Search the Community

IAN CALLAGHAN 1959-78 by Chris Wood Date of Birth - 10/04/42 Nationality - English Position - Midfield Games - 843 (5) Goals - 69 Club Hons (Lpool) - League Championship 1963/64, 65/66, 72/73, 75/76, 76/77. European Cup 1976/77, UEFA Cup 1972/73, 76/77, FA Cup 1964/65, 73/74, 2nd Division Championship 1961/62 Intnl Hons - 4 England Caps Other Clubs - Swansea, Cork Hibernian, Soudifjord (Nor), Crewe 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. Check out our exclusive interview with 'Cally': http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/features/35032-its-cally-ian-callaghan-interview.html More info on Ian Callaghan: ++ / LFChistory.net -- Past Present Future