Scottish football legend Kenny Dalglish has named the most influential figure in Liverpool’s history.
After a memorable eight years at Scottish club Celtic, ‘King Kenny’ signed for Liverpool for a British record transfer fee of around £440,000 in the summer of 1977.
He would go on to make a whopping 515 appearances for Liverpool throughout the 13-years that he spent on Merseyside, scoring a total of 172 goals across all competitions.
Dalglish became a five-time Division One league title winner, as well as a three-time European Cup winner, making him one of the most decorated players to have ever pulled on the red shirt and is widely touted at Liverpool’s greatest ever player.
The Scottish great also had two separate spells as Liverpool manager, although his second spell came to an unfortunate end at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season following a poor run of results.
Liverpool have had many important figures throughout their history, but even with his own place secured in club folklore, Dalglish insists that one figure stands above the rest.
Speaking to the SPORTbible, Dalglish made no mistake in naming former manager Bill Shankly as the most important figure in Liverpool’s long and storied history.
“Without Shanks, none of us would have been there. Liverpool wouldn’t be where it is.”
Shankly joined Liverpool back in 1959, taking over a club that was languishing in the Second Division, and would go on to spend 15 transformative years at Anfield.
The legendary Scot laid the foundations for Liverpool’s modern identity, building the culture, standards and mentality that his successor Bob Paisley would later turn into an unprecedented period of dominance.
Paisley led Liverpool to no fewer than six Division One league titles during his nine-year reign as manager, as well as three European Cups, cementing his status as one of the greatest managers of all time and the most decorated in English football history.
