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Alan Hansen
Born 13th June 1955 - Alloa Games 604 with 4 Sub appearances scoring 13 goals Honours - 3 European Cups, 8 League Championships, 2 FA Cup, 4 League Cups, 1 Double, 1 Treble, 26 Scotland Caps Alan Hansen was arguably one of Liverpools greatest ever defenders. Alan could read the game so well that he snuffed out trouble before it got to bad. He formed some great partnerships at the back with Phil Thopmson and most famously with Mark Lawrenson. The only blemish to Alans career was that he didn't win more than the 26 caps for Scotland than he did. Hansen was a tall defender who although he suffered from nerves before games was tremendously unflappable on the ball. He was signed for £100,000 from Partick Thistle by Bob Paisley in May 1977 and made a few appearances early on in place of Phil Thompson who he would eventually partner in defence. The skill to see the game quicker than most bought him time in the game and made up for the lack of pace that was on the very odd occasion highlighted. A quiet man off the pitch, he became the leader on it after Kenny Dalglish took over as boss. In his first season As captain Hansen lifted both the league championship and the FA Cup. He had earlier in his career been part of the first English team to complete a treble in 1984 which was also the culmination of a treble of championships. Alan played a great role in stopping attacks but often set up many an attack as well with his vision and excellent through balls to the likes of Rush and Dalglish. He could stride out of defence majestically although often used to run out of ideas after the halfway line which was probably why he was a defender. He famously setup one of Ian rush's four goals against Everton in 1982. Hansen eventually hung his boots up in 1990 at the age of 35 after enduring many years with dodgy knees. Today, he still lives in Southport and enjoys his golf, often with Kenny Dalglish. Hansen also does punditry work for the BBC on match of the day, a job which he does as well as he played. Hansen was a true and loyal hero for Liverpool. |
