Ex-Red: Ronnie Whelan

Skilful Irishman Ronnie Whelan was one of Liverpool’s most important players during the 1980′s. He started the decade as a teenager in the reserves and finished it as first team captain lifting the F.A. Cup.

Ronnie was born in 1961 in Dublin, Ireland. His father Ronnie Senior was also a professional footballer who played in Ireland for St Patrick’s Athletic and the national side. His brother Paul was also a decent player and turned out for the famous Shamrock Rovers and Bohemian FC.

Ronnie was signed by Bob Paisley in 1979 for £35,000.00 from Dublin side Home Farm FC. After two years in the reserves he made his first team debut in April 1981 against Stoke City. Ronnie made an instant impression by scoring in the 27th minute. This was to be his only appearance in the first team for the remainder of the season.

During the 1981/82 season Ronnie became a regular on the left flank signalling the end of Ray Kennedy’s Anfield career. It was a great season for him as he helped Liverpool to the League Championship. A personal hilight for Ronnie came in the 1982 League Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspur. He scored two goals in a 3 ‘“ 1 victory to help the Reds lift the trophy. One year later Ronnie scored again in the League Cup Final, this time in a 2 ‘“ 1 victory against Man Utd. Ronnie curled in the winner late in extra time with a long range classic.

By this time Ronnie was well and truly settled in the side on the left wing. Despite suffering with injury, he played a major part in the 1983/84 season as Liverpool won the treble of League Championship, League Cup and European Cup. The following season was a downer for the Reds as the season ended without silverware and the Heysel disaster.

With Kenny Dalglish as player manager, Ronnie had a great season as we won the clubs first League and F.A. Cup double in 1985/86. He had a marvellous game in the all Merseyside F.A. Cup Final against Everton in 1986. He set up two goals in the game including a great ball to Ian Rush for the third after Jan Molby’s superb blind pass. The following season ended trophyless with Everton winning the League Championship. The awesome season of 1987/88 saw Ronnie switching to central midfield when John Barnes took over on the left wing. Unfortunately he ended up losing his place through injury to Nigel Spackman early in the campaign. He was able to win back his place later in the season but unfortunately he wasn’t picked for the 1988 F.A. Cup Final defeat against Wimbledon. It’s a shame Ronnie suffered the injury that season as his skill in midfield would have been a perfect compliment to the hard tackling Steve McMahon in the centre.

At the end of that season Ronnie was picked by Jack Charlton for the Ireland squad at the 1988 European Championships in West Germany. He was chosen alongside fellow Reds John Aldridge and Ray Houghton. He played in the opening game in which they defeated England in a major upset from a goal from Houghton. The second match of the tournament was against Russia and contained Ronnie’s finest moment in the green shirt. He scored an absolutely spectacular long range volley in a 1- 1 draw. I remember seeing the goal live at the time and thinking it was amazing. I watched it again last night for the first time in nineteen years. Past experience has taught me that great memorable goals haven’t been as good when I’ve seen them years later. However this goal by Ronnie is actually better than I remember it, and it’s one I could watch over and over again. Unfortunately Ireland were defeated in the final group game by the eventual winners, Holland. However their performance in this tournament was a platform they used to gain further success at the following two World Cups in 1990 and 1994.

In the 1988/89 season Ronnie was given the captains armband when Alan Hansen suffered a long term injury. He took on this role with great pride and played superbly as Liverpool began to chase another double. Once Hansen returned to the side Ronnie was allowed to remain as captain in order to maintain continuity. After the tragedy at Hillsborough Ronnie led by example as the players rallied around looking after the families of the victims. His proudest moment as a Liverpool player came when he captained the club in the emotional F.A. Cup Final against Everton. He went on to lift the famous trophy after a 3 ‘“ 2 victory in extra time with two Ian Rush goals. Unfortunately he was denied the chance to lift the League Championship trophy. We lost the title on a Friday night at Anfield in the final game of the season, when an exhausted Liverpool side had their hearts broken in the dying seconds by Michael Thomas and Arsenal.

Ronnie helped the side to win the League again in 1990 and this was his last full season as a Liverpool player. He was involved in a very famous moment in early 1990 when he scored an amazing own goal at Old Trafford. There wasn’t a Man Utd player anywhere near him and he somehow overhit a backpass from thirty yards that flew over Bruce Grobbelaar’s head and into the net. He hit it so sweetly and I still can’t believe it to this day. It remains one of the most bizarre own goals ever scored. Fortunately we still managed to win the game 2 ‘“ 1 thanks to John Barnes who scored a different kind of wonder goal after a solo run through most of Man Utd’s half of the pitch.

During the following four seasons he was struck down with a lot of injuries which restricted his appearances. There was still time for one last major contribution when he struck the equaliser in the 1992 F.A. Cup semi final against Portsmouth. Liverpool went on to win in a penalty shoot out to reach the final against second division Sunderland. In a cruel twist he was injured again shortly after this game and was forced to miss the final which we won 2 ‘“ 0.

After two more seasons of suffering through injuries Ronnie left Liverpool and joined Southend Utd in 1994. He became the manager in 1995 and spent two seasons there before managing clubs in Greece and Cyprus. He managed Apollon Limasoll and Olympiakos Nicosia in Cyprus and then went on to his greatest success in management with the Greek side Panionios. In 1999 he led Panionios to the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup where they were defeated by the Italian side Lazio. Ronnie is still involved with Liverpool F.C making regular appearances on the official club website and representing the club as an ex player. He also plays regularly for the legends team in indoor tournaments. Ronnie combines his work for Liverpool with TV punditry and his regular gigs on the after dinner speaking circuit.

Ronnie Whelan remains one of the most popular Liverpool players from the 1980′s and is almost always remembered with great fondness. This was reflected in his respectable placing of number 30 in the series ‘˜100 Players Who Shook the Kop’.

Ste Speed

Classic Clips

.