Billy Liddell

Billy Liddell
Personal information
Date of Birth	10 January 1922
Place of Birth	Townhill, Scotland
Date of Death	3 July 2001
Place of Death	Liverpool, England
Height	1.84 m (6'0")
Position	Striker
Liverpool statistics
Years	1938-1961
Appearances	534
Goals	228

William Beveridge "Billy" Liddell (born 10 January 1922 – died 3 July 2001) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool from 1938 until 1961. A product of the Liverpool Academy, Liddell is the fourth highest goalscorer in Liverpool's history with 228 goals, which he amassed from 534 appearances. He was an immensely popular figure at Liverpool during his time there- to such an extent that Liverpool fans famously dubbed the club Liddellpool in his honour. He is widely renowned as one of Liverpool's finest ever players, and as a sign of his enduring reputation on Merseyside, he was voted into sixth place in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop fan poll conducted in 2006.

Liverpool career

In 1938, the then-Liverpool captain Matt Busby came to hear of the promising youngster Billy Liddell playing for Scottish side Lochgelly Violet. Busby recommended that Liverpool manager George Kay scout Liddell and, after doing so, Kay signed Liddell on an amateur contract on 27 July 1938. Liddell, still only 16 years old, continued his development with the Liverpool Academy system and nine months after joining, signed a professional contract worth £3-per-week. In addition- at the behest of his parents- the club supported Liddell through his concurrent accountancy studies, found him a part-time job as an accountant and set up his accommodation.

Still a youth player, Liddell suffered a near career-threatening injury against Blackburn Rovers when a challenge caused his knee to clash against concrete. Liddell recuperated, but due to World War II, was unable to make an official debut for Liverpool until 1946 as the FA suspended official competition. His unofficial debut came on 1 January 1940 in a 7-3 victory over Crewe, with Liddell getting on the scoresheet after just two minutes of the match. He followed this up with a hat trick five days later in a repeat scoreline against Manchester City. He ended his first season at Liverpool (albeit an unofficial one) having netted nine goals in 16 games.

Liddell completed the war years scoring 82 goals in 152 games for Liverpool in the various unofficial competitions that were established by the FA. He was also volunteering for the RAF during this time, and suffered a broken leg for which he received treatment at the RAF Remedial Centre.

After the war, Liddell was finally able to make his official debut for Liverpool. This came on 5 January 1946- with Liddell now aged 24- at Anfield in an FA Cup tie against Chester City. Liddell netted Liverpool's first goal in a 2-0 win. The game was also notable as being Bob Paisley's official debut for the club as well. The League campaign in the 1945-46 season was still an unofficial war-time campaign, however the official First Division League resumed in the 1946-47 season and Liddell made his first League appearance for the club on 7 September 1946 in a memorable 7-4 win over Chelsea. Liddell scored twice in the match, including one goal direct from a corner. Liddell completed the season having scored eight goals in 40 appearances from a left wing role as he quickly established himself as one of Liverpool's best players. He proved instrumental as Liverpool won a fifth League title- and their first in 24 years, providing numerous assists to Liverpool's prolific forwards Albert Stubbins and Jack Balmer. Unfortunately, this would prove the only honour Liddell would win with Liverpool in his long career with the club, despite the personal strides Liddell would make establishing himself as one of the leading footballers of his generation.

In the 1947-48 season, Liverpool fell to 11th place in the League as Liddell's teammates struggled to replicate the type of performance that had seen them crowned League champions. Liddell himself was still performing to a high level as he found the net 11 times in 39 games. At the end of the season, Liddell joined Liverpool on their end of season tour of North America. He scored 13 goals in 11 games as his stock in football continued to rise. In the 1948-49 season, Liverpool continued to disappoint and claimed only a 12th place finish in the First Division however Liddell, by contrast, continued to impress. He scored nine goals in 42 games, however he had been used more as a utility player during the season, even spending a spell at left back. Liddell made his 100th appearance for Liverpool in the season, coming in a 1-1 draw against Burnley at Anfield on 4 December 1948 and in 1949, Liddell was voted runner-up in the Sportsman of the Year award, losing out to cyclist Reg Harris.

Liverpool restored some pride in the 1949-50 season as they climbed to eighth in the League, and they also reached the final of the FA Cup- Liverpool's first ever appearance at Wembley. Liddell had scored some key goals on the way to the final, including the winner over Blackpool in a 2-1 victory in Round 6, and a goal against Merseyside rivals Everton in a 2-0 win in the semi-final. In the final, Liddell was notoriously targeted for rough treatment by Liverpool's opponents Arsenal- with liverpoolfc.com reflecting that Liddell was "kicked off the park," as Liverpool lost 2-0. Liddell finished the season with stats of 19 goals in 48 appearances, in what was his most prolific season to date. After the season, Liddell rejected a contract worth a reported £12,000 to move to Colombia- this would have represented a substantial sum of money to Liddell, with British footballer wages capped at £12-per-week, however Liddell later stated "the disadvantage of leaving home, family and friends outweight the financial benefits. All my interests are here at Anfield, and I should hate to leave."

At the start of the 1950-51 season, Liddell netted his 50th goal for Liverpool in a 4-0 victory over Sunderland at Anfield on 26 August 1950. He scored twice in the match, with his milestone goal being his first of the game. At the end of the calendar year 1950, Liverpool went 10 games without victory until Liddell netted the only goal of the game against Chelsea on 2 December to end the baron run. In January 1951, George Kay was replaced as manager by Don Welsh, representing only the second manager Liddell had worked with at Liverpool in his near-13 year stretch at the club. Liddell found the net 15 times in 36 games as Liverpool finished ninth. Liddell made his 200th appearance on 10 March 1951 as Liverpool drew 1-1 away to Middlesbrough.

In the next two seasons, Liverpool finished 11th and 17th as the club began to decline. Liddell however- who had already firmly established himself as a footballing star and the idol of Liverpool fans everywhere- was still producing exceptional performances, and netted 32 goals in 83 games over the two years. In the 1953-54 season however, Liverpool finally slipped too far down the League and, in hitting 22nd place, were relegated to the Second Division. Liddell himself had struggled to maintain his great goalscoring stats of the prior seasons, netting just seven times in 37 games, however he was able to celebrate his 300th appearance in a Liverpool shirt, which came in a 4-0 home win over Burnley on 19 September 1954. Liverpool's relegation was confirmed with a 1-0 defeat to Cardiff on 17 April 1954, with Liddell missing a penalty in the match. With Liverpool's relegation, Liddell would have had little difficulty finding a new club to stay in the top flight, but he opted to remain at Anfield in an effort to help the club rebuild.

Stats

Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1939-40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1945-46	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
1946-47	34	7	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	40	8
1947-48	37	10	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	39	11
1948-49	38	8	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	9
1949-50	41	17	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	48	19
1950-51	35	15	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	36	15
1951-52	40	19	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	43	19
1952-53	39	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	40	13
1953-54	36	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	7
1954-55	40	30	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	44	31
1955-56	39	27	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	44	32
1956-57	41	21	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	21
1957-58	35	22	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	40	23
1958-59	19	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	14
1959-60	17	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	5
1960-61	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total	492	215	42	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	534	228

External links

• Billy Liddell career stats at Soccerbase
• Billy Liddell's profile on liverpoolfc.com
• Billy Liddell player profile at LFCHistory.net