Our 100 Days began last June, we have recalled most of the emotion-charged nights, the trophies that have been won and lost by a single goal, the dramatic days that propelled the club to unparalleled glory at home and abroad, the tears that have been shed by bitter disappointments as well as the bitter failures, the heart breaking disasters, the goals which have entered the game’s mythology to become shared treasures or moments or finals which will be revered by fans never to be forgotten.

Over the month of June, The TIA Panel which consisted of TIA Columnists Jim Gibson, Mark Broomy, Johnathan Rimmer and Scrummie voted and narrowed down their 100 Days they’ll Remember all their lives…..

Here’s the final countdown from 100 to 1, click on the individual links for articles…..

# 100 Gerrard Meets The Queen

#99 Roger Hunt’s Testimonial

#98 John Barnes Control, Pace Skill and Strength v QPR

#97 Michael’s Wondergoal

#96 1996 FA Youth Cup Final

#95 Liverpool 6-5 Newcastle

#94 McManaman’s Wondergoal against Celtic

#93 Risse’s Thunderbolt Free Kick

#92 Our Seventh League Cup

#91 The 1915 Betting Scandal

#90 Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool

#89 Worcester City 2-1 Liverpool in 1959

#88 The Day they wore crem suits at Wembley

#87 The 1974 Charity Shield

#86 Liverpool 10-0 Dundalk

#85 Mark Walters 83rd Minute Strike

#84 The Day Michael Owen left Liverpool

#83 Our First Ever FA Cup Final

#82 Roger Hunt’s Testimonial

#81 Robbies 5 goal Thriller

#80 The night Alun Evans grabbed all the Headlines

#79 Take a walk around my centre half, He’s a colossus!

# 78 The Day Gerrard Houllier Arrived

#77 – The Night Anfield was covered in a blanket of snow

#76 McAllisters Merseyside Strike

#75 Liverpool 4-0 Real Madrid

#74 The 2001 Super Cup

#73 McManamans Man of the Match Display

#72 Christ son, you look about seven foot tall

#71 Stubbins spectacular diving header in the Snow

#70 The magical night in the Nou Camp

#69 Liverpool 7-0 Oulu Palloseura

#68 The Day Hicks and Gillette took over

#67 The Chairman Mao Speech

#66 The Day Paisley and Liddell made their League Debuts

#65 The 1966 Charity Shield

#64 The 1971 FA Cup Final

# 63 The 1983 Milk Cup Final

#62 Kennys Last game as manager

#61 Ian St Johns Debut

#60 The glory that is Rome

#59 The 1979 Charity Shield

#58 Reds defeated in Athens final

#57 The 1965 Homecoming

#56 Liverpool 2-1 Juventus

#55 The Night Liverpool won two Cups

#54 Liverpools four goals at Old Trafford

#53 The 1982 League Cup Final

#52 The Field off Anfield Road

#51 Houlliers Roma Return

#50 Fans show the world The Truth

#49 The 1992 FA Cup Final

#48 Liverpool 9-0 Crystal Palace

#47 Robbie Fowlers Premier League record

#46 The Homecoming of all Homecomings

#45 Robbie Fowler’s final farewell

#44 The Day Rafael Benitez arrived

#43 Kevin Keegans Debut

#42 Robbie Fowlers Anfield Return

#41 Howard Gayles inspirational Performance

#40 The Day Torres Arrived

#39 The 1974 FA Cup Final

#38 The 1899 Title Decider

#37 Rush’s Merseyside Four

#36 Garcia’s European Semi-Final

#35 Michael Thomas silences the Kop

#34 Liverpool’s First Ever Game

#33 The 1986 FA Cup Final

#32 Beating Spurs 7-0

#31 Celtic 1966 Semi-Final 2nd Leg

#30 The Kops Last Stand

#29 The Day we won our 7th League Title

#28 The 1961/62 Second Division Champions

#27 Liverpool 11-0 Stromsgodset

#26 The Day King Kenny First Arrived

#25 The 1965 Inter Milan Semi Final

#24 No. 24 – Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle

#23 Our Ninth League Title

#22 Liverpool 3 – 1 Olympiakos

#21 The 2001 FA Cup Final

#20 The Gerrard Final

#19 Our 16th League Title

#18 Liverpool 5 – 0 Nottingham Forest

#17 The 2001 UEFA Cup Final

#16 The Day Bill Shankly Arrived

#15 Liverpool 3 – 2 FC Bruges

#14 Liverpool 3-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach

#13 Our first ever League Championship

#12 The 1965 FA Cup Final

#11 The 1989 FA Cup Final

#10 The Day Bill Shankly Resigned

#9 Our Third European Cup

#8 Super Sub David Fairclough

#7 The Day Liverpool Football Club was Formed

#6 The 1978 European Cup Final

#5 The 1984 European Cup Final

#4 Istanbul 2005

#3 The 1977 European Cup Final

#2 The Heysel Disaster

#1 The Hillsborough disaster

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.TIA’s 100 Days we’ll Remember all our Lives… Hopefully we’ve included your Top 100 moments and hopefully you have enjoyed counting down ‘our’ Top 100 with us!

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The events at Hillsborough on April 15th is a day we’ll never ever forget but the aftermath – with supporters, players and LFC comforting one another – highlighted why we all support Liverpool Football Club.

Here TIA Columnist Simon Pearce reflects on April 15th, 1989, the scene of the most horrific football disaster the English game has ever seen…

“April 15th 1989. Should have been a happy day really. A beautiful spring day. Sun shining brightly. And thousands upon thousands of Liverpool fans from all over the country travelling to Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield to watch their team play Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup Semi Final match. 96 of them never came home.

I could wax lyrical about this over a dozen A4 sides of paper, but it’s only supposed to be a short article, so I’ll keep it brief. Liverpool fans were herded like cattle on that day, by police who had no idea of what they were doing. If they had set things up as they had the previous season, things might have been ok, but no. New men in charge that really had no idea. The pens were overcrowded. Empty areas of the Leppings Lane stand were being ignored. Police were ignoring shouts for help, ambulances were being kept off the pitch, the fire brigade were called, then turned away.

Fans were trying to get out, and beaten back. The call was wrongly made as crowd disturbance and fighting, but in reality it was anything but. Fans did manage to make it over the top of the wire fencing. Some fans were being pulled into the upper tier. Eventually, the pens came down.

After 6 minutes, the game was stopped, fans sprawled onto the pitch, and advertising hoardings were pulled down to be used as makeshift stretchers. Liverpool fans were doing more to help each other, than any of the police were doing. The gym became a morgue.

The police eventually stopped acting like headless chickens and began to help, once they realised the true horror of what was going on. Yet still, their senior officers were trying to pretend none of this was happening. Junior officers were being told not to record anything in their notebooks. The cover up had begun.

April 15th 1989. Should have been a happy day really. A beautiful spring day. Sun shining brightly. Without a care in the world, and no idea of what was about to transpire, thousands upon thousands of Liverpool fans happily travelling simply to watch a football match. Unfortunately 96 of them never came home..”

In memory of the 96 who died, April 15th 1989. May they rest in peace and never be forgotten.
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*****

Days we’ll Remember all our Lives 100 – 1.

Our 100 Days began last June, we have recalled most of the emotion-charged nights, the trophies that have been won and lost by a single goal, the dramatic days that propelled the club to unparallelled glory at home and abroad, the tears that have been shed by bitter disappointments as well as the bitter failures, the heart breaking disasters, the goals which have entered the game’s mythology to become shared treasures or moments or finals which will be revered by fans never to be forgotten.

The full final countdown of our 100 Days will be posted on thisisanfield.com tomorrow morning….

May 29th remains a day of remembrance in Memoria e Amicizia, in Memory and Friendship for both Juventus and Liverpool supporters.

On 29 May 1985, 39 football fans died when a wall collapsed at the Heysel stadium in Belgium.

What should have been one of the greatest nights in the club’s history turned into a nightmare. Instead of leaving Brussels having seen our team lift a fifth European Cup, Liverpool supporters travelled back to England having witnessed the deaths of 38 Italians and one Belgian.

Aside from the fact that the stadium appeared to be crumbling, Liverpool’s main concern was that there was to be a neutral section of the ground set aside for football fans from Belgium. An hour before the game was due to kick off eye witnesses recalled missiles being thrown from the Italian fans before several fans in the Liverpool section began to run towards them.

Unable to escape, the crowd in the ‘neutral’ section fled towards the far wall, which collapsed under the mounting pressure. Thirty-nine football supporters died where they fell, mostly Italians, and English clubs were susequently banned from European competition for five years, with Liverpool receiving an additional two-year ban.

Dalglish speaking to the official Liverpool website admitted that it wasn’t until the following morning that the Liverpool players finally realised exactly what had happened inside the stadium.

“We saw the Italian fans crying, and they were banging on the side of our bus when we left the hotel,” he recalls. “When we left Brussels, the Italians were angry, understandably so; 39 of their friends had died. I remember well one Italian man, who had his face right up against the window where I was sitting. He was crying and screaming. You feel for anybody who loses someone in those circumstances. You go along to watch a game. You don’t go along expecting that sort of ending, do you? Football’s not that important. No game of football is worth that. Everything else pales into insignificance.”

Here, TIA Columnist Jim Gibson recalls our European Cup victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, a historic night when Liverpool captured the most prized club trophy in world football and also an emotional night with Tommy Smith making his farewell appearance before retirement and Kevin Keegan doing the same before his move to SV Hamburg…

“Every minute we do things that define the next hour. Every hour we do thnigs that define our day. There are days that define the next month or year. But there are moments in life that define everything: When Emlym Hughes, smile broader than the mersey, picked up big ears, on a warm summers night in 1977,and hoisted it in the air, a hundred different moments and strands had come together at once. Liverpool had climbed the highest mountain in football and were crowned as the kings of europe and the kings of football.

Liverpool had arrived top of the bill on the world stage and is so doing, this one moment signalled Liverpool’s dominance of British and European football for the next 15 years, and defined the next 28 years which ended in Istanbul where Steven Gerrard picked up that very same trophy to take home forever. But Im getting ahead of myself.

The formation of Liverpool football club, the buying of anfield, the all red strip and the championship wins: Many moments lead to that May night in Rome in 1977. But the seeds we sown back in 1965 by scotsman who more than anyone, was responsible for that night. He bought most of the team that played that night, but it was his vision for Liverpool that defined the club.

“I want to build a team that’s invincible, so that they have to send a team from bloody Mars to beat us.” And that is what Shankly did. In our first ever European cup competition in 1965, we lost to the eventual winners Inter Milan in the semi finals. We were the better team and the referee has since admitted to being bribed. In short: The European cup was stolen for us then. But Shanks still had a mission. In 1973 and in 1976 we won the UEFA cup. Which some say was just as hard a tournament back then. So the 1977 was a kind of treble, and a kind of revenge, but more than anything, the moment Liverpool become truly great.

The amazing thing about the team that night was that it was built on a shoestring budget from almost totally unknown players: Ray Clemence,19 (Scunthorpe), Phil Neal (Northampton), Emlyn Hughes (Blackpool), Joey Jones (Wrexham), Kevin Keegan (Scunthorpe) were all unknowns signed from lower league clubs very cheaply. Tommy Smith and Ian Callaghan were products of the club, Case and Hieghway were signed as young amateurs. Only Ray Kennedy (Arsenal) and Terry McDermott (Newcastle) came from the same league and cost money !!!

Terry McDermott (LFC player 1974-82) speaking to the offficial Liverpool website: “Rome will never fade from my memory. I’ll always remember it until the day I die, walking out into the stadium and seeing the red and white chequered flags, I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve never seen anything again since. It was just atmosphere and an incredible feeling to see those fans. There must have been at least 30,000 Scousers there and it was just phenomenal. We walked on to the pitch about an hour before and thought ‘Christ, how can we get beat for these lot’ and obviously we didn’t.”

Emlyn Hughes (LFC player & captain 1967-79):”I remember walking out onto the pitch before the game and I thought to myself ‘Jesus Christ we’re back in Liverpool!’”

Among the mass of flags that greeted the Liverpool players the most eye-catching was without doubt the one in tribute to the European heroics of popular full-back Joey Jones. With reference to the games against St Etienne, Zurich and now the final against Moenchengladbach it read – Joey ate the Frogs’ Legs, Made the Swiss roll, Now he’s Munching-Gladbach.

Against a Borussia side that included established international players like Vogts, Bonhof, Heynckes and Simonsen the task facing Liverpool was an almighty one but with such fanatical support ringing in their ears they took to the field in confident mood and took the lead through Terry McDermott midway through the first half.

Tommy Smith speaking to the offficial Liverpool website: We got out there and it was untrue and I think on that night, we not so much became a European side, but we played like a European side. Terry McDermott’s first goal was outstanding. The little one-two, bang, bang, bang and he lifts it over the goalkeeper. Absolutely brilliant.

Terry McDermott speaking to the offficial Liverpool website: “My goal I remember perfectly well. I’ve seen it that many times on television. Although it wasn’t the best, it was the most important. Cally passed the ball to Heighway and he’s played a great through ball to pick out my run. I’ve got Wolfgang Kneib – he was about 9ft 2in – running out at me. I thought, ‘Aye aye, hit it before he comes and clatters me.’ It could have gone anywhere, but it went in the back of the net.”

Borussia levelled early in the second half but the game was turned on its head when Tommy Smith nodded home from a corner just after the hour mark. With eight minutes remaining Kevin Keegan, playing the game of his life, picked up the ball just over the halfway line and, with his shadow Bertie Vogts trailing in his wake, embarked on a surging run that took him to within shooting distance of the Borussia goal. As he teed up his shot from 12-yards out Vogts predictably sent him sprawling to the turf. It was as clear-cut a penalty you’ll ever see. Referee Mr Wurtz had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and up stepped Phil Neal to seal Liverpool Football Club’s most momentous triumph.

This was the moment the club had strived for since that Sunday afternoon back in August 1964 when they set off on their first ever European excursion to Reykjavik and for Bob Paisley, the longest serving member of the Anfield staff it was the ultimate triumph.

Bob Paisley (LFC manager 1974-83): To come away from Wembley (Cup final) and play like that was a feat in itself. Then our spirit was further tested when we made a mistake and gave away a brilliantly taken goal. Their response speaks volumes for the players and shows just what great professionals they are. We’ve done the country proud and this is my greatest moment.

Success in Rome was the fulfilment of a 13-year odyssey for players, staff and fans alike.

Liverpool FC – Borussia M’gladbach 3:1 (1:0)

20:30 – 25/05/1977, Stadio Olimpico (Rome)
European Champions’ Cup 1976-1977 Final

1:0 Terry McDermott (28)
1:1 Allan Simonsen (51)
2:1 Tommy Smith (65)
3:1 Phil Neal (83 Pen)

Liverpools Team : Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Tommy Smith, Emlyn Hughes (c), Joey Jones, Jimmy Case, Terry McDermott, Ian Callaghan, Ray Kennedy, Kevin Keegan, Steve Heighway.

One of the most incredible nights in this club’s illustrious history Liverpool reclaimed their crown as Kings of Europe after miraculously overcoming a 3-0 half-time deficit to defeat AC Milan at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.

Neil Dunkin, author of Anfield Of Dreams: A Kopite’s Odyssey From The Second Division To Sublime Istanbul retold his experience of travelling to Istanbul and the night of fact, fable, fairytale, fantasy and fiction in our Kop Treasures section on TIA…

Written by Neil Dunkin

Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan
(3-2 on penalties)
UEFA Champions League Final 2004-05
Date: 25th May 2005
Venue: Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul
Attendance: 70,024

Two hours before kick-off, I entered the Ataturk Stadium with my son Russ, next to the VIP entrance where cries of “Diego, Diego” from Italians alerted us to Maradona’s presence. He was chatting to admirers and looked considerably slimmer, fitter and smaller than the 20-stone tub of lard that had filled the front pages of newspapers.

Shunning the offer of his trademark “El 10″ autograph (know where you can stick your hand, Diego Armando), we toiled up steps higher than our old Kop’s on Walton Breck Road to the top of the West stand. We found ourselves above the media section, halfway line below, affording a grand overview of the stadium, although not quite in the different time zone from the pitch that one Galatasaray supporter had warned us about. Despite our early arrival, the waiting hours raced by until three sides of the stadium were saturated with Liverpudlians and both teams walked out for the 9.45pm kick-off. By now I was feeling queasy, not from the altitude but the excitement.

To everyone’s surprise, Kewell was in the starting line-up – a bold stroke by Rafa who had noted how PSV’s wingers ran Milan ragged in the semi-final. The scene is set for a Reds triumph until 53 seconds of the match have elapsed.

AC mount their first attack, Traore commits a clumsy foul and Maldini volleys the free kick in. The quickest goal ever in the Champions Cup, in Maldini’s seventh final. Bit of a choker.

Jose Mourinho has declared the Reds will have no chance if they concede first. Now we’ll see – and worse is coming. Obviously not 100 per cent fit, Kewell has to go off, replaced by Smicer who can only stand and admire Milan’s sumptuous football, orchestrated by Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, alias Kaká. Ghosting through our defence in their all-white change strip, the Rossoneri set up Crespo twice to make it 3-0. A treble whammy.

We are being outclassed and when the ball strikes Nesta’s elbow as he lies on the grass, Baros makes a nonsensical penalty appeal. That sums up our desperation. Beforehand, squinting through my red-tinted glasses, I believed we were destined to win; by the half-time whistle, the Fates have deserted us. Conscious that in three finals, against Ajax, Barcelona and Steaua Bucharest, AC prevailed 4-0, I dread a worse humiliation in the second half… 5-0, 6-0, a record thrashing.

I start praying. Come on, lads. Get a goal, just one. Make the scoreline respectable, give us some pride, then we can put it down to experience and go home. My stream of introspection is halted by the singing of a hymn. I’ve no inkling where it begins – North, West or East stands – but it radiates into the black ether, making time stand still as 40,000 lives are condensed into three metaphysical minutes. From the core of their being, those sentimental, self-pitying, maudlin, hooked-on-grief Liverpudlians begin a You’ll Never Walk Alone like I’ve only heard once before, at the FA Cup final with Everton after Hillsborough.

Not louder than ever, not more passionately, but with a visceral, ethereal, spiritual intensity that transcends the moment. Every line of its lyrics resonates with meaning, kindling hope in our hearts, reassuring us that a golden sky and the silver song of a lark will vanquish the dark and the storm. With one voice, 40,000 believers are combining to articulate their dream and the world is bearing witness.

A tear-in-the-eye declaration, a defiant throw of the dice, further testimony to Liverpudlians’ “strange brilliance”, in Paul McCartney’s perceptive words. We might be down and out but our Scouse spirit refuses to be broken. Please, please let our team hear us in their dressing room. This empowering anthem must – must – lift our bloodied troops who Rafa is contriving to rally. In a foreign language, not the Spanish he’d feel comfortable with, he is invoking a higher force to motivate his men, all “in shock”, says Dudek.

“Don’t let your heads drop,” Rafa tells them quietly. “We are Liverpool, you are playing for Liverpool. Don’t forget that. You have to hold your heads high for the supporters. You have to do it for them. They have come a long way. Don’t let them down. You cannot call yourselves Liverpool players if you have your heads down. “If we create a few chances, we have the possibility of getting back into this. Believe you can do it and you will. Give yourselves the chance to be heroes.” Out in the stadium, the final words of You’ll Never Walk Alone have faded away, replaced by the North Stand jesting, “We’re going to win 4-3″. Them Scousers again, laughing in the face of adversity. You can’t help smiling.

The rest of the break is a blur, a confusion of images and sensations that do not really register, a subliminal haze that only disperses when Liverpool come out for the restart. Our midfield has been reinforced by Hamann in place of the injured Finnan. Now Gerrard will be able to push forward… The rest of the night is fact, fable, fairytale, fantasy, fiction.

From Liverpool River in Australia’s Arnhem Land to Liverpool Bay in Arctic Canada, they will have heard about the Red storm, three dazzling goals during six minutes of madness. Almost on the penalty spot, Gerrard sends a towering header into the corner of the net. 3-1. Game on! Smicer’s 25-yard drive zings past Dida. Vladi, in his last game for the Reds, has scored a second! 3-2.

Storming into the box, Stevie is tripped by Gattuso. Alonso places the penalty low to Dida’s right. The keeper judges well, palming it onto the post, but Xabi follows up to blast into the roof. Our placid playmaker, who says, “I prefer not to hate anyone, I prefer to just love Liverpool”, has made it 3-3. Yes, 3-3. I repeat: 3-3.

Making Lazarus look like a legless gimp, the Reds have refused to die, clawing themselves out of the grave dug by Milan. The most remarkable fightback in any European final. Ever. On the precipitous West stand, I feel numb as the game moves into nailbiting extra time. AC are dominant and in the 117th minute, Dudek pulls off a preposterous point-blank double save from Shevchenko, the most flabbergasting act of goalkeeping I have ever observed, a righteous hand of God rather than Maradona’s thieving one. Truly the save that shakes the world.

Sheva, the goalscoring machine who treasures a pair of Rush’s boots, just cannot get the ball in the net. Crespo holds his head; now he knows the Milanesi will not win. “I knew that save was the moment we said bye-bye to the cup,” he admits later.

The lads hang on “running on empty”, in Gerrard’s phrase – until the referee gives the last blast on his whistle. All down to penalties. In the centre circle, Carragher is waving his fist at Jerzy, getting him pumped up, but after going through an emotional wringer, I feel strangely unconcerned, detached from the shoot-out, as a chemical reaction occurs in my body and brain. Where once we’d been dead and buried, now a supernatural force has taken possession of me, the fans, the team, floating us inexorably towards that cup. An unstoppable momentum is carrying the resurgent Reds to victory.

The penalties begin. Serginho blasts over the bar: 0-0. Hamann slots in: 0-1. Dudek saves from Pirlo: 0-1. Cisse scores coolly: 0-2. Dudek dives but Tomasson’s weak kick goes in the other corner: 1-2. Dida saves from Riise: 1-2. Kaka scores: 2-2. With me murmuring that Dida always dives to the right, Smicer fires home: 2-3.

The moment of truth. Shevchenko has a final chance to keep Milan in the shoot-out. If he doesn’t score, they lose. As he trudges to the penalty spot, he looks like he’s walking to the gallows.

With the clock showing 12.29am and 500 million watching, he runs up and strikes the ball sharply, straight down the middle. Jerzy, diving away from the trajectory, stretches out his left arm and gets his fingertips to the ball. Saved! 2-3! LIVERPOOL CHAMPIONS!

After 11 goals, all at the same end, the Italian end, we have won! From their thrones on high, the 96 smile down. You’ve been with us every step of the way. As every Red goes demented, Russ and I hug and dance, scream and howl.

Strangers you’ve never seen before in your life grab and squeeze and kiss you. Human warmth, the very essence of Anfield. Scousers who’ve carried the ashes of fallen mates all the way from Merseyside to share this beatific moment cast them towards that great Anfield in the sky.

Tears are shed by grown men, even in the media section below where one broadcaster breaks down: Liverpool old boy Michael Robinson. Jerzy, who only realises his save from Sheva has won the final when team-mates rampage towards him, is mobbed by them.

Like an Ashworth Hospital inmate who’s just succeeded in scaling the wall after 30 years’ plotting, Carragher gambols across the pitch, mouth agape in disbelief, socks around ankles, legs of elastic, and careers past Dudek in a maniacally wide arc to fans along the touchline to freak out with his people.

Glorious, glorious delirium! Beyond belief, beyond reason, beyond logic. My last European Cup journey in 1985 had warped into Heysel’s horror. This night of atonement has purged those frightful memories, the power and the glory have exorcised those demons. We are all in a state of grace.

On the terraces, every Red man and woman basks in celestial rapture, the deities sanctifying them and their heroes. Europe’s finest side and finest supporters: an unbeatable partnership has brought victory.

Liverpools Team: Dudek, Finnan (Hamann), Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Alonso, Garcia, Gerrard, Riise, Kewell (Smicer), Baros (Cisse).

Liverpool had joined Ajax and Bayern Munich in 1981 as three times winners of the European Cup but a fourth soon followed in 1984…

The Olympic Stadium was the setting for Liverpools first European Cup victory in 1977 and on May 30, 1984, Liverpool were returning to that same stadium to face Roma to contest the 1984 European Cup Final.

Mark Lawrenson and Alan Hansen made up the bedrock of the defence with Phil Neal and Alan Kennedy on either flanks. The midfield was made up of Ronnie Whelan, Sammy Lee, Craig Johnson and Graeme Souness while upfront was Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush.

To get to the final, Roma had beaten Goteborg and CSKA Sofia convincingly and battled past Dynamo Berlin and Dundee United while Liverpool had eased past Odense, and recorded victories over Bilbao, Benfica, and Dynamo Bucharest.

Here TIA Forum member Obanite recalls the magical night Liverpool won their fourth European Cup…

“Wobbly legs are something that Liverpool fans will remember the 1984 European Cup Final by. The final against AS Roma was Liverpool’s last European triumph before Heysel and further cemented Liverpool’s status as the creme of Europe. Funnily enough, the match was held at Roma’s own stadium, the Stadio Olimpico, but that didn’t stop the legions of Reds supporters taking over Italy’s capital.

Phil Neal was the only survivor of Liverpools 1977 team, and it was his early goal that put Liverpool into an early lead in the fourteenth minute when Nappi’s attempt at a clearance bounced off the keepers back to Neal and he tucked the loose ball away.

However, Neals early goal was cancelled out by Roberto Pruzzo’s effort before half time. Conti delivered a hanging cross into the Liverpool box and there was Pruzzo to meet the ball with a glancing header which Grobbelar was powerless to reach.

The game eventually fizzled to penalties where Bruce Grobelaar was the star of the show.

Despite Steve Nicol’s miss, Liverpool went on to convert all their kicks whilst Conti and Graziani were famously put off by Brucie’s goal-line antics. Alan Kennedy converted the final penalty despite “unrest” from his team-mates and his jumping celebration remains one of the most iconic moments in Liverpool’s footballing history. Liverpool were champions of Europe for the 4th time.”

History had repeated itself, Liverpool had won the European Cup once again on a glorious night in Rome.

Liverpool: Grobbelaar, Neal, Lawrenson, Hansen, A.Kennedy, Lee, Johnston (Nicol), Whelan, Souness (capt), Rush, Dalglish (Robinson)
Scorer: Neal
Penalty Scorers: Neal, Souness, Rush, Kennedy

Roma: Tancredi, Nappi, Bonetti, Righetti, Nela, Conti, Di Bartolomei (capt),Cerezo (Strukelj), Falcao, Pruzzo (Chierico), Graziani
Scorer: Pruzzo
Penalty Scorers: Di Bartolomei, Righetti

*****

In May 1892, John Holding formed the Liverpool Association Football Club, 117 years later, we have witnessed all of the emotion-charged nights, the trophies that have been won and lost by a single goal, the dramatic days that propelled the club to unparallelled glory at home and abroad, the tears that have been shed by bitter disappointments as well as the bitter failures, the heart breaking disasters, the goals which have entered the game’s mythology to become shared treasures or moments or finals which will be revered by fans never to be forgotten.

We continue the countdown of our 100 Days this week… Every morning this week at 08:30, we will be continuing the countdown and publishing our final 5 days….

Number 6 in the TIA Days We’ll Remember all our Lives Countdown brings us back to our highly acclaimed Kopblogger Gerry Ormonde’s memories of the 1978 European Cup Final and those unforgettable scenes of celebration…..

“In 1977 we were well on the way to winning The Treble. The league had already been secured and to my young mind all that remained was the “simple” task of us picking up the FA and European Cups. I remember the excitement as the whole family, uncles, Aunts, cousins etc gathered around the TV to watch the FA Cup Final that year but alas it all ended in tears as the Mancs beat us 2-1.

I was devastated by that result and couldn’t stop myself from sobbing like an idiot afterwards. But of course my sorrow was only temporary as a short while later we went on to lift the European Cup for the first time and all was right with the world again, although I still felt a little embarrassed about my previous tearful display in front of the family.

Twelve months later Liverpool had managed to get through to the European Cup final once again and had the chance to make history by being the first British club to retain the trophy. I got home from school one day to find my Uncle excitedly waiting for me. Somehow he had managed to score some tickets for the final and I could hardly believe my ears when he told me we were going to Wembley!

After spending the next couple of weeks walking around with a big stupid grin on my face the big day finally arrived and as we walked up Wembley Way and into the stadium, I just don’t have the writing skills to adequately describe the experience. The stadium was about 90% full of Liverpool fans and the noise, the colours, the banners and the singing, created an atmosphere that was simply mind-blowing, almost dreamlike and a privilege to behold.

Once the game got underway the noise level increased to deafening proportions, but it turned out to be a hard old slog on the pitch. We were clearly the better side but their keeper was playing a blinder and we couldn’t find a way through. As the game moved into the second half still scoreless, my mind drifted back to our defeat by the mancs the previous year at the same venue and I began to nervously wonder if maybe Wembley was just an unlucky place for us.

But I needn’t have worried because in the 64th minute Souness played a lovely pass into Dalglish, and Kenny made no mistake with his finish. What followed was that fraction of a second of silence that you often get in such moments and then the place went absolutely ballistic! As Kenny ran towards us with his arms in the air, the noise level became ear-drum shattering . It was a magnificent tsunami of noise that built in intensity and swept over us all and I’ll never forget those scenes of celebration, even now I consider them the best ever.

We had to survive a couple of hairy moments in the remainder of the game but we knew once we’d got our noses in front there was no way we were going to lose. As young as I was back then I was still aware at the end of the game that I had just witnessed history. The moment that Dalglish scored and ran towards us with his arms in the air was the moment that he became King and it was also the moment that, that team became Legends and I was there to see it!

As the team picked up the trophy and went on their lap of honour, there were great scenes of celebration on the terraces and we all sang ourselves hoarse. To my surprise I found that once again I had tears rolling down my face but this time there was no embarrassment because as I discovered on that day, sometimes tears feel great, sometimes they feel fantastic!

Liverpools Team : Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Phil Thompson, Alan Hansen, Ray Kennedy, Emlyn Hughes, Kenny Dalglish, Jimmy Case (Steve Heighway), David Fairclough, Terry McDermott, Graeme Souness

On 15th March 1892, Liverpool Football Club was formed at the home of John Houlding, a local brewer, local council member and future Mayor of Liverpool. Due to a dispute over rent, a split occured between Houlding and Everton on the 12th of March 1892. Houlding and William Barclay (Liverpools first ever secretary) with an empty Anfield agreed to form a new club.

Ten years earlier, in 1882, Everton football club was forced to find a permanent ground to play their home games. Everton first moved to a rented field off Priory Road and later moved to a new field rented from a fellow brewer of Houlding, John Orwell at Anfield Road where a small rental fee was agreed.

However, as Everton began to thrive a rift was about to develop. Houlding originally wanted Everton to buy Anfield off John Orwell and land adjoining the ground in which Houlding himself owned for the same price, however, Everton and the board instead wanted a long term rental agreement on the land at Anfield. No agreement was reached which resulted in the vast majority of the Board and players of Everton walking out to build a new ground.

Houlding and Barclay remained at Anfield along with just three first team players and a small number of loyal supporters helped rebuild a new squad and Liverpool Football Club was formed. Houlding appointed John McKenna to form the new squad, McKenna built a squad of 13 players, of which 9 were Scottish, the Citys colour of red was adopted in 1894 and the Liverbird crest was adopted in 1901. Liverpool Football club was ultimately built from scratch.

Once John McKenna had built the team, Liverpool applied to join the Football League, however, the application was rejected and Liverpool were forced to play in The Lancashire League.

Thursday, the 1st of September 1892, is a date that will forever be etched in the annals of Anfield history. Liverpool played their first ever game at Anfield, a friendly game against Rotherham Town in which Liverpool won by an impressive seven goals to one.

Malcolm McVean scored the first ever Liverpool goal early in the first half, also on the scoresheet was Arthur Kelvin who scored a brace, Tom Wyllie scored a hat-trick and John Miller also wrote his name into Liverpools history books with a well taken goal.

Que Sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, we’re going to Italy, que sera, sera….. The atmosphere was electrifying, the tension was rising, the expectations had been felt hours before kick off. On entering Anfield nobody ever considered they were about to witness one of the Greatest Anfield European nights ever that would have immortality bestowed on it…. The whole of Anfield were in full chorus, even the thousands of St. Etienne fans in the Anfield Road End were belting out Allez les Verts….

Just 1-0 down from the away leg, the odds had been slightly against the Reds. As both teams entered the pitch, Anfield erupted, you could sense this would be an inspiring, tense night…. Just 2 minutes into the game, Kevin Keegan had the Reds ahead when he lobbed the ball past the French goalkeeper, Curkovic. The fans began to believe, both sets of supporters were trying to outmatch each other! The Kop was just a sea of more than 25,000 people with wave after wave of people being drawn back and forth towards the goal line as each Liverpool attack unfolded! The sheer passionate noise was just incredible! Half time came and Liverpool were still 1-0 up on the night…… (1-1 on aggregate)

With the massed 5,000 French supporters singing “Allez Les Rouges” the French equalised 6 minutes after the interval. Bathenay beat the offside trap, sprinted onto a long ball and sent the ball dipping over Cleamance from 25 yards out. Saint Etienne were back ahead on aggregate again. The Kop was silenced but erupted again 10 minutes later in the 59th minute when Ray Kennedy blasted the Reds back into the lead, but with the French having an away goal, Liverpool were still on their way out, Liverpool had to push forward looking for the winning goal…. With our European hopes vanishing, the atmoshere became an unbearable tension.

As Toshack hobbled off injured, Manager Bob Paisley sent Fairclough on in the last 20 minutes of the game and the red-haired striker, only just 20 years old, responded in style. With 6 minutes remaining, Fairclough collected the ball just beyond the half way line. As the Kop heaved with anticipation, Fairclough sprinted 35 yards and swayed past the French defender before showing the skill, the cool nerve and calmness to strike the ball past the advancing French Goalkeeper, Curkovic, sending the densely packed terrace into raptures and cementing his place in Liverpudlian folklore forever…

There was pandemoinium in Anfield, It was uncanny how many times David Fairclough responded to Bill Shankly or Bob Paisley’s prompting by going on the field to turn the fortunes of the game between 1973 and 1983. The last 6-8 minutes were just a blurr to me as Liverpool held out to win 3-1. It was a night of tension, drama, elation, frustration and sheer jubilation, as Liverpool won a tactical battle that stretched them to the limits. A night Liverpool fans would never ever forget…..

Anfield had rarely seen the atmoshere and tension as they had this night on March 16th 1977. The frantic atmosphere and spine tingling emotions was one of the most inspiring ever witnessed at Anfield as Liverpool held out to win 3-2 on aggregate. Que Sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, we’re going to Italy, que sera, sera….. Liverpool progressed to the semi’s and then onto the final where they would eventually bring the European Cup home to Anfield for the very first time.

Liverpool’s Team : Clemence, Neal, Jones, Smith, Kennedy, Hughes, Keegan, Case, Heighway, Toshack (Fairclough), Callaghan
Goals : Keegan (2), Kennedy (59), Fairclough (84)

Liverpool 1 – 0 Real Madrid
Date : 27.05.1981
Venue : Parc des Princes
Spectators : 48,360

We continue our countdown with TIA Forum Member LetsBuyTotti recalling the night Liverpool clinched their third European Cup, courtesy of an Alan Kennedy winner against Real Madrid in Paris. Following two barren years, Liverpool had a great season in Europe during 1980/81 with wins over Oulun Palloseura, Aberdeen, CSKA Sofia and Bayern Munich. Liverpool were through to another European Final, Paris was the host city for the titanic clash between the original ‘Kings of Europe’….

“Unless you’ve been living in a cave during 2009 you will all recall our glorious triumph over Real Madrid in this years Champions League. What you may not have all been around for was the last time we squared up competitively to the Spanish giants in Europe competition and that was during the 1981 European Cup Final in Paris held at the Parc des Princes.

On this occasion, Liverpool held off the Spanish armada in a tense one-nil victory to bring old big ears home to Anfield for the third time and claw the trophy back from Nottingham Forest who had [somehow] managed to win it for the preceding two seasons. Still under the stewardship of Bob Paisley; Phil Thompson captained that night in a team full of immortal Liverpool legends which included Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Alan Hansen, Sammy Lee, Graham Souness, Terry McDermott and Jimmy Case.

Alan Kennedy – not even certain of a place in the team until match day due to an injury picked up earlier in the campaign – scored an 82nd minute winner and was referred to as ‘the unlikely man’ in what has now become a famous piece of punditry.

After a couple of shots from Alan; his efforts were ultimately rewarded with an iconic goal sparked from a Ray Kennedy throw in on the left side which Alan chested down and charged forward with. He avoided a huge lunge from Cortez, ignored a pass to team mate David Johnson in the box and instead shot past a left diving goalkeeper into the near post. In Alans words “the ball flew in and I set off on a run to celebrate, I can picture the fans who were behind a big fence and had that not been there – I would have been in with them.”

All in all, 1981 was yet another stunning season for the rampant reds as we dovetailed our 3rd European Cup under Paisley with the first of four back to back League Cup titles. And not a bad year for Kennedy either.. 

Liverpools Team : Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Alan Kennedy, Phil Thompson, Ray Kennedy, Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish, Sammy Lee, David Johnson, Terry McDermott, Graeme Souness