1986–87 Liverpool F.C. season

Liverpool
1986–87 season
Chairman	John W Smith
Manager	Kenny Dalglish
First Division	2nd
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Runners-up
Super Cup	Winners
FA Charity Shield	Title shared
Top goalscorer	League: ; Ian Rush (30); All: ; Ian Rush (40)
Highest home attendance	44,827 (v Everton, League, 25 Apr)
Lowest home attendance	13,498 (v Fulham, League Cup, 23 Sept)
Average home league attendance	36,284

The 1986–87 season was Liverpool Football Club's 95th season in existence and their 25th consecutive season in the First Division. It was their second season under the management of Kenny Dalglish, and as defending double winners they finished this season only having (jointly) won the FA Charity Shield, coming close to silverware as league runners-up and losing finalists in the League Cup. They finished runners-up in the league nine points behind local rivals Everton, after an eventful title race which had seen them fight out with a resurgent Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as well as face surprise challenges during the season from unfancied sides including Norwich City, Luton Town and newly promoted Wimbledon.

At the end of the season, striker Ian Rush headed to Italy to sign for Juventus. His successor in the Liverpool attack, John Aldridge, had been signed during the season from Oxford United. After the season ended, Dalglish further enhanced Liverpool's forward positions with a move for Newcastle United striker Peter Beardsley and Watford winger John Barnes.

Squad

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Attackers

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Division 1		FA Cup		Charity Shield		League Cup		Super Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	DF	ENG	Gary Ablett	6	1	5+0	1	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	FW	IRL	John Aldridge	10	2	2+8	2	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	IRL	Jim Beglin	30	0	20+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0	6+0	0	2+0	0
	FW	SCO	Kenny Dalglish	25	8	12+6	6	0+0	0	0+1	0	4+1	2	1+0	0
	FW	ENG	John Durnin	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	SCO	Gary Gillespie	51	0	37+0	0	3+0	0	0+0	0	9+0	0	2+0	0
	GK	ZIM	Bruce Grobbelaar	45	0	31+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0	9+0	0	1+0	0
	DF	SCO	Alan Hansen	53	0	39+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0	9+0	0	1+0	0
	GK	ENG	Mike Hooper	13	0	11+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
	FW	SCO	Alan Irvine	4	0	0+2	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
	MF	AUS	Craig Johnston	37	3	27+1	3	3+0	0	1+0	0	5+0	0	0+0	0
	DF	ENG	Mark Lawrenson	49	0	35+0	0	3+0	0	1+0	0	8+0	0	2+0	0
	MF	SCO	Kevin MacDonald	8	0	3+3	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
	MF	ENG	Steve McMahon	55	14	37+5	5	1+0	0	1+0	0	9+0	8	2+0	1
	MF	DEN	Jan Mølby	47	12	34+0	7	3+0	0	1+0	0	7+0	5	1+1	0
	MF	IRL	Brian Mooney	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
	MF	SCO	Steve Nicol	21	5	14+0	3	0+0	0	0+0	0	5+0	1	2+0	1
	FW	WAL	Ian Rush	57	40	42+0	30	3+0	0	1+0	1	9+0	4	2+0	5
	MF	ENG	Nigel Spackman	14	0	12+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+1	0	0+0	0
	DF	ENG	Barry Venison	44	0	31+2	0	2+0	0	1+0	0	4+2	0	1+1	0
	FW	ENG	Paul Walsh	31	6	23+0	6	2+0	0	0+0	0	4+1	0	0+1	0
	MF	SCO	John Wark	17	7	8+3	5	2+0	0	0+0	0	2+1	2	0+1	0
	MF	IRL	Ronnie Whelan	53	5	39+0	3	3+0	0	1+0	0	8+0	2	2+0	0

Transfers

In

Pos	Player	From	Fee	Date
DF	Barry Venison	Sunderland	£200,000	31 July 1986
DF	Steve Staunton	Dundalk	£20,000	2 September 1986
FW	Alan Irvine	Falkirk	£75,000	October 1986
FW	John Aldridge	Oxford United	£750,000	27 January 1987
MF	Nigel Spackman	Chelsea	£400,000	24 February 1987

Out

Pos	Player	To	Fee	Date
MF	Sammy Lee	QPR	£200,000	August 1986

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Everton (C)	42	26	8	8	76	31	+45	86	Disqualified from the European Cup
2	Liverpool	42	23	8	11	72	42	+30	77	Disqualified from the UEFA Cup
3	Tottenham Hotspur	42	21	8	13	68	43	+25	71
4	Arsenal^[a]	42	20	10	12	58	35	+23	70
5	Norwich City	42	17	17	8	53	51	+2	68

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ Arsenal would have qualified as League Cup winners.

Matches

First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
23-Aug-86	Newcastle United	A	2–0	Rush 5', 83'	33,306	Report	Report
25-Aug-86	Manchester City	H	0–0		39,989	Report	Report
30-Aug-86	Arsenal	H	2–1	Mølby pen 19' Rush 57'	38,637	Report	Report
03-Sep-86	Leicester City	A	1–2	Dalglish 85'	16,344	Report	Report
06-Sep-86	West Ham United	A	5–2	Whelan 24' Johnston 51' Dalglish 66', 90' Rush 70'	29,807	Report	Report
13-Sep-86	Charlton Athletic	H	2–0	Mølby pen 56' Rush 80'	37,413	Report	Report
20-Sep-86	Southampton	A	1–2	McMahon 62'	20,452	Report	Report
27-Sep-86	Aston Villa	H	3–3	Wark pen 24', 43' McMahon 79'	38,298	Report	Report
04-Oct-86	Wimbledon	A	3–1	Mølby 50' Rush 56', 90'	15,978	Report	Report
11-Oct-86	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–1		43,139	Report	Report
18-Oct-86	Oxford United	H	4–0	Rush 29', 89' Dalglish 33' Mølby pen 53'	34,512	Report	Report
25-Oct-86	Luton Town	A	1–4	Mølby pen 81'	13,140	Report	Report
01-Nov-86	Norwich City	H	6–2	Nicol 15' Walsh 30', 58', 75' Rush 48', 70'	36,915	Report	Report
08-Nov-86	Queens Park Rangers	A	3–1	Rush 9' Nicol 15' Johnston 76'	24,045	Report	Report
16-Nov-86	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–1	Rush 58'	28,020	Report	Report
23-Nov-86	Everton	A	0–0		48,247	Report	Report
29-Nov-86	Coventry City	H	2–0	Mølby pen 24' Wark 90'	31,614	Report	Report
06-Dec-86	Watford	A	0–2		23,954	Report	Report
14-Dec-86	Chelsea	H	3–0	Whelan 31' Rush 51' Nicol 78'	25,856	Report	Report
20-Dec-86	Charlton Athletic	A	0–0		16,564	Report	Report
26-Dec-86	Manchester United	H	0–1		40,663	Report	Report
27-Dec-86	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–0	Rush 64'	40,959	Report	Report
01-Jan-87	Nottingham Forest	A	1–1	Rush 88'	32,854	Report	Report
03-Jan-87	West Ham United	H	1–0	McMahon 86'	41,286	Report	Report
17-Jan-87	Manchester City	A	1–0	Rush 72'	35,336	Report	Report
24-Jan-87	Newcastle United	H	2–0	Walsh 53' Rush 79'	38,054	Report	Report
14-Feb-87	Leicester City	H	4–3	Rush 29', 47', 86' Walsh 30'	34,259	Report	Report
21-Feb-87	Aston Villa	A	2–2	Johnston 1' Walsh 62'	32,093	Report	Report
28-Feb-87	Southampton	H	1–0	Aldridge 60'	33,133	Report	Report
07-Mar-87	Luton Town	H	2–0	Mølby pen 17' Own goal 39'	32,433	Report	Report
10-Mar-87	Arsenal	A	1–0	Rush 20'	47,777	Report	Report
14-Mar-87	Oxford United	A	3–1	Wark 35', 63' Rush 53'	14,211	Report	Report
18-Mar-87	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–1	Rush 18', 71'	28,988	Report	Report
22-Mar-87	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–1		32,763	Report	Report
28-Mar-87	Wimbledon	H	1–2	Dalglish 47'	36,409	Report	Report
11-Apr-87	Norwich City	A	1–2	Rush 36'	22,879	Report	Report
18-Apr-87	Nottingham Forest	H	3–0	Dalglish 34' Whelan 51' Ablett 68'	37,359	Report	Report
20-Apr-87	Manchester United	A	0–1		54,103	Report	Report
25-Apr-87	Everton	H	3–1	McMahon 9' Rush 45', 85'	44,827	Report	Report
02-May-87	Coventry City	A	0–1		26,709	Report	Report
04-May-87	Watford	H	1–0	Rush 82'	40,150	Report	Report
09-May-87	Chelsea	A	3–3	Rush 9' McMahon 77' Aldridge 84'	29,245	Report	Report

FA Charity Shield

16 August 1986

15:00

Liverpool	1–1	Everton
Rush 88'	Report	Heath 80'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 88,231

Referee: Neil Midgley (Salford)

Liverpool

Everton



	1	Bruce Grobbelaar	57'
	2	Barry Venison
	3	Jim Beglin
	4	Mark Lawrenson
	5	Ronnie Whelan
	6	Alan Hansen (c)
	7	Steve McMahon
	8	Craig Johnston
	9	Ian Rush
	10	Jan Mølby
	11	Kevin MacDonald	65'
Substitutes:
	17	Mike Hooper	57'
	12	Kenny Dalglish	65'
Manager:
Kenny Dalglish



	1	Bobby Mimms
	2	Alan Harper
	3	Paul Power
	4	Kevin Ratcliffe (c)
	5	Ian Marshall
	6	Kevin Langley
	7	Trevor Steven
	8	Adrian Heath
	9	Graeme Sharp
	10	Kevin Richardson
	11	Kevin Sheedy	57'
Substitutes:
	14	Neil Adams	57' 84'
	12	Paul Wilkinson	84'
Manager:
Howard Kendall

FA Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
11-Jan-87	Luton Town	A	0–0	11,085	Report	Report
26-Jan-87	Luton Town	H	0–0	34,822	Report	Report
28-Jan-87	Luton Town	A	0–3	14,687	Report	Report

League Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
23-Sep-86	Fulham	H	10–0	Rush 8', 76' Wark 10', 63' Whelan 28' McMahon 44', 66', 71', 79' Nicol 83'	13,498	Report	Report
07-Oct-86	Fulham	A	3–2	McMahon 2' Own goal 6' Mølby pen 43'	7,864	Report	Report
29-Oct-86	Leicester City	H	4–1	McMahon 5', 7', 60' Dalglish 30'	20,248	Report	Report
19-Nov-86	Coventry City	A	0–0		26,385	Report	Report
26-Nov-86	Coventry City	H	3–1	Mølby pen 4', pen 39', pen 72'	19,179	Report	Report
21-Jan-87	Everton	A	1–0	Rush 83'	53,323	Report	Report
11-Feb-87	Southampton	A	0–0		22,818	Report	Report
25-Feb-87	Southampton	H	3–0	Whelan 67' Dalglish 75' Mølby 85'	38,481	Report	Report

Final

5 April 1987

15:15 BST

Arsenal	2–1	Liverpool
Nicholas 30', 83'	Report Report	Rush 23'

Wembley, London

Attendance: 96,000

Referee: Lester Shapter (Devon)

Arsenal

Liverpool



GK	1	John Lukic
RB	2	Viv Anderson
LB	3	Kenny Sansom (Captain)
CM	4	Steve Williams
CB	5	David O'Leary
CB	6	Tony Adams
RM	7	David Rocastle
CM	8	Paul Davis
CF	9	Niall Quinn
CF	10	Charlie Nicholas
LM	11	Martin Hayes
Substitutes:
MF	12	Perry Groves	Quinn'
MF	14	Michael Thomas	Hayes'
Manager:
George Graham



GK	1	Bruce Grobbelaar
RB	2	Gary Gillespie
LB	3	Barry Venison
CM	4	Nigel Spackman
LM	5	Ronnie Whelan
CB	6	Alan Hansen (Captain)
CF	7	Paul Walsh	73'
RM	8	Craig Johnston
CF	9	Ian Rush
CM	10	Jan Molby
CM	11	Steve McMahon	87'
Substitutes:
FW	12	Kenny Dalglish	73'
MF	14	John Wark	87'
Player / Manager:
Kenny Dalglish

Super Cup

Final First Leg

16 September 1986

Liverpool	3–1	Everton
Rush 6', 65' McMahon 56'	Report Report	Sheedy 40'

Anfield, Liverpool

Attendance: 20,660

Liverpool

Everton


LIVERPOOL:
GK	1	Mike Hooper
RB	2	Barry Venison
LB	3	Jim Beglin
CB	4	Mark Lawrenson
LM	5	Ronnie Whelan
CB	6	Gary Gillespie
SS	7	Kenny Dalglish
RM	8	Steve Nicol
CF	9	Ian Rush
CM	10	Kevin MacDonald
CM	11	Steve McMahon
Substitute:
MF	12	John Wark
MF	14	Jan Mølby
Player/Manager:
Kenny Dalglish


EVERTON:
GK	1	Bobby Mimms
RB	2	Peter Billing
LB	3	Paul Power
CB	4	Kevin Ratcliffe (c)
CB	5	Ian Marshall
CM	6	Kevin Langley
RM	7	Neil Adams
ST	8	Paul Wilkinson
ST	9	Graeme Sharp
CM	10	Trevor Steven
LM	11	Kevin Sheedy
Substitute:
MF		Warren Aspinall
Manager:
Howard Kendall

Second leg

30 September 1986

Everton	1–4	Liverpool
Sharp 30'	Report Report	Rush 10', 27', 84' Nicol 62'

Goodison Park, Liverpool

Attendance: 26,068

Everton

Liverpool


EVERTON:
GK	1	Bobby Mimms
RB	2	Peter Billing
LB	3	Paul Power
CB	4	Kevin Ratcliffe (c)
CB	5	Derek Mountfield
CM	6	Trevor Steven
RM	7	Neil Adams
CM	8	Adrian Heath
ST	9	Graeme Sharp
ST	10	Paul Wilkinson
LM	11	Kevin Sheedy
Substitute:
MF		Warren Aspinall
DF		Neil Pointon
Manager:
Howard Kendall


LIVERPOOL:
GK	1	Bruce Grobbelaar
RB	2	Gary Gillespie
LB	3	Jim Beglin
CB	4	Mark Lawrenson
LM	5	Ronnie Whelan
CB	6	Alan Hansen (c)
SS	7	John Wark
RM	8	Steve Nicol
CF	9	Ian Rush
CM	10	Jan Mølby
CM	11	Steve McMahon
Substitute:
FW	12	Paul Walsh
DF	14	Barry Venison
Player/Manager:
Kenny Dalglish

Liverpool won 7–2 on aggregate

Dubai Super Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
9-Dec-86	Celtic	N	1–1 (Liverpool win 4–2 on pens)	Hansen 89'	15,000	Report

References

[table_note_ARS0.44729859728706-1] Arsenal would have qualified as League Cup winners.

[a]