Tommy Smith

[tsb]

He has a point about Alonso

[Norbs]

"Cardiff City's Anthony Gerard, cousin of Reds skipper Steven, has also been suggested as good defensive addition following Sotirios Kyrgiakos' disappointing start to his Anfield career."

Is he a French cousin?

[BrianF80]

Theres definitely some truth in what he says, unsure as to the players he names but nowadays its not fashionable to go for lower division players. Unless its foreign lower divisions.

It's still fashionable but it's just done at at the youth level now. Eccleston, Amoo, Wisdom, Hobbs, Anderson, Carson, Ngoo, etc etc.

[magicalbarnes]

Now that is just daft.

Crap my arse, he's the top scorer in that league and 26 is still young. Doubt very much they cheered when he came off.

Anyway I'm too depressed to start arguing with you and I don't want to argue with you either.

You think he's crap and I don't so we'll leave it there.

He is crap trust me!

Im from Leeds and loads of my friends & family are season ticket holders at Elland Road. It is such a poor league that any striker with a half decent supply line will score goals there. Plus he is a 'goal-hanger' and bever hels the team out defensively.

When Leeds get promoted to the Championship next season, he wont even get into double figures. Thats if they dont replace him before that!

However i wouldn't have minded us signing Delph, but not at the reported £6m Villa paid.

[greenbloodred]

Chris Brunt would be better than half the cunts we have at the minute

[Liverpel]

Liverpool legend and hardman Tommy Smith to sell glory days medals


FORMER Liverpool captain Tommy Smith is selling all the medals and memorabilia from his highly-decorated career at Anfield.

The tough-tackling defender made 638 appearances between 1963 and 1978, winning four league titles, two FA Cups, two UEFA Cups and the European Cup.

Smith's collection amounts to 75 lots and is expected to sell for an estimated £120,000 when it goes under the hammer in Chester on February 22.

"I had a wonderful career but the memories I've got are more important to me than the medals and the shirts," the 66-year-old told the Liverpool Echo.

"I'm not skint, I don't have to do this, but I'm getting old and the money is of more use to me now than the medals.

"It's not as if I've been used to having my medals all out on display at home and seeing them every day.

"I hadn't seen them for about two years as they were in the bank and I just thought, what the hell are they doing there?

"They are worth an awful lot of money but no one is benefiting from them all just sitting there; it's not helping me and it's not helping my family.

"I want to ensure one day I'm able to leave them some money."

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/liverpool-legend-and-hardman-tommy-smith-to-sell-glory-days-medals-3015507.html

[ChesterDave]

Rota day off 22nd, might pop down and see how it goes

[PTP]

be nice if the club bought them and put them on display

[baitman]

i remember Tommy Smith playing, and watching him from the Kop. what a Legend his is, 100% committed guy. i would love a few lads with his steel and never say die attitude in the team now

[Mostar]

be nice if the club bought them and put them on display

That would be honorable and right thing to do.

[shanks69]

the club needs to buy the medals as they are part of our history and they should't be split up.afterall in the collection are medals from our 1st fa cup win,1st uefa cup win and 1st european cup win,no matter how many times we win theses cups the 1st time is a bit extra special.

[Kenneth]

Chris Brunt would be better than half the cunts we have at the minute

I like Brunt. I go and watch Wednesday a bit as their my local team and he was constantly great for them.

[Liverpel]

LFC buy Smith's memorabilia


Liverpool Football Club have purchased four pieces of memorabilia from Tommy Smith's glittering collection that was auctioned in Chester last week.


The club were successful in bids for the Anfield Iron's 1973 UEFA Cup winners' medal and three shirts he gathered from opposition players on famous European nights.

Jerseys belonging to Rainer Bonhof, Jean-Michel Larqué and a Barcelona player, all from the 1970s, will now take pride of place in the Liverpool FC Museum at Anfield.

And museum curator, Stephen Done, who was behind the decision to bid for the items of memorabilia, took time out to talk Liverpoolfc.tv through each purchase.

"Tommy Smith's a legend; it's as simple as that," said Stephen. "From the beginning of the 60s right up to 1978, this guy was there. You only have to look through this sale catalogue and it was completely overwhelming. He's an absolutely incredible character.

"So, I immediately got in touch with Ian Ayre, our managing director and said, 'I really think we should try (and bid for some memorabilia)'.

"He was very, very supportive, right from the first moment because in his own words, 'the man's an absolute legend'. There was a lot to trawl through and we had to make some difficult decisions but they were enjoyable ones in their own way.

"As the museum curator, I've been here now for 15 years and I have to take a longer view of what moments in the club's history we've already marked through other players and items we already have.

"I thought: let's try and fill some really important gaps but also find something that tells an interesting story about Tommy Smith himself, this great legend of the club. But also let's get objects that are going to be really attractive and really get the eye of visitors. *It's a sort of balancing act."

Here's what Stephen managed to get his hands on...

Item 1: Smith's 1973 UEFA Cup winners' medal

"My personal feelings - and this was borne out by a conversation I had with Tommy Smith himself, prior to the auction - was that I knew we must go for one particular medal. It was the 1973 UEFA Cup winners' medal.

"I knew we had to have that one because, although we already have an example (Brian Hall's medal), it was of course Tommy Smith who was the captain over the two legs. He lifted the first-ever European trophy for this club, Shankly's only European trophy."

The medal has 'Coupe UEFA 1973' engraved on one side. Liverpool beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-2 on aggregate after a Kevin Keegan brace followed by a Larry Lloyd strike all-but guaranteed them the trophy during a first-leg at Anfield.

Stephen added: "Tommy Smith, in lifting the trophy, became the first Liverpool-born captain to lift a European trophy. This is an extraordinarily important moment."

Item 2: A Barcelona shirt from the 1976 UEFA Cup semi-final

"In the museum we've got Ian St John's 1965 FA Cup final shirt," said Stephen. "So I thought: do we really need two? It would be nice but we've got to be realistic. So I looked around and thought about the gaps and a number of things jumped out at me."

"But the one that really struck me was the '76 semi-final shirt against Barcelona. Most Liverpool fans seem to quite like Barcelona but also this is very significant. Liverpool really put the cat among the pigeons on the European scene when we beat Barcelona. This was really not expected.

"It's a beautiful shirt, it's a rare shirt. It will be very attractive, it will look superb with our UEFA Cup and it will really attract the eye. So we went for that one and we secured it."

The yellow, long-sleeved jersey has a blue and maroon stripe across the front and to the cuffs. The shirt was swapped by Smith at the end of the semi-final held on April 14 at Anfield.

The game ended 1-1 but a 1-0 victory at the Camp Nou, courtesy of an early John Toshack strike, guaranteed Liverpool a trip to the final. The Reds beat FC Bruges 4-3 on aggregate to claim the trophy.

Item 3: Rainer Bonhof's Borussia Monchengladbach 1977 European Cup final shirt

Stephen continued: "We've already talked about '73 but really 1977 is the pinnacle. And it was probably the pinnacle for Tommy Smith, scoring that fantastic header against Borussia in Rome for the European Cup."

On May 25, 1977 at the Stadio Olimpico, the Reds won their first European Cup against Borussia Mönchengladbach thanks to goals from Terry McDermott, Phil Neal and of course, a towering header from Smith.

"Tommy swapped his shirt with Rainer Bonhof after the game and he's a legend as well. So we had to go for that. We can hang this behind the 1977 European Cup in the museum. We tried for the medal but from the fans point of view, looking at Rainer Bonhof's shirt is going to be amazing."

The shirt is a white, Puma short-sleeved jersey with a green trim.

Item 4: Jean-Michel Larqué's Saint Etienne 1977 European Cup quarter-final shirt

"I've run the museum now for 15 years and anyone who knows me, will know I've wanted one particular shirt for the museum," said Stephen. "I think, personally, it's one of the finest shirts ever designed for any team but that isn't really why we want it.

"It's a St Etienne shirt. Liverpool went over to France and St Etienne, frankly, played us off the park. Liverpool really had met their match. The French played beautiful football, they were amazing, and they looked great.

"David Fairclough's red shirt and shorts are in the museum but what we don't have is a St Etienne shirt. It could be argued whether that is the greatest game ever played at Anfield, it doesn't matter: the fact is, it's one of the top three greatest games ever played there.

"The shirt was supposed to be Dominique Rocheteau's. It's actually Jean-Michel Larqué's shirt, the No.8. I suspect the shirts were on the floor and Rocheteau picked it up and handed it to Tommy thinking it was his."

Larqué was one of the most influential players in a St Etienne side that dominated French football throughout the 60s and 70s. Between 1967 and 1976 he won seven French Championships and three French Cups.

The season that Liverpool edged the French champions in that unforgettable European Cup quarter-final clash at Anfield, was to be Larque's last as a St Etienne player, he opted for a move to Paris St Germain the following summer.

After he retired, he became a journalist for the French magazine Onze Mondial and his soccer schools have produced the likes of Florent Malouda and Bruno Cheyrou.

"It's a shirt worn by an amazing player," added Stephen. "So we managed to secure it. We had to bid pretty high to secure it but it puts to rest a hunt that's gone on for 15 years on my part, so I'm delighted that this will come to the museum.

"I think we've got an attractive and interesting collection of items which all have stories attached to them. I'm delighted that Tommy did well at the auction; it was so fantastically-well supported, so that's helped him as well.

"I'm hopeful that by next week or the week after they will all be on display. I can assure you that as soon as we possibly can get them on display, they will be."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/lfc-buy-smith-s-memorabilia

[Mostar]

The Club did the right thing.

[Kenneth]

Sounds like they didn't get quite a bit of stuff. Surely we could have arranged a private purchase?