No. 61 – Ian St Johns Debut

No. 61 – Ian St Johns Debut

Ian St John was forging a reputation at Motherwell when he scored a hat-trick in only 150 seconds against Hibernian in August 1959. It was a feat well-remembered by Bill Shankly, Ian had caught the attention of Shankly as an intelligent forward, strong and cunning and devestating in the air, Shankly saw Ian forming a perfect partnership with Roger Hunt….

In the Summer of 1961, Ian St John joined Liverpool for a then club record fee of £37,500 from Motherwell becoming a key component in Shankly’s first successful team.

Within a few weeks of his arrival, St John swiftly became a Kop hero scoring another impressive hat-trick on his Liverpool debut. His first appearance in a red shirt brought him to Goodison Park on the 9th May 1961 for the Senior Cup Final.

Ian built a rapid report with the fans that day and although Liverpool had lost the game 4-3, their new signing had scored all three goals. Ian was in devestating form against Everton producing a man of the match performance and word quickly spread around Merseyside about their impressive new record signing.

During that 1961/62 season, Ian formed an effective partnership and only missed two League games scoring 18 league goals that season helping Liverpool win the Second Division title, eight points ahead of Leyton Orient.

Ian St John went on to play 426 first team games for Liverpool scoring 118 goals.

Liverpools 1961 Senior Cup Final Team :
Slater; Molyneux, Byrne, Wheeler, White, Milne, Callaghan, Hunt, St John, Melia, Morrissey.