Sunday 20 September 1987. The First Division season has only been up and running for a month, yet it is hard not to arrive at a premature conclusion. For the millions of viewers watching the BBC’s live coverage of Liverpool’s win at Newcastle, all the evidence points to the fact that the title will once again be going to Anfield.
Hindsight shows us that all the kneejerk reactions were right. Ian Rush may have departed, but Kenny Dalglish had dipped into the transfer market to add key parts to his latest machine. John Aldridge had arrived in January 1987, and with Peter Beardsley and John Barnes joining in the summer, Liverpool were well equipped to wrestle the title back from Everton.
The early signs justified the hype. A 2-1 win at League Cup holders Arsenal was followed up by a 4-1 victory at FA Cup winners Coventry. After drawing at West Ham, Liverpool won their next two at Anfield – a collapsed sewer under the Kop had delayed Liverpool’s home matches at the start of the campaign – as the nation prepared to watch Dalglish’s team take on Newcastle at St James’ Park.
In truth, Newcastle were in a fragile condition. Losing Beardsley to Liverpool hardly helped the state of their team nor the mood of their fans, and with the West Stand at St James’ Park demolished at the start of the season, a reduced ground capacity of 29,000 did little to improve the atmosphere surrounding the club.
With their young star Paul Gascoigne injured, all eyes focused squarely on Newcastle’s new Brazilian striker. Signed for £575,000 from Palmeiras, Mirandinha at least provided Newcastle fans with hope. Some Geordies donned sombreros in the Gallowgate End – “why sombreros?”, as the Guardian’s Stephen Bierley asked – as the first Brazilian to play in English football was welcomed with open arms.
Scoring two goals at Old Trafford the week before, the excitement in Newcastle surrounding Mirandinha was understandable. “We’ve got Mirandinha, he’s not from Argentina. He’s from Brazil, he’s fucking brill,” soon became a popular chant on the terraces. But realistically, Mirandinha was joining a struggling team, especially with Gascoigne absent, a situation made obvious the following season.
Just one win in the opening six matches saw the pressure grow on Newcastle’s manager, Willie McFaul, although most fans chose to vent their frustrations towards board members. The sale of Beardsley had hurt – he was booed on his return – and the visit of Liverpool inevitably added to the feelings of gloom at the club.
Conversely, all was rosy in the Liverpool garden, although moving the match for the purposes of television provided a double-edged sword for one player. Steve Nicol should have been on the Isle of Arran, giving away his twin sister Susan at her wedding. Yet he would have a decent consolation of scoring a hat-trick live on the BBC, as Liverpool coasted to victory.
The opener after 20 minutes saw Barnes and Beardsley combine down Liverpool’s left, defender John Anderson’s poor clearance falling straight into the path of Nicol. The Scot, playing in right midfield role, slotted home with his left foot to give Liverpool the lead. The rest of the first half was one-way traffic.
Nicol almost added a second, with Gary Kelly keeping out his header, and from the resulting corner Aldridge had a goal harshly disallowed for a push. But the striker did find the net in the 37th minute, instinctively flicking home from a Barnes header. Aldridge had scored in his sixth consecutive league match of the season.
The pressure was relentless. Beardsley went close, Ronnie Whelan tested Kelly from range, and Anderson cleared another Aldridge effort off the line. On a memorable day for Nicol there was one moment of disappointment, when his beautiful left-footed chip was ruled out due to an offside incorrectly awarded against the retreating Aldridge; Anderson, who had originally been sent sprawling by Nicol, was playing everyone onside.
Any hope for an unlikely comeback evaporated shortly into the second half. Beardsley, beating the offside trap, broke into Newcastle’s box before unselfishly squaring to Nicol. With the ball slightly behind him, Nicol mis-hit his effort from just a few yards out, but got enough on it to put the game to bed.
The only ray of light for home fans arrived on the hour mark, as Mirandinha earned a penalty after a clumsy challenge from Gary Gillespie. Neil McDonald fired past Bruce Grobbelaar, but the feeling of discontent remained. Cries of “sack the board” made it clear where the finger of blame was being pointed.
Nicol’s third was the pick of his (legal) goals. Picking up an Aldridge pass down the right, Nicol surged towards the Newcastle area before dinking a delightful chip over Kelly. Wheeling away in delight, Nicol celebrated his sixth goal of the season. “What a tremendous personal performance by the Liverpool N0 4,” John Motson declared.
The last goal of the afternoon would make the BBC’s shortlist for goal of the season. In fact, the whole list was made up solely of Liverpool goals. Liverpool were that good during the 1987-88 campaign, and despite opposing fans finding the BBC decision a little bit sickening, you could not argue with the quality of Liverpool’s 10 goals. Aldridge’s FA Cup semi-final goal would win the competition.
Nicol may have scored a hat-trick, yet most journalists agreed that Barnes had also starred on an afternoon that emphasised his importance to the team. A graceful player who seemed to glide across the turf, weaving his way past startled defenders, Barnes’ impact at Liverpool was immediate. Come the end of the season he would win both the the PFA players’ player and Football Writers’ Association awards.
Liverpool were fully deserving of the credit coming their way. “Liverpool flicked United aside. It could not be described as a match,” Bierley stated. “A limited audience had already witnessed the ruthless efficiency of their defence, the expansive imagination of their midfield and the irresistible potency of their attack,” Stuart Jones noted in the Times.
“It is no longer a secret that Liverpool have assembled the most awesome collection of footballers in the country,” Colin Gibson wrote in the Telegraph. Dalglish was also thrilled at his team’s display. “It was a pleasure to sit and watch them. They enjoyed playing. I don’t think the opposition enjoyed it, but that’s their problem.”
“Liverpool were a different class,” McFaul admitted, adding that fear flooded his own team. But Newcastle would not be alone in that regard when facing Liverpool. Their next three games saw the Red juggernaut demolish Derby, Portsmouth and table-toppers QPR 4-0. It would take 30 matches for Dalglish’s vintage to lose in the league.
“St James’ Park is a mess of demolished and temporary stands,” Bierley wrote. “Those in the East stand now have a clear view of the city’s cathedral and the Newcastle brewery. They may have need of both by the time this season is out.” Fortunately for Newcastle fans, 1988 brought some relief.
The signing of the 18-year-old Michael O’Neill, and Gascoigne’s stunning displays that earned him the PFA young player of the year, saw the team finish eighth. But there was trouble ahead for McFaul. Gascoigne’s departure, combined with injuries and a dip in form from Mirandinha and O’Neill, led to McFaul being sacked in October 1988. Relegation followed.
For Liverpool there were no such concerns. Winning the title at a canter – witness their 5-0 performance from the Gods against Nottingham Forest in April – only Wimbledon denied them a double. Their 1987-88 squad is rightly lauded as one of the greatest to emerge from Anfield, a set of players who seemingly had all bases covered. A team so good it felt like the rest were basically playing for second place from August onwards.
