1988-89 season

1988-89 season
General information
Manager	Kenny Dalglish
Captain	Ronnie Whelan
Performance
Division 1	Runners-up
FA Cup	Winners
League Cup	4th round
Top scorers
League	Aldridge (21)
FA Cup	Aldridge (6)
League Cup	Aldridge (2); Barnes (2)
Overall	Aldridge (31)
Attendances
Average	36,863
←1987-88	1989-90→

The 1988-89 season was Liverpool's 97th season of football since they were established. This was a reasonably successful season for Liverpool, they were unable to retain their league title (finishing as runners-up), but they did win the FA Cup. John Aldridge showed his scoring prowess scoring 31 goals in all competitions. Due to the Heysel Stadium disaster, English clubs were still banned from European competition.

Squad[]

GK. Bruce Grobbelaar
GK. Mike Hooper
DF. Gary Ablett
DF. David Burrows
DF. Gary Gillespie
DF. Alex Watson
DF. Jim Beglin
DF. Steve Nicol
DF. Steve Staunton
DF. Barry Venison
DF. Alan Hansen
DF. Nick Tanner
MF. John Barnes
MF. Ronnie Whelan
MF. Ray Houghton
MF. Mike Marsh
MF. Nigel Spackman
MF. Jan Molby
MF. Steve McMahon
MF. Kenny Dalglish
MF. Kevin MacDonald
MF. Charlie Boyd
MF. Jim Magilton
FW. Peter Beardsley
FW. John Durnin
FW. John Aldridge
FW. Ian Rush

Note: Fixed squad numbers were not introduced until the 1993-94 season.

Friendlies[]

Pre-season[]

Date	Opponent	Score	Scorers
3 August 1988	Bryne	5-0	Beardsley, Aldridge 2, McMahon, Barnes
5 August 1988	Sunnmore Select XI	4-1	Aldridge 3, Barnes
8 August 1988	Tromso	2-2	Aldridge, Whelan
12 August 1988	Atletico Madrid	1-5	Houghton
14 August 1988	Real Sociedad	4-0	McMahon 2, Gillespie, Barnes

Other friendlies[]

Date	Opponent	Score	Scorers
12 February 1989	Dundee	3-1^[1]	McMahon 2, Houghton
4 April 1989	Celtic	1-1	Aldridge
30 April 1989	Celtic	4-1	Dalglish, Aldridge 2, Rush

Results[]

League[]

Date	Opponent	Score	Scorers
27 August 1988	Charlton	3-0	Aldridge (23, 52, 54)
3 September 1988	Man Utd	1-0	Molby (pen 38)
10 September 1988	Aston Villa	1-1	Houghton (64)
17 September 1988	Tottenham	1-1	Beardsley (78)
24 September 1988	Southampton	3-1	Aldridge (31), Beardsley (47), Molby (pen 84)
1 October 1988	Newcastle	1-2	Gillespie (3)
8 October 1988	Luton	0-1
22 October 1988	Coventry	0-0
26 October 1988	Nottingham Forest	1-2	Rush (58)
29 October 1988	West Ham	2-0	Rush (69), Beardsley (80)
5 November 1988	Middlesbrough	3-0	Rush (44), Aldridge (75), Beardsley (87)
12 November 1988	Millwall	1-1	Nicol (15)
19 November 1988	Queens Park Rangers	1-0	Aldridge (28)
26 November 1988	Wimbledon	1-1	Houghton (63)
4 December 1988	Arsenal	1-1	Barnes (46)
11 December 1988	Everton	1-1	Houghton (30)
17 December 1988	Norwich	0-1
26 December 1988	Derby	1-0	Rush (17)
1 January 1989	Man Utd	1-3	Barnes (70)
3 January 1989	Aston Villa	1-0	Whelan (66)
14 January 1989	Sheffield Wednesday	2-2	Nicol (76), Aldridge (77)
21 January 1989	Southampton	2-0	Aldridge (73), Rush (78)
4 February 1989	Newcastle	2-2	Aldridge (15), Rush (50)
1 March 1989	Charlton	2-0	Beardsley (14), Aldridge (pen 88)
11 March 1989	Middlesbrough	4-0	Beardsley (19), Houghton (37), Aldridge (79), McMahon (88)
14 March 1989	Luton	5-0	Aldridge (34, pen 42, 76), Beardsley (69), McMahon (74)
22 March 1989	Coventry	3-1	Barnes (11), Aldridge (28), Whelan (56)
26 March 1989	Tottenham	2-1	Aldridge (pen 50), Beardsley (64)
29 March 1989	Derby	1-0	Barnes (2)
1 April 1989	Norwich	1-0	Whelan (21)
8 April 1989	Sheffield Wednesday	5-1	McMahon (8), Beardsley (42, 66), Houghton (57), Barnes (80)
11 April 1989	Millwall	2-1	Barnes (21), Aldridge (41)
3 May 1989	Everton	0-0
10 May 1989	Nottingham Forest	1-0	Aldridge (pen 81)
13 May 1989	Wimbledon	2-1	Aldridge (59), Barnes (73)
16 May 1989	Queens Park Rangers	2-0	Aldridge(45), Whelan(57)
23 May 1989	West Ham	5-1	Aldridge (20), Houghton (63, 80), Rush (84), Barnes (90)
26 May 1989	Arsenal	0-2

FA Cup[]

Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Scorers
3	7 January 1989	Carlisle	3-0	Barnes (33), McMahon (65, 84)
4	29 January 1989	Millwall	2-0	Aldridge (57), Rush (63)
5	18 February 1989	Hull	3-2	Barnes (15), Aldridge (52, 53)
6	18 March 1989	Brentford	4-0	McMahon (15), Barnes (62), Beardsley (79, 82)
Semi-final	7 May 1989	Nottingham Forest	3-1	Aldridge (3, 58), Laws (og 72)
Final	20 May 1989	Everton	3-2	Aldridge (4), Rush (94, 103)

League Cup[]

Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Scorers
2 (1st leg)	28 September 1988	Walsall	1-0	Gillespie (44)
2 (2nd leg)	12 October 1988	Walsall	3-1	Barnes (30), Rush (72), Molby (pen 83)
3	2 November 1988	Arsenal	1-1	Barnes (66)
3 (R)	9 November 1988	Arsenal	0-0
3 (R)	23 November 1988	Arsenal	2-1	McMahon (61), Aldridge (87)
4	30 November 1988	West Ham	1-4	Aldridge (pen 34)

Other[]

Charity Shield:

Date	Opponent	Score	Scorers
20 August 1988	Wimbledon	2-1	Aldridge (23, 69)

Mercantile Credit Trophy:

Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Scorers
Quarter-final	29 August 1988	Nottingham Forest	4-1	Venison (50), Molby (pen 70), Houghton (75), Barnes (84)
Semi-final	20 September 1988	Arsenal	1-2	Staunton (80)

Tables[]

League[]

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	38	22	10	6	73	36	37	76
2	Liverpool	38	22	10	6	65	28	37	76
3	Nottingham Forest	38	17	13	8	64	43	21	64

Player stats[]

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
DF	Gary Ablett	35	0	6	0	6	0	1	0	48	0
FW	John Aldridge	35	21	6	6	5	2	1	2	47	31
MF	John Barnes	33	8	6	3	3	2	1	0	43	13
FW	Peter Beardsley	37	10	5	2	6	0	1	0	49	12
MF	Charlie Boyd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DF	David Burrows	21	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	24	0
MF	Kenny Dalglish	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
FW	John Durnin	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Gary Gillespie	15	1	2	0	1	1	1	0	19	2
GK	Bruce Grobbelaar	21	0	5	0	0	0	1	0	27	0
DF	Alan Hansen	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
GK	Mike Hooper	17	0	1	0	6	0	0	0	24	0
MF	Ray Houghton	38	7	5	0	6	0	1	0	50	7
MF	Kevin MacDonald	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	5	0
MF	Jim Magilton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MF	Mike Marsh	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Alex Watson	2	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	6	0
MF	Steve McMahon	29	3	6	3	3	1	1	0	39	7
MF	Jan Molby	13	2	3	0	2	1	0	0	18	3
DF	Steve Nicol	38	2	6	0	6	0	0	0	50	2
FW	Ian Rush	24	7	2	3	4	1	0	0	30	11
MF	Nigel Spackman	12	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	16	0
DF	Steve Staunton	21	0	3	0	4	0	0	0	28	0
DF	Nick Tanner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DF	Barry Venison	15	0	1	0	4	0	1	0	21	0
MF	Ronnie Whelan	37	4	5	0	6	0	1	0	49	4

Transfers[]

In[]

Player	From	Fee	Date
Nick Tanner	Bristol Rovers	£20,000	1 August 1988
Ian Rush	Juventus	£2,800,000	18 August 1988
David Burrows	West Brom	£550,000	20 October 1988
Barry Jones	Prescot	Signed	19 January 1989

Out[]

Player	To	Fee	Date
Kevin MacDonald	Coventry	Free	1988
Nigel Spackman	Queens Park Rangers	£500,000	2 February 1989
John Durnin	Oxford	£225,000	10 February 1989

Notes[]

↑ Bobby Geddes' testimonial.

Liverpool F.C. seasons

1892-93 • 1893-94 • 1894-95 • 1895-96 • 1896-97 • 1897-98 • 1898-99 • 1899-1900 • 1900-01 • 1901-02 • 1902-03 • 1903-04 • 1904-05 • 1905-06 • 1906-07 • 1907-08 • 1908-09 • 1909-10 • 1910-11 • 1911-12 • 1912-13 • 1913-14 • 1914-15 • 1915-16 • 1916-17 • 1917-18 • 1918-19 • 1919-20 • 1920-21 • 1921-22 • 1922-23 • 1923-24 • 1924-25 • 1925-26 • 1926-27 • 1927-28 • 1928-29 • 1929-30 • 1930-31 • 1931-32 • 1932-33 • 1933-34 • 1934-35 • 1935-36 • 1936-37 • 1937-38 • 1938-39 • 1939-40 • 1941-42 • 1942-43 • 1943-44 • 1944-45 • 1945-46 • 1946-47 • 1947-48 • 1948-49 • 1949-50 • 1950-51 • 1951-52 • 1952-53 • 1953-54 • 1954-55 • 1955-56 • 1956-57 • 1957-58 • 1958-59 • 1959-60 • 1960-61 • 1961-62 • 1962-63 • 1963-64 • 1964-65 • 1965-66 • 1966-67 • 1967-68 • 1968-69 • 1969-70 • 1970-71 • 1971-72 • 1972-73 • 1973-74 • 1974-75 • 1975-76 • 1976-77 • 1977-78 • 1978-79 • 1979-80 • 1980-81 • 1981-82 • 1982-83 • 1983-84 • 1984-85 • 1985-86 • 1986-87 • 1987-88 • 1988-89 • 1989-90 • 1990-91 • 1991-92 • 1992-93 • 1993-94 • 1994-95 • 1995-96 • 1996-97 • 1997-98 • 1998-99 • 1999-2000 • 2000-01 • 2001-02 • 2002-03 • 2003-04 • 2004-05 • 2005-06 • 2006-07 • 2007-08 • 2008-09 • 2009-10 • 2010-11 • 2011-12 • 2012-13 • 2013-14 • 2014-15 • 2015-16 • 2016-17 • 2017-18 • 2018-19 • 2019-20 • 2020-21 • 2021-22 • 2022-23 • 2023-24 • 2024-25

Grey seasons indicate war years

[1] Bobby Geddes' testimonial.

[1]