Liverpool FC Season 1994–95. A resumption in the collection of footballing silverware, and the Spice Boys are beginning to take shape.
Various headlines celebrating the Reds victorious triumph at Wembley in the 1995 Coca-Cola League Cup.
Welcome to Part 8 of my scrapbooking odyssey on the football team my dear old Mum “persuaded” me to follow when just a small boy and around the mercurial times of Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish, winnings cups in May and seemingly always holding that beautiful gleaming trophy with the “Big Ears”.
I attended my first Liverpool game as a 10 year old on 8th August 1982 when the Reds formed a “triangle” of pre-season friendlies with Coventry City and Ipswich Town and all hosted by my hometown club of Portsmouth. I was already a Red as far back as 1980 and I have no idea how my Mother achieved such a feat but she bought me the “Hitachi” home shirt and one I proudly wore as an 8 year old to a very stuffy, best bib and tucker occasion at Portsmouth Guildhall as I met the Lord Mayor after winning a painting competition with my entry, naturally entitled, “The Football Match”. So of course I was going to attend this Gala event as an 8 year old in my Liverpool shirt. What self respecting Red at that age wouldn’t?
So I’m not a Scouser (though I envy those with that particular birthplace) and I’m an “out of towner”. But please allow me to very briefly give you some bona fides as to the veracity of my support for this wonderful football club.
My first game was 1982 and my last was 2012. In the 30 years in between I have followed the Reds at over 55 league grounds in England and Wales as well as 7 European grounds and I’ve probably travelled to see them 300+ times. Not an idyll boast, nor is it overly ground breaking. I’ve been incredibly lucky as well as being incredibly skint watching the Reds! I became a season ticket holder in the season before the first lock down after being on the waiting list since 1998 . I had the crest tattooed on my arm as a 15 year old, I’ve sat on a cold coach for days going to Switzerland for a 2nd Round Cup Winners Cup tie, I watched *that* goal in *that* 1996 FA Cup Final on a tiny Casio TV outside “our” end of Wembley without a ticket.
Well, I had a ticket, but that’s a whole other story for another day.
So I’m a Southern born Red with a lot of scrapbook cuttings to share and maybe the occasional commentary to go along with them too. I hope you enjoy sharing them with me.
“Allez! Allez! Allez!”
Disclaimer — All pictures contained within this blog will be almost certainly from the “main” UK publications of the day but more importantly perhaps wholly contained within some loved, if dusty, scrapbooks of a 30 year vintage and placed here purely for enjoyment purposes and I hope that this disclaimer meets everyone’s needs. If not, thank you www.guardian.comwww.dailymail.co.ukwww.thetimes.co.ukwww.mirror.co.ukwww.telegraph.co.ukwww.liverpoolecho.co.uk et al for entertaining this Pritt Stick and scissors wielding young child/spotty teen/tall and gangly late teenager and young adult who should’ve stopped ripping and cutting up newspapers long before he hung up his scissors! All programmes shown here are from my personal collection.
Disclaimer II — This is far from a fully comprehensive review of the season and purely the contents and selected pages from my scrapbooks and boxes of football programmes. I was nicknamed by my Liverpool match going pal as “The Cutter” in reference to an Echo and the Bunnymen song and so hence, here are my cuttings.
Disclaimer III — There will be images from a certain reviled newspaper that I will not name and I only include them (where available) as they represent the cuttings at that time. I despise that “newspaper” and when I used to “go the match” I always wore my Hillsborough Support Group scarf and a white sticker imploring everyone not to buy that unnamed “newspaper”.
So onto the good stuff! I have 10+ seasons of cuttings to share and I hope these scraps from my books jog a memory of the match concerned or the era, the city in general or your life at that time.
Human memories are a precious commodity. I hope you enjoy.
Crystal Palace (1) Liverpool (6), 20th August 1994. Attendance at Selhurst Park 18,084.
In yet another unfamiliar “away” strip but the Reds started the season in fine style with both Ian Rush and Steve McManaman bagging a brace of goals at a stadium I went to a dozen times or more but not on this occasion. I have no memory as to why nor a match programme and I’m surprised I missed such an easy trip to a season opener, but there we go. I was very definitely at Anfield for the second game of the season 8 days later, and saw history made about 20 yards away from my disbelieving eyes.
Liverpool (3) Arsenal (0), 28th August 1994. Attendance at Anfield 30,017. Or, 30,015 and two incredibly lucky men both named Steve sat on the 2nd row of the Lower Anfield Road End and just to the right of the goal that Robbie Fowler scored a hat-trick in.
Now a hat-trick isn’t particularly record breaking I hear you say, but it is when it’s scored in just 4 minutes and 36 seconds. They can take nearly as long today to measure each fraction of a frame with their infuriating box of VAR toys. Leave the game alone! Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll see the likes of this again, as pure sporting theatre. 2nd row, right in front of my disbelieving eyes. Please also excuse the local reference to a certain team along the south coast from my hometown. I promise it won’t happen again.
More from God’s 276 second hat-trick against Arsenal, 28th August 1994.
My seasonal trip to The Dell came earlier this season (normally in the dead of winter and perfectly befitting that dreadful old stadium) and a 2–0 victory courtesy of an early Fowler goal and a late Barnes strike. 3 games. 3 wins. And much touted new signings in the shape of Phil Babb and John Scales. The Reds ended August 1994 with a perfect 9 points from 9, scoring 11 and conceding just 1 goal in the process.
A game I attended but have zero recollection of! A 0–0 draw with West Ham United at Anfield but that’s still 10 points from a possible 12 in their opening 4 games of the season.
Another in the category I’m entitling “Please excuse the scribbles in red pen”. I am now 22 and winding down my scrapbooking years, but still that “lucky” red pen!
Manchester United (2) Liverpool (0), 17th September 1994. Attendance at Old Trafford 43,740. Two late goals for the hosts bursts the Reds early season unbeaten bubble. My Mum was happy though!
24th September through 8th October: a 1–1 away draw at Newcastle United is followed by two home wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. In between these league games the Reds defeated Burnley 6–1 on aggregate in the Coca-Cola League Cup.
The highs and the lows: Fowler’s mischievous smile after scoring against Aston Villa and the self titled “SAS” of Blackburn Rovers, Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton.
Blackburn Rovers (3) Liverpool (2), 15th October 1994. An attendance at Ewood Park of 30,263 saw a somewhat old fashioned “5 goal thriller” as the Reds led 1–0 at half time through Robbie Fowler before going behind 2–1 and equalising at 2–2 all within the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half. But Chris Sutton scored his second goal with 18 minutes to go to seal all 3 points for the hosts in the pleasingly old fashioned “halved” shirts.
L to R: More progress in the Coca-Cola League Cup and a 3–0 home win over Wimbledon in the space of 3 days towards the end of October and an ever growing hectic fixture schedule.
2 away trips for your humble narrator in the last 3 days of October with (left and middle) only my second ever trip to the magnificent Portman Road and home of Ipswich Town. The Reds won 3–1 here before 3 days later losing a rare game at Loftus Road, home of Queens Park Rangers, 2–1. See below.
Queens Park Rangers (2) Liverpool (1), 31st October 1994. Attendance at Loftus Road 18,295.
“Steve The Taxi Driver” and I obviously didn’t fancy watching the fireworks back in Portsmouth! A 1–0 home victory over Nottingham Forest in which I have zero recollection!
Cuttings from the Reds challengers from London in the form of Chelsea (3–1 win) and Tottenham Hotspur (1–1 draw). These games sandwich a 2–0 defeat at the hands of neighbours Everton, of which game I strangely have no cuttings at all. It’s almost as though the game and the result never existed.
Another titanic battle with a growingly impressive Blackburn Rovers, this time in front of 30,115 at Ewood Park, and all who were there witnessed a quite spectacular hat-trick for the ages from legendary striker Ian Rush, and the Reds were into the Quarter Finals of the Coca-Cola League Cup.
December 1994 and my 4th and final trip to Highfield Road, Coventry, for an infuriating 1–1 draw and the Reds end the year with a 2–0 win at Elland Road, Leeds. Liverpool went through the entire Christmas month unbeaten, taking 12 points from a possible 18. They were unbeaten in all competitions since the 2–0 reverse at neighbours Everton on 21st November.
Early January cup action with L to R: a 0–0 draw with Birmingham City in the FA Cup 3rd Round and a brilliant 1–0 win over Arsenal in the Quarter Finals of the Coca-Cola League Cup. This was a rare midweek trip to Liverpool for “Steve The Taxi Driver” and I but so very worth it. I remember being very excited during the long drive to the game. Win, and it’s the Semi-Finals! And win they did. My first ever seat in the old Kemlyn Road Stand too.
18th January to 19th February 1995 Part 1. L to R: The Reds squeak past Birmingham City on Penalties in the FA Cup 3rd Round before a 0–0 draw with neighbours Everton in the Merseyside Derby. Held 0–0 by Burnley in the FA Cup 4th Round they would subsequently win the replay 1–0 before drawing 1–1 with Wimbledon in the 5th Round of the FA Cup in front of just 25,124 at Anfield on 19th February.
18th January to 19th February 1995 Part 2. L to R: 1–1 draw at home to Queens Park Rangers on 11th February followed 4 days later by a 1–0 victory against Crystal Palace in the 1st Leg of the Coca-Cola League Cup Semi-Final, and the Reds are ninety successful minutes away from another Wembley Final.
My first of two lifetime trips to Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium and a visit to the Memorial before a come from behind 2–1 win and a relatively easy 2–0 win against Wimbledon in yet another visit to Selhurst Park and the “Wombles” temporary home.
“God” with crucial goals at home to Newcastle in a 2–0 win and the only goal of a tense Semi-Final 2nd Leg of the Coca-Cola League Cup with Crystal Palace, the result ensuring a 2–0 aggregate win and a place at Wembley in the Coca-Cola League Cup Final against Bolton Wanderers.
The FA Cup bubble bursts for the Reds as they lose 2–1 at home to a Jurgen Klinsmann inspired Tottenham Hotspur in front of 39,592 at Anfield in the FA Cup Quarter-Final, 11th March 1995.
Liverpool (1) Tottenham Hotspur (2), FA Cup Quarter-Final at Anfield, 11th March 1995. The Reds held a 1–0 lead through Robbie Fowler but “Spurs” nicked another rare Anfield win with goals from Teddy Sheringham and then Jurgen Klinsmann in the final minute.
Liverpool (2) Manchester United (0), 19th March 1995. Attendance at Anfield 38,906.
More from the “Clash of the Titans” above and goals from Jamie Redknapp and a late Steve Bruce own goal gave the Reds a very satisfying 3 points against their fiercest rivals. The Reds were miles away from the chase for the League Championship, but this gave Blackburn Rovers a chance to close the gap between themselves and Manchester United at the summit of the league.
Bolton Wanderers (1) Liverpool (2). Coca-Cola League Cup Final at Wembley, 2nd April 1995. Attendance 75,595.
“Steve The Taxi Driver” and I were promised tickets for the Final at the Semi-Final stage (if Liverpool made it to the Final) by a lovely junior physiotherapist at Portsmouth Football Club whose name completely escapes me. The other Steve did the leg work for the tickets. Thanks Steve!
Man of the Match Steve McManaman with both the “Stanley Matthews Man of the Match” award and the three handled beauty of a trophy I fell in love with when the Reds won it four seasons in a row in the early 1980’s. Such a unique sporting trophy.
The 1995 League Cup Final was a virtuoso performance from the Liverpool born winger. Both of McManaman’s goals came after mazy dribbles past several defenders, a touch of luck along the way and a cool finish. Alan Thompson scored for Bolton Wanderers with 20 minutes to go, but Liverpool were good today and played very well in the periods around the goals. It wasn’t a one sided Final by any means but myopic or not, the Reds deserved to lift that triple handled trophy. Walking back along “Wembley Way” after the Final I talked the entire way with a lovely young boy and his Dad, both Bolton Wanderers fans. The young boy wanted to swap his Bolton badge for mine, a tiny Liverpool club crest. I still have that tiny badge today and wear it to every game. Sorry kid, it’s too precious and too lucky to me!
Coca-Cola League Cup Winners 1995.
Coca-Cola League Cup Winners 1995.
Coca-Cola League Cup Winners 1995.
Coca-Cola League Cup Winners 1995.
2 defeats in 5 April days with a last minute win at Arsenal sandwiched in between.
Manchester City (2) Liverpool (1), 14th April 1995. Attendance at Maine Road 27,055.
End of April and into May with consecutive games on the road against relegation threatened teams with first a 2–1 win against a seemingly doomed Norwich City and a 2–0 loss to Aston Villa and old boy Dean Saunders.
More from the 2–0 loss at Aston Villa as well as the first of a few pages on the dramatic 2–1 win at Anfield on the last day of the 1994/95 season. From a Reds perspective, the season had finished on a high with 4th position in the Premier League and a Coca-Cola League Cup triumph at Wembley. Blackburn, although losers on the day in front of 40,014 at Anfield, had won the entire season.
Liverpool (2) Blackburn Rovers (1), Anfield, 14th May 1995, and Blackburn Rovers, despite the defeat, are crowned Champions of England.
“Kenny’s in Heaven” indeed. The great man with the greatest of smiles had created a great team.
I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this cup winning extravaganza! If you’ve been entertained by this wander along “Scrapbook Lane”, please do consider the love treatment given to these recently and previously published seasons:
