Winning a European Cup at Wembley gave me one of the most special evenings of my life.
I had seen Liverpool pop up on TV the year before, in 1977, at a German working-class club in Wollongong, New South Wales, while touring Australia with Middlesbrough. Liverpool had beaten Borussia Mönchengladbach, so we were not very popular with the German clientele because we were cheering for an English victory.
Almost a year later I was part of that Liverpool team and went to Wembley to retain the trophy against Bruges.
Even though it was the final of the European Cup, I had no nerves. I was always a confident person and at Liverpool I fed off the experience of the older players. They had incredible faith and Bruges was afraid of us. They just wouldn’t hire us.
A lot of weight was attached to the match at Wembley, with home advantage for us. But it was Liverpool’s way to treat it as just an away game in London and travel to our regular stopover in Hertfordshire the day before the final.
Few things compare to the feeling of winning a European Cup at Wembley
Liverpool claimed Europe’s top prize after beating Club Brugge 1-0 in the 1978 final (Souness photo center right)
The way the Belgian team lined up made it difficult for Bob Paisley’s team to get around them
Liverpool’s management made fun of other teams if they went to a Wembley final and spent three or four days in a hotel before the match. Their opinion was that we would be much better off if we could stay in our own beds, with our own pillows, so we could get as much sleep as possible, and not eat too much hotel food.
Even in the dressing room there was never any talk beforehand of ‘they’re really good, watch out for this or that…’ There were no speeches booming in the bathtub. It was just Ronnie Moran and Joe Fagan walking around the room offering each player little pearls of wisdom as they blew into your ear with almost memories of your work that night.
The Bruges format ensured that the match itself became a boring affair. All the finals I played in were exhausting matches because everyone was afraid of making a mistake. Ideally you wanted an early goal, but we had to wait until the 64th minute.
I get a lot of questions about my pass for Kenny Dalglish’s winning goal. I remember the ball came out of the air and I hit it chest down, but I saw two players coming to challenge me. I thought, ‘I’m going to get hit here’ so I wanted to make sure I got good contact with the ball and luckily for me the pass was just perfectly angled and perfectly weighted so Kenny could do the hard work. Nine times out of ten in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper he finished it and he didn’t let us down.
As soon as it came in, the cheers rang out from the 85,000 Liverpool fans in the stadium and we all started running past the billboards chasing Kenny to celebrate. It was just a special, special feeling.
Kenny Dalglish (right) scored the winner in the home of English football, to the sound of 85,000 Liverpool fans
Paisley accompanied the trophy on the train back to Liverpool after a victorious evening
It’s so exciting to climb the steps of Wembley for a final. It’s an incredible feeling, but to go up there and lift the trophy with the big ears is something I will always remember.
The party afterwards at a Swiss Cottage hotel was equally memorable. After celebrating with my teammates, I decided to jump in a taxi at 3am with a bottle of champagne and my medal before heading to the Marble Arch Holiday Inn. That was where my mum and dad were staying and my old landlady from my Middlesbrough digs, Phoebe, who I had invited to the competition.
However, I was a little worse for wear at that stage and got reception to wake them up but they were not very pleased!
I wanted to celebrate with them, drink champagne and talk about the night, but I was told: ‘Very well, son, but let’s talk in the morning. We’re going back to bed.’ So I hopped back in a taxi to Swiss Cottage to continue at the club’s party. I know they were still proud. Phoebe was a very special lady, so I thought it was important that she was there.
She looked after me in Middlesbrough for five years. I got away with murder sometimes and it must not have been easy. She made fantastic coffee cake.
When I came home late after a night out, she would leave a glass of milk, a sandwich and a slice of cake on the table, each protected in plastic, to make sure everything was okay.
Souness invited his landlady from his time in Middlesbrough and Phoebe to the final as his guest
One day, in a fit of independence, I decided to buy a flat in Saltburn. “This is what you do as an adult.” So I packed my bags, left Phoebe behind and headed to my new house.
I didn’t stay there for an hour because, after unpacking my bags, I realized I had made a big mistake by leaving all the family comforts at Phoebe’s house.
I sat there and thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ I miss my afternoon tea, I miss my cake and I miss being treated like a long lost son.
In fact, I was so happy at Middlesbrough, largely thanks to her, that when I was told they had accepted an offer to sell me, I decided whether it was Leeds United or Manchester City who were interested, I would go stay. Only Liverpool, European champions at the time, turned my head.
It meant a lot that she was at Wembley with my parents that evening. This game can give you very special memories.
Cool Carlo is the maestro of adaptability
Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund weren’t even the top two teams in the Champions League this season, but they found a way to win.
I spoke last week about managers having to be more flexible and make compromises to win games, and there are few better examples than Carlo Ancelotti.
If Real Madrid had lost to Manchester City in the quarter-finals, you even wonder if he would have kept his job, because after all it is Real Madrid we are talking about, who have to play in a certain way and, as we have Considering previously, winning La Liga was not always enough.
His team has flair and guile, but they couldn’t handle Manchester City’s press at the Etihad and instead of being a side that played from the back, they resorted to a back-to-front long ball game.
What was admirable that night was that there was no hesitation whatsoever in playing these players’ hard yards with flair.
The ice-cold Carlo Ancelotti is a great example for modern coaches because of his quick pragmatism
Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham gets the chance to claim his first European title against his former club Borussia Dortmund
They had to show pragmatism and Ancelotti was more than happy to change his tactics to salvage the draw.
He is a great example for the modern coach.
There are many intriguing stories waiting to unfold, great players like Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric all looking to make a final impression. Jadon Sancho must believe he has something to prove to a British audience, and what else can we say about Jude Bellingham? I’m not sure I can remember anyone making such an incredible impact in their first year at any club, let alone Real Madrid. But Dortmund knows him well, so he won’t offer them any surprises.
I’m leaning towards Real Madrid, but it’s difficult to call. We have two sides who have great experience, but I think they are below Premier League standard at the moment.
City’s players will be watching this match on TV at home with one eye, because they know they really have to be in the final.
I won’t be at Wembley tonight to watch the final because I’m otherwise engaged. I’m taking my beautiful young wife out to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary…
Kompany to Bayern is stranger than fiction
It was an eventful few days on the administrative merry-go-round. There is no stranger story than Vincent Kompany being appointed head coach at Bayern Munich after relegation at Burnley, while Enzo Maresca gets a five-year contract at Chelsea after a good season at Leicester City.
Vincent Kompany is the newly announced head coach of Bayern Munich, weeks after being relegated at Burnley
You have to remember that if he can’t finish fourth and earn Champions League football, he will go the same way as Mauricio Pochettino.
We are also waiting for news from Manchester United. After winning the FA Cup there is a season overview. In football terms, that should be an afternoon’s work. So to go on this long: I think the signs are ominous for Erik ten Hag.