For a moment, let’s forget that Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish is the most capped Scottish player with 102 appearances. Let’s overlook the fact that he’s scored over a 100 goals for both Celtic and Liverpool. Let’s be oblivious to the chants of ‘King Kenny’ too.Let’s put it out of our minds that he’s a Member of the Order of the British Empire. And that he’s won six Football League First Division title and three European Cups.
The list of Dalglish’s achievements may be endless, but the ‘trait’ that is enough to qualify him as a leader, guide and ‘manager’ of men is his iron handshake. Mind you, that’s one solid way to be greeted. And when the venue happens to be a 15th century countryside home that hosts Queen Elizabeth II whenever the monarch visits this part of the country, you know you’re in for a treat. In all the excitement, one almost forgot that Dalglish was being grilled and tickled by his long-time Liverpool teammate Phil Thompson, the legendary defender, now a renowned TV pundit.
At a gathering organised by Standard Chartered Bank, the club’s shirt sponsor, Thompson welcomed the Liverpool manager for a unique Q&A session by the fireplace at Knowsley Hall, the ancestral home of the Earls of Derby. Thompson took the audience through Dalglish’s chequered career, starting from the days he started supporting Rangers as a15-year-old. He narrated how Dalglish never “touched alcohol” during his first few years at Liverpool, quickly clarifying that he’s “more than made up for it over the years”.
An incident involving Dalglish’s acrobatics after he scored the winning goal during the 1977-78 season had the audience in splits. Liverpool’s new No 7 was under severe pressure because most fans thought he wasn’t the perfect man to replace the great Kevin Keegan, who’d moved to Hamburg. But their fears were unfounded as Dalglish scored in the 64th minute to give Liverpool a 1-0 win over Belgian side Brugge.
“You jumped over the huge barrier at the Wembley that night. Why and how did you do it?” Thompson asked. “I don’t know why I did it,” Dalglish said, before narrating that American Edwin Moses, who won gold in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, had done something similar during a visit to the home of English football. “He jumped once but had to climb back. I managed the same,” the soft-spoken Scot said.
The most touching minutes of the grand evening were when Thompson asked Dalglish to narrate the harsh times he and wife Marina went through. Dalglish’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, but she made a good recovery. In the next year, the couple founded ‘The Marina Dalglish Appeal’ to raise money to help treat cancer. They’ve raised over 80 million pounds over the years. Marina, too, was awarded an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list for services to charity. “We all like to give back something to the game and Kenny has well and truly done his bit,” Thompson said. Dalglish didn’t expect his pal to bring this up, but Thompson made it clear that people ought to know the “great work you guys have done for cancer sufferers”.
Thompson later praised Dalglish for his role as player-manager at Liverpool in the 1980s, his successful stint at Blackburn that saw him help the them earn promotion to top-flight football and, of course, the title in 1994-95. Liverpool, Thompson reminded, last won the league in 1989-90 under Dalglish. “We haven’t won after he left. But now that he’s back, we’re sure we will, once again.” That’s how much they adore King Kenny here. And yes, he’ll never walk alone.
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