NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.60: Ephraim Longworth
Years: 1910-1928
Appearances: 370
Trophies: First Division (1921-22, 1922-23)
Ephraim Longworth is regarded as one of the finest defenders in Liverpool FC history, with his Anfield career spanning 18 years.
Brought in from Leyton in 1910, the right-back would be a fixture in the Reds’ team for the next five seasons and help the club reach the FA Cup final in 1914.
The First World War interrupted Longworth’s playing days but after the cessation of hostilities and resumption of football, glory was around the corner.
Contemporarily described as possessing ‘dash and cleverness’ alongside use of the ball ‘always of high standard’, he was a member of the Liverpool squad who won back-to-back championships in 1921-22 and 1922-23.
Longworth missed only one league match in the latter of those two campaigns – a cornerstone of a team known as ‘the Untouchables’.
He also captained the Reds, though went through his entire spell at the club without scoring a goal.
“I don’t disagree with any full-back going forward when he sees the open door as it were. But as a rule it is wrong for full-backs to wander,” he explained of his approach. “There is the vital necessity of defence to be remembered and any defence spreadeagled is asking for a peck of trouble.”
With Longworth into his late 30s, his game time dwindled following the 1922-23 title win, and his epic playing spell concluded with a last appearance in April 1928 at the age of 40.
When the Kop newspaper conducted a poll in 1966 to decide Liverpool’s greatest players, supporters selected Longworth as one of the XI.
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