Liverpool in for Barnes

[theriotact]

I have got some old annual somewhere with an interview with some of the players. I certainly remember them saying that 'digger' came from the man from dallas.

They also used to call him tarmac. The black (steve) Highway.

[theriotact]

(deleted)

[ronanm]

We sold Rushie in 1987 for £3.2 million, and bought Aldo for £750,000, Barnes for £900,000 and Beardsley for £1.9 million.

Not a bad piece of business.

And Houghton - astounding buying!

[shanks69]

here's how I remember it, as a young impressionable koppite.

A lot of this could be wrong, but it is as I remember it.

The last game of the previous season '87 season (i think - before he signed) was against his old club, Watford. He played well - either hit the bar or shot just over. The talk was he was deffo going to Arsenal. We didn't like that, at all. The kop gave him some full-on abuse. if I remember correctly some of it was unpleasant - may even have been racist (but this is 20 years ago now, and I am not checking this against records...I am going purely from memory, as a koppite). I could never be arsed with all that personally abusive stuff (except later with the Charlie Syphilis is ****** chant - that was a classic! hehe)

Anyway...he signed for us and the first home game of the season we had a few new players to greet. Some GREAT players. Exciting times. I know we slag off Chelsea now for spending silly and signing the best payers...but we did it ourselves that year. Beardsley, Aldridge and best of all Barnes.

We knew Barnes was awesome. I think he had even been televised scoring in pre-season. Before this I had never known pre-season footage get shown.

The players all came out to warm-up. I remember seeing Aldo and Beardsley but no Barnes. I was worried. Maybe the abuse against Watford had put him off. Maybe he wasn't sure just how we would take to him.

He never came out for the warm up.

When the teams came out he ran up the steps onto the pitch. it is still one of the greatest ovations I have seen a player get. Awesome!!!

From then on he was a legend. His first games he dazzled up the wing. Skill like I had never seen. He ran riot against Derby ( I think it was anyway).

Anyway. This is how I remembedr it. No doubt I have my facts mixed up. Maybe. But I will alway look back fondly on those days...and always consider him a true legend.

I feel such emotional exitement re-living this. Apologies if I have strayed from the facts. I am sure someone will put us straight with a more carefully crafted missive.

I feel these good times are a touching distance away again.

i remember that very well,the way the crowd sang his name was one of the best i've heard or took part in.