When Liverpool went to Wembley for the League Cup final against Manchester United in March 1983, everybody at the club knew it was going to be Bob Paisley’s last final as manager. He had already announced he was retiring at the end of the season. By then, Paisley had been at Liverpool for 44 years, first as a player, then as a physio and coach before eventually taking over as manager from Bill Shankly. And after everything he had won there, Wembley still carried one memory from his playing days that had never completely left him. In 1950, Liverpool had reached the FA Cup final against Arsenal. Paisley had played throughout the run and scored the opening goal when they beat Everton in the semi-final. An injury kept him out of the four league games before Wembley, but he recovered in time and expected to play. Instead, Liverpool’s nine-man selection committee voted 5-4 to leave him out of the team. There were no substitutes in those days. So Paisley could do nothing except sit in the stands and watch Liverpool lose 2-0. “I can’t describe just how I felt when I learned I was out of the Wembley side.” “It is the sort of thing you only dream, or rather have nightmares about.” Thirty-three years later, Paisley was back at Wembley for the final time. Manchester United went ahead through Norman Whiteside before Alan Kennedy equalised with 15 minutes left. The game went into extra time and Ronnie Whelan curled in the winner. Liverpool had won the League Cup for the third year in a row. Normally, that was the point Paisley would disappear into the background. He was never somebody who needed to be at the centre of the celebrations. The players would be jumping around together and Paisley would quietly walk amongst them, happy enough to let everybody else enjoy it. That afternoon started exactly the same way. “The scenes on the pitch were much as they always were after Liverpool had won a trophy.” Graeme Souness was captain and should have been the first Liverpool player up the Wembley steps to collect the trophy. But he knew this was Paisley’s last final. He also knew that despite all those years at Liverpool, Paisley had never actually made that walk himself. So Souness spoke to the rest of the team. “I said to the lads, let’s let him go up first for the trophy.” They all agreed. Souness went over and told Paisley that the players were staying behind and he was going to lead them up instead. “I didn’t need to ask twice.” “He more or less sprinted up.” Paisley left his cap behind and started climbing the Wembley steps on his own. As Paisley made his way up, supporters draped Liverpool scarves over his shoulders. He reached the top and collected the trophy. Alan Kennedy later remembered what Souness had done. “The gloss was applied when Graeme Souness insisted that Bob Paisley go up to collect the cup.” “It was a fitting tribute to a legend.” Even when Paisley came back down, he still tried to stay on the edge of things. The players gathered together for the photographs and Souness had to beckon him across to join them. Paisley stood at the side while the players sang around him. For all the European Cups, league titles and trophies, he never really saw Liverpool as something that belonged to him. He saw himself as somebody who belonged to Liverpool. “Other people have earned more money than me in football but no-one has enjoyed it as much as me.” Paisley would retire a few weeks later after winning his sixth league title in nine seasons as manager. He had arrived at Liverpool as a player in 1939 and ended up spending virtually his entire working life there. Which was why, when he tried to explain what the club actually meant to him, he put it much more simply. “This club has been my life.” “I’d go out and sweep the street and be proud to do it for Liverpool FC if they asked me to.” #football