King Kenny

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" LINK="#FFCC99" ALINK="#FF9966" VLINK="#FF9966">  <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CC3300" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website</B></FONT>     |   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id725.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Spoils of War!">The Spoils of War!</A>   |   <A HREF="id1846.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ray Clemence">Ray Clemence</A>   |   <B>King Kenny</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04658020.png" border=0 width="600" height="2" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> King Kenny</div> <div> <IMG SRC="1f3c892b0.jpg" border=0 width="649" height="811" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="320" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 800 WIDTH="314"><div> And what, you may well ask, has this page got to do with The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website?</div> <bR> <div> Well, three things - his goal against the All Whites in Spain in 1982 (see below) being the second of them!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="65b25960.jpg" border=0 width="293" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> First and foremost, though, Kenny Dalglish is the greatest footballer in the history of the game (at least according to this completely unbiased Liverpool fanatic!!), and, for mine, the footballer who set the standards by which all others are judged.</div> <bR> <div> I was at Anfield for Alan Hansen's testimonial in May, 1988, and Liverpool were playing England, who were preparing for the European Championships later that summer. Half-time, England were leading the greatest football club in the world 1-0, and Ian Rush had already been on the park for fifteen minutes as a substitute for The Reds, replacing John Aldridge.</div> <bR> <div> Out came the teams for the second spell, and on for Peter Beardsley was King Kenny - another life-time ambition realised, namely seeing Dalglish and Rush in tandem for The Reds in the flesh. </div> <bR> <div> Needless to say, the best striking partnership in the business proceeded to expose </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="971" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 134 WIDTH="965"><div> England's shortcomings, and by the final whistle, 'Rushie' had scored twice as The King set up all three of Liverpool's goals at The Kop end, The Red Machine storming home to win 3-2 going away.</div> <bR> <div> While it was 'Jocky''s night, there was no doubting whose appearance on the pitch, and subsequent performance, had made mine - in an unforgettable trip full of high points, there was only one thing which matched this ... being at Anfield on championship day! </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> What follows is my small tribute to the greatest footballer of them all, the undisputed King of the Kop!</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="62e76fa0.jpg" border=0 width="374" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  <IMG SRC="63059fa0.jpg" border=0 width="345" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="632c7fa0.jpg" border=0 width="199" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">          <IMG SRC="634bffa0.jpg" border=0 width="191" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">          <IMG SRC="636a6fa0.jpg" border=0 width="166" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="63859fa0.jpg" border=0 width="345" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">          <IMG SRC="63cf0fa0.jpg" border=0 width="240" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="63eb0fa0.jpg" border=0 width="176" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">          <IMG SRC="64432fa0.jpg" border=0 width="306" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div>           <IMG SRC="648bd5e0.jpg" border=0 width="445" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="602" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1539 WIDTH="596"><div> <IMG SRC="64f12f40.jpg" border=0 width="274" height="500" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0"><B>My award-winning entry from a </B><I><B>Soccer Express</B></I><B> competition in 1986, to commemorate King Kenny's 100th cap for Scotland ...</B></div> <bR> <div> When I think of Kenny Dalglish, dozens of golden memories flash through my mind, and it is very hard to pick out my favourite and most cherished moment of the grand master in action. When one considers the contribution the great man has made to world soccer, it's no wonder!</div> <bR> <div> Many said Pele was the greatest player ever, some Alfredo di Stefano, others George Best and yet more nominated Sir Stanley Matthews for the position. Well, since his debut for Celtic against Raith in the late sixties, Kenny Dalglish has upstaged the lot of them, and no-one can touch him for sheer class, let alone skill.</div> <bR> <div> A quote I read some time ago about Kenny Dalglish summed up his contribution to Celtic, Liverpool and Scotland admirably. "If you have a fleet of ten Jaguars and one Rolls Royce, and you take away the Rolls Royce, you're taking away the touch of class from the fleet of workhorses".</div> <bR> <div> Anyone who argues that that statement does not sum up Kenny Dalglish has a very serious problem, which can only be rectified by looking at Liverpool's performances in various games over the past eight seasons <I>(1977-8 - 1985-6)</I>, featuring Dalglish at his best on the pitch, and Dalglish absent from the pitch through injury or managerial commitments.</div> <bR> <div> Let me tell you, it's an excellent tonic, better even than Jim Beam whiskey!! <I>(The competition prize)</I>.</div> <bR> <div> Former Anfield idol Ray Clemence had this to say about his ex-team-mate, following Liverpool's 1978 European Cup victory over Bruges - "It was the sort of goal not many players would have scored, but it summed up Kenny Dalglish. He sensed what the goalkeeper was going to do, waited for him to dive, and created a gap which was not there while Jensen was standing upright".</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="688b9fa0.jpg" border=0 width="185" height="250" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">Perhaps the mazy dribble and devastating left-foot curling chip at Highbury will be remembered most by Arsenal followers in the 1983-4 season.</div> <bR> <div> Or, lest we forget to mention it, the wrath Dalglish incurred from the supporters of arch-rivals Everton in September 1985, with the twenty-second special - a savagely-struck swerving right-footer which no goalkeeper on Earth could have coped with.</div> <bR> <div> If these examples of goalscoring are too much for those soccer followers whose jealousy I've aroused with thise memorable moments, perhaps I can enlighten you on the other side of the footballing gladiator of the great man of Glasgow - the creation of goals, taken by others, but made by Dalglish.</div> <bR> <div> It is common knowledge that Ian Rush, the game's greatest-ever goal-poacher, acknowledged at least thirty of his forty-nine strikes to the unselfishness and clinical, controlled build-up play generated through the artful dodger filling the number seven shirt throughout 1983-4.</div> <bR> <div> Common knowledge, too, is the fact that Rush's leanest spell of that same season happened to coincide with the enforced absence, through injury, of his able assistant in crime, as Dalglish overcame the cheekbone injury which threatened Liverpool's progress in all competitions.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="65577c80.jpg" border=0 width="119" height="200" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">Eventually, The Reds suffered the indignity of defeat in only one contest, the FA Cup. I'll leave you to guess where the European Cup, Milk Cup and Canon League titles all ended up at the end of 1983-4!!!</div> <bR> <div> Kenny's team-mates were, and are, great, but only because they've been made to look so by the greatest player ever to tread the turf of any soccer pitch anywhere in the world.</div> <bR> <div> Kenny Dalglish, MBE, you are truly the greatest, and long may your reign of terror continue throughout world soccer.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> By the way, if you're wondering what the third reason is, that's easy - it's my website!!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id1863.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Matters Of An Anfield Nature!">Matters Of An Anfield Nature!</A></div> <bR> </BODY>