Feature'He put me on the transfer list!' - My Liverpool Story… Ian Rush's untold tales

My Liverpool career is very well-documented, and supporters probably already know a lot of my journey from signing as a young lad from Chester, to becoming the Reds' record goalscorer on 346 goals. It is a path I am extremely proud and grateful to have trodden.

For this, I wanted to do something a little different to the usual columns… and share some tales and stories that you may (or may not!) have heard before.

Enjoy…

My transfer to Liverpool

I signed for Liverpool because of Chester manager Alan Oakes. It's as simple as that. He knew how I played and I think when Liverpool came in, they offered £300,000 for me. Manchester City were also interested, and they actually put in a bid of £500,000.

Alan used to play for them as well so you'd think he'd be more inclined to have pushed me there - but he told me to go to Liverpool because he thought it would suit me better in the long term. You do think, it can't have been easy for him at the time to do that with the money involved in the transfer.

But at City a lot of players were being thrown into the first team straight away, whereas at Liverpool you'd get that time to adjust, adapt and learn. I have a lot to thank him for because that advice allowed me to develop my trade being a striker and a goalscorer - and look now at how my career finished up…

How Bob Paisley's genius kick-started my Liverpool career

When I signed for Liverpool, I was 18 and they basically said as a youngster you have two years to break into the first team. As I mentioned, you could make the mistakes in the reserves and that's how you learn to put things right and play the Liverpool way.

I made my debut just after I'd signed and then I was involved towards the end of the season after being there for just five or six months. I played in the League Cup final replay, and I'd played in the European Cup semi-final against Bayern Munich.

I was then looking forward to the next season being in the first team, so I went to see Bob Paisley to ask him for a pay rise because I saw myself as a first-team player now. But he said I wasn't getting one, so we had an argument, which resulted in me asking to go on the transfer list! He said it wouldn't be a problem and called my bluff there and then on the spot.

He asked me how many games I had played… it was about seven at that time, and he pointed to the fact I hadn't scored a single goal. But because we'd won a few of the matches I'd been involved in - and I'd done OK - I thought that meant something. He said he would put me on the transfer list and that was that.

In response, I went out with the bit between my teeth and started playing to get away from Liverpool. I scored two in the reserves then got my chance in the European Cup against Finnish team Oulu Palloseura. We were 4-0 up and Bob threw me on and I scored a tap-in in front of the Kop - my first goal for Liverpool!

Then he played me again against Exeter twice and I scored in both games of that tie, and then against Leeds where I scored two again - so I'd scored seven goals in three or so games. Bob pulled me in after that and said he'd give me the rise I wanted. So, I asked if that meant he'd take me off the transfer list… and he told me I was never even on it! It was a stroke of genius to get that fire in my belly.

I liked to prove people wrong

That last example is probably a very good one for having this trait. I was actually very shy when I first came to Liverpool. I was only 18 and I remember getting changed next to Ray Clemence and Alan Hansen and all the players I had seen on television.

I was very nervous but after I settled in, I realised I was just as good as them. I used to get pulled in by Bob Paisley to train with the first team for a day on a Thursday and then on a Saturday I'd be back in with the reserves. But I think he quickly found out that being around better players, I raised my game to their level.

It's an honour to have my name sung by the Kop

I remember when the Kop first sang my name. I was too nervous to wave back, and it was Sammy Lee who told me to give them a salute! When the games started, more often than not I was concentrating on what's on the pitch (as you'd hope!). But as you get a bit more confident and you start scoring goals and the fans are singing for you, you do warm to it.

I always remember, on the day I signed I stood in front of the Kop and thought that if they sang my name just once then I'd have done a good job. As you can imagine, to be the club's record goalscorer is something I never dreamed of. If I'd known then what I do now, I'm not sure I would've believed it.

Why I don't have a favourite Liverpool goal (but one was very important)

I used to think that it was simply my job to score goals. If I scored one, I'd want to score two and then three and so on. When you'd see the fans stood on the Kop smiling after scoring, you would just want that feeling over and over again. That was the thing with it. It was never about how the goal was scored. It was the fact you'd scored the goal.

Now that I've retired and I can reflect on things a bit more and my career as a whole, I would probably say my most important goal for Liverpool was my first one. I don't have a favourite in particular. But that one gave me the confidence to go on and do that over and over again.

I definitely scored a lot better goals and played a lot better games. But if that one had never happened then the rest would never have followed. It really is fine margins and all about taking your chance when it comes in football.

The best trophy I won with Liverpool might surprise you

It's the 1986 FA Cup and it's not even close. As a kid, I dreamed of scoring the winning goal in the final of the FA Cup. The coverage used to be on from nine o'clock in the morning until five o'clock at night. I would watch the final every year, then I'd immediately go out in the back garden and pretend to be the person who had scored the winning goal that day.

It is funny when you think about what else I won before that - the league, the League Cup, the European Cup twice... I had won everything. But the FA Cup… I never thought I'd do it!

But my dream came true when we beat Everton and I scored two goals at Wembley. It's something I will never, ever forget. When I speak to kids now, I always tell them to have a dream and believe in that dream. You must work hard at it - whether it's in football or something else - but those dreams can come true. They did for me, so why not you?

I almost played with Diego Maradona

Everyone knows about my spell at Juventus. But I almost actually signed for another Italian team in Napoli. They had just signed Maradona, and he actually asked the club to sign me. I only learned about all of this when I spoke to him when he was later coaching, before he sadly passed away.

They offered four-and-a-half million for me in the summer the season after I scored 47 goals. They also offered me a million pounds as a signing-on fee! But Liverpool just said no outright.

I have to be honest that it made me think, purely because of the chance to look after my family financially at the time. I had a big fallout with the chairman, John Smith, because he just wouldn't even talk to me about it and after that we didn't speak for about a year - probably out of stubbornness! But he was looking out for my best interests at heart and I knew that. Napoli ended up famously winning the league that year.

How leaving Liverpool gave me perspective

When I eventually went to Italy with Juventus, I was happy. But I realised very quickly that the grass is not always greener. I definitely didn't think I'd ever get the chance to come back to Liverpool.

I had loads of interest when it was apparent I was going to move on again. Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United actually phoned me up, Everton were also interested, as was Graeme Souness at Rangers, and Bayern Munich gave me a call too. But it's funny looking back now because Kenny Dalglish rang me and just said he'd booked me on the first morning flight and that was it. I didn't even mention wages or anything to him. I just wanted to get back to wearing the shirt.

To get the chance to return was something hugely special. When you're on the outside looking in, you realise how spoiled you are playing for Liverpool and everything that it involves. In some ways I went to Juventus as a boy and I came back to Anfield as a man - and the rest, as they say, is history...

Thank you very much for reading. See you all at Anfield very soon.

Ian

Ian Rush was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Joe Urquhart