Past playersGeoff Twentyman

The presence of England centre-half Laurie Hughes and later Dick White meant Twentyman switching to No.6 at left-half on Merseyside.

His playing career at the Reds coincided with the club's lean years. He joined for what was then a substantial fee of £10,000 in December 1953, just four months before the Reds were relegated to the old Second Division after finishing rock-bottom of the top flight with only nine wins from 42 games.

After relegation in 1954 and a mid-table finish in 1955, Liverpool were always challenging for promotion back to the top division but third-placed finishes in 1956 and 1957 were not quite good enough. Twentyman played regularly during those two years and contributed with an impressive total of 10 goals as well.

He played 15 matches on average during his last three years at the club.

Towards the end of the decade, Ballymena United wanted him as a player-manager and despite the pleading of the recently arrived Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, his former boss at Carlisle, Twentyman agreed and moved across the Irish Sea.

He subsequently returned to the Reds by accepting Shankly's offer of the role of chief scout at Anfield in 1967.

Twentyman was the model professional in every sense. Unhurried and unflappable on the pitch, hard-working and dignified off it, he became a widely respected and welcomed figure in football.

His talent-spotting became almost legendary, unearthing some of the game's real giants like Ian Rush, Phil Neal and Alan Hansen. Twentyman also worked under Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish before leaving his post after 19 years in 1986.