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Despite offering Stan Collymore the most lucrative contract in their
history Nottingham Forest were unable to persuade the prolific hitman to
stay at the City Ground, and it was to Liverpool that he took his
prodigious talents. Such talent does not come cheaply and Roy Evans was
forced to part with a British record £8, 500, 000 to get his man. Stan
marked his debut with a goal of typical brilliance - curling a powerful
left foot shot past Kevin Pressman to give Liverpool a 1-0 win over
Sheffield Wednesday and earning himself, in the process, instant acclaim
with the Liverpool faithful.
Thereafter the goals came at a rate of
nearly one every two games including a double in that never to be
forgotten 4-3 victory over Newcastle United in April '96. With the score
level at 3-3 it was Collymore who slammed home the winner in the dying
minutes to settle what has been described as the game of the decade. If
that was a high point for Stan then the low point must have been the
F.A. Cup final defeat to Manchester United. He was largely ineffective
and was replaced by veteran Ian Rush as Liverpool went down to Eric
Cantona's late winner.
Stan's second season at Anfield produced the
reasonable return of twelve League goals but by now there were
murmurings of discontent. He refused to move nearer to Liverpool from
his West Midlands base and Liverpool's patience was clearly beginning to
wear thin with the temperamental striker. When Aston Villa came in with
a £7 milion bid, at the end of the season, the chance of recouping most
of their outlay proved to good to turn down for the Anfield club.
Subsequent events at Villa Park proved that to be a very wise decision. (David Scranage)
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