FeatureForty years since the Double that 'probably will never be done again'
History was made 40 years ago today, when Kenny Dalglish became the first player-manager to lead a team to a league and FA Cup double.
The fact that Liverpool achieved it by beating Merseyside rivals Everton twice made it all the sweeter.
The goals of the master marksman Ian Rush, the vision of the 'Great Dane' Jan Molby and the presence of captain Alan Hansen at the back made the Reds an unstoppable force to be reckoned with during a thrilling second half of 1985-86.
Within a group of Scots in the side was Gary Gillespie, who had been signed by Joe Fagan from Coventry City in 1983.
It was in his third campaign that Gillespie made his mark on the Liverpool team, cementing a regular place, with only illness denying him appearing in the FA Cup final against the Toffees.
A memorable hat-trick at Anfield in a 5-0 win over Birmingham City past future England No.1 David Seaman was a real highlight of his season.
Forty years to the day since Dalglish's team completed the Double with a 3-1 victory over the Blues at Wembley, Gillespie admits it's hard to believe it was that long ago.
"I mean, time flies, doesn't it? When you look back it's fond days and 40 years... wow, it's an absolute lifetime," Gillespie told Liverpoolfc.com.
"It was just wonderful for us to be the first Liverpool team to do the league and FA Cup double and it was very special.
"It was Kenny's first year as a player-manager and he was the first player-manager to win the Double and it's something that probably will never be done again."
Everton had taken the title off the Reds in 1984-85 and, with striker Gary Lineker arriving, Howard Kendall's Blues were favourites once again.
Ron Atkinson's Manchester United, who beat Liverpool in the previous season's FA Cup semi-final, had started the campaign with a record-breaking 10 consecutive wins and went nine points clear at the summit.
They were soon to fall off the pace. But Dalglish's men were still playing catch-up to their city rivals.
Gillespie said: "It was funny really because we had struggled for most of the season. I came into the team just after the turn of the year and that kind of established me in the side.
"I think a big factor for us was that Kenny brought himself back into the team. When Walshy [Paul Walsh] got injured, he started to pick himself.
"We lost 2-0 to Everton at Anfield when Kevin Ratcliffe scored past Bruce [Grobbelaar] and I think that was the turning point for us. We didn't lose a league game after that and won 11 out of 12 games.
"We were scoring lots of goals and keeping clean sheets, and we had the belief that we could do something special.
"It was nip and tuck between ourselves, Everton and West Ham, to be fair, who had a good side. It went right down to the wire, as we obviously know."
Fittingly, it was player-manager Dalglish who scored the only goal of the game on the final day of the league season against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, to seal the title with a 1-0 win.
"That was very special and especially for Kenny who got the goal," Gillespie continued. "If you were an Evertonian, you would probably have looked back and thought they threw it away because they lost at Oxford and we won away at Leicester City.
"That was another big turning point and then we went on to beat them again in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
"It was a very special time for the city, with both sets of supporters travelling together to Wembley. It was a very enjoyable occasion.
"It was a great time to be a player at both Liverpool and Everton because we were probably the best two teams in the country at the time, so it was just a great time to be part of Merseyside football."
The 1985-86 Double team might have had fantastic individual talents like Rush, Dalglish, Molby and Hansen, but there were some unsung heroes in the squad.
Before his injury against Manchester United, Walsh had netted 18 goals in a fruitful partnership with Rush, while Scotland midfielder Kevin MacDonald had also come into his own and sealed a regular place in midfield.
"We were a team and we had players who all made a great contribution," said Gillespie.
"I remember Kenny signing Steve McMahon that season from Aston Villa and he brought some steel to the midfield, but then he picked up an injury and Kevin took his opportunity.
"Kenny paired Kevin alongside Jan Molby and it worked really well for us. Kevin did a heck of a lot of hard work in the midfield for us and was an unsung hero in that team.
"When you think about players who score goals these days, anybody that scores over 10 goals seems to be a superstar and yet we had Walshy, who scored 18 goals but couldn't establish himself as a regular starter in the side.
"I think when you are going to be successful as Liverpool are, you have to have a squad of players who can contribute over the course of the season and that's certainly what we had. We certainly knew the value of what they all gave us."
An undoubted personal highlight for Gillespie was the Anfield win over Birmingham in April 1986.
The defender had already scored twice before the Reds were awarded a penalty and Molby had netted a spot-kick earlier in the game.
The Kop, however, offered no doubt who they wanted to take it as they loudly sang Gillespie's name.
The Scot then stepped up and smashed the ball into the top corner of the net as Anfield cherished a special moment.
"That was just a really nice moment for me and it's not the sort of thing that happens too often, scoring a hat-trick," he said.
"It was very special, although what I was doing in those positions around the opposition penalty area I couldn't tell you!
"You would probably expect me to score a header from a corner or something, but to score twice and then score a penalty was very special.
"I'm just happy that I scored it and I don't know what I would have done had I missed! It was fantastic to hear the crowd singing my name and it was a nice moment.
"It was also an important victory for us to score five goals as it could have gone down to goal difference in the end."
On the topic of goals, it is impossible to reminisce on that time without mentioning Rush.
The striker, who scored two against the Blues in the FA Cup final, totalled 33 goals for the season.
"The partnership with Rushie and Kenny was telepathic," Gillespie finished. "I can remember as a young kid watching a football programme about Kevin Keegan and John Toshack being telepathic, but that partnership between Rush and Dalglish was something really special.
"The fact that Rushie is our all-time leading goalscorer I think says it all. We have had some great players over the years – the likes of Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez and Mohamed Salah – but nobody can get near to Rushie with regards to goalscoring.
"All credit to him because he was a wonderful player."