Dalglish, Kenny

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Personal

Fullname: Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish
aka: Kenny Dalglish, King Kenny, Kenny-D, Sir Kenneth Dalglish
Born: 4 March 1951
Birthplace: Milton, Glasgow, Scotland
Height: 5 ft 8 (1.73m)
Signed: 4 May 1967 (junior); 29 Apr 1968 (full)
Left: 10 August 1977 (to Liverpool)
Position: Right half/centre forward/striker
First game: Hamilton Accies away 4-2 League Cup 25 September 1968
Last game Motherwell 2-2 away league 10 May 1977
First goal: Rangers 2-0 away League Cup 14 August 1971
Last goal: Motherwell 2-2 away League 10 May 1977
Internationals: Scotland under 23/Scotland full
International Caps: 102 caps
International Goals: 30 goals
Manager (interim): 10 Feb 2000-1 June 2000

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Biog – Player

“Is he better in midfield or up front? Och, just let him on the park!” Jock Stein on Dalglish (1977)

Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish is unquestionably one of the finest players of his generation and among the very greatest footballers Britain has ever produced.

Brought up in the shadow of Rangers’ Ibrox Park, Kenny Dalglish was actually a Rangers supporter as a kid. When Sean Fallon interrupted a family holiday to go up to Kenny’s house to get him to sign for Celtic, Kenny Dalglish readily admits he had to rush to his bedroom to tear down his Rangers posters, not that for one second it would have stopped Sean Fallon from signing him.

Kenny Dalglish was snapped up by the Bhoys in the wonderful month of May 1967 when the youngster signed provisional forms with the Hoops. Dalglish would be farmed out to Cumbernauld United before returning to Celtic Park as a full-time professional in April 1968.

Among a crop of talented youngsters at Parkhead – known as the Quality Street Gang – Kenny Dalglish would make his Celtic debut on September 25th as a sub in a 4-2 League Cup win at Hamilton. His impact may not have been immediate but such was the strength of Celtic at that time they could afford the luxury of bedding talented youngsters in. Celtic fans who had watched his tremendous displays for the reserve team were raving about his ability and there was great anticipation of his promotion to the first eleven.

He was a late developer and he was almost 21 by the time he nailed down a first team spot in August 1971, long after his contemporaries such as Macari and Hay. In May 1971 he gave the fans a taste of things to come when he scored six goals in Celtic’s 7-2 win over Kilmarnock in a testimonial for Frank Beattie.

Between August 14th and September 11th 1971 Celtic defeated Rangers three times at Ibrox. Dalglish scored in every game, and in the first game he had scored his first competitive goal for Celtic with a coolly taken penalty after he had paused to tie his laces before scoring. He was the the biggest sensation that Scottish football had seen for years and scored 23 goals, the best of which were the sensational hat trick he scored against Dundee on October 16th in a 3-1 win.

Although he faded slightly later in the season and had reverted on occasion to his original position of right-half, he was at inside-left in the 6-1 annihilation of Hibs in the ’72 Scottish Cup final as Celtic clinched another double. Capable of playing in any of the front line positions Dalglish would be a wonderful asset to Celtic in the coming years. The only disappointment that season was that Kenny Dalglish and the other Celtic forwards couldn’t breach the Inter Milan defence over two legs in the European Cup semi final. The ultra defensive Italians held out until penalties in the 2nd leg at Parkhead and agonisingly for Celtic they lost 5-4 on penalties.

In 1972/73 Dalglish scored 41 times and developed a magnificent partnership with Dixie Deans which propelled Celtic to their 8th consecutive league title. Dixie’s aggressive, bustling style was the perfect foil for Kenny’s flair and technique and they made the perfect partnership and both were also tremendous finishers. On April 28th 1973 Dalglish and Deans were on fire on the day and shared the goals as Celtic won the title by beating Hibs 3-0 at Easter Road in front of an incredible 45,000 crowd, an estimated 35,000 Celtic fans having travelled to that game. Such was his talent that there fans who would go along just to see him play which is quite a compliment given the luxury of talents that Jock Stein had available to him at that time. By this time he was an established Scotland international from November 1972 onwards and only a magnificent save by England goalkeeper Peter Shilton prevented him scoring at Wembley in May 1973.

By the 1973/74 season he was the darling of the Celtic support and a mainstay of the Celtic team whether in midfield or attack. He scored 22 times and was instrumental in Celtic’s League and Cup double victories. On April 27th 1974 he scored the goal which brought Celtic’s ninth consecutive title to Parkhead at Brockville. On a sadder point he had suffered tremendous abuse against the thugs of Atletico Madrid as Celtic bowed out of the European Cup at the semi final stage. He had developed even further at this point and as Celtic were going through a stage of regeneration Kenny Dalglish had by now become an experienced and reliable player. In September 1973 he was in the Scotland team that qualified for the 1974 World Cup finals in West Germany.

Kenny Dalglish had an indifferent 1974 World Cup. He played in all three of Scotland’s game against Zaire, Brazil and Yugoslavia although he played in an attacking midfield role rather than as a striker. He was subbed in all three games and looked jaded on his return to Parkhead. On December 14th 1974 he had perhaps his best ever game when he scored a scintillating hat trick in 6-0 win against Dundee at Dens Park.

However, on January 4th Celtic’s bid for 10 in a row hit the skids when Rangers beat Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox. Unfortunately Kenny Dalglish had an off day and missed several chances that would have changed the outcome of that match. As a consolation Kenny Dalglish was part of the excellent Celtic team which annihilated Hibs 6-3 in the classic 1974 League Cup Final and was fielded at centre forward on May 3rd 1975 when Celtic defeated Airdrie 3-1 in Billy McNeill’s last game at Hampden.

He put in a transfer request in the summer of 1975 and Leeds United were said to have bid £240,000 at that time although he withdrew it when Jock Stein was seriously injured in a near fatal car crash, in which it took him along time to recover and Dalglish was rewarded with the captaincy by Sean Fallon after signing a new 2 year deal. The team was in transition and Kenny Dalglish carried the team on his back that season scoring a magnificent 32 goals although no trophies were won.

Celtic were in front in the league race until a 3-2 defeat at Tannadice on 10th April, and he had a goal against Aberdeen controversially disallowed one week later which cost Celtic victory and by now Rangers had gained the impetus. Dalglish had a wonderful rapport with the Celtic support but some of them could be critical if he dropped below the high standards he had now set. Other players were allowed to lose form but it was essential to Celtic that Kenny Dalglish played to full capacity in each game so reliant were they at that time on his talents.

Stein returned in the summer of 1976 and restructured the team. Pat Stanton and Joe Craig were much needed new faces and took some of the burden from the overworked Dalglish. He had developed an almost telepathic understanding with Danny McGrain on Celtic’s right hand side which was a joy to behold at club and international level. Both these players could be said to be the best in their positions in Britain if not amongst the best in Europe and both were mainstays of the successful Scotland side of 1974-1978 firstly under Willie Ormond and then Ally MacLeod.

After a slow start Celtic caught fire and were deserved league champions in 1977. He single handedly won the League Cup semi final against Hearts in October 1976 by scoring twice in a 2-1 win although Celts lost to Ally MacLeod’s Aberdeen in the final despite dominating almost the entire 120 minutes of a match played in incessant rain. On November 20th 1976 he led a thrilling Celtic fight back in a 4-3 win at Tynecastle and had a great combination with Joe Craig and Ronnie Glavin which returned 75 goals from all three Celts in 76/77.

The title was clinched on April 9th at Easter Road in a 1-0 win and Kenny Dalglish was hoisted high by his team mates in celebration much to the delight of the massive travelling Celtic support who had travelled through to Edinburgh to back them. At this time Kenny Dalglish was capable of being shuttled from midfield play maker to goal scoring striker depending on Celtic’s requirements in certain games.

He was at his peak in 1977 and the Ayr United defender Alex McAnespie after playing against him, described his talents as being ‘unbelievable, like something from an incredible football comic strip’. Alfie Conn was signed from Spurs in March 1977 and it’s now believed that Stein anticipated Dalglish’s departure and Conn as a replacement signed well in advance.

On May 7th 1977 Kenny Dalglish lifted the Scottish Cup after a 1-0 win over Rangers when he had strangely refused the chance to score the winning goal from a penalty, Andy Lynch doing the needful. He lost his medal in the celebrations afterwards and only found it after a search aided by policemen. Before the Cup Final he had signed a new contract which misled the supporters as it looked as if he had pledged his future to Celtic but had he not signed he would have been ineligible to play in the final due to the complications of the contract system prior to freedom of contract in 1980. He may have signed but privately he had made it clear to the club that he wished to move on.

Departure from Celtic
After scoring Scotland’s winner at Wembley in June and starring in Scotland’s South American tour in July against Brazil, Argentina and Chile, Kenny Dalglish refused to travel to Celtic’s tour of the Far East, citing tiredness as the reason. Rumours abounded about his departure and sadly, on 9th August 1977 Kenny Dalglish signed for Liverpool for a British record fee of £440,000, Liverpool having just cashed a cheque for £500,000 for the transfer of Kevin Keegan to the West German club SV Hamburg and looking for a replacement.

It is said that before he signed Jock Stein had taken him aside privately and asked him if there was anything the club could do to make him stay but he required a new challenge in his career and his destination was Anfield, home of the then current European Champions. To this day some Celtic fans question how much Celtic tried to keep him. Jock Stein was desperate to retain Kenny’s services but the Celtic directors were perhaps happy to pocket a huge cheque from the Anfield club and hope that the Celtic youth system would provide a replacement. It was to be an impossible task and Celtic suffered accordingly in the 1977/78 season.

Kenny Dalglish’s departure is lamented by Celtic fans to this day. He was creative, scored goals, had stamina, heart and vision and was a great team player. In short, he was closest to the perfect player as you could find. Kenny Dalglish was a Celtic all time great after 320 appearances and 168 goals.

Despite the success he had at Anfield, the Kop could never repeat the roar of the Jungle when Kenny Dalglish was in full flow in the green and white hoops.

Kenny Dalglish was voted into the Greatest Ever Celtic Team and was also voted Liverpool’s Greatest Ever Player – a truly unique fantastic footballer.

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Playing Career

Honours with Celtic (as a player)

Scottish First Division

• 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1976-77

Scottish Cup

• 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977

Scottish League Cup

• 1974-75

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Biog – Manager

Kenny Dalglish returned to Celtic Park as Director of Football in the summer of 1999. His appointment was backed by the Board but was mainly down to his golfing buddy and recent appointee as Celtic Chief Executive Allan MacDonald. This appointment was not without a degree of controversy, Kenny Dalglish having become involved with a ‘consortium’ which sought control of the club and Fergus McCann’s shares.

Having been a former manager of Liverpool, Blackburn and Newcastle United, he was expected to have the nous to get Celtic up and running again, and building on the foundations that Jo Venglos had left behind. Being the manager wasn’t his main interest, and he preferred a back seat role and was principally responsible for the appointment of John Barnes as Head Coach (who he had managed as a player in the 1980’s).

Barnes’ abject failure as a manager in his brief reign, meant it fell to Dalglish to take over the reins as interim manager of the first team in the wake of Barnes’ dismissal on 9th February 2000. Dalglish’s position was always under scrutiny, and he became embroiled in acrimony with the press during his time in charge. Barnes’ dismissal had also irreparably damaged Dalglish’s reputation for judgement, the more high profile transfers all being derided (Dalglish had a hand in all of it).

Under his management, the team did succeed in winning the League Cup, defeating Aberdeen in the final at Hampden, which was some kind of consolation but his longer-term position was never very clear. With Tommy Burns appointed as his interim assistant, the team Dalglish inherited still had a slim chance of winning the Premier League title at the beginning of March but three defeats in that fateful month, one by Hibs and two by Rangers (the second against Rangers being a particularly disappointing display at Ibrox), ensured that Dalglish would not be asked to take over the job on a permanent basis. He became an increasingly marginal figure with little apparent involvement in the search for the next manager.

Following the appointment of Martin O’Neill, Dalglish’s contract was terminated on 29th June 2000. In addition to the reported unwillingness of O’Neill to work under a senior status football staff employee, Dalglish was also unwilling to accept a sideways move, so with little leeway for the Board, it is understandable that the only solution was the termination of Dalglish’s contract. In any case, Dalglish’s fate was probably sealed by the team’s distant finish behind Rangers in the league championship, a record 21 points. It was a sad way to see Dalglish’s reign end but luck was his enemy as it was with Venglos. Dalglish sued the club for wrongful dismissal, and the case was heard at the Court of Sessions in Edinburgh in November and December of 2000. A sorry way for it to all end.

Kenny Dalglish should not have been living off of his past reputation but he was doing so in part in this case, and Celtic were to be unintentionally sorely done by this situation…

Return to management at Liverpool
…and lightning should not strike twice but Kenny Dalglish dipped his toes into the managerial role again at Liverpool in 2011, but this time from the beginning as the main man taking over a deflated/demoralised Liverpool team. The fans there laud him to the heavens and they believed he could do no wrong. However, the parallels in this tenure to that at Celtic were to be unsurprising to anyone north of the border.

After a bright start galvanising the first team, he was handed the reins as the permanent manager (after a brief stint as the stand-in), and went on to spend a huge sum on various players (around £100m) which many were found out to be overvalued and surprising purchases. The team slumped and slid fast, the new players were atrocious, he was repeatedly aggressive & prickly with the press and he would admit no wrong ever in anything he ever did. In time, various events led to those who were previously sympathisers to turn against his management team, and he became increasingly isolated.

The results never recovered and the team were so far behind the league title contenders for the championship title that it was ridiculous. Liverpool ended up winning a league cup trophy as if it were some kind of consolation. He was effectively sacked in acrimonious circumstances. It was all as if predestined to fail before he had even started, and in retrospect looking back at his time at Celtic, it vindicated the Celtic board’s decision to remove him from the Celtic role as and when they did.

Kenny Dalglish should be respected for giving the management game a go whilst all others sit on their backsides taking easy paycheques as mind-numbing football analysts on the media circuit. However, you have to learn and adapt as the game is ever evolving. He never did appear to even try to do so, and Liverpool paid the same price as Celtic had done. A sad and poor way for the great Kenny Dalglish to end his active involvement on the frontline in the competitive game.

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Managerial Career

	PREMIER LEAGUE
	Home							Away								Total
SEASON	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1999-00	9	6	2	1	28	10	20	7	2	2	3	6	8	8		16	8	4	4	34	18	28
	LEAGUE CUP
SEASON	P	W	D	L	F	A
1999-00	2	2	0	0	3	0

Honours as Interim Manager

Scottish League Cup

• 1999-00

In April 2020, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic, thankfully he pulled through.

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Quotes

“Is he better in midfield or up front? Och, just let him on the park!”
Jock Stein on Dalglish (1977)

“It’s alright saying we’ve got £400,000 but where do we find any player like him?”
Jock Stein on Dalglish after his transfer away (1977)

“Celtic was a marvellous place to be. Everyone was so committed to the success of the club.”
Kenny Dalglish

Note:
In his autobiography, Dalglish speculated that Ormond – who reinstated him for the next Home Internationals against Northern Ireland and England, two games he just happened to score in – had been pressurised from within the SFA not to allow a Celtic player to claim a Rangers legend’s Scottish record. Dalglish thereafter started 34 straight internationals to claim the record as a Liverpool player, but that dubious omission against Wales denied him Billy Wright’s all-time record for consecutive such appearances, the England man having turned out for his country 70 times on the spin.
Andrew Smith The Scotsman (Nov 2020)

“MY FIRST GOAL
IN 1971 I got a regular place in the first team at Celtic, having played three or four pre-season games and scored a few goals.
The League Cup used to be in sections. We’d play at the start of the season in August and September – we played about 10 games in two months – and Celtic and Rangers were drawn in the same section.
Celtic Park was being renovated because they were putting the new stand up, so we had to play the two games at Ibrox.
We were winning 1-0 in the first game when somebody went through and got pulled down for a penalty.
Billy McNeill said to me: “You take it.” I said: “Why?” He said: “You take it. You’ve taken one for the reserves.”
I said: “Oh, there’s no difference then? Over 70,000 people and you’re comparing it to reserve-team football.”
It was at the Celtic end and all the photographers ran behind the goal in anticipation.
Our fans were all cheering, although I think when they saw me stepping up they were saying “Oh no!” – or words to that effect. ”
Kenny Dalglish on his first goal 14 Aug 1971, Celtic 2-0 Rangers (2013)

“To get a team from within a 25-mile radius of Glasgow going up against that Inter Milan, coming from a goal down and going on to win, it’s an unbelievable story. The only one that’s looked to match it since has been Leicester winning the Premier League last year. But although that’s a creditable second, it’s a good distant second.
“It (Lisbon) was a frightening achievement. It was surreal when they won it but to think that 50 years have now passed – time just flies by.
“The achievement will always be number one. And the way that team went about their work after Lisbon, and the success they enjoyed, was a huge credit to them and their attitude.”
Kenny Dalglish on the Lisbon Lions (2017)

“As a wee boy growing up in Glasgow, to play at Celtic Park, for the club that had just won the European Cup in ’67, the first British club to do so, I was pretty nervous, even going to training. But once I got inside the stadium, the players were fantastic, they were really welcoming, supportive, helpful, giving advice and encouragement, so to go there and play was a fantastic experience for me.”
Kenny Dalglish

“The two cities have a lot in common. The love of football, the clubs in the city, Rangers and Celtic in Glasgow, Everton and Liverpool here, the rivalry, it’s brilliant, for me it was just fortunate where I played and I’m grateful to both clubs.”
Kenny Dalglish

‘Are you trying to say Celtic isn’t as big an adventure as some of those clubs allegedly interested. Why would Ange Postecoglou go there to get relegated?’
Kenny Dalglish on Postecoglu to EPL rumours (Mar 2023)

“This is a credit to Celtic fans. My two favourite Clubs in British football, both with the same values, and I couldn’t be prouder of my relationship with them both.”
Kenny Dalglish on 4k+ travelling fans to the Celtic Legends v Liverpool Legends Charity game (2023)

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Pictures

• Player Pics

Articles

• Misc Articles
• Article Pics
• Scotland Career

Books

• Kenny of the Celtic by Stephen Murray (2016)

Links

• Quality Street Gang
• Kenny Dalglish Song
• Dalglish sues Celtic (2000)

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