NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.10: Ian Callaghan
Years: 1960-1978
Appearances: 857
Goals: 68
Trophies: Second Division (1961-62), First Division (1963-64, 1965-66, 1972-73, 1975-76, 1976-77), FA Cup (1965, 1974), UEFA Cup (1973, 1976), European Cup (1977, 1978), UEFA Super Cup (1977)
Ian Callaghan represented Liverpool an astonishing 857 times – a feat that, in all likelihood, will never be overcome.
The holder of the Reds’ all-time appearance record was also a serial winner across 18 years of distinguished service.
Toxteth-born ‘Cally’ experienced it all with his boyhood club, rising from the Second Division to sitting at the top of European football.
“I was fortunate enough to be in great teams with great players and two great managers, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley,” he once said with typical modesty.
“I’m probably like a stick of rock – I’ve got LFC right through me.”
When Billy Liddell earmarked Callaghan as his successor as Liverpool’s star man, the teenager could have viewed it as the ultimate vote of confidence or even more pressure.
Thankfully, he embraced it positively and never looked back, earning a standing ovation on his debut against Bristol Rovers in April 1960, just six days after he had turned 18.
As a tricky and productive winger, Callaghan became a regular for Shankly in the 1961-62 season, when the side secured promotion back to the top flight.
More success followed in the remainder of that decade – including the immortalising moment of assisting Ian St John’s winner to deliver the club its first FA Cup trophy in 1965.
A cartilage operation plunged his long-term future into doubt in 1970-71 – although, with the benefit of hindsight, it may have taken his career to a new level.
Shankly now looked to utilise his game intelligence and work-rate in the centre of the pitch by converting him into a midfielder.
The results speak for themselves: Callaghan became the first Liverpool player to win the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award in 1974.
Callaghan lifted the European Cup in 1977 as the only player to have also appeared in the club’s first continental game – against Iceland’s Knattspyrnufelag Reykjavikur – 13 years prior.
He walked out as a Liverpool player for the final time on March 29, 1978.
Cally did so with the respect of everyone within football, a near-impenetrable appearance tally, an overflowing medal collection and having received just one yellow card in his career.
“Callaghan is everything good that a man can be. No praise is too high for him,” said Shankly. “He is a model professional, and a model human being.
“If there were 11 Callaghans at Anfield there would never be any need to put up a teamsheet. You could stake your life on Ian.
“Words cannot do justice to the amount he has contributed to the game. Ian Callaghan will go down as one of the game’s truly great players.”
Get exclusive early access to the next players revealed on the Liverpool's Greatest list every day on the official LFC app: iOS | Google Play