Monday, August 28, 2017

28 August 1947 - The Captain Of The Kop

On 28 August 1947, Liverpool and England captain Emlyn Hughes was born in Lancashire. He went on to win four league titles and two European Cups while being named England's Footballer of the Year in 1977.

Hughes started his professional career with Blackpool in 1964, but made only 28 league appearances there before moving to Anfield in 1967 for a transfer fee of £65,000. Although Liverpool had won the league title in 1966, they went without silverware in Hughes' first four seasons.

They returned to their winning ways in the 1972-73 season, winning both the league and the UEFA Cup. Hughes took over as skipper and more honors followed, including three more league titles (1976, 1977, 1979), another UEFA Cup (1976), back-to-back European Cups (1977, 1978) and an FA Cup (1974). In the meantime, he made 60 appearances for England, wearing the armband for several games in 1974.

In 1977, Liverpool narrowly missed out on a treble, losing to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. Later that year, Hughes became the second consecutive Liverpool player (and third in four years) to win the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year Award.

He left Liverpool in 1979 and spent time with Wolves, Rotherham (as player-manager), Hull City, Mansfield Town, and Swansea City before retiring in 1984. He died of cancer in 2004 at the age of 57.

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