Time for celebration. World boxing contender Alan Rudkin joins Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley
and Tommy Smith at a party to celebrate Ian Callagnhan's award of an MBE
Applauded off the field by his teammates on his debut, Ian Callaghan became the
only player whose career spanned the Reds' rise from the mediocrity of the Second Division
to European champions. More than that even, he went on to make more League appearances for
Liverpool than any other player and totalled over 850 in all senior games. Liverpool-born,
he joined the Reds for a 10 pounds signing-on fee. In his early days he was moved from
wing-half, where his 5ft 7ins build was considered too small for the rigours of the
midfield. He became instead a fast, busy winger who created many scoring opportunities
with his accurate crosses. Under-23 honours were followed by two full caps, one against
France in the 1966 World Cup Finals, for he was a member of England's successful squad
that year. A cartilage operation meant that he missed half the 1970-7) season, but he
resumed as an automatic choice the following season, by now back in midfield. In 1974, he
was the FWA Footballer of the Year, having collected three Championship medals, two FA Cup
winners' medals and a UEFA Cup winners' medal. In 1977, he won yet another honour, playing
in the European Cup Final, and at the age of 35 he was selected twice more for England.
But early in 1978 he finally lost his place in the Liverpool side. He was given a free
transfer and joined former colleague John Toshack at Swansea. After helping the Swans into
the Second Division, Callaghan moved to Cork United and then played for Soudifjord in
Norway, and Crewe Alexandra.
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The only Liverpool player to make the journey from the
Second Division to the European cup final, Ian Callaghan made nearly 850 appearances for
Liverpool's first-team in an Anfield career which spanned nearly 18 years from the date of
his debut (a Second Division fixture against Bristol Rovers in the middle of April 1960)
until his final match in the semi-final of the European cup against Borussia
Monchengladbach at the end of March 1978.
 '
Cally' was a quiet man on and off the field but his achievements and honours for Liverpool
speak for themselves. After that early debut towards the end of the 1959-60 season, he
only played in 3 League matches the following season but Bill Shankly made him a regular
from November 1961 onwards when he played in 24 of the last 27 matches of that season, the
year when the club finally managed to make the step up from the Second to the First
division. The first of his 69 goals for Liverpool came in the first match of that extended
run, against Preston North End at Deepdale on 4th November 1961. He was a right-winger in
those early days and an ever-present during the two years in the 60's when Liverpool won
the League championship, 1963-64 & 1965-66. That consistency earned him a place in Alf
Ramsey's 1966 World Cup squad and he played in two of the early group matches. Probably
the fact that Ramsey decided on a formation without wingers restricted his international
career and it was not until the Autumn of his career that he was selected for his country
again when he was in his mid-thirties.
When Shankly's 'rebuilding' brought another League title to Anfield in 1973 after a
7 year absence, Ian was one of three men (the others being Chris Lawler & Larry Lloyd)
to play in every single League game. By now he was playing in midfield, a role he adapted
to just as easily and competently as he had when asked to play as a right-winger in his
early days. Cally continued to pick up winners' medals with regularity as Liverpool
dominated domestic and European football for the rest of the decade and he ended up with
six championship medals (one Second Division and five First) as well as winners' medals in
the F.A. cup, European cup, UEFA cup and European Super cup. The only domestic medal he
missed out on was in the League cup, although he was a member of the side beaten in the
1978 final by Nottingham Forest. It was in the League cup that Ian Callaghan became an
unlikely goal-scoring hero, when his hat-trick put out Hull City on a midweek afternoon at
Anfield in November 1973 in front of less than 20,000 spectators (a fuel crisis meant a
ban on floodlit domestic matches at that time).
Ian was honoured by the Football Writers as their Player of the Year in 1974, the
season in which he won his 2nd F.A. cup with the club (he and Tommy Smith were the only
survivors from the first victory against Leeds nine years before). In September 1978 he
signed for Swansea City under his former colleague John Toshack and was to play several
dozen League games for the Welsh club, helping them win promotion into the Second Division
in the process. Ian Callaghan was one of the greatest players ever to wear a Liverpool
shirt. His 'attendance record' was remarkable; he made at least 40 League appearances in
eleven different seasons and only missed a handful of matches in any competition during
the 15 years when he was a regular in the first-team. When he finally left Anfield, he had
made made nearly 200 more appearances for the club than ANY other Liverpool player. No man
has played more matches for the club and none is ever likely to in the future.
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