As Liverpool won the Champions League Final, let’s have a look at the links between Liverpool and Wrexham.
Ian Rush was the first ex-Wrexham player to carry the European Cup onto the pitch in Madrid!
Peter Baines was Wrexham’s first black player when he appeared in a wartime fixture. he also played during the conflict, and made a handful of appearances for Wrexham when normal football resumed.
Alan Kennedy scores the winning goal in the 1981 final, and the winning penalty 3 years later. He ended his career at The Racecourse.
Racecourse legend Joey Jones was the first Welsh player to win the European Cup in 1977.
Steve Cooper, England’s World Cup winning youth manager, started out at Wrexham before moving to Liverpool’s academy.
Phil Boersma played 7 games on loan to Wrexham at the start of his career. He won the 1973 UEFA Cup with Liverpool and returned as a coach under Graeme Souness.
Bob Wardle was a back-up keeper for Liverpool.
Bert Goode played for Wrexham before we were in the Football League then moved on to a series of big clubs, including Liverpool. He returned to Wrexham at the end of his career and played in the 3rd Division North.
Mike Hooper’s impressive form at The Racecourse earner him a move to Anfield.
Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward only played one Welsh Cup game for Wrexham, but earned us a nice sell-on fee when he went to Leicester City!
Dean Saunders: Liverpool striker, Wrexham manager.
Xavi Valero, Rafa Benitez’s goalkeeping coach, had a short, calamitous spell at Wrexham.
A rare example of a player who left Liverpool for Manchester United, although The Red Devils were in the Second Division in those days! He played over 100 games for both Liverpool and Wrexham.
Wrexham’s keeper in the late 1930s, Welsh international George Poland signed for Liverpool but the Second a world War broke out soon afterwards and he never made a first team appearance.
Stuart Mason broke into the Wrexham side at the age of 17 and after half a season his fine form at full back earned a move to Liverpool.
Stephen Wright won the 2001 UEFA Cup with Liverpool, and at the end of his career appeared twice at Wembley with Wrexham before spending a season at Colliers Park as manager of the youth team.
Tommy Gardner scored the only goal on his Liverpool debut at Manchester United. After the war he played two seasons at Wrexham.
Robbie Savage spent a season on loan at The Racecourse and won the player of the season award.
Double European Cup winner Jimmy Case has a brief spell at Wrexham at the end of 1992-3 promotion season.
Barry Jones was captain of Liverpool’s reserves, and played a key part in promotion in his first Wrexham season.
Danny Williams was a key player for Wrexham after moving from Anfield.
Messina Allman signed for Wrexham from Liverpool in 1909.
A promising Wrexham full back, Peter Wall earned a move to Anfield in1967.
Ron Jones signed for Liverpool from Wrexham in the late 1930s, and returned after the war.
Fred Haycock played for Liverpool during the Second World War and made a handful of appearances for Wrexham when the Football League resumed.
Robbie Foy spent a season at Wrexham under Denis Smith.
Joe Keetley was signed by Liverpool from Accrington Stanly, and played for Wrexham in 1925-6.
Brian Mooney was loaned from Liverpool.
Billy Matthews scored 4 goals in 9 games for Liverpool, and played two seasons for Wrexham in the early 1920s.
John McLaughlin made an impact in Liverpool’s first team as a young local prospect, but moved on to get more game time. He joined Wrexham late in the 1976-7 season but couldn’t break into the team apart from one apppearance in a 4-1 defeat to Shrewsbury in the Welsh Cup.
Arthur Rowley chose to sign for Liverpool ahead of Everton but struggled to hold down a first team place. He moved to Wrexham in 1934, scoring 2 on his debut and remaining for 2 seasons.
David Raven started out at Liverpool, and had a spell on loan to Wrexham in 2018.
Gordon Gunson was a prolific scorer between the wars for Wrexham and also scored regularly for Liverpool. He returned to North Wales but a knee injury he suffered at Anfield hampered him.
Taken from the “looking back” thread on the Spirit of78 forum.
Thursday, October 6 – 1966
Liverpool manager Bill Shankly last night paid out £35,000 … for two “unknown” full backs from Wrexham.
Stuart Mason, 18, and Peter Wall, 22, are drafted straight into Liverpool reserves at Stoke tomorrow, and Wall has had only three League games for Wrexham this season.
Last weekend, Shankly was beaten by Arsenal in a bid for the £45,000 signature of Huddersfield’s Bob McNab. Yesterday, he presented Fourth Division Wrexham with a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer that chairman Bill Evans described as “one we couldn’t refuse.”
But manager Jack Rowley sighed: “It grieves me to lose these players. I might get back to Wales and find my windows have been smashed. But the fans must realise that this deal has been done to benefit the club and the players.
(Daily Express, 07-10-1966)
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