Liverpool 1 Manchester United 2
The Retrospective Series Vol.9: 24th October 1981
The Retrospective Series Vol.9: 24th October 1981
Welcome to the ninth volume in this continuing series of decades old Liverpool games and one which will be particularly bittersweet to write! Kids, Manchester City may have dominated both Manchester and the wider world of English football for the past decade, but they still have a long trophy laden road to travel to match their city neighbours. Liverpool and Manchester United. The Reds and The Red Devils. It’s been the pun intended premier league fixture for many decades now and has provided a wide spectrum of sporting triumph and disaster, tantrums and tears, tear ups and troubles, enmity and grudging respect, envy and desire, and both on and often off the pitch too. It remains THE biggest fixture on the English footballing calendar and here, nearly 41 years ago, and as much as I hate to admit it, the visitors from Manchester fully deserved their win. United’s win secured top spot in the league (on goal difference from Ipswich Town) and left the Reds of Liverpool floundering in 12th place and fully 9 points behind their bitter north west foes.
Charismatic manager Ron Atkinson had only been in the Manchester United hot seat for four months when he and his team departed from a rainy and darkly gloomy Anfield with all 3 victorious points. Whereas Liverpool had a settled side and the spine of European Cup winners such as Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Ray Kennedy, Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish, David Johnson and Terry McDermott, Manchester United had a blend of youth and experience, Gary Bailey in goal, Martin Buchan in defence, new signing Bryan Robson in midfield alongside Remi Moses and the powerhouse of Frank Stapleton in attack, they topped the league at the end of the day’s play and thoroughly deserved to do so.
Thanks to the following www.youtube.com account for their invaluable resource that enables me to wallow in such sporting nostalgia:
Dave Waller
This channel is about a football team - the greatest team you've ever seen. A team that played total football, won the…www.youtube.com
On a winter worn Anfield pitch with strange white squares of bare patches by the Main Stand, the playing surface deteriorated to a bog heap by the final shrill of referee George Courtney’s whistle. In the old school vernacular of the day, this was a “niggly game” or a “bruising encounter” and whilst not helped by a dreadful pitch, David Johnson elbowed Manchester United central defender Kevin Moran early on which resulted in the Irish International remaining worryingly still for some time and flat out on the Anfield pitch, and Kenny Dalglish would have one or two friendly words with Moran in the second half in the middle of an ugly melee. When football did break out, and that was often, it was almost entirely dominated and dictated by the visitors from Manchester.
The game’s first chance came almost immediately as Ray Wilkins’ quick cross was headed wide at the near post by striker Garry Birtles, but the game’s first real and definitive chance fell to new signing Bryan Robson. Yet to score for his new team (and a team he would eventually guide to a multitude of honours in his illustrious career), John Gidman’s long ball forward was flicked into Robson’s path by the aggressive Frank Stapleton. Clear on goal and with only Bruce Grobbelaar to meet, he screwed his easy chance wide, giving rise to the Liverpool Kop End choir serenading him with the odious chant of the day of “What a waste of money!”. How ironic this chant immediately appears to be all these decades later! But rather a template had been set in motion whereby the visitors would continually hit long balls into the Liverpool half of the field, and especially so in the first half. The aim was always for a leaping Frank Stapleton, often finding their target, as did the Irish International with his deft flicks and lay offs, often to his strike partner Garry Birtles, and from there they’d build and join in with quick, incisive counter attacks. The home team Reds are barely in the game before their visitors take the lead.
Ironically, Manchester United’s opening goal resulted from a Liverpool attack as captain Phil Thompson tried to start an attack with a testing through ball but which was easily intercepted and perfectly summed up the skipper’s first half. The visitors won both the ball and subsequently a free kick in a dangerous area. Bryan Robson’s curling free kick into the penalty area was brilliantly headed goalward by Frank Stapleton (easily outjumping Phil Thompson) with Bruce Grobbelaar barely getting a fingertip to the ball as it crashed against the far post of his goal before being gleefully smashed home by Kevin Moran sporting an obvious head wound from his earlier clash with David Johnson. United keep up their attacking threat, resulting in Phil Thompson slipping (and having a half of football to forget) with his Reds team having only one serious moment of football to remember as Liverpool’s only impressive performer on the day, Phil Neal, feeding Graeme Souness for a rasping shot that beat Gary Bailey in the visitors goal but not his post, and the ball cannoned away to safety. The Scotland International hit his shot as pure as can be but as was the time of the early 1980’s it brought a serenade of “You couldn’t score in a brothel!” from the visiting Manchester United fans camped in the corner of the Anfield Road end of the ground.
On the cusp of half-time we saw the game as a whole in microcosm. United’s South African goalkeeper Gary Bailey was penalised for taking too many steps with the ball (they had a “Steps” rule in the 1980's!) and referee George Courtney awarded Liverpool a threatening indirect free kick in the United penalty area. Rather than an incisive move on goal, the Reds completely fluff their lines and from full back to full back, John Gidman to Arthur Albston, Manchester United sweep quickly into attack. Bruce Grobbelaar comes flying from his goal, spills a slippery ball on a worsening pitch and as panic ensues all around him and the goal open and unattended, a comedy of rare indecisiveness from the visitors sees the ball dribble harmlessly away from an open goal.
The visitors continued the second half in the same vein with Arthur Albiston immediately testing Bruce Grobbelaar from long range that required a spectacular leaping and full length diving catch as the ball arrowed toward the top corner of his goal. Finally the team of Reds before him put together a flowing move, from Mark Lawrenson to Kenny Dalglish, and as the Scottish International aimed for the bottom corner of Gary Bailey’s goal, the South African brilliantly fingertipped his goal bound effort wide. An obvious corner was given as a goal kick but moments later a further refereeing blunder would present Liverpool with a penalty, and with 16 minutes to go, the teams were level at 1–1. Terry McDermott’s through ball to Dalglish saw the Scotsman fluff his onward pass but Ronnie Whelan just nipped in front of his fellow countryman and after the merest of touches crumbled to the ground. Terry McDermott smashed the resultant penalty straight down the middle and from nowhere, the Reds were back in a game they’d never really started.
Almost immediately Graeme Souness and Ray Wilkins slid into a tackle that epitomised the game, the gravitas of the occasion as well as an ever deteriorating mudheap of a pitch. It was glorious! But fair. The loose ball eventually fell to Remi Moses who missed his kick, Steve Coppell smashed the loose ball goalward before squeezing through the defensive legs of Alan Hansen to narrowly shave the outside of the post for a corner. Ray Wilkins was becoming a central figure in the closing minutes as first he released a brilliantly weighted through ball to Garry Birtles that saw Bruce Grobbelaar rushing from his goal to brilliantly smother his attempt on goal, before blotting his own copybook with a resultant dreadful goal kick that skidded straight back to Ray Wilkins on the halfway line. Feeding Remi Moses, Wilkins continued his run into the Liverpool penalty area and from a flick on from the ever imposing Frank Stapleton, Wilkins grabbed the loose ball, rounded Bruce Grobbelaar before squaring a threatening ball that produced a goal mouth scramble in the Liverpool penalty area. Unable to clear the ball upfield and move their defensive line higher, Bryan Robson grabbed a loose ball and tried to start a late game attack. Defensive full back Arthur Albiston played a one-two pass with Frank Stapleton and continued his run. Cutting back inside a tame tackle from Graeme Souness, Albiston shot weakly on goal, but a shot that bobbled and slithered slowly past Bruce Grobbelaar and into the far corner of the Liverpool goal.
2–1, a minute to go, and Manchester United had thoroughly and deservedly gained all 3 points to go top of the English 1st Division.
That was fun to write!
Thanks for reading. The following three articles were rather more fun to write and if you’ve enjoyed this sporting time machine back to 1981, please see the links below to the three most recently published articles in this series:
Brighton 3 Liverpool 3
The Retrospective Series Vol.8: 17th October 1981medium.com
Liverpool 2 Swansea City 2
The Retrospective Series Vol.7: An emotional first game since the death of Bill Shankly.medium.com
West Ham United 1 Liverpool 1
The Retrospective Series Vol.6: 26th September 1981medium.com