Full name Ian Robert Callaghan Name Ian Callaghan Playing position Role Footballer | Years Team Position Midfielder | |
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Date of birth (1942-04-10) 10 April 1942 (age 73) Similar People Roger Hunt, Tommy Smith, Chris Lawler, Emlyn Hughes, Ray Clemence |
exclusive ian callaghan on 1965 fa cup final shankly gerrard
Ian Robert Callaghan MBE (born 10 April 1942 in Toxteth, Liverpool) is a retired English footballer who holds the record for most appearances for Liverpool.
Contents
- exclusive ian callaghan on 1965 fa cup final shankly gerrard
- Liverpool legend ian callaghan
- Playing career
- Honours
- Career statistics
- References

Liverpool legend ian callaghan
Playing career

Callaghan played 857 times for Liverpool between 1960 and 1978, breaking into the first team just after the appointment of Bill Shankly as Liverpool manager. He was a regular member of the first team by the time Liverpool won promotion to the First Division in 1962, and went on to help them win the league title in 1964, 1966, 1973, 1976 and 1977, as well as the FA Cup in 1965 and 1974, the UEFA Cup in 1973 and 1976, and the European Cup in 1977 and 1978. He was voted FWA Player of the Year in 1974. He was booked only once, in the 1978 League Cup Final replay at Old Trafford, which Liverpool lost to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest.

Callaghan played in 1977 European Cup Final, when Liverpool beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1. But in 1978, which proved his last year at the club, his playing time was reduced as younger additions like Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish established themselves at the club. Callaghan was on the substitutes' bench when Liverpool retained the cup against FC Brugge in 1978.

Callaghan also played four times at senior level for England. Although he was in the squad for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he did not play in the final and so did not receive a medal. Following a Football Association-led campaign to persuade FIFA to award medals to all the winners’ squad members, Callaghan was presented with his medal by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009.
He left Liverpool shortly after the 1978 European Cup final and signed for Swansea City, managed by former Liverpool striker John Toshack. He helped Swansea win a second successive promotion in 1979, which took them into the Second Division, and also had brief spells playing in the USA, Australia and Republic of Ireland towards the end of his career. He spent the final season of his career in the English Fourth Division with Crewe Alexandra, making 15 appearances in the 1981-82 season and retiring as a player in his 40th year.
Honours
Career statistics
* Includes one appearance in the FA Charity Shield
^ Includes one goal in the FA Charity Shield