Liverpool's signing of Emlyn Hughes in March 1967 was their first major signing
for almost two years. His signing was followed by two less successful ones
in Tony Hateley and Alun Evans and it was this lack of foresight and planning
that led to the slow death of the great sixties team. From 1965 to 1973
Liverpool failed to win any trophies as one great side waned and the next was
built.
The breaking point of the sixties team was reached in season 69-70 during
the F.A. Cup quarter final match against Watford at Vicarage Road. Watford
humiliated Liverpool 1:0 and Shankly ripped the heart out the side and brought
in his new young stars. Out went St. John, Hunt, Yeats and Lawrence; in
came Clemence, Lloyd, Hall and Heighway. Shankly's allegiance to his older
players harked back to the dying days of his own playing career where he
believed he had been put on the shelf years too early.
With Smith, Lawler, Callaghan, and briefly Thompson, the survivors of the cull,
the new team reached the F.A. Cup final in 1971, though coming up against
eventual double winners Arsenal proved too much, Liverpool going down 2:1
in extra time. In season 71-72, a new face was introduced to the massed
ranks of the Kop. Kevin Keegan made his debut against Nottingham Forest
in sensational style, scoring after 8 minutes. A new hero was born. He was
to forge an awsome partnership with John Toshack for years to come that
would delight the fans. The title that season was lost on the final day,
when Liverpool travelled to Arsenal needing a win. With the score at 0:0
Liverpool had a late goal disallowed and the championship went to Derby
County, as their players sat listening to the match in a Majorcan bar !
There was no stopping Liverpool the following season however, and the
championship was won along with the UEFA Cup, Liverpool beating German side
Borussia Moenchengladbach over two legs 3:2 in the final. The club had
not only begun a domination of the domestic game but had now mastered
the art of playing continental football. The five-a-side training matches
Shanks had taken from his days in Glenbuck to Melwood, via Carlisle,
Grimsby, Workington and Huddersfield, had proved their worth. Liverpool
were now able to stroke the ball around at will in short, neat passing
movements.
In the 1974 Cup Final, the world of football was given a sneak preview of what
was just around the corner in the World Cup Finals just two months away.
Liverpool's performance in their demolition job of Newcastle United was
as clinical a display of 'total football' as any ever put on by the Dutch
masters at international level. The 3:0 scoreline hardly flattered such a
virtuoso performance. Overlapping full-backs, one touch play, every man
comfortable on the ball, all the hallmarks of Shankly's pass and move, keep
it simple philosophy were on display for the world to admire and it
brought Liverpool the F.A. Cup for the second time in their history.
Liverpool's play that day was the final fullfilment for Shankly, and, on a
shocking July afternoon, at the age of 60, he announced his retirement, leaving
the club in the hands of his chosen successor Bob Paisley. Paisley was to take
the club onto even more glory in the years that followed.
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