Featured: "St John's Debut (1960-61)" by Steve Horton

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We may have lost this game 4-3 but all the talk on the night was of the amazing debut by Liverpool’s new record signing. At last it was felt that a player had arrived who was capable of taking us out of the 2nd Division.

 

Once again we had narrowly missed out on promotion, but Bill Shankly managed to persuade the board to part with a massive £30,000 to sign Scottish international Ian St John from Motherwell.

 

The Saint himself admitted he knew little about Liverpool but was won over by Shanks unbounded enthusiasm and faith in his ability. He was given his debut in the senior cup final and made his way to Goodison by bus. He then had a job trying to convince the steward on the player’s entrance that he really was Liverpool’s new signing.

 

When St John did take the field, he was sensational, causing panic in Everton’s defence at every opportunity. He struck three goals and although Liverpool lost there was great hope for the future amongst Reds fans. This optimism was justified as a year later we finally won promotion and the Saint went on to play a major part in the glory years of the 60s.

 

 

 

About the author: Steve is a lifelong Kopite who has been writing for TLW since the very early days. He's a published author and has written several books about LFC and also the City of Liverpool. You can check out his books on Amazon, and follow him on twitter @SteHortonLpool.

 

 

Season:  1960/61 Opposition: Everton Result: 4-3 Scorer(s): Ian St John (3) Venue: Goodison Park

 

 

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[Frank Dacey]

On reflection, the Saint was one of our best signings, up there with Keegan in the way he transformed the side. There's a good article on him at

http://www.lfchistory.net/Articles/Article/2475