Reds close the gap in the race for the Division 1 Title
Retro Series Vol.19: Liverpool 4 Coventry City 0, 20th February 1982
Retro Series Vol.19: Liverpool 4 Coventry City 0, 20th February 1982
The 19th trip in our retrospective time machine takes us to an Anfield of four decades ago and a recession and riots era city of deep industrial and societal unrest amid historic levels of unemployment and a Saturday afternoon attendance of just 28,286. From on high the pitch, as it always did, appears pockmarked with umpteen patches of what appears to be snow but which was actually individual piles of sand to aid a failing drainage system that barely helped as the pitch, as it always did, cut up in large chunks. Re-watching these games I continue to be astounded that the players and stars of yesteryear managed to play such thrilling football on a surface such as this and a surface light years away from the perfect, fast snooker table green of modern football today. But play they did.
Managed by ex Manchester United manager Dave Sexton, today’s visitors from Coventry City were swept aside in just over half an hour of a one-sided contest that was over way before the shrill of the referee’s whistle for half-time, and which condemned the light blues to another in a long line of defeats as well as continuing a winless run stretching back over two months. Five years away from their ultimate club triumph at Wembley and the beating of Tottenham Hotspur in the 1987 FA Cup Final, none of today’s team would feature all those glorious years later but notably: Danny Thomas would play in a historic triumph, ironically for Tottenham Hotspur in 1984 after leaving Coventry, veteran Gerry Francis marshalled their midfield today before high profile managerial stints (Tottenham Hotspur included!) and their central striker and Number 9 Mark Hateley would outstrip his own father with his achievements soon after leaving the light blues of Coventry City. Hateley’s father played, ironically again, for Liverpool in the 1960’s, however his son would soon force a move to the darker blues of my hometown city of Portsmouth before gaining both an England place and a shock move to AC Milan before terrorising defences in Scotland for Rangers after his move back from Italy.
The Reds of Liverpool came into this game on the back of two successive shock defeats (Chelsea and Swansea City) but would suffer only two more defeats all season, and in all competitions, on the way to lifting the League Cup at Wembley in just 3 weeks time (ironically again by defeating Tottenham Hotspur) and the Division 1 title later in May. Today they were unchanged, again, and with a team that will roll off the tongue of Reds fans all around the world. Zimbabwean Bruce Grobbelaar was cementing his place as the Reds new goalkeeping custodian, Ronnie Whelan was very definitely nailing down a deserved midfield slot in the starting XI and an equally fresh faced Ian Rush was having the season manager Bob Paisley had the faith that he always would as his 20 goals (and counting) ensured a place at Number 9 alongside striking partner Kenny Dalglish. Surrounding these relative “new boys” (it was 1982 after all!) were all time greats in defence (Alan Hansen, Alan Kennedy, Phil Neal and Mark Lawrenson) and Graeme Souness, Terry McDermott and Sammy Lee in the engine room of the midfield.
The Reds were far too good on this February day four decades ago, and after a respectful thank you to the wonderful Youtube channel that supplies historic gems such as this, I will endeavour to describe why.
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
In truth, Coventry City barely posed an attacking threat all game and aside from an incorrectly disallowed goal from Garry Thompson (but they were losing 4–0 at the time) and a rash challenge from Bruce Grobbelaar just outside the penalty area on Steve Hunt, the highlights above show no further attacking intent from the visitors at all. On the other side of the ball the Reds were 2–0 up in 13 minutes, 3 goals to the good just after the half hour mark before a 64th minute penalty put a resounding seal on an emphatic win. The 4–0 score line could and should have been doubled and had it not been for the fine goalkeeping display from Jim Blyth in the visitors goal, it might have been. Aside from the goals themselves, Blyth was forced into goal saving measures on numerous occasions and especially so in a first half that saw him concede three goals but it could so easily have been six or seven.
Sammy Lee and Graeme Souness hounded the Coventry midfield into conceding early minute possession of the ball before Souness’ quick pass gave his Scotland teammate Kenny Dalglish a sight of goal, but his shot was easily saved by Blyth. Souness and Lee would conspire again, this time with Terry McDermott and Ronnie Whelan too as the four of them swept the ball cross field before McDermott’s incisive lob set Dalglish free just inside the penalty area. Following Souness’ tackle to win the ball in the first place, Whelan, Lee and McDermott cycled the ball with precise and quick first time passes that Dalglish controlled and turned with the ball in an instant, before a rather tame shot spoiled a brilliant footballing move and provided another relatively easy save for Jim Blyth in the Coventry goal. By this point the Reds were already 3–0 up, purring and continually attacking with intent. Alan Kennedy was fouled repeatedly by Gerry Francis and David Bradford yet skipped away from the challenges (with the Referee waving “play on”) before his in field pass was controlled perfectly into a running shot from Graeme Souness which stung the hands of Blyth. The half-time advantage of 3–0 could easily have been doubled.
The second half was all the masterly work of Kenny Dalglish, his Scotland roommate Graeme Souness and “birthday boy” Phil Neal. As you’ll read shortly, Dalglish won a ridiculously skilful penalty and was a constant buzzing pest in attack for a Reds team intent on scoring more than the single second half goal they actually did. His persistence led to a brilliant one-two pass with the now 31 year old Phil Neal who with only Jim Blyth to beat, the birthday boy shaved the outside, rather than the inside, of the far post. Dalglish was also central as Graeme Souness sent a stinging long range drive from way outside of the penalty area that swerved and dipped, forcing Blyth into a fantastic save as he fingertipped the shot over his crossbar.
4–0 flattered a lacklustre Coventry City who were 2 goals down inside of 13 minutes and they were never allowed to recover. If Sammy Lee’s free-kick goal on 13 minutes owed a huge amount to the luck of a deflection that left Jim Blyth flatfooted and completely stranded, the Reds first goal 8 minutes earlier was an absolute footballing gem. Five players were involved in the move that started from a stumble in their own half of the pitch by Ronnie Whelan and ended via a sweeping move down the left wing involving Alan Kennedy, the goal scorer Graeme Souness, Ian Rush and the persistence (again) of Kenny Dalglish. The Scotsman’s eventual final pass split a dishevelled Coventry defence for Terry McDermott to set up one of Graeme Souness’ typically fierce and low drives and as was so beautifully often, it nestled perfectly in the corner of the visitors net. The two goal advantage became three on 34 minutes after another brilliant one-two pass between Sammy Lee and the birthday boy Phil Neal who skipped a desperate defensive tackle before squaring a pass across the six yard line into the path of Ian Rush, and the Welshman simply couldn’t miss. Terry McDermott’s 64th minute penalty was a rather tepid almost miss-kick that found the back of Blyth’s net but the plaudits should be reserved for the “winner” of the penalty award, Kenny Dalglish. On his backside and surrounded by a melee of four Coventry defenders (Danny Thomas, Paul Dyson, Steve Jacobs and Jim Hagan), Dalglish manages to get to his feet, retain possession of the ball and skip an intricate left/right foot double touch of the ball through all four players, drawing a crude tackle from Hagan and leaving his goalkeeper to gently tap Dalglish on the top of the head in appreciation for his outstanding individual skill and the goalkeeper’s wry smile was perhaps a perfect summation for the entire contest.
The Reds were simply too good.
This result 40 years ago left the visiting blues of Coventry City in 18th place in Division 1, and just 4 places and 4 points from the relegation zone. The end of season league table suggests they had a brilliant run from hereon in as they more than doubled their points tally to finish on 50 points, in 14th position, and way clear of a relegated Middlesbrough team who ended their season with a 0–0 draw at home to the new champions of the English 1st Division, Liverpool. The draw was immaterial as the Reds were crowned Champions 3 days earlier after a 3–1 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur and a season that ended with Liverpool winning 14 out of their remaining 18 league fixtures, drawing 3 and losing just 1 from this game onward. In doing so, they overhauled early season pace setters Southampton, then newly promoted Swansea City, fiercest rivals Manchester United and then finally this season’s nemesis Ipswich Town, to lift the ultimate prize in English football, the 1st Division Championship.
Thanks for reading. If you’ve enjoyed this retrospective look into a footballing past, please feel free to take a peek into my archives.
Alternatively, here are my three most recently published articles on the Reds current season hence far:
Joel Matip’s late winner kickstarts the Reds European campaign at last
Liverpool 2 Ajax 1, 13th September 2022medium.com
Neapolitan nightmare symptomatic of Reds “Sword of Damocles” season
Napoli 4 Liverpool 1, 7th September 2022medium.com
Merseyside Derby stalemate just desserts for Reds and Blues alike
Everton 0 Liverpool 0, 3rd September 2022medium.com