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footage and all that – had skipper Ron Yeats and co
running around Anfield with a fan-made trophy after
goals from Ian St John, Alf Arrowsmith, Peter Thompson’s
double and Roger Hunt also qualified the Reds for the
European Cup for the first time; the wine to go with the
‘bread and butter’.
While they failed to win any of their remaining three
league matches the gap at the top was still four points
clear of Manchester United.
Season 1964/65 of course saw the long wait for a
maiden FA Cup come to an end and the following
campaign saw the Reds reclaim the league crown from
neighbours Everton while the Blues won the cup.
The last Anfield match of 1965/66 saw goals from Roger
Hunt either side of the break help the Reds beat Chelsea
2-1 and seal title no7, having lead from the front for the last
seven months of the campaign.
Days later the Reds lost a Cup-Winners Cup final to
Borussia Dortmund and then drew their last league match
to Nottingham Forest, finishing six points better off than
second-placed Leeds United.
Fast-forward to 1972/73 and Shankly’s second great
Liverpool team is in its element, winning a league and
UEFA Cup double. The domestic prize went to the final
day, with a goal-less draw against Leicester City at Anfield
enough to win the league by three points after Arsenal
were thrashed 6-1 at West Ham United.
“The fact that everybody said we had already won it put
the tension on the lads,” said the boss. “Even on the front
of the programme it said we were the champions! But
we’ve done it and nobody can take it away from us now.”
Six league championships arrived within the space of
eight incredible years under Bob Paisley after his first
season ended without major honours.
Final-day drama at Molineux in 1975/76 ensued like 19
years earlier when a late fightback saw Kevin Keegan,
John Toshack and Ray Kennedy score in the final 15
minutes to overturn a half-time deficit and beat Wolves
3-1 in front of a rapturous away section to edge QPR out
at the top by a single point.
Two weeks later a second league and UEFA Cup was
won after overcoming Bruges on aggregate. “I pulled no
punches in telling the players what I thought and from
that day we hit a consistent streak which brought us
success,” said Paisley after a slow start to the season.
It wouldn’t be the last time his team rallied to surge to
another championship.
We’ve a few more to get to first. The first back-to-back
titles since the Twenties arrived in 1976/77 – as did a first
European Cup – with a goalless draw at home to West
Ham putting two hands on the trophy with a game to
spare. With no wins in their last four games it meant a
one-point advantage over Man City at the season’s close.
A domestic and European rivalry with Nottingham
Forest saw the two sides exchange league and European
Cups over the next few seasons.
After missing out on the league to Brian Clough’s side
the previous year, Paisley’s Reds made no mistake in
1978/79 – they won the title with a record 68 points, eight
clear of Forest, conceding only 16 times in 42 matches,
and were unbeaten on home soil.
THE FIRST OF SHANKLY’S
THREE TITLES ARRIVED IN
1964, TWO SEASONS AFTER
EARNING PROMOTION AS
RUNAWAY CHAMPIONS,
AND THEY THUMPED
ARSENAL 5-0 TO SECURE IT
Champs of 1963/64 with the
‘Curlett Cup’ – Google it!