Billy Liddell
William Beveridge Liddell was a Scottish footballer who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 appearances. He was Liverpool's leading goalscorer in the league in eight out of nine seasons from 1949–50 to 1957–58, and surpassed Elisha Scott's club record for most league appearances in 1957.
With Liverpool, Liddell won a league championship in 1947 and featured in the club's 1950 FA Cup Final defeat by Arsenal. He represented Scotland at international level on 29 occasions. While serving as a Royal Air Force navigator during the Second World War, Liddell continued his career by appearing in unofficial games for Liverpool and guesting for various teams in the United Kingdom and Canada. After his retirement from football, in 1961, Liddell occupied himself as a Justice of the Peace, bursar of Liverpool University, and voluntary worker. He died in 2001.
Primarily a left winger, Liddell's versatility enabled him to play comfortably on the opposite wing and as a striker, at centre and inside forward. Liddell became noted for his strong physique, acceleration, powerful shot, professionalism, and good conduct on the pitch. Such was his influence and popularity that the club acquired the contemporary nickname "Liddellpool". Posthumous recognition has included a plaque unveiled in 2004 at Anfield and sixth place in a poll of Liverpool fans, conducted in 2006 under the title "100 Players Who Shook The Kop". He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in November 2008.
Early life
Born in Townhill, near Dunfermline, on 10 January 1922, Liddell was the eldest of coal miner James and wife Montgomery's six children. During his childhood, Liddell experienced austerity and poverty, with his family often having to subsist on bread, kail, and salt porridge. His parents became determined that he would not become a miner and helped him to decide a future career. He did not originally consider football as a viable profession, eventually choosing accountancy in preference to the civil service and church. His interest in football developed at a young age, which persuaded his parents, despite financial difficulties, to buy him a pair of football boots as a Christmas present when he asked for them aged seven. Liddell's participation in organised football began at age eight when he joined his school team, which had an average age of ten.As a pupil at Dunfermline High School, Liddell studied chemistry, mathematics, physics, English and two other languages. He became a reluctant rugby player, under the guidance of retired Welsh international Ronnie Boon, while playing football for local teams and Scotland Schoolboys. By the age of 16, Liddell had progressed sufficiently to earn a contract with Lochgelly Violet football club and be sought after by Liverpool, Hamilton Academical, and Partick Thistle. Liverpool manager George Kay became interested in signing Liddell on the recommendation of the club's Scottish halfback Matt Busby, who learned of the teenager from Manchester City's Alex Herd while on a golf trip. Herd had forwent one of their rounds to take Willie McAndrew, manager of Hamilton, to watch Liddell play for Lochgelly. When Busby queried him about his absence and Liddell, Herd told him that a contract had not been agreed because limited resources prevented Hamilton from offering Liddell the assurances his parents insisted upon. Instead, Liddell signed for Liverpool as an amateur on 27 July 1938 and became a professional in 1939 on a weekly wage of £3. Negotiations between his parents and the club guaranteed, as a pre-requisite to acceptance, that Liverpool would permit Liddell to continue his accountancy studies, be housed in suitable accommodation, and be employed part-time an accountant at a company in the club's city.
Liddell entered the youth team on his arrival in 1938. Before he established himself in the side, Liddell had been frustrated at the frequent rotation of players until trainer Albert Shelley advised him to be patient. An injury incurred against Blackburn Rovers threatened to end his career prematurely. He had struck his knee against concrete near the corner flag after being challenged while running with the ball. Doctors informed him of the extent of tissue damage, causing Liddell anxiety about his future. He remained in Blackburn for two weeks, living in the family home of a colleague, before returning to Liverpool to continue his recovery. The Second World War precluded an official debut for Liddell, as the Football Association suspended competitive football from the abandoned 1939–1940 season and instituted a regional system in its place. Until the cessation of hostilities in 1945, Liddell guested for various domestic sides when unavailable for Liverpool and represented select teams, including a Football Association XI and Scottish Services XI. Liddell was capped eight times for Scotland during the war, scoring on his debut in a 5–4 win over England in 1942.
With Liverpool, Liddell competed in the various regional leagues that the FA assigned the club to and scored 82 goals in 152 matches between 1940 and 1946. He debuted on 1 January 1940 against Crewe Alexandra, scoring after two minutes in a 7–3 win. In his formative years, Liddell credited Matt Busby and Berry Nieuwenhuys as significant influences. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force and, despite wanting to qualify as a pilot, was trained as a navigator because of his proficiency at mathematics. After being mobilised in December 1942, Liddell guested with Chelsea and Cambridge Town. He broke his leg in a friendly kickabout while stationed in Bridgnorth, which required admission to the RAF Remedial Centre at Blackpool.
Following his recovery, Liddell travelled to Canada to complete a course at the Central Navigation School and became a pilot officer navigator. While on leave, he was used as a substitute by the Toronto Scottish under an assumed name and scored twice in a semi-final play-off. He was recalled to Moncton, New Brunswick, before the final. After some seven months in Canada, Liddell returned to Britain and, when based in Perth in 1944, accepted an offer to guest for his boyhood favourites Dunfermline Athletic. He subsequently moved to Northern Ireland for further training, where he declined an offer from former Liverpool goalkeeper Elisha Scott to guest for Belfast Celtic because of a prior agreement to play for Linfield. By the end of the war, Liddell had been assigned to 617 Squadron, helping to transport Allied soldiers back to Britain on leave from Italy.
Club career
1946–1954
Liddell's official debut for Liverpool came in the third round of the FA Cup, the first competitive football tournament to be organised in post-war England. He started in the first leg against Chester City on 5 January 1946 and scored in the 30th minute. The match ended in a 2–0 win and featured several additional debutants, including Bob Paisley, who would forge a chemistry with Liddell as a left half. League football completed its first full season under the provisional North and South divisional system, which facilitated the restoration of national football for the 1946–47 season. Although he established himself in the North League, scoring 17 goals in 42 matches, Liddell had yet to be discharged from the RAF and did not accompany Liverpool during its post-season tour of North America in May 1946. His unavailability extended to pre-season training and the first two matches of the 1946–47 season. On 7 September, Liddell registered his first official league appearance and scored twice in a 7–4 defeat of Chelsea.In his inaugural season of competitive football, Liddell confirmed his status as a regular and contributed to Liverpool's first championship since 1923. Positioned on the left wing, he appeared in 34 matches, scored seven goals, and supplied strikers Albert Stubbins and Jack Balmer with numerous assists. Severe conditions in the winter disrupted the league's schedule and Liverpool did not secure the title until 14 June 1947. The club won its final game away against Wolves 2–1, with Liddell setting up one of the goals, but the championship was decided by Sheffield United defeating contenders Stoke in the season's last fixture. The game coincided with the Senior Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton at Anfield, where tannoys announced the result during the match. As a strict teetotaler, Liddell refrained from accepting glasses of champagne to celebrate the success.
The club was unable to replicate its form in the 1947–48 season, occupying 11th place on its conclusion in May 1948. Despite that, Liddell reached double figures with a total of 11 goals. He accompanied the club when it embarked on its second exhibition tour of North America. His displays against Sweden's Djurgården, played at the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field, and North American teams earned him praise from journalists and gained him 13 goals in 11 matches. In the 1948–49 season, Liddell occupied left back and four forward positions. During his career, he would fill all ten outfield roles, mostly because of injuries to other players. His brother, Tom, became a teammate in 1949 after Liverpool signed him from Lochore Welfare. He never represented the club as a senior. The club finished in eighth in the 1949–50 season, going undefeated for a post-First World War record of 19 consecutive matches. Liddell scored ten goals in seven of those matches, including three braces.
Liverpool reached the FA Cup Final, making its first appearance at Wembley Stadium. Liddell had played in all seven matches during the club's progression, scoring critical goals against Blackpool and Everton. Demand for tickets far exceeded supply, with more than 100,000 applications being made for Liverpool's allocation of only 8,000. Liddell recalled being inundated with requests from friends, family, and Liverpudlians in general. Some 100,000 spectators witnessed Arsenal defeat Liverpool 2–0 on 29 April. Constant marking by Alex Forbes contained Liddell for much of the 90 minutes, and a tackle executed early in the game caused the winger pain. Journalist Brian Glanville questioned Arsenal's tactics and recalled being told by Liddell that he had been unable to put his jacket on the next day. Subsequent match reports by the media accused Forbes of acting with malice in his marking, which Liddell and Arsenal's Wally Barnes refuted. Liddell, who had scored 20 goals in all competitions, returned to Liverpool with his club after a trip to Brighton, to be greeted by thousands of supporters.
In 1950, Liddell became one of many players to be offered a transfer to Colombia by agents representing Independiente Santa Fe and Club Deportivo Los Millonarios. The clubs belonged to the DIMAYOR, unrecognised by FIFA because of a dispute between the league and the domestic governing body. Restrictions in England limited the weekly wage and impeded a player's ability to transfer to another club, which caused much discontent in British football until the system was reformed in the 1960s. Liddell chose to reject the contract offer, reportedly estimated at £12,000. His wife Phyllis, whom he married in 1946, later attributed the decision to club loyalty and the recent birth of twins. He later recalled that the proposal had been tempting, acknowledging that the decision would have been more challenging had it not been for the births. Many footballers did agree to contracts, including Alfredo Di Stefano, Neil Franklin, Charlie Mitten, and Hector Rial.
Manager George Kay resigned in January 1951 because of declining health and was replaced by former guest player Don Welsh. Before Kay's resignation, Liverpool failed to record a win in ten matches between September and November. Liddell ended the sequence in December with the deciding goal in a 1–0 defeat of Chelsea. The inconsistency continued for the rest of the season and Liverpool lost 3–1 to Third Division South Norwich City in the FA Cup third round. The club again underperformed in the 1951–52 season, in which Liddell scored a goal against Huddersfield Town described by contemporary media as the "shot of a lifetime" and reported in detail by the Liverpool Echo. When awarded a free kick outside the penalty box, Liverpool opted to have Kevin Baron take it instead of Liddell as was usual. Baron passed it to Liddell, who struck the ball with such force, after a momentary pause, that the shot surprised the Huddersfield defence and goalkeeper Harry Mills, and silenced spectators. Still played as a winger, Liddell finished the season with 19 goals in 40 league appearances. Liverpool only avoided relegation in the 1952–53 season by defeating Chelsea in the club's final fixture, in April 1953.