Thursday, October 05, 2006

With the hours ticking down to tomorrow's 100 Players Who Shook The Kop grand final, we ask members of staff from Liverpool FC and Liverpoolfc.tv to select who they would choose in their top five.
100 players that shook the Kop


Rafael Benitez
Liverpool FC Manager

The internet is a good thing because it enables supporters from all over the world to follow the club and take part in polls like this.

From my point of view, it’s not easy to select five because I’m young and haven’t seen all of the club’s former players. Maybe there are some I haven’t thought about.

I would select Kenny Dalglish as my first choice because he was a great player with a lot of qualities and then after that, without putting them in order, I’d go for Kevin Keegan, Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler and Ian Rush.

Rick Parry
LFC Chief Executive

Without wanting to list them in any order, these are the names which would make up my top five LFC players.

Kenny Dalglish

Kenny was a magnificent player by any analysis and one of the all-time greats. He was playing in my era as well so he'd have to be in the list.

Ian Callaghan

He was, and still is, a fantastic ambassador for Liverpool Football Club and, for me, epitomised the real values of the club.

Steven Gerrard

I'd usually hesitate to list any current players but Steven has to be in there. He's a great player, he's Liverpool through and through and hopefully he'll be here for many years to come.

Ray Clemence

As an aspiring goalkeeper myself, he was an inspiration to me as a youngster. He was somebody I really looked up to and really admired.

Bruce Grobbelaar

Bruce was a different character to Ray but he was still a great goalkeeper. He needed a big personality to take over from Ray in the Liverpool goal but he did it his own way and made a big impression.

Brian Hall
LFC Public Relations Manager

1. Kenny Dalglish

As a former professional footballer very little ever took me by surprise when watching football matches from the stand. Kenny Dalglish could see a pass, could see a shot that I couldn't see from the stand. Kenny Dalglish was undoubtedly the most amazing footballer I have ever seen at Anfield.

2. Ian Callaghan

Anyone who can play 800 games with a top class club like Liverpool has to be one of the most outstanding players in any list of greats. Not only did Cally play so many games but most of them were outstanding as well. Ian's contribution to the successes of this great club will never be underestimated.

3. Ron Yeats

Bill Shankly's first signing became the cornerstone for all the ambitions that Shanks had for our great club. Ron's contribution was colossul from those wonderful days in the 60's when the club came from the second division to the powerful force in Europe we became. Shanks described Ron as the 'Colossus', few would argue.

4. Ray Clemence

A good pal of mine but also the best goalkeeper that I have ever seen play at Anfield. His contribution to the successes of the club were immense, but as a goalkeeper his contributions were sometimes never properly recognised.

5. Billy Liddell

I never saw him play but the man was a legend and he played an integral part in me becoming a Liverpool player. I can never thank him enough.


Stephen Done
LFC Museum Curator

May I say sincere apologies to the huge numbers of other players who could have - in all honesty - been in this list but these are my top-five Kop shakers.

1. Billy Liddell

For his loyalty, integrity and modesty.

2. Gordon Hodgson

Just a brilliant goalscorer and one of the last of the great, romantic 'all rounders' in sport.

3. Kenny Dalglish

He was just a genius.

4. Matt McQueen

He literally played in all 11 positions and did just about every job within the football club. Truly unique.

5. Elisha Scott

21 years and 52 days in goal! Now that is consistency!

Steve Hunter
Liverpoolfc.tv

1. Kenny Dalglish

Quite simply there will never be another 'King Kenny' for me. A genius on a football pitch and for me the best player the game has ever seen. He saw things on a field other players couldn't see and some of his goals were just out of this world. People say you should never meet your heroes because they fail to live up to your high expectations. Well they are wrong, Kenny is an absolute legend and a great guy. I remember the last day of the standing Kop in 1994 when Kenny's name was announced as he was just about to walk out on the pitch the noise levels shook the Kop to its foundations. The sound barrier was definitely broken that day!

2. Robbie Fowler

I loved Rushie but the shining light in a dark period for the club on the pitch in the 90's was the Toxteth predator Robbie Fowler. Here was a local lad living everyone's dream on the field and scoring goals for fun. A particular favourite goal of mine was when Robbie nutmegged Gary Neville to score at Old Trafford - mind you he's done that a few times since as well! He was a pleasure to watch and his goals deserved to win a title in the Roy Evans era. I can remember being in the Liverpoolfc.tv office devastated when Gerard Houllier sold him to Leeds so it was great to see him return. Fowler's goals have definitely shaken the Kop.

3. Steve McMahon

I just loved watching Steve McMahon and he is definitely one of my favourite Liverpool players of all time. He was so competitive and made some ferocious but fair tackles. Some of the goals he scored from long range were amazing. I remember one against Aston Villa in 1987 at Anfield, one against Manchester United in a 3-3 draw at Anfield and two goals in derby games at Anfield spring to mind. 'Macca' was the rock behind which that wonderful team of 1987-88 was built. The word passion was invented for Macca. People said Vinnie Jones was a hard man. Well, sorry, but he was a pussycat compared to Steve McMahon.

4. Steven Gerrard

A fantastic player and in the dark days of not so long ago he carried the team almost single handedly. His performance in Istanbul was awe-inspiring and the 2006 FA Cup Final will always be now known as the Gerrard Final. A player who has everything in his game, he could go on to achieve anything he wants. Hopefully leading Liverpool to the Premiership title won't be too far away in the not too distant future.

5. Jerzy Dudek

Jerzy, purely for Istanbul. A nice bloke as well and after his well publicised mistakes against Manchester United in league games this was the game where all thought of those Forlan goals in the past were totally obliterated from the memory banks. Dudek was a man possessed in Istanbul. People also tend to forget the save from Schevchenko's free-kick early in the second half when we were still 3-0 down. That was a great save and I remember .tv editor Paul Rogers turning around in the press box and saying to me and my colleague Mark Platt 'We will win this now!" Dudek's performance in the penalty shoot-out was just amazing and I'll never forget that final decisive moment. It had always been my dream to commentate on a major event like the European Cup final and I realised it that night. Thanks Jerzy.

Great Red North @ 4:06 pm

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