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If I was to ask you who the greatest goalscorer
these islands have produced since the war, chances are the name John
Aldridge would not even be on your list. You'd be giving me the likes
of Lineker, Shearer, even Steve Bull maybe but not Aldridge. However,
the fact is that in 882 career appearances he scored a record 474
goals.
No-one thinks of Aldo. He's been forgotten somehow. But he was THE
man when it came to sticking it in the net in the 80s and 90s and he
did it at all levels from his days at South Liverpool right up to World
Cups. He was even a big success in Spain, the first non-Basque players
to play for the Real Sociedad. He was the very definition of a goal
machine. If you wanted a finisher to rely on you got Aldo in. He never
had a bad season. Not one.
It's a bitter irony that he's probably most remembered for his
penalty miss in the 1988 Cup Final against Wimbledon (the first penalty
ever missed in a cup final) because that season - his first full one at
Liverpool - had been a massive success.
He'd been bought from Oxford United (can you imagine Liverpool's
number 9 being bought from Oxford today?) to replace the prolific Ian
Rush, who had gone to Juventus.
Comically with the same dark hair and tache combo so beloved by
Scousers in the 80s, Aldo even looked a bit like Rushie. Then again, so
did most men in their 20s on Merseyside at the time.
He had that essential, instinctive ability to find space where no
space seemed to exist, finding just enough to get to the ball ahead of
the defender. He had a super cool temperament, often placing rather
than blasting the ball. And he was possibly the finest header of a ball
that decade saw.
Just behind that cup final miss in the public memory is the sight
of him screaming abuse at an official at the 1994 USA World Cup as he
struggled to get on the pitch as a substitute. It was a magnificent
incident that only increased his legendary status.
He wasn't an athlete. Back in the 80s and early 90s, you didn't
need to be an athlete at the top level, you needed to be tough and Aldo
was as tough as old boots. For a number 9 who took his fair share of
crunching tackles in the era that was noted for its physicality, he was
hardly ever injured, playing an average of 38 games every season for 18
years.
Aldridge was part of that last generation of footballers who,
despite being at the top of his career and a legend in his own
lifetime, was still a man of the people.
He didn't turn professional until he was nearly 21. In other words,
he'd lived a normal life. He hadn't been pampered in the bosom of a big
club since the age of nine. He joined Newport County in 1979, then in
the fourth division. Within two years they'd got promoted and,
incredibly, reached the quarter-final of the European Cup Winners' Cup
after winning the Welsh Cup the previous season. It was a much more
democratic era.
His transfer for a whopping £78,000 to Third Division Oxford United
in 1984 hadn't made much impact in the football world but quickly he
started to be noticed. The man was on the score sheet almost every
week. In two-and-a-half seasons he scored 72 goals in 114 games; a goal
every game and half and consequently the team was promoted in
consecutive seasons, reaching the first division for the 1985-86
season, a season that saw them win the League Cup.
As one of the top strikers in the league and with Rush leaving, it
shouldn't have been surprising that Aldridge signed for Dalglish for
£750,000 in January 1987 but it was. He was not really high profile and
there was considerable doubt that he would be able to fill Rush's
illustrious boots at such a big club. And until Rush left that summer
he didn't get a lot of chances to prove himself. But the following
season was a cracker as he bagged 26 goals in a rampaging Liverpool
side that was one of the most exciting ever seen with Beardsley and
Barnes providing Aldo with the ammunition.
When Rush returned the following year, having found Italy to be a
foreign country full of people who don't speak English, he struggled to
get back into the side with Aldo on such good form.
It still seems odd that Liverpool sold him in 1989 for a million
quid to John Toshack's Real Sociedad. Aldo scored a goal every 1.6
games and though by then he was 30, still had a couple of good years in
him.
His final appearance was the stuff of legend. The 9-0 caning of
Crystal Palace during which he came on as a sub, throwing his shirt and
boots into the crowd at the end.
Aldo kept banging them in regardless of what country he was playing
in - 40 in 63 in Spain before returning to Tranmere, where he promptly
knocked in 40 during his first season. What a player. He was to tally
up 138 goals in 242 games at Prenton Park, going on to be manager
during some epic cup runs.
Aldo's era was the time just before the big money really kicked in.
The era when players did not lead a life utterly removed from our own
experiences. Aldo was and of course still is a genuine, regular bloke
who just happened to be the finest goalscorer of his generation. Not
for him the movie star's lifestyle and the pop star girlfriends. And
that almost certainly accounts for the affection he is still held in on
Merseyside and in the football world more broadly. His
post-Hillsborough work when he attended many funerals has not been
forgotten either.
A good illustration of the affection in which he is held came on a
5live discussion show being held in a pub in Liverpool earlier this
year. He was due to appear in the second half of the show but half-way
through the first section, you could tell that he'd arrived because the
whole audience suddenly erupted into cries of 'Aldo! Aldo!' as he
walked in. It was easy to imagine the big fella grinning in that
slightly wicked way of his and taking his adulation with good grace.
You can't imagine that happening to many top players today ten years after their retirement.
Hugely successful, a true unsung great of the British game and a thoroughly decent man as well, that's John Aldridge: legend.
these islands have produced since the war, chances are the name John
Aldridge would not even be on your list. You'd be giving me the likes
of Lineker, Shearer, even Steve Bull maybe but not Aldridge. However,
the fact is that in 882 career appearances he scored a record 474
goals.
No-one thinks of Aldo. He's been forgotten somehow. But he was THE
man when it came to sticking it in the net in the 80s and 90s and he
did it at all levels from his days at South Liverpool right up to World
Cups. He was even a big success in Spain, the first non-Basque players
to play for the Real Sociedad. He was the very definition of a goal
machine. If you wanted a finisher to rely on you got Aldo in. He never
had a bad season. Not one.
It's a bitter irony that he's probably most remembered for his
penalty miss in the 1988 Cup Final against Wimbledon (the first penalty
ever missed in a cup final) because that season - his first full one at
Liverpool - had been a massive success.
He'd been bought from Oxford United (can you imagine Liverpool's
number 9 being bought from Oxford today?) to replace the prolific Ian
Rush, who had gone to Juventus.
Comically with the same dark hair and tache combo so beloved by
Scousers in the 80s, Aldo even looked a bit like Rushie. Then again, so
did most men in their 20s on Merseyside at the time.
He had that essential, instinctive ability to find space where no
space seemed to exist, finding just enough to get to the ball ahead of
the defender. He had a super cool temperament, often placing rather
than blasting the ball. And he was possibly the finest header of a ball
that decade saw.
Just behind that cup final miss in the public memory is the sight
of him screaming abuse at an official at the 1994 USA World Cup as he
struggled to get on the pitch as a substitute. It was a magnificent
incident that only increased his legendary status.
He wasn't an athlete. Back in the 80s and early 90s, you didn't
need to be an athlete at the top level, you needed to be tough and Aldo
was as tough as old boots. For a number 9 who took his fair share of
crunching tackles in the era that was noted for its physicality, he was
hardly ever injured, playing an average of 38 games every season for 18
years.
Aldridge was part of that last generation of footballers who,
despite being at the top of his career and a legend in his own
lifetime, was still a man of the people.
He didn't turn professional until he was nearly 21. In other words,
he'd lived a normal life. He hadn't been pampered in the bosom of a big
club since the age of nine. He joined Newport County in 1979, then in
the fourth division. Within two years they'd got promoted and,
incredibly, reached the quarter-final of the European Cup Winners' Cup
after winning the Welsh Cup the previous season. It was a much more
democratic era.
His transfer for a whopping £78,000 to Third Division Oxford United
in 1984 hadn't made much impact in the football world but quickly he
started to be noticed. The man was on the score sheet almost every
week. In two-and-a-half seasons he scored 72 goals in 114 games; a goal
every game and half and consequently the team was promoted in
consecutive seasons, reaching the first division for the 1985-86
season, a season that saw them win the League Cup.
As one of the top strikers in the league and with Rush leaving, it
shouldn't have been surprising that Aldridge signed for Dalglish for
£750,000 in January 1987 but it was. He was not really high profile and
there was considerable doubt that he would be able to fill Rush's
illustrious boots at such a big club. And until Rush left that summer
he didn't get a lot of chances to prove himself. But the following
season was a cracker as he bagged 26 goals in a rampaging Liverpool
side that was one of the most exciting ever seen with Beardsley and
Barnes providing Aldo with the ammunition.
When Rush returned the following year, having found Italy to be a
foreign country full of people who don't speak English, he struggled to
get back into the side with Aldo on such good form.
It still seems odd that Liverpool sold him in 1989 for a million
quid to John Toshack's Real Sociedad. Aldo scored a goal every 1.6
games and though by then he was 30, still had a couple of good years in
him.
His final appearance was the stuff of legend. The 9-0 caning of
Crystal Palace during which he came on as a sub, throwing his shirt and
boots into the crowd at the end.
Aldo kept banging them in regardless of what country he was playing
in - 40 in 63 in Spain before returning to Tranmere, where he promptly
knocked in 40 during his first season. What a player. He was to tally
up 138 goals in 242 games at Prenton Park, going on to be manager
during some epic cup runs.
Aldo's era was the time just before the big money really kicked in.
The era when players did not lead a life utterly removed from our own
experiences. Aldo was and of course still is a genuine, regular bloke
who just happened to be the finest goalscorer of his generation. Not
for him the movie star's lifestyle and the pop star girlfriends. And
that almost certainly accounts for the affection he is still held in on
Merseyside and in the football world more broadly. His
post-Hillsborough work when he attended many funerals has not been
forgotten either.
A good illustration of the affection in which he is held came on a
5live discussion show being held in a pub in Liverpool earlier this
year. He was due to appear in the second half of the show but half-way
through the first section, you could tell that he'd arrived because the
whole audience suddenly erupted into cries of 'Aldo! Aldo!' as he
walked in. It was easy to imagine the big fella grinning in that
slightly wicked way of his and taking his adulation with good grace.
You can't imagine that happening to many top players today ten years after their retirement.
Hugely successful, a true unsung great of the British game and a thoroughly decent man as well, that's John Aldridge: legend.
