PHIL THOMPSON

Feature50 years on: 'I'm sorry AK, mine is the worst LFC goal celebration!'

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By Steve Hunter

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Phil Thompson made his name as one of Liverpool's greatest centre-backs, with an outstanding reputation for denying opportunities to opposition forwards.

Take his performance in marking Newcastle United's Malcolm MacDonald, known as 'Super-Mac', out of the game during the 1974 FA Cup final victory, which has gone down in legendary status.

But 'Thommo' also netted 13 times for the Reds at the other end of the pitch, with the first coming against Derby County at Anfield exactly 50 years ago today.

Recalling that goal, Thompson told Liverpoolfc.com: "I was just 19 years old, oh my goodness!

"It was an incredible time because I was so wet behind the ears. I was a holding midfield player back then, just sitting in front of the back four.

"As you can imagine, I didn't get many goals, just 13 in my career, but that first one was special.

"Being a young player, I didn't have a great responsibility to get into the penalty box, to try to win things, which I did do later on. But because I was young, I was stood outside the box, just on the left of the 'D'.

"This ball just came bouncing towards me and as it came I volleyed it and I can still see it now, Anfield Road end, the goalkeeper's top right corner, a dipped volley that just flew into the back of the net."

Having achieved the hardest part of actually scoring the goal, Thompson was frozen in the moment that remains vivid for him a half-century later.

He continued: "The thing about it I remember is I didn't know what to do. I just stood there!

"Alan Kennedy always goes on about when he scored the winning penalty in the 1984 European Cup final and he did that little jig, which he says is the worst goal celebration. But I'm sorry AK, mine was worse as I just stood there!

"I just remember everyone jumping on my back and I'm thinking, 'Oh my God. I've scored a goal for Liverpool!'

"It does stick in my mind and you remember your debut and your first goal.

"I remember Kevin Keegan saying at the time, 'How did you kick it that far?!' He was probably right at the time. As you can imagine, I still don't carry a lot of weight now and imagine me back then at 19 years of age. But I could play, I was clever and I could run all day."

That 1973-74 season ended with the aforementioned FA Cup glory under Bill Shankly after a 3-0 win over Newcastle.

"That was magical winning the FA Cup and especially the manner of our performance against Newcastle United," added Thompson.

"Shanks in his wisdom had moved me to centre-back alongside Emlyn Hughes, and we started passing the ball out from the back, quite unique at that time.

"People always ask me about that game and I've still got Super-Mac in my pocket [laughs], he's still there!"

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This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.