A version of this article was first published in 2011
FRIDAY February 22 1991 is a date that changed Liverpool Football Club for ever.
Just two days after an epic FA Cup Merseyside derby at Goodison that ended 4-4 after extra time, Reds boss Kenny Dalglish stunned the football world by announcing his resignation as team manager with immediate effect.
As word spread, the media descended on Anfield for a press conference where Dalglish confirmed he was leaving because of the stress his job was placing on him and his health.
He said, "The biggest problem was the pressure I was putting myself under because of my desire to be successful.
"It is a result of 20 years active involvement with two of the most successful clubs in Britain.
"People might find my decision difficult to understand but it is one I have made.
"It would have been a mistake to mislead people into believing that there was nothing wrong in myself."
Dalglish took over the managerial reigns from Joe Fagan the day after the Heysel stadium disaster in May 1985 and help shepherd the club through the dark days following Hillsborough in April 1989 yet rumours immediately began to surface as the supposed real reasons for his departure, with his team top of the First Division and a replay away from the last eight of the FA Cup.
Dalglish contacted the Daily Post to re-iterate the true cause of his decision to leave.
"The last thing I wanted to do is hurt the club and the supporters", he said.
"If they are disappointed, there is nobody more disappointed than me.
"I may have left Liverpool Football Club but Liverpool Football Club will never leave me.
"The memories and achievements will be with me forever and I will always be a Liverpool fan."
Fans, staff and players were shocked at the sudden turn of events.
Radio DJ and lifelong Reds fan John Peel, who named his son Thomas James Dalglish, said, "It is like hearing about the death of a favourite uncle.
"My little lad will be heartbroken. Come to think of it, so am I."
Gerry Marsden, whose version of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was adopted as a Kop anthem in the 1960s, said, "I am shocked and stunned.
"The pressure must have been great for Kenny to pack in.
"He has done great for us but Liverpool is strong enough to carry on - the team will battle on. We will survive"
Former strike partner Ian Rush, then in his second spell at Anfield, later explained what the meeting when Dalglish told the players that he was going was like.
"We had all come in for training and were told to meet in the dressing room.
"Kenny walked in and said he was leaving. It was complete shock and surprise in there.
"He couldn't say too much but there were tears in his eye as he spoke.
"He was a great man-manager.
"He used to take all the pressure off the players and heap it on himself.
"Looking back, you can see how it all built up inside him and he didn't tell anyone.
"It does take a toll when you manage a big club, and he had things to cope with that no one else had experienced - I think he went to virtually every funeral after Hillsborough.
"But he's always been a very private man and I've never asked him why he did it."
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