minute substitute (for striker David Johnson), he netted from close range only three minutes later as Liverpool eased to a 7-0 win (8-0 on aggregate). Rush built on this in his first League start that term, grabbing a brace as Leeds United were beaten 3-0 at Anfield on October 10th, and soon established himself in the side, starting all but two of the Reds' remaining 33 League games.

Often supplied by the excellent Dalglish, Ian ended the campaign with 17 goals from 32 League games, this excellent return making him the club's top scorer and helping to seal a record 13th championship title. His strike rate in other competitions was even more impressive, 13 goals in 17 games, the most important coming in the League Cup Final at Wembley on March 13th, Liverpool defeating Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 after extra-time. With 30 goals in 49 games and two winner's medals in the bag, 'Rushie' had every reason to be happy with his season's work. (Martin Greensill)

The Dalglish-Rush partnership continued to flourish in season 1982-83 as Liverpool strove to retain their League title. Several minor niggles restricted Ian to 34 League appearances but he still weighed in with the impressive return of 24 goals, including four in a 5-0 drubbing of local rivals Everton at Goodison Park on November 6th and hat-tricks against both Coventry City, in a 3-0 home win a week later, and Notts County, in a 5-1 victory at Anfield on New Years Day 1983. With Dalglish also in fine goalscoring form (the Scot struck 18 times in the League) and the defence very solid, Liverpool won the title easily, completing a domestic double after winning the League Cup for the third season in a row (with a 2-1 victory over Manchester United at Wembley on March 26th).

Ian scored seven times in 17 other competitions as he took his medal tally to four in just three seasons and, to round off an excellent campaign, he received the Professional Football Association's Young Player of the Award. Change was in the air at Anfield that summer, Bob Paisley retiring in May 1983 after nine glorious seasons as manager. He was succeeded by Joe Fagan, a fellow product of the famous Anfield boot room, who ensured a seamless transition and put the club on course for an historic 1983-84 campaign.

Rushie started it in fine style, scoring three goals in his first four League games, before hitting a fantastic five as Luton Town were swept aside 6-0 at Anfield on October 29th. He also grabbed all three in a 3-1 win at Aston Villa in January 1984 and four in a 5-0 pasting of Coventry City at Anfield in May, ending the season with 32 goals (including just one penalty) from 41 games. He was top scorer in Division One as Liverpool eased to a record 15th title. That was the Reds second trophy of the season as they had already beaten Everton in the Milk Cup final (1-0 in a replay on March 28th) to claim a version of the League Cup for the fourth year in a row.

Having reached the European Cup final, they now had the chance to win an unprecedented treble but, bizarrely, had to face AS Roma on the Italian side's home ground, the Olympic Stadium in Rome, on May 30th. After a 1-1 draw (the sequence of pictures above show Ian looking on as Phil Neal fires Liverpool 1-0 in front), the final went to a penalty shootout, Rush firing home his spot-kick to help the Reds win 4-2. He had collected three medals as Liverpool were crowned champions of Europe for the fourth time in seven years, completing a historic League-European Cup-Milk Cup treble. But that was not all as Ian also claimed three top awards: the PFA Player of the Year, the Football Writers' Association's Player of the Year and, for being the leading scorer in Europe's top divisions, the Golden Shoe. In a remarkable season, Ian had scored 49 goals in 65 competitive matches, a truly outstanding performance. (Martin Greensill)

Ian began the 1984-85 season in an unfortunate way, picking up an injury in the first game (a 1-0 defeat by Everton in the Charity Shield at Wembley on August 18th), and was sidelined for two months. However, he showed he had not lost his goalscoring touch by grabbing a hat-trick in only his second game back, a 3-1 defeat of Portuguese giants Benfica in a European Cup 2nd round 1st leg tie at Anfield on October 24th. His return was much needed, Liverpool having made their worst start to a season in many years, dropping to an unheard of 18th place in the table after winning only two of their first 11 League games.

With Ian contributing 14 goals in his 28 League appearances (including a brace in a 4-0 home win over Norwich City in January 1985), the Reds eventually found some form but could still finish only third in the table, 15 points adrift of champions Everton. Rushie made 16 appearances in other competitions, his 12 goals helping Liverpool reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup (where they lost 2-1 to Manchester United in a replay) and the final of the European Cup (a 1-0 defeat by Juventus), a match shrouded in tragedy after the deaths of 39 of the Italian side's fans in the Heysel Stadium disaster. Rush's strike partner Kenny Dalglish took over as player-manger in the wake of Heysel (former boss Joe Fagan having retired) and played only 17 league games in the 1985-86 season, meaning that Ian was sometimes paired with Paul Walsh, a young striker signed from Luton Town in 1984.

Despite the frequent changes, Rush continued to find the net on a regular basis, scoring 23 times in 40 League games, including a brace in a 5-0 home win against Ipswich Town in August and a hat-trick in a 6-0 victory over Oxford United at Anfield in March. This defeat of Oxford was one of a run of 11 wins and a draw in Liverpool's last 12 League games, a late surge which saw them collect a record 16th title. Ian fired home 11 goals in 16 other competitive matches, most notably a brace in the FA Cup final on May 10th, the Reds defeating Everton 3-1 at Wembley to complete the first League Championship-FA Cup double in the club's 94-year history. (Martin Greensill)

In the summer of 1986, Rushie made the shock announcement that he was going to try his luck in Italian football. A transfer deal was agreed with Juventus (part of the healing process after Heysel) for a British record fee of £3.2m, though Ian would spend another season at Anfield before joining the Italian giants. Determined to end his last season in style, Rush started the League campaign with a brace in a 2-0 home win against Newcastle United and went on to score 30 League goals (from 42 games), including a hat-trick in 4-3 home win against Leicester City in February and a brace in a 3-1 defeat of Everton at Anfield in April.

However, despite his goalscoring exploits, Liverpool could only finish runners-up to Everton in the League. Ian also struck 10 times in 14 other competitive matches but, to complete a disappointing season for the club, Liverpool went out in the 3rd round of the FA Cup and lost the League Cup final to Arsenal. Rush had opened the scoring in that final but two goals from Charlie Nicholas gave the Gunners a 2-1 victory, a turnaround that put an end to Liverpool's amazing streak of not losing in 145 games in which Rush had scored. Nevertheless, Ian could leave the club on a personal high, having scored 207 goals in only 331 games, a remarkable strike rate at the highest level of the game. Rush spent the 1987-88 season with Juventus but his spell there was an unhappy one with goals hard to come by (only eight in the League) and his team struggling for form.

He also failed to adapt off the field ('It was like living in a foreign country', he later infamously remarked!) and in August 1988 he returned to Anfield in a £2.8m deal. Not surprisingly, once back in the side Ian took time to find his old scoring touch and form a productive partnership with fellow striker John Aldridge (brought in to replace him in 1987). He scored only six goals in his first 18 League games and then missed three months of the season after a knee operation. By the time of his return to the side in early May 1989, the Reds were on course for a League/FA Cup double - in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster of April 16th that resulted in the tragic deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.

The first leg was completed on May 20th, when in the all-Merseyside FA Cup final at an emotional Wembley, Ian came off the subs' bench to score twice (the photo above shows Rush celebrating with John Barnes after scoring the winning goal) in extra-time to give Liverpool a 3-2 win over Everton. Three days later, Rushie scored his seventh and last League goal of a troubled campaign (from 24 games) in a 5-1 home win over West Ham United, a result that meant to win the League and complete the double, Liverpool only needed to avoid a two-goal defeat at home to Arsenal in the last game of the season on May 26th. The visitors took a 1-0 lead early in the second half and then, in an incredible finale, Michael Thomas scored for Arsenal in injury time as the Gunners won 2-0 to snatch the championship from Liverpool's grasp. Rush had ended his first back in British football with 11 goals from 32 competitive games, a decent return from a campaign marred by injury and tragedy. (Martin Greensill)