Looking back at Liverpool's memorable 1983/84 campaign that saw the club win the League, European Cup and Milk Cup.
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, currently chasing a quadruple, may match or even surpass the efforts of their 1983/84 counterparts. But it's doubtful that they will have quite as much fun along the way. It was a season of 67 matches, cup replays, shocks and thrashings, broken bones, beer, brawls and spaghetti legs, Scully and Chris Rea.
Unusually for Liverpool at the time, it was also a season with a few doubts along the way, starting with the retirement of Bob Paisley at the end of the previous campaign. Joe Fagan, a member of the famous Liverpool Boot Room had been at the club since 1958, was hesitant as to whether he should step up to replace Paisley.
Fagan had switched Lawrenson to midfield for the curtain raiser, yet with Phil Thompson struggling in his last game for the club, the new boss learned from his mistake. A 1-1 draw at newly promoted Wolves was a less than encouraging start to the league campaign. But four wins in the next five helped, including Dalglish winning the supposed "master v pupil" clash against Charlie Nicholas as Highbury.
However, Fagan was not entirely comfortable with the performances, his concerns justified when the team suffered losses in back-to-back league matches, losing 1-0 at Old Trafford and then by the same scoreline against Sunderland at Anfield. But there was little time to dwell on this setback.
The defence of the Milk Cup started against Third Division Brentford, the 8-1 aggregate win giving little indication of the slog that awaited the holders. Three matches were required against Second Division Fulham, who were finally seen off after 330 minutes. Another replay was needed to get past Birmingham before Christmas, setting up a quarter final with Sheffield Wednesday.
After their consecutive league losses, Liverpool cranked through the gears. Robinson had initially struggled to settle in, but his hat-trick at West Ham and a Steve Nicol winner on QPR's plastic pitch gained vital wins over teams who would threaten to enter the title race. Rush then scored five against Luton, his 47 goals in all competitions understandably earning him both the PFA Players' Player and FWA Player of the Year.
With both major channels showing nine live matches between them, inevitably Liverpool featured, and Rush would score his now customary goal against Merseyside rivals Everton in a 3-0 win on ITV. For actor Andrew Schofield it was a dream day, as he got to run out with the Liverpool team pre-match and score a goal at the Kop end, all for a Channel 4 series called Scully.
Liverpool's eight match unbeaten run in the league came to an end in dramatic circumstances. Although Coventry were in fifth place, the 4-0 defeat at Highfield Road was a genuinely seismic event, as the champions resembled a pub team. Fagan was furious at half-time, tearing into left back Alan Kennedy who unwisely answered back. Teacups and punches were thrown; Souness and Dalglish tested their close friendship with some very frank exchanges.
Winning three of their next four in the league, the new year clash with Manchester United looked like a pivotal point. Not only did United snatch a late draw at Anfield, but Dalglish was ruled out for eight weeks after having his cheekbone fractured in a clash with Kevin Moran.
The injury cast doubt on Liverpool's hopes on the domestic front. Losing at home to a poor Wolves team was not the ideal response, and the vultures were circling when Liverpool trailed 1-0 at Villa Park at half-time live BBC1. But a stunning Rush hat-trick steadied the ship, and the club would remain unbeaten in the league until Dalglish returned.
But any hopes of an unprecedented quadruple disappeared on the south coast. With Souness getting injured, Liverpool were vulnerable to an FA Cup fourth round shock at Brighton. Two goals in a minute just before the hour saw Second Division Brighton end Liverpool's FA Cup hopes for the second year in a row.
At least progress was made in the Milk Cup. Again Liverpool needed a replay to see off Sheffield Wednesday, and after drawing at Anfield in the first leg, a 2-0 win at Third Division Walsall - the second goal resulting in scary scenes when a wall collapsed - set up a final against a rejuvenated Everton. The league campaign was back on track too; after the Wolves loss, the team went on another eight-match unbeaten run.
From March onwards the team would play 18 vital matches as the hunt for the treble continued. Fagan experienced his first taste of silverware as boss, Liverpool claiming their fourth consecutive Milk Cup. The final at Wembley was a disappointing affair, with many Evertonians adamant that Alan Hansen handled Adrian Heath's goal-bound effort. Three days later, a long-range effort from Souness won the replay at Maine Road; for now the noisy neighbours were kept in their place.
The Wembley final had come just four days after Liverpool had progressed to the last four of the European Cup, a stunning 4-1 win at Benfica setting up a feisty encounter with Dinamo Bucharest. Sammy Lee gave Liverpool a 1-0 win at Anfield, but that was only a small part of the story. In the 70th minute, Souness floored midfielder Lica Movila in an off the ball incident, breaking the jaw of the Romanian.
Understandably, the Bucharest players were out for revenge in the second leg. The atmosphere was hostile, yet this was a situation that Souness simply lived for. Soaking up all that was thrown at him, Souness inspired his team to a 2-1 away win, with Rush scoring twice. A final against Roma in the Italians' stadium awaited.
After losing 2-0 at Southampton in another live Friday night match, a crucial win at Watford - with new signing John Wark scoring on his debut - and a 6-0 hammering of West Ham edged Liverpool two points ahead of United with eight matches remaining. The two giants came out of their corners, hoping to land the knockout blow. But like two exhausted heavyweights at the start of the 15th round, both huffed and puffed.
Luckily for Liverpool, every time they dropped points, United seemingly tried their best to match them. An away defeat at Stoke looked damaging for Fagan's team but United lost at Notts County; a late Wark goal rescued a point at Leicester, with United drawing 0-0 at Watford; Liverpool drew against Ipswich and Birmingham, as United drew with West Ham and Everton. But then came the decisive moment.
Gaining revenge over Coventry in a 5-0 win (Rush scoring four goals), United lost at home to Ipswich, allowing Fagan's team to wrap up the title with a goalless draw at Notts County. With just two wins in their last eight, it was hardly the stuff of champions. But just six defeats in the league campaign emphasised that Liverpool were the deserving winners of the slightly naff new Canon League trophy. It was their third league title in a row, matching the achievement of Huddersfield and Arsenal.
"By our own standards we didn't deserve to win the title again," Souness commented. "But by everybody else's standards we did." Now the team could concentrate on the European final in Rome, flying off to Israel for a friendly against the national team, but in essence this was a lads' week away.
Fuelled by alcohol after a drinking game one evening, the players - minus Souness and Dalglish - became involved in a scrap in a bar. When director Sydney Moss was informed of violent scenes in the square, he naturally thought it was supporters involved. Arriving to see Kennedy with a black eye and Rush with a bloodied-nose, Moss must have been as stunned as the Italian journalists covering the trip.
But rather than disrupting team spirit, the trip bonded the players. Another part of the Israel break was forward and appointed DJ Dave Hodgson playing 'I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It' by Chris Rea on the team bus. Quickly established as a team anthem, the song would play a role in landing a psychological blow in Rome.
After Souness had purposely led his players in front of the Roma fans prior to the match, the team wandered back down the tunnel. Hodgson started singing Rea's song, and gradually everyone joined in, apparently disrupting a team talk Roma coach Nils Liedholm was giving. When Roma's players left Souness and his men waiting in the tunnel before the match, the tune started once more. As the confused Roma players emerged, the volume grew louder.
None of this would have mattered had Roma won on their own patch. But it is all part of the story of Liverpool's marvellous night. Phil Neal opened the scoring in the 13th minute, only for Roberto Pruzzo to equalise before the break. The final drifted inevitably towards penalties, and when Nicol missed Liverpool's first effort, it looked like the treble was slipping away. Fortunately, Bruno Conte missed, and with Liverpool 3-2 in front Francesco Graziani walked towards the spot. Goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar was about to take centre stage.
Grobbelaar was often referred to as a clown. Walking on his hands before matches, dropping crosses, and often flying out of his area, there was rarely a dull moment with Brucie. Under strict instructions from Fagan to put the penalty takers off, Grobbelaar started wobbling his legs as Graziani prepared. When the penalty soared into the night sky, Grobbelaar ran off in delight. His spaghetti legs routine appeared to have made an impact.
As Kennedy slotted home the winning penalty, the celebrations began, although most Liverpool supporters were in for a frightening evening outside the ground. Souness lifted the European Cup - his last action as a Liverpool player before joining Sampdoria - as Liverpool claimed their third major trophy of the season. And the man who had masterminded this was the reluctant champion Joe Fagan.
Sitting by the swimming pool with the European Cup, Fagan must have known things could get no better than 1983/84. But even after his remarkable achievement he was as modest as ever. "These trophies are not mine - they belong to our fabulous team and supporters."
Maybe so, yet the history books will forever let it be known that the first manager to lead an English club to three major trophies in the same season was Joseph Francis Fagan. Not bad for someone who was less than convinced he was the right man for the job.
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