“Pick one if you think you deserve it.”
Since Liverpool’s original heyday conquering all of Europe in the 70s and 80s, it has become famous how Ronnie Moran would dish out winner’s medals to the Reds squad after each new title. A cardboard box was placed in the middle of the dressing room as the coach almost dismissively barked out the above.
While winning trophies would rightly be celebrated, with Liverpool certainly knowing how to play hard, it was only ever in the moment. In truth, they had no choice but to work even harder. After all, each success was over as soon as the trophy had been held aloft. Now it was onto the next one.
Such an attitude helped to make the Reds the best side in Europe for the best part of two decades. For such success, sacrifices inevitably had to be made. And with English football’s festive period always jam-packed, Christmas Day was one such sacrifice.
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“It depends if we were home or away,” Liverpool legend Ian Rush recalled in an exclusive interview with the ECHO. “If we were playing at home, under Bob Paisley we all turned up at 10am to train.
“We’d go back to our homes. We wouldn’t have any Christmas dinner. I would then go to the hotel the night before the game and just get ready for it. We never really celebrated Christmas, because we had a game on Boxing Day and that’s what it was all about.
“It was all about preparing for the game. Bob Paisley would say, ‘You can have your Christmas Day in the summer.’ Weirdly that’s how it was.
“When Kenny (Dalglish) took over, it was a bit different. We’d train a bit later and Kenny would give you time with the family in the morning. We’d train at maybe 1pm. But there still wasn’t Christmas dinner, when I was playing anyway.
“We had more time with the family in the morning and Kenny would give people the option. They could either stay overnight or come in on the morning of the game. I always chose to stay overnight because I wanted my rest.”
While Liverpool were ever the professionals as a result, there was one time over the festive period where the Reds squad were allowed to let their hair down - the annual Christmas party.
The parties of yesteryear were famously fancy dress. But that isn’t what stands out to Rush when he looks back on such occasions. Instead, the first thing that comes to mind is something he dreaded most - the customary initiation song!
Enjoying two separate stints with Liverpool, the former striker had to stand up for such duties on two separate occasions (in 1980 and again in 1988). And while such a prospect haunted him months in advance prior to his first Reds Christmas party, at a time when he was also struggling on the pitch, Rush survived such torture by opting for two very familiar songs.
“The newcomers to the team always had to sing a song,” he said. “We’d have fancy dress and you had to sing a song. When I signed in 1980, they said I had to sing a song and I was very shy.
“For two months before, my gameplan wasn’t very good because I was concentrating on what I was going to sing for the Christmas party! Because I couldn’t sing and feared I was going to get hammered by all the lads.
“And I had to have three or four songs ready because I was put on last and you couldn’t sing the same song as anyone who went before.
“Sammy Lee gave me a tip. He said always sing a song all the lads know because then they’ll join in. If they don’t know it, you’ll get hammered. Luckily enough, I did ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
“When I came back from Juventus, I had to sing a song again! And weirdly enough, I got Scouser Tommy! I learnt that and everyone joined in when I came back so that helped me.
“I was really nervous about singing a song, but once I’d done it, then I was doing the exact same as the others when the next signing came along, like a Steve Nicol. Telling them you’d gone through it.
“It was for the camaraderie though, we all had to be in this together. That was the culture at Liverpool at the time.”
Ian Rush was speaking to the ECHO at the Forever Reds Christmas lunch at Anfield. To find out more about the work LFC does in the community via Forever Reds and the LFC Foundation visit https://foundation.liverpoolfc.com/
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