The voice on the other end of the line crackles as the memories come flooding back. The call, he says, was unexpected, but now that he is speaking, the chance for this proud son to reminisce about his father is a blessing.
“You know, he didn't talk much about football to us,” David Liddell explains. 'But when we went into town, everyone said 'hello'. To us he was just dad. But as children, my brother, Malcolm, and I knew he was special. We knew he was a superstar.”
He certainly was. William Beveridge Liddell, better known as Billy, was a giant with a barrel chest, a 19-inch neck and broad shoulders who carried a team. He was more than a superstar; this marksman was so good that he transformed the way a club became known.
This is the man whose goals turned Liverpool into 'Liddellpool'.
“I'm still a keen supporter of Liverpool,” says David from his home in Castleford. He's now 74 and while he may be slowing down physically, mentally he's as sharp as a tack.
“You know, I have this crazy idea that if I don't wear my scarf, they lose. That always comes out. But it might not happen tomorrow if Mohamed Salah is going to emulate my father! But records are there to be broken and Salah is undoubtedly great.”
Here is the progression from past to present. That Salah – signed in 2017 – comes within 228 goals as part of Liddell, whose Liverpool career spanned 23 years, is extraordinary. The Egyptian is a phenomenon, but so was the man who set standards for all who followed to aspire to. He was a captain, an inspiration and apart from being a prolific goalscorer, he racked up 132 assists.
His face can still be seen on banners in the Kop and younger fans will have told all about his talents. Perhaps in fifty years, when today's children will be old and gray, they will tell their grandchildren about Salah and provide evidence of those glorious strikes with high-definition clips.
Images of Liddell in his splendor are rare, but the written word is no less powerful. His greatness is preserved on microfilm in the archives of Liverpool's imposing Central Library. His words feel as clear and powerful today as they did when they were spoken in his splendor.
Liddell made the last of his 534 appearances on August 31, 1960. Bill Shankly's managerial odyssey at Anfield had not even reached its first anniversary when his compatriot knew time was running out. The day before that match against Southampton, which ended in a 1-0 defeat, he spoke to the Liverpool Echo.
“I've shaken hands with kings, queens, princes and prime ministers,” he told correspondent Leslie Edwards. 'Members of the nobility and others with whom I normally could never have hoped to come into contact.
“Perhaps the cynics will say, 'And what good is that to you?' Measured in terms of hard cash, if that is your criterion, the answer should be “not at all.” But in terms of living a full life and saving happy and valuable memories, it has meant a lot.
'And that also applies to the many meetings I have had with much less prominent people.'
This was another world. While today's players are protected by entourages and given media training to hide their personalities, Liddell and Co would be out on the streets of Liverpool. He was an ordinary person who could do extraordinary things.
Born in 1922 in Townhill, near Dunfermline, Liddell signed his first professional forms for Liverpool in 1939, three months after his 17th birthday. He initially joined as an amateur, having had trials with Blairhall Colliery, Hearts of Beath and Partick Thistle.
His first match – a wartime friendly at Anfield against Crewe Alexandra on January 1, 1940 – was, in his words, 'a truly memorable occasion'.
When Liverpool won the First Division in 1946-47, Liddell, one of the stars with his sharp running and cannonball shooting, was paid £12 a week. It is astonishing that this was his only great honor; the closest he came was in the 1950 FA Cup final, which ended in a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Salah, by contrast, earned more than £250,000 a week as he helped his club to their 19th title in 2020 and was once the subject of a £150m bid from Saudi side Al-Ittihad. Liddell turned down an offer of £2,000 to play in Colombia in 1951, feeling a debt of loyalty to the club.
“I didn't really think he was anything special,” David says, chuckling. 'But when we were chatting in the garden or on the beach, I thought, “Well, he's not like us!” It was such little things.
'I have memories of the old Anfield, walking up the steps into the paddock. There were windows hidden with wire and you could see into the treatment rooms. I remember looking through it and seeing a physio, with a cigarette in his mouth, pounding my dad's legs!
'My son took us to Liverpool as a treat for my 70th birthday. We saw Liverpool beat West Ham. It was such an opportunity to just be there. The thought of my father playing on that field didn't really cross my mind during the game, but it came back to me in the car that did.
'The city of Liverpool was my father's life. It's weird sometimes. I was on holiday about five years ago and, would you believe, at a quiz night the question was asked: “What was Liddellpool?” That's when I realized it all.'
He was top scorer in seven of the nine seasons from 1949 to 1958 – his bests were 1954-55 (31) and 1955-56 (32) – and teammate Jimmy Melia said: 'He was simply one of the best players to ever play for Liverpool played, one of the most sincere people. He gave everything, strong as a bull.'
Football historian Peter Kenny Jones wrote the book Liddell at the age of 100 and is clear about where Liddell stands in the pantheon, telling Mail Sport: 'In writing the book the overwhelming thing that came from fans and team-mates who saw him in his splendor and the great thing about it was that no one has played better for the club.
'Not Steven Gerrard, not Kenny Dalglish, not Salah. A combination of skill, speed, strength and, above all, loyalty. He rejected the big-money move abroad, the lure of better football, even when Liverpool were still in the Second Division.
'Liddell is one of the club's greats, alongside his former teammate Bob Paisley and his last manager Shankly. That Salah is about to eclipse his goalscoring record perhaps means he should be elevated to the pinnacle of praise any of us can bestow upon him.”
A saying that became widespread around town was 'come in the middle to Liddell' and fans loved him. He played every outfield position on the pitch and, alongside Stanley Matthews, was one of two people to play for Team Great Britain more than once – until the 2012 London Olympics.
Matthews, that old wizard, should have featured in Liddell's testimonial in September 1960 when Liverpool faced an International All-Star – they had come to honor one man alone.
He cried as he left the pitch that evening, after telling The Kop that “the occasion was as difficult as a cup final” and left for a new life, becoming both an accountant and justice of the peace. Liddell lived in Liverpool until his final days, when he succumbed to dementia in July 2001.
They say you never really die until the last person who loved them dies and that is certainly the case with Liddell, whose family still has a mountain of memories and memorabilia to look back on. Not to mention the fanbase, with older supporters still worshiping their first real superstar.
'We have a video of all the players from the past – people like Bob Paisley – going onto the pitch (in April 1994, for the last game for the standing Kop) and the fans applauding them,' says David. 'It brought tears to my eyes when I heard the Kop sing, 'There's only one Billy Liddell.'
'I was too young to appreciate my father during his playing days as a footballer. They didn't have this Premier League yet.
'I went to a few games… he had a funny way of running, he walked! But I didn't really understand how good he was. Now? I'm very proud.'
So he should be. His family's place in Liverpool history will be preserved forever.
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