Kenny Dalglish: Liverpool to rename Anfield’s Centenary Stand after club legend

Kenny Dalglish won the league and FA Cup Double in his first season as player-manager in 1985-86

LIVERPOOL are to rename Anfield’s Centenary Stand in honour of club legend Kenny Dalglish.

Dalglish, 66, scored 172 goals in 515 appearances after joining the club in 1977, becoming player-manager in 1985.

The Scot won a total of eight league titles, three European Cups, two FA Cups and five League Cups in his first spell at the club, which ended in 1991.

He returned as manager in 2011, winning the 2012 League Cup, and is currently a non-executive director.

“His name is synonymous with our club, with our home and the city of Liverpool,” said owner John W Henry.

Anfield’s Centenary Stand (far side here) was known as the Kemlyn Road stand until 1992

“Now it will be as visible as it is palpable.”

Dalglish was manager at the time of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, when 96 Liverpool fans died as a result of a crush at an FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield.

He helped ensure the club was represented at all of the fans’ funerals and attended many of them in person.

The victims were found to have been unlawfully killed following inquests that concluded in April last year. All 96, along with Dalglish, were awarded the Freedom of Liverpool in May 2016.

“Kenny’s contribution to Liverpool goes beyond goals scored, points amassed and silverware placed in the cabinet,” said Henry.

“The leadership and solace he gave to individuals, the club and city as it tried to come to terms with the trauma and tragedy of Hillsborough transcended sporting achievement.”

The date of the official renaming ceremony is yet to be confirmed but it will take place later this year.

SOURCE: BBC SPORT