Alf Hobson

Alfred Hobson was Liverpool's goalkeeper at the start of the 1936/37 season and played in the first 26 games of that campaign before being replaced by Arthur Riley after the club's worst run of the season, seven matches during December and January during which only a single League point was won and Hobson had to pick the ball out of his net 17 times! His final game in this terrible run was a 3-0 defeat to Norwich where he conceded a disastrous goal. He kicked the ball upfield where Scott, who was in the centre circle, returned it straight back to him. As Hobson was struggling to recover the ball went through his legs and at a "snail-like pace" rolled over the line as poor Hobson could only watch on being stuck in the mud. South Africans Riley and Kemp shared the goalkeeping duties the next season, with Hobson playing just once, at Charlton in the middle of January 1938. Hobson played 171 games for Liverpool in wartime and returned to Liverpool's first team in an FA Cup fourth round tie at Burnden Park, Bolton eight years after making his last competitive appearance for Liverpool. Sadly it was not a happy experience for him or his colleagues as Liverpool were thrashed 5-0. FA Cup matches were played over two legs in the first season after the war and by the time Bolton visited Anfield just four days later, Fred Nickson was wearing the goalkeeper's jersey.

Hobson passed away on 21 February 2004 and was at that point the oldest surviving Liverpool player, 90 years of age. LFC.tv had made contact with Hobson's family up in the north-east and were in the process of arranging an interview when his daughter Susan informed them of their sad loss. Susan said her father had been eagerly looking forward to speaking to LFC.tv and that he was very proud of his connections with Liverpool Football Club: "There was only one Alf Hobson. He was a great man who followed Liverpool right to the end. He never forgot his days at Anfield and through all the years he'd proudly kept his club blazer with the Liver Bird emblem on it," she said. "He would always look out for Liverpool's result and he was delighted to know that someone from the club had been in touch just before he passed away. His funeral is on Friday and he'll be surrounded by red and white."