Articles
My Liddell legend
by Ken Rogers of "The Liverpool Echo"
When they talk of greats, Billy gets the vote
Immediately, one of football's perennial debates was revived. Who was the greatest old fashioned winger of them all, Finney of Preston North End or his great friend and rival Stanley Matthews of Blackpool?
You should never be asked to come down one way or the other when you are talking about such household names. I learned very early on in life that there are three things you don't argue about in company . . . religion, football - and sporting legends.
I can recall penning an article some years ago about my all-time hero Muhammad Ali, describing him without a second thought as "The Greatest."
In doing so, I clearly insulted the memory of Rocky Marciano. The "Rock" retired as undefeated heavyweight champion of the world in 1956 after 49 sensational victories, 43 of them knockouts.
I'll take it a stage further and strike a blow for Liverpool. You see, you can't talk about Matthews in particular without speaking about Anfield's very own super hero of the Forties and Fifties, Billy Liddell, who is 76 on Saturday.
In the history of the professional game, there have only been two occasions when a team has taken the field as Great Britain. The first was in 1947 and the second in 1955 with The Rest of Europe providing the opposition in prestigious clashes in Glasgow and Belfast.
Only Liddell and Matthews were selected for both games - a remarkable tribute to the playing ability of Liverpool's Scottish international who joined the Reds in 1938 from unlikely sounding amateurs - Lochgelly Violet.
You cannot exaggerate the stature of the man. He was pacy, strong and possessed an explosive shot. He could play left, right and centre in the front line and was the Reds leading scorer in eight out of nine seasons in the Fifties.
But there was no side to this down-to-earth Scot. Like Finney and Matthews, he was as modest as they come. It is what makes the great stars of the past stand out above some of their modern counterparts. They walked to the game with the fans and socialised with them - men of the people in every sense.
He recalls: "Billy was not just a tremendous footballer, he was a man of real integrity. I remember him telling me about the his first big Scotland game against England in 1948. The match was at Hampden Park and he travelled up to Glasgow with opponent and Mersey rival Joe Mercer of Everton who was the England captain.
"Billy was nervous about the big match. Incredibly, Joe spent the whole journey up north boosting his opponent's confidence. They even went to the pictures together the night before the game. It summed up the spirit of the players of that era."
Liddell figured in 28 internationals, plus those two famous Great Britain games. When he retired in 1961, he became a Justice of the Peace and a bursar at Liverpool University, being a trained accountant.
There was never any need for Billy Liddell to be knighted.
After, all he had a city named after him . . . LIDDELLPOOL
Copyright - the Liverpool Echo
