After a rare trophyless season in 1986-87, there were some who thought the Liverpool dynasty was showing signs of cracking. The departure of striker Ian Rush to Juventus for £3.2m left a sizeable hole in the team, as the Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was tasked with replacing the seemingly irreplaceable.
“The coming season is going to be Dalglish’s biggest test yet as a manager,” the Guardian’s David Lacey wrote in his preview of the 1987-88 campaign. Others waded in too. “Dalglish has a lot to live up to this season,” John Bond commented in an exclusive Express article. “Time will tell whether he really can do it.”
In reality, Dalglish had been planning for Rush’s departure well in advance. John Aldridge signed from Oxford United in January 1987, and was slowly introduced to the team. But the double swoop for John Barnes and the £1.9m man Peter Beardsley demonstrated that Dalglish meant business.
With Anfield out of action due to a collapsed sewer in the Kop End, Liverpool’s new lineup would initially be tested via three away trips. The first would provide a thorough examination as well as an opportunity for revenge. An opening-day fixture against George Graham’s Arsenal, who had beaten Liverpool in the 1987 Littlewoods Cup final, looked like a mouth-watering prospect.
Arsenal had also been active in the transfer market, buying Alan Smith on the March deadline day – before loaning him back to Leicester – and adding Nigel Winterburn to the squad in the summer. Seen as possible title contenders after the previous season of promise, Graham was keen to pit his skills against the best.
“Liverpool have overcome the loss of great players in the past and they are still the yardstick for every manager,” said Graham, who was on the verge of signing a new five-year deal worth £100,000. Confirming Kenny Sansom as captain for the start of the season, the Arsenal manager, like many others, appeared excited about the opening-day clash at Highbury.
John Quinton, the chair of the new Football League sponsors, Barclays Bank, would be present among the official gate of 54,703 (although others watched from the roof of the North Bank). The sweltering conditions, the two teams involved, and the opening-day anticipation helped boost the crowd figure, Highbury’s biggest league attendance since December 1982.
Those present would not witness a classic match, but they would gain an early insight into the fortunes of both teams. Liverpool, sporting their new grey away kit, may have been without Mark Lawrenson, Jan Molby, and the departed Rush, but any talk of their potential demise had been greatly exaggerated. The bookmakers – the real experts after all – knew this; odds of 15/8 for Liverpool to regain the title suggested as much.
The early exchanges saw Steve Williams booked for a high challenge on Beardsley, with Steve McMahon lucky not to follow suit after he gained retribution on the Arsenal midfielder. The midfield battle – McMahon and Ronnie Whelan against Williams and Paul Davis – would be keenly fought as both teams struggled to gain the upper hand.
The unenviable task of facing Barnes would fall on the shoulders of the 19-year-old Michael Thomas, playing at right-back after Viv Anderson had been sold to Manchester United in the summer. The Liverpool winger would have an early impact, crossing for Aldridge to head past John Lukic in the 9th minute. But Arsenal would soon hit back in an afternoon that revolved around headed goals.
Charlie Nicholas’s cross was headed back across goal by Smith, allowing Davis to fling himself forward and level the score with a fine diving header. In most matches, Davis’ goal would have been the outstanding header of the afternoon. Instead, with three minutes remaining, Steve Nicol told Davis to hold his beer.
Initially Nicol stood over a free kick on Liverpool’s left, before walking to the edge of the penalty area and allowing Barnes to whip in a cross. Tony Adams appeared to have dealt with the danger, heading to the corner of the box, the ball arriving at a flat trajectory towards Nicol. The Scot would return Adams’ header with interest.
“Adams must have been pleased with his firm header which repelled the ball,” Ronald Atkin wrote in his Guardian report. “But it travelled straight to Nicol, standing a pace or two outside the area. His return header was even firmer, with an added touch of swerve which carried it clear of Lukic’s flailing leap and into the far corner of the netting.”
It was an extraordinary header. Lukic may have been off his line, yet to be beaten by a header from the edge of the area was a rare achievement. Nicol’s header was not quite 40 yards out, as claimed on the Liverpool website, but the long range effort was enough to launch Liverpool’s season that would reach heady heights.
“Liverpool might have lost Ian Rush and his goal talent to Italy but they appear in little danger of mislaying the winning habit,” Atkin added. Still, it was hardly a smash and grab. Craig Johnston and Aldridge missed good opportunities in the second half. Nicol’s header, and a late Nicholas miss, allowed Liverpool to leave the home of potential title rivals with three points.
It is interesting to note that Nicol had entered that season, like his club, with uncertainty. Making a comeback after a hernia and stomach operation, the Scot was understandably anxious. But the match at Highbury cleared the fear.
“As the ball was coming towards me, first of all I wondered if I could head it back into that dangerous area, then I realised I had a chance to go for goal,” Nicol recalls in his autobiography, Five League Titles and a Packet of Crisps. “All I wanted to do was to make a good contact and force Lukic to make a save.”
“Instead, I made perfect contact with my head and the ball flew into the top corner of the net from all of 20 yards out. All those fears about my future? Gone in an instant. The result got our season off to a flyer and the performance convinced us all we had a team that was once again ready to challenge for honours.”
Any doubts about Dalglish and his team soon evaporated as Liverpool clicked through the gears to blow away the rest of the league. Nicol scored the opener in the next match, a 4-1 win at the FA Cup holders Coventry, and Aldridge scored in each of the opening nine league matches. The millions watching Liverpool win 4-1 at Newcastle live on BBC One – Nicol netting a hat-trick – would witness the sheer brilliance of the last great Liverpool team of that era.
“Liverpool did enough to show they have accommodated another change of personnel smoothly,” Atkin noted after the Arsenal match. Very true. With Ray Houghton added in October, there seemed no stopping the red machine marching towards the title. A 29-match unbeaten run at the start of the league season made a mockery of the pre-season doubts.
A league title secured, only Wimbledon would deny Liverpool the Double with their shock FA Cup final victory. Such was their dominance, Match of the Day only included Liverpool goals as contenders for their Goal of the Season award. I’m sure that would have gone down well if social media was a thing back in May 1988.
Nicol’s goal against Arsenal was not included in the shortlist, as it did not appear in a match covered by the BBC. In all honesty it was not the best Liverpool goal of the season, yet it was one of the most important. A point at Highbury would have been a fine result. Yet Nicol’s stunning header allowed Liverpool to start the season as they intended to go on.
