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Ian Rush

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Template:Football player infobox2 Ian James Rush MBE (born 20 October 1961) is a legendary Welsh footballer who played as a striker and is most well-known for playing for Liverpool. His attacking partnership with Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool is widely regarded as being amongst the finest and most successful in the history of English and European football.

Records

  • Second highest FA Cup scorer of all time, and highest in 20th Century FA Cup with 44 goals (39 for Liverpool, 4 for Chester City, 1 for Newcastle United). Only Henry Cursham with 49 goals for Notts County between 1877-1888 scored more.
  • Record FA Cup Final goalscorer with 5 goals.
  • Joint record League Cup goalscorer with 49 goals (48 for Liverpool), shared with Sir Geoff Hurst.
  • First player to pick up 5 League Cup winners medals.
  • Record Welsh international goalscorer with 28 goals.
  • Record Liverpool goalscorer with 346 goals.
  • Second top goalscorer in League football for Liverpool with 229 goals, behind Roger Hunt (245 goals).
  • Record Merseyside derby goalscorer with 25 goals for Liverpool against Everton.

Biography

After attending St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint, Rush began his career at Chester City where he played in just 34 league games, but he had already scored 14 goals, Liverpool were alerted and he joined them in the April of 1980 but only after manager Bob Paisley agreed a, then, record breaking fee for a teenager, £300,000.

Rush had actually made his international debut, May 1980, before he got the call to appear in the Liverpool first team, his Reds debut came on the 13th December '80 in a league fixture at Portman Road against Ipswich Town, ironically he was in the side for his future 'partner in crime' Kenny Dalglish and wore his No.7 shirt. Jimmy Case was the goalscorer as the game ended in a 1-1 draw, Rushie's was used sporadically during his first season at the club, Liverpool had a policy of bringing in young talent and playing them in the reserves to learn 'the Liverpool way,' Rush was no different and had to serve his apprenticeship.

His apprenticeship, was hard and not at all Rushie like, as the goals didn't flow, this almost lead to the eager Rush leaving Anfield in the search of regular first team football, but after a talk with the very shrewd Paisley, who told him to "be more selfish in front of goal," Rush decided to stay and fight for a place, the rest, as they say, is history. Ian first goal for the club took a bit of time to arrive but it eventually came on the 30th September 1981 during a European Cup 1st round 2nd leg tie at Anfield against Oulu Palloseura. Liverpool had already won the 1st leg at the Raatti Stadium 1-0, so many thought that 2nd leg was a formality, they were right, Liverpool trounced the Finnish minnows by a 7-0 scoreline with Rush scoring in the 67th minute after coming on 3 minutes earlier for David Johnson. Rush wouldn't look back, he went on to be the clubs top scorer by the end of the season scoring 30 times in just 49 appearances in all competitions a goal ratio of 1 goal every 1.6 games. 17 of these goals came in the league helping the Reds reclaim the championship from holders Aston Villa.

He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1983 after inspiring Liverpool to glory in the league championship and League Cup, he scored 24 league goals as the Anfield side finished a massive 11 points clear (5 wins and a draw under the old 2 points for a win system) of runners-up Watford. The league Cup was added after a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Manchester United after extra time at Wembley. He was voted PFA Player of the Year in 1984 after Liverpool retained both of their trophies and added the European Cup to their list of honours for that season. It was no surprise that Rush also added the Football Writers Footballer of the Year to the PFA award he had already claimed, he managed an unbelievable 47 goals in 65 games, a goal every 1.4 matches as Liverpool finished 17 points clear of closest finishers Southampton in the league, beat derby rivals Everton 1-0 in the replayed final of the League Cup (after the 0-0 draw of the first ever all Merseyside final) and won their 4th European Cup after defeating AS Roma 4-2 on penalties (Rush made it 3-2 before Bruce Grobbelaar's famous 'jelly legs') after a 1-1 draw.

The 1984/85 season was to, unusally, end trophyless for Rush even though Liverpool won through to their fifth European Cup final against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium. This was to end in disaster as rioting football hooligans caused a retaining wall to collapse killing 39, mainly, Juve supporters. It was no surprise that this affected the players, including Rush, who, somewhat surprisingsly, had to play the final, the game, where both teams where not fully committed or fully caring about the result, ended in Juve's favour by a single goal.

The following season was a great deal better for the Reds and Rush, he scored twice as Liverpool beat Southampton 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final at White Hart Lane booking a place at Wembley to face neighbours Everton in the first all Merseyside FA Cup final. The Reds had just pipped their rivals to the league title by beating Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge so the already monumental final was doubley important for both sides, if the Reds won it would mean an historic double, if Everton won it would mean they would stop the double and also win a major trophy which their football had, in many eyes, deserved. Everton, who had already done the 'double' over Liverpool during the season, beating them 3-2 at Goodison Park and 2-0 at Anfield (they even had a 3-2 Phil Neal testimonial victory under their belts), opened the scoring when Gary Lineker out ran Alan Hansen to score past Grobbelaar at the second attempt, they held this lead and took it into the half-time interval.

Liverpool, after the half-time team-talk by, the now player/manager, Dalglish, looked a different side in the second half with Rush leading the line brilliantly. Liverpool drew level in the 57 minute when their nemesis, Rush, latched on to a defence splitting pass from Jan Mølby to round Bobby Mimms to slot into an empty net. 6 minutes later Mølby was, again, at the heart of another attack, he picked the ball up inside the area gained a yard of space and drilled a perfect cross for Craig Johnston to score. With Liverpool now 2-1 up the game was still in the balance, this was until the 84th minute when that man Rush was to, again, torment the Toffees. Ronnie Whelan was at the heart of this attack with the game stretched he picked the ball up and drove towards the edge of the Everton area, Dalglish made run across his path into space but Whelan used it as a dummy and clipped an exquisite ball over 3 Everton defenders into the path of Rush who, from the angle of the 6 yard area, thumped the ball past Mimms knocking over a camera in the process. This was the final nail in the coffin, Liverpool held on and completed the double with Rush being awarded the man of the match.

The final itself was a spectacle throughout, both sets of supporters added to the event and showed what a football match could be like, all around the stadium red scarves were alongside blue as divided families and friends stood side by side without fear of the hooliganism that plighted Liverpool's European final of the previous season, the final, thereafter, would be known as the 'Friendly Final.'

Rush was to score against Everton at Wembley again at the beginning of the 86/87 campaign, this time, however, Everton were able to claim a 1-1 draw in the season's curtainraiser the Charity Shield, the rest of the season would prove to be an anti climax for the Reds who finished 2nd to Everton in the league, although Rushie did hit 30 goals, were knocked out of the FA Cup in the 3rd round by Luton Town after 3 replays, and lost 2-1 to Arsenal in the League Cup final even though Rush had opened the scoring and, up until then, Liverpool had never lost when Rushie had scored.

Rush had decided early on into the 86/87 season that he would be moving away from Anfield and on the 1st July 1987 he was transferred for £3 million to the Italian giants Juventus, the move was seen by many as a deal to help the healing process after Heysel and to re-open friendly links between the clubs, which ever way it was viewed it was a new challenge for Rush who would have the task of unlocking the much tighter defences in Serie A. Unfortunately, his time at Juventus was less than successful, scoring only eight times in 29 games. He had a hard time settling in Turin, once famously remarking, "It's like living in a foreign country." After just one season at the Stadio delle Alpi, he returned to Anfield, rejoining Liverpool for £2,700,000 on the 18th August 1988.

The news of Rush's imminent return was given to the supporters before they journied south to London for yet another Charity Shield, before the game started the crowd was in it's usual full voice, they, however, had a new song, declaring at the top of their voices "Rushie is back, Rushie is back" although the Liverpool team of 87/88 had bewildered all before them with some outstanding football, such was Ian's stature amongst the Anfield faithful they were pleased to see him back.

Rush had serious competiton in John Aldridge, who came to Anfield as a replacement for Rush, for the striking berth, it was deemed that the 2 of them were to similar in style, as well as looks, to be able to play them together. Aldo started the season in front of Rushie and kept banging in the goals thus keeping Rush on the bench. As the season progressed Rush came into some form but was unable to influence the scoreline at Anfield, having to be replaced after just 32 minutes, in the title decider against Arsenal. With the score 1-0 in the Gunners favour with only a couple of minutes remaining, the title looked to be staying on Merseyside on goal difference, this was until Michael Thomas burst through and clipped a shot over the onrushing Grobbelaar to break the hearts of all involved with Liverpool. Arsenal had achieved exactly what they needed a 2 goal victory to win the title on goals scored, 73 as opposed to the Reds 65, both teams having 76 points.

The Arsenal defeat had denied the Reds another double as just 6 days prior to the defeat Rush had scored twice, again, against Everton in the thrilling 3-2 1989 FA Cup triumph, Rush emerged from the bench to replace Aldridge, who had opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 4th minute of the game. The game was at a stalemate at 1-1 after 90 minutes when Rush scored to put the Reds ahead in the 4th minute of extra time, Ian McCall scored his, and Everton's, 2nd equaliser but Rush came up with the goods once more with an incisive finish in the 103rd minute to win the cup for Liverpool.

The 1989 Cup final had more signifigance than it usually would have because of the events of 15th April, Liverpool were drawn against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough home of Sheffield Wednesday. The game was brought to an end at 3.04pm due to the ensuing disaster that was unfolding in front of them. 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives in what was to be live changing for all involved. The players and staff of Liverpool Football Club, including Rush, were commended for their exemplory behaviour during the clubs darkest days. Everton's support was immense during this period and the fact that Liverpool would meet them in the final seemed to be the perfect final for all concerned. The fans once again stood side by side in their blue and their red and did the city and people of Liverpool proud, as did the players and officials of both clubs.

1989/90 saw Rush gain another league title, his last, as Liverpool finished 9 points clear of Aston Villa with Rush scoring 18 goals, another crack at the double slipped through the clubs grip as they suffered a shock semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup even though Rushie had given the Reds a 14th minute lead.

In 1992 he picked up a 3rd FA Cup winners medal despite being restricted to just 18 league games and 2 goals that season due to injury. He, again, hit the net, this time in the 67th minute, to put Liverpool 2-0 up against second division Sunderland.

Rush picked up his 5th League Cup winners medal in 1995 when 2 goals from Steve McManaman ended Bolton Wanderers dreams of a shock result, Liverpool won 2-1. Before ending his long association with Liverpool at the end of the 1995-96 season, he had the small matter of another FA Cup final, after a hugely disappointing game which looked like it was heading for a replay Man United popped up with a late winner to steal the with a 1-0 victory.

Ian finally said goodbye to his beloved Anfield on the 20th May '96 when he signed for Leeds United, Rush spent a season with Leeds but scored just 3 times in 36 Premiership games and was given a free transfer at the end of the 1996-97 season. He joined Newcastle United on a one-year contract but was forced out of the side after Christmas when Alan Shearer returned from his long-term injury, though he did score an important goal in the 1-0 FA cup win over Everton, which helped Newcastle to the FA cup final. He had a loan spell with Sheffield United before leaving St James's Park in the summer of 1998 to sign for Wrexham AFC amongst much fanfare. By this time he was past his prime, however, and failed to score in 18 starts for the North Wales club, being moved to play in midfield towards the end of the season. He made a brief playing comeback with Sydney Olympic before finally retiring as a player in 2000, by which time he was 38 years old.

He was later appointed manager of his first professional club, Chester City (by this time in Football League Two) in August 2004 having removed himself from the unofficial shortlist for the post of manager of the Welsh national team in November 2004. He resigned from his post at Chester in April 2005 citing disagreements with the Chairman as the reason for his departure.

In 2005, at the age of 43, Ian Rush considered coming out of retirement to play for TNS, after the Welsh side were drawn against Liverpool for their opening round Champions League qualifying match.

As of November 2005, Ian Rush has been involved with the game in the form of media commentary and pundit work of which he was doing a stint with ESPN, he also appears as a pundit for Sky Sports.

On the 27th of April 2006, Rush was involved in the Marina-Dalglish charity match, which pitted the 1986 FA cup final teams of Liverpool and Everton against each other, in aid of Breast Cancer Research.

Rush was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2006 due to his achievements in the game.

Ian can still be seen wearing the red of Liverpool as he regularly appears for the Masters team and for Liverpool's old boys on public relations tours for LFC.

It is not yet clear whether Ian Rush will make a return to management or consider another career in or out of football.

International career

Rush played regularly for the Welsh national team scoring 28 goals in 73 games. Unfortunately during his career the team never qualified for a major tournament, although in 1991 he scored the winning goal in an Euro 92 qualifier against Germany.

Trivia

  • He once famously described his stay in the north of Italy as like being "in a foreign country".
  • When Liverpool took the lead through a Rush goal in the 1987 League Cup final, many fans assumed that the trophy was Liverpool's, as they had never lost a match in which Ian Rush scored. However, the 145-game run ended that day, as two Charlie Nicholas goals gave Arsenal the cup. A week later, Liverpool lost 2-1 to Norwich at Carrow Road, the first time that they lost a league match in which Rush had scored.
  • In July 2006, Rush was voted as the All-time FA Cup Hero by the thefa.com.
  • In 1990, in the Ian Rush Cup in Wales, he awarded one of his boots to a boy who was top scorer in the tournament. The boy was Andriy Shevchenko, who is now one of the world's most prolific goalscorers. [1]

Career honours

Liverpool

Winner

Runner-up

Personal honours

Preceded by Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
1984 		Succeeded by
Preceded by PFA Players' Player of the Year
1984 		Succeeded by
Preceded by PFA Young Player of the Year
1983 		Succeeded by
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