50 Greatest Liverpool Players Ever

Liverpool Football Club have been blessed with some terrific players over the years; players who have helped the club grow into a world football institution and one of the most successful teams on their continent.

Since forming following the breakaway from Everton in 1892, the Reds have gone on to thrill millions worldwide during moments of joy and despair, ecstasy and agony, and elation and heartbreak.

Key to it all have been some of the finest footballers ever to play the game, but who have been the best? Which players are most revered on the Kop and by Liverpool's army of supporters worldwide?

Everyone will have a different opinion, but here we've tried to name the 50 greatest players ever to pull on the red shirt.

We start at number 50, with a man whose achievements with the Reds ended up seeing him honoured by another Merseyside institution who achieved worldwide fame...

Albert Stubbins' achievements with the Reds saw him feature on the iconic cover of The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band, ensuring he was the only footballer to do so.

Having appeared for Newcastle either side of World War Two, forward Stubbins played 178 times for the Reds in seven years, scoring 83 goals. He also appeared in Liverpool's first-ever FA Cup final, the defeat to Arsenal in 1950.

There was widespread shock amongst Liverpool fans when Gerard Houllier brought in 35-year-old Gary McAllister from Coventry City on a free transfer in 2000.

The Scot had been a fine player in his day, but many doubted his ability to make a difference to the Reds at this stage in his career.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

McAllister was the inspiration behind a golden ending to the 2000/01 season, during which he scored an unforgettable last-gasp winner against Everton and notched penalties in both the UEFA Cup semi-finals and final.

Some players are on this list because of sustained brilliance, but Vladimir Smicer makes it because of a contribution in what proved to be his final game for the Reds.

The Czech international had had six stop-start years at Liverpool ahead of the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan in Istanbul, which he entered as a 23rd-minute substitute for the injured Harry Kewell.

Smicer scored the second goal of Liverpool's comeback from the dead with a shot from the edge of the penalty area and he also converted what turned out to be the crucial penalty in the shootout on the way to glory.

Not a bad way to bow out.

Before he went on to become the only manager in history to win the European Cup three times, Bob Paisley was a loyal servant to Liverpool as a player.

After playing a part in the liberation of Rome during wartime, the defender made his Reds' debut in 1946 and helped them to their first league title in 24 years the following season.

In eight years at the club, he eventually became Liverpool captain a year after being dropped for the 1950 FA Cup final before moving into a coaching career which served him so well.

The scorer of 81 goals in 329 games for Liverpool over eight years, midfielder Terry McDermott was most famous for two strikes in his Anfield career.

The first was the Reds' first-ever goal in a European Cup Final; his strike opened the scoring in the 3-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach in Rome in May 1977 and was the first of McDermott's three successes in the competition.

The second came the following year when he got on the end of a simply-stunning team move to score the final goal in a 7-0 league win over Tottenham, a strike that many Reds' fans believe is the greatest their club have ever scored.

Left-back Gerry Byrne played 333 games for Liverpool but by far the most famous was the 1965 FA Cup Final.

Astonishingly, Liverpool-born Byrne broke his collarbone in just the third minute of the match against Leeds United at Wembley but played on throughout the full 90 minutes and extra time.

He was a key part of the Reds side that lifted the club's first-ever FA Cup, a success which ran alongside the two league championships won under Bill Shankly in the years either side.

Shankly used to joke about how quiet Chris Lawler was around the changing room—but that didn't stop the Scot making the local lad an integral part of his team.

Lawler played a massive 549 games for Liverpool, with his adventurous runs from right-back leading to his terrific tally of 61 goals.

Over a 15-year Anfield career, he won three league titles with the Reds, as well as two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup.

All without saying a word, if you believed Shankly.

Forever associated with one magical night, it should also be noted that Jerzy Dudek impressed in his first season at Liverpool after joining from Feyenoord in 2001.

He had his ups and downs in the years that followed, of course, before heading to Istanbul in May 2005 and the night that would define his football career.

The Polish goalkeeper made a physics-defying save from Andriy Shevchenko deep into extra time before keeping out penalties from Andrea Pirlo and Shevchenko in the shootout that followed.

His "wobbly legs" routine throughout ensured he'll go down in Reds' legend as a man who inspired the greatest of evenings.

Arguably Liverpool's first-ever star player, Alex Raisbeck signed for the Reds from Stoke for £350 in 1898.

The Scottish central defender stayed with the club for 11 years and led them to their first two league titles as captain in 1900/01 and 1905/06.

He also skippered his country on five occasions and formed a huge part of Liverpool's early years as the rock upon which success was built.

As part of the vibrant Liverpool side of the 1987/88 season, Peter Beardsley was a key component of an attacking trio that included John Barnes and John Aldridge.

The Geordie won two league championships and an FA Cup whilst with the Reds over four years, during which he played 175 games and scored 59 goals.

His final Liverpool goals came in a dramatic 4-4 FA Cup replay against Everton in 1991 and he joined Liverpool's rivals later the same year.

A strong contender for the best signing Rafael Benitez ever made for Liverpool, goalkeeper Pepe Reina joined the Reds from Villarreal in the summer of 2005.

The Spaniard was linking up with the reigning European champions back then and so much that he did over the next few years helped keep Liverpool at the top of the continental game.

His penalty shootout saves helped the Reds to an FA Cup Final victory over West Ham at the end of his first season, whilst he was a key inspiration behind the run to the Champions League final in Athens the following season—again performing heroics in a shootout against Chelsea in the semi.

A Liverpool stalwart, Reina remained a virtual ever-present for eight years until leaving the club this summer to link up with Benitez again at Napoli.

South African-born Gordon Hodgson was a multi-talented sportsman and turned out as a fast bowler for Lancashire County Cricket Club when he wasn't playing football.

Scoring goals was what he did best, though, and the forward plundered 241 strikes in 377 appearances for the Reds between 1925 and 1936, during which time he was seen as Liverpool's answer to Everton's prolific goalscorer Dixie Dean.

That record ensures his spot in third place on Liverpool's all-time list of goalscorers, while he also holds a club-best record of 17 hat-tricks for the Reds, too.

Making a big impact in a short time is a trait that not many footballers possess, but Luis Garcia certainly did that during his time at Liverpool.

In his first season, the signing from Barcelona was a key inspiration behind the Champions League victory in 2005, scoring in the knockout stages against Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea; the latter goal has gone down in Anfield folklore as one of the most important strikes in the history of the club.

Garcia was the man for the big occasion for Liverpool and he popped up with goals in matches against Everton and in an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.

He moved on in 2007 having left an indelible mark on the hearts of Reds' fans.

One of Liverpool's greatest-ever bargains, Ronnie Whelan arrived from Irish club Home Farm for just £35,000 in September 1979.

He stayed for 15 years, during which time he won six league titles, three FA Cups, a European Cup and three League Cups.

A sometime captain of the side, he was a crucial part of pretty much all of those successes, with his metronomic influence in midfield a key element of a period when Liverpool were at their height.

Liverpool's Mr Dependable after joining from Feyenoord in 2006, Dirk Kuyt was signed as a forward when he joined the Reds, only to be converted into a right midfielder by Rafael Benitez.

He scored Liverpool's consolation goal in the 2007 Champions League final, with a lack of trophies the only real disappointment of a Reds' career during which he gave so much.

He scored 71 times in 285 games during which his constant running and energy were a frequent sight. He finally got a trophy reward for his efforts when his goal in the final helped the Reds win the League Cup in 2012.

Belfast-born goalkeeper Elisha Scott was a formidable shot-stopper in his day and enjoyed a terrific rivalry with Everton forward Dixie Dean throughout the 1920s and early '30s.

Scott was on Liverpool's books for 22 years after signing in 1912, playing 468 games for the Reds and turning in several impressive displays.

Stories from Scott's folklore include that of a man emerging from the Ewood Park stands to give him a kiss following a fine save against Blackburn. Then there's what happened when he met rival Dean in Belfast city centre the day before an Ireland v England match.

Dean, famed for his headers, nodded his head in recognition of his frequent opponent, an act which apparently resulted in Scott diving to the ground as if making an imaginary save!

Liverpool are a club who are fond of their history, but there are only a few moments which really echo throughout it.

One of those was the European Cup quarter-final of 1977 against French side Saint-Etienne in which, following a 1-0 first leg deficit, Liverpool needed two second-half goals to emerge victorious.

Ray Kennedy pulled one back before young substitute David Fairclough grabbed the winner six minutes from time in front of a raucous Kop.

The Reds went on to win the trophy, one of three that Fairclough won along with six league titles and three FA Cups—an impressive haul for the local lad they called "Super Sub" following his record of 55 goals in 154 games, many from the bench.

The giant Welsh target man John Toshack joined the Reds from Cardiff City in 1970 and would eventually go on to have an almost telepathic understanding with strike partner Kevin Keegan.

Toshack could be almost unplayable on his day and was a key member of the team throughout the 1970s as the Reds began to dominate the English game under first Bill Shankly and then Bob Paisley.

The forward scored 96 goals in 247 games for the club, despite injury problems, and the concerns he caused defenders led to many more strikes for partner Keegan.

Legend will always place Dietmar Hamann as the man who turned around the impossible situation.

The German midfielder was already into the twilight of his Reds career in 2005, following six years at the Reds during which he had been a key member of Gerard Houllier's 2001 cup treble-winning team.

Hamann was less crucial under Rafael Benitez, though, but after he was surprisingly left out of the starting line-up for the 2005 Champions League final against Milan, he emerged on to the pitch at half-time with his team 3-0 down.

A calming influence, Hamann laid the platform for the second-half fightback and, despite breaking a toe in the match, he scored Liverpool's first penalty in the successful shootout.

A year later, in his last game for the Reds, he came on as substitute in the FA Cup final against West Ham, again impressing and again scoring in the penalty shootout victory.

A decisive figure in Liverpool's European Cup Final past, left-back Alan Kennedy twice achieved what the vast majority of footballers can only dream of.

In 1981 his late burst forward resulted in him firing home the only goal of the game as Real Madrid were beaten 1-0 in the European Cup final in Paris.

Three years later he scored the decisive penalty in the shootout as the Reds beat AS Roma in the Italian team's own stadium to secure a fourth continental crown.

Kennedy scored 20 goals over his 359 appearances and was most definitely a man for the big occasion.

John Aldridge had always dreamed of playing for Liverpool as a youngster on the Kop and when he eventually got his chance to do so, he was seen as every fan's representative on the pitch.

With Liverpool preparing to sell Ian Rush to Juventus at the end of the 1986/87 season, Aldridge arrived from Oxford United in the January of that campaign and his physical resemblance to Rush was seen as a reason for optimism amongst supporters.

Aldridge scored 29 goals in his first full season as the all-conquering Reds side of 1987/88 swept all before them. He then added 31 goals in the following campaign, despite the competition for places instigated by Rush's return from Italy.

Ultimately the Welshman won the battle of the moustached forwards and the prolific Aldridge left for Real Sociedad in 1989 having scored 63 goals in 104 games.

So much that was good about Liverpool in the 1990s came from Steve McManaman, who perhaps only received wider recognition as a player following his move to Real Madrid at the end of the decade.

The Liverpool teams of the early Premier League years were a lot better than they often get credit for, with McManaman frequently to the fore in a side featuring great attacking verve and players of the likes of Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp and Stan Collymore.

Before them, McManaman broke into the side as a youngster and featured in the team that won the FA Cup in 1992. His inspired solo display and two goals then beat Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup final of 1995.

McManaman's mazy runs and thrilling dribbles were a huge asset to the Reds, who were disappointed to see him leave on one of the first high-profile Bosman free transfers when he joined Real in 1999. He went on to score a goal in a winning Champions League final at the end of his first season.

These days more at home in a TV studio, Phil Thompson was nonetheless a fine defender who marshalled the Reds' back line for the vast majority of the 1970s.

The locally-born player gave his all for the club over a career that spanned 13 years and seven league championships.

Most famously, though, he lifted the European Cup as captain of the Reds in Paris in 1981, a feat which will stand out as the career highlight of a player who featured 477 times for his boyhood club.

Plenty of people dream of making just one appearance for Liverpool, but Ian Callaghan managed it a club record 857 times.

The midfielder was given his debut by Bill Shankly in 1960 and he went on to become an integral part of the Liverpool furniture over the next 18 years.

Callaghan saw Liverpool rise from Second Division also-rans to European champions, with his energetic influence in midfield also earning him a place in England's victorious 1966 World Cup squad.

He scored 68 goals in his record haul of Reds' matches and was perhaps Liverpool's ultimate man they could rely on.

Eyebrows would have been raised when Liverpool signed Zimbabwe international Bruce Grobbelaar from Vancouver Whitecaps in 1981—and they only ended up rising further.

Truly one of a kind, the frequently-madcap goalkeeper was a huge influence behind the Reds' defence over a mammoth total of 628 matches which brought six First Division titles, three FA cups and three League Cups.

His "wobbly legs" routine in Rome inspired Liverpool's 1984 European Cup win and later led to Jerzy Dudek performing the same act in Istanbul.

But Grobbelaar was no clown and has the string of medals to prove it.

There was a time when no one in the English and perhaps European game could touch Fernando Torres.

The Spanish forward was simply electric in his first season in England following his move to Liverpool from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007, plundering 33 goals in his debut campaign.

Quick and with a seemingly-unerring finishing ability, Torres was the scourge of defences continent-wide and, despite injury problems, he was still a frequent scorer up until the beginning of what proved to be his final season at the club in 2010/11.

He left for Chelsea for a staggering £50 million in January 2011 following 81 goals in 142 Reds' games and leaving an awful lot of good memories behind.

In 1961, Bill Shankly needed to inject new blood into his Liverpool team as he longed for promotion from the Second Division.

Using his contacts in Scotland, he made a move for Motherwell forward Ian St. John and in doing so captured a player who would be at the centre of Liverpool's evolution into a First Division force in the next decade.

Following promotion in his first season, St. John was a key member of the team that won two First Division titles under Shankly.

But he is best remembered for the flying header he scored to beat Leeds United seven minutes from the end of extra time at Wembley, earning Liverpool their first-ever FA Cup in 1965.

As well as St. John's arrival, Shankly brought in Ron Yeats from Dundee United in that same summer of 1961, with the giant defender immediately installed as club captain.

Shankly famously invited journalists to "take a tour" around the colossal frame of the Scottish defender upon his unveiling and Yeats was the rock upon which so much of the Reds' success under Shankly was built.

As captain, he lifted the Second Division title, then two First Division ones and, as the first Liverpool skipper to hold aloft the FA Cup, he'll always have a special place in the club's history.

Winger Steve Heighway is still referenced in modern-day Liverpool songs which come echoing down from the Kop. Due to his importance, it is easy to see why.

A relative late-comer to professional football, Heighway was plucked out of the University of Warwick by Shankly at the age of 23, with the Scot installing the graduate on his wing almost instantly.

A strong runner with the ability to beat a player and score goals, Heighway scored in two FA Cup finals for the Reds, as well as claiming five league titles and being part of the squads which earned three European Cups.

Foreign players in England were still somewhat rare in 1984, but the Dane Jan Molby left no-one in any doubt about his quality when he joined the Reds from Ajax.

Molby scored 21 goals and was named man of the match as Liverpool beat Everton in the 1985/86 FA Cup final, with his steady midfield play and superb range of passing standing out in a vibrant Reds' side.

Also able to play in the centre of defence, the Dane did suffer from injury problems but was a regular in the side for most of the next decade, with his unerring penalty accuracy another facet to the game of a player that supporters loved.

Rafael Benitez wanted a Spaniard to pull his side's strings when he arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2004—fortunately for the Reds, he managed to prise Xabi Alonso from Real Sociedad for a bargain £10 million.

Right from the beginning of his Reds' career, Alonso looked a special player and his first season in English football culminated in him tucking home the rebound following Dida's save from his penalty during the remarkable scenes in Istanbul.

Now a Champions League winner, Alonso was able to stamp his class and authority over a wide range of matches, with his midfield partnership with Steven Gerrard one of the reasons why Liverpool became one of the most feared teams on the continent up until 2009 when Alonso moved to Real Madrid.

Bill Shankly's parting gift when he resigned from the club in 1974, the signing of Ray Kennedy from Arsenal proved to be a huge hit.

Initially a forward when he arrived from Highbury, Kennedy was given the No. 5 shirt at Liverpool and inserted on the left-hand side of midfield.

Capable of making late runs into the box and scoring vital goals, Kennedy was one of the standout players of the 1970s for Liverpool.

He scored in a successful UEFA Cup final and was part of the squads that won five league titles and three European Cups.

If awards were given out for Liverpool's hardest players, then Tommy Smith would be top of the list.

The man affectionately known as "The Anfield Iron" gave his all for the club over 16 years on the books, initially as a versatile member of Shankly's team and latterly as a never-say-die defender.

He won four league titles and two FA Cups, with a fairytale ending to his Reds' career coming when he headed home from a corner in Liverpool's first-ever European Cup Final, the victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach in 1977.

It was his 48th and last goal for the Reds.

A dependable presence on the right side of the Reds' defence for 11 years, Phil Neal is one of the most successful British footballers of all time.

Dubbed "Zico" for his uncanny ability to score big goals in big matches in the manner of the Brazilian legend, Neal is the only man to have played in all four of Liverpool's European Cup final wins in the 1970s and '80s, in which he scored in two.

His penalty sealed the 3-1 success over Borussia Moenchengladbach in 1977 and he popped up to score in open play in the same stadium against AS Roma seven years later, the two most famous strikes in his catalogue of 59 goals for the club.

A hurricane hit Liverpool in January 2011 and despite plenty of opinions to the contrary, Luis Suarez is still there today.

The Uruguayan forward joined the Reds from Ajax and immediately set about impressing supporters with his constant energy and never-say-die attitude on the pitch.

It is a mindset which has got him into trouble on more than one occasion, but his record of 51 goals in 96 games, as well as countless other sparkling performances, easily mark him out as one of the top 10 players in world football today.

For a while there was little to shout about for Liverpool in the late 1990s, but the arrival of Michael Owen on the scene changed all that.

After scoring on his debut as a 17-year-old, the fearless young forward shot to worldwide fame with his performances for England and a stunning goal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup.

At Liverpool they were always keen to stress that he was all theirs, though, with the highlight of his Reds' career no doubt coming in the 2001 FA Cup final when his two goals in the final seven minutes of the match turned a 1-0 deficit against Arsenal into a 2-1 victory.

After moving to Real Madrid in 2004, Owen's 158 goals in 297 games place him eighth in the club's all-time top goalscorer charts, with all the goals scored before he turned 25 years old.

The highest-placed goalkeeper on our list was signed by Bill Shankly as a 19-year-old from Scunthorpe United for just £18,000 in 1967 and would go on to be the platform on which so many Liverpool successes were built.

After being nurtured in the reserves for a couple of years, Ray Clemence became Liverpool's No. 1 and embarked on a career which would bring him five league titles, one FA Cup and three European Cups.

The definition of a safe pair of hands, Clemence was seen as so much more than just a goalkeeper by Liverpool, who encouraged him to play the ball out from the back and start attacks during his 665 appearances for the club.

It is doubtful that Liverpool have ever spent a better £2.6 million than the cash Gerard Houllier sent to Dutch club Willem II for the services of Sami Hyypia in 1999.

Having been spotted by fellow defender and No. 23 on our list, Ron Yeats, the Finnish defender eased into Liverpool life with the kind of performances which suggested he'd been born to wear the shirt.

He quickly became a leader and captain of the side, and was the rock upon which the 2000/01 cup treble was built.

Later, his frequently-heroic displays en route to the 2005 Champions League success included a fine goal in the quarter-final win over Juventus, one of 35 strikes in 464 typically-committed appearances.

Perhaps Liverpool's first football superstar in an era when the game was getting more and more exposure, Kevin Keegan exploded on to the scene as a young player upon his arrival from Scunthorpe United in 1971.

Nobody expected him to go straight into the team, but that's exactly what he did and a formidable strike partnership with John Toshack was born.

Small and stocky but undoubtedly strong, "Mighty Mouse" Keegan was an idol on the Kop during his six years at Liverpool, during which time his goals helped deliver three league titles, two UEFA Cups, an FA Cup and the 1977 European Cup, following which he left for Hamburg having found the net exactly 100 times for the Reds.

Bill Shankly loudly told anyone who'd listen that he'd just signed the future captain of England when he picked up Emlyn Hughes as a 19-year-old from Blackpool in 1967.

He would go on to skipper his country and lead Liverpool to their first two European Cup victories of 1977 and 1978, all the time demonstrating fantastic energy, enthusiasm and leadership qualities.

The man nicknamed "Crazy Horse" would do anything for the Liverpool cause and was a key inspiration throughout all of Liverpool's numerous successes throughout the 1970s—successes that would have been impossible without him.

Liverpool's goalscoring king of the 1960s, Roger Hunt still sits second on the club's all-time list of scorers—whilst his tally of 245 league goals remains a Liverpool record.

He scored 285 goals in all, all but a handful of them coming under the tutelage of Shankly, under whom he learnt so much.

Hunt was a member of the England team which won the 1966 World Cup. At Anfield, he was a key figure in establishing the Reds as a First Division force as well as feared on the continent.

His goals won many, many games for the Reds and for that the club will always be truly thankful.

Perhaps the classiest defender in British football history, Alan Hansen arrived at Liverpool from Partick Thistle in 1977 and would go on to become a club legend.

He was playing in a winning team in a European Cup Final at the end of his first full season and the Scot went on to win the trophy twice more over a career which initially saw him play at left-back before moving across to the centre.

Capable of bringing the ball out of defence to start and join up with attacks, Hansen was a revered figure over 14 years at Liverpool, playing his part in so many successes and doing everything with a quality that simply isn't prevalent in so many British players.

The Liverpool engine room was dominated by Graeme Souness in the late 1970s and early '80s, a time when both the Scot and his club reigned supreme.

With Souness in midfield, Liverpool won five First Division titles out of the six available between 1978/79 and 1983/84, whilst he also picked up four League Cups and three European Cups, the last of which he won as captain against AS Roma in 1984.

Over 358 appearances and 56 goals, Souness demonstrated a combativeness that made him feared across the continent, but he was much more than just a hard man.

He could play, too.

It is still difficult to get used to the fact that Jamie Carragher has retired from playing for Liverpool, a club he represented with such distinction 737 times over 17 years.

That places him second in the club's all-time appearance record, a stunning feat for a player not many believed would make it when he broke through as a skinny midfielder.

He was soon shifted into all roles across the back four before finally settling in the centre of defence and forming a partnership with Hyypia which led Liverpool to glory.

Forever remembered for throwing himself in front of every white AC Milan shirt that came close to goal in Istanbul in 2005, Carragher won everything but the league title whilst with the Reds.

He won an awful lot of respect, too.

A look at the players on this list suggests that, if you're known as "God," then you're doing something right.

Robbie Fowler had such a nickname not long after he broke into the Liverpool first team in 1993, a time when the youngster's calmness and authority in front of goal belied his years.

Quite simply, there haven't been many better naturally-gifted forwards in English football and Fowler demonstrated this as he reigned supreme at Liverpool throughout the 1990s.

He left for Leeds in 2001 after becoming frustrated at failing to hold down a start before making a dramatic return to the Reds in January 2006 when he was able to add to his 183 strikes for a club so close to his heart.

English football didn't have a better player than John Barnes throughout the late 1980s when his dazzling displays on Liverpool's wing led to so many goals, chances and thrills.

He was the focal point of the Reds' team of 1987/88, which many of the club's fans still regard as their best ever.

Combining trickery with outright pace and power, Barnes was a special talent and one that was nurtured at Liverpool as he won two league titles, two FA Cups and a League Cup.

Latterly a classy central midfielder, Barnes goes down in Reds' legend as one of the most gifted and celebrated performers.

Billy Liddell was so good that his club was nicknamed "Liddellpool" throughout the 1940s and '50s when he was at his peak.

His 228 goals for the club ensure that the Scot sits in fourth place on the Reds' all-time scoring chart, whilst he was the key inspiration behind the club's 1946/47 league title win.

A powerful wide midfielder with a ferocious shot, Liddell was an athlete who had the ability to dominate games from the kick-off.

He was—and still is—revered at a club where he was on the books for 23 years.

There was a time when seeing an Ian Rush goal was all just part and parcel of a Liverpool fan's matchday experience.

Rush is the Reds' all-time record scorer, with his 346 strikes in 660 games unlikely to be beaten any time soon.

He would have scored more goals were it not for a year spent at Juventus, but Reds' fans remember the moustached goal-getter from North Wales for his uncanny ability to score just when it mattered most.

Rush holds the record for the most goals in FA Cup finals with five, whilst his 25 strikes against Everton are a Merseyside derby record.

The five-time league championship, three-time FA Cup, five-time League Cup and two-time European Cup winner was quite simply a goal machine.

Shockingly, he didn't take too many penalties.

The Scot has given so much of his life to Liverpool Football Club, whom he joined as a player from Celtic in 1977.

A European Cup Final winning goal at the end of your first season isn't a bad way to start—but it was just the beginning for Kenny Dalglish, a magical player who seemingly possessed the world at his feet.

Just as accomplished a goalscorer as goal creator, Dalglish's importance to the Liverpool cause has been covered in far greater detail than we can go into here, but a CV which features six league championships and three European Cups as a player isn't a bad summary.

He still means so much to the club and to the city, and he'll go on being revered for years to come.

He's just been pipped to the No. 1 spot, though...

The primary reason that Liverpool still register on radars when people talk about top clubs these days is mainly down to Steven Gerrard.

That is a fact which can't really be denied.

A midfield powerhouse and source of energy where there seems to be none, Gerrard has spent 16 years dragging performances out of those around him, growing more and more authoritative and inspirational as he does so.

The only man to score in Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup finals, the local lad simply IS Liverpool.

He lives and breathes the club and the supporters idolise him.

Gerrard's has just completed his 400th game as Liverpool's captain, having been given the armband 10 years ago, and as the 33-year-old's career comes towards its conclusion, he can be in no doubt about his importance to Liverpool's cause.

He is their best-ever player.