The 1986–87 season was Liverpool Football Club's 95th season in existence and their 25th consecutive season in the First Division. It was their second season under the management of Kenny Dalglish, and as defending double winners they finished this season only having (jointly) won the FA Charity Shield, coming close to silverware as league runners-up and losing finalists in the League Cup. They finished runners-up in the league nine points behind local rivals Everton, after an eventful title race which had seen them fight out with a resurgent Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as well as face surprise challenges during the season from unfancied sides including Norwich City, Luton Town and newly promoted Wimbledon.
At the end of the season, striker Ian Rush headed to Italy to sign for Juventus. His successor in the Liverpool attack, John Aldridge, had been signed during the season from Oxford United. After the season ended, Dalglish further enhanced Liverpool's forward positions with a move for Newcastle United striker Peter Beardsley and Watford winger John Barnes.
Squad
Goalkeepers
Bruce Grobbelaar Mike Hooper
Defenders
Gary Ablett Jim Beglin Gary Gillespie Alan Hansen Mark Lawrenson John McGregor Steve Nicol Steve Staunton Barry Venison Alex Watson
Midfielders
Kenny Dalglish Craig Johnston Sammy Lee Kevin MacDonald Steve McMahon Jan Mølby Brian Mooney Steve Nicol Mark Seagraves Nigel Spackman John Wark Ronnie Whelan
Attackers
John Aldridge John Durnin Alan Irvine Ian Rush Paul Walsh
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
Transfers In PosPlayerFromFeeDate DF Barry Venison Sunderland £200,000 31 July 1986 DF Steve Staunton Dundalk £20,000 2 September 1986 FW Alan Irvine Falkirk £75,000 October 1986 FW John Aldridge Oxford United £750,000 27 January 1987 MF Nigel Spackman Chelsea £400,000 24 February 1987
Out PosPlayerToFeeDate MF Sammy Lee QPR £200,000 August 1986
League table
Matches First Division
DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 23-Aug-86 Newcastle United A 2–0 Rush 33,306 Report Report 25-Aug-86 Manchester City H 0–0 39,989 Report Report 30-Aug-86 Arsenal H 2–1 Mølby Rush 38,637 Report Report 03-Sep-86 Leicester City A 1–2 Dalglish 16,344 Report Report 06-Sep-86 West Ham United A 5–2 Whelan Johnston Dalglish Rush 29,807 Report Report 13-Sep-86 Charlton Athletic H 2–0 Mølby Rush 37,413 Report Report 20-Sep-86 Southampton A 1–2 McMahon 20,452 Report Report 27-Sep-86 Aston Villa H 3–3 Wark McMahon 38,298 Report Report 04-Oct-86 Wimbledon A 3–1 Mølby Rush 15,978 Report Report 11-Oct-86 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–1 43,139 Report Report 18-Oct-86 Oxford United H 4–0 Rush Dalglish Mølby 34,512 Report Report 25-Oct-86 Luton Town A 1–4 Mølby 13,140 Report Report 01-Nov-86 Norwich City H 6–2 Nicol Walsh Rush 36,915 Report Report 08-Nov-86 Queens Park Rangers A 3–1 Rush Nicol Johnston 24,045 Report Report 16-Nov-86 Sheffield Wednesday H 1–1 Rush 28,020 Report Report 23-Nov-86 Everton A 0–0 48,247 Report Report 29-Nov-86 Coventry City H 2–0 Mølby Wark 31,614 Report Report 06-Dec-86 Watford A 0–2 23,954 Report Report 14-Dec-86 Chelsea H 3–0 Whelan Rush Nicol 25,856 Report Report 20-Dec-86 Charlton Athletic A 0–0 16,564 Report Report 26-Dec-86 Manchester United H 0–1 40,663 Report Report 27-Dec-86 Sheffield Wednesday A 1–0 Rush 40,959 Report Report 01-Jan-87 Nottingham Forest A 1–1 Rush 32,854 Report Report 03-Jan-87 West Ham United H 1–0 McMahon 41,286 Report Report 17-Jan-87 Manchester City A 1–0 Rush 35,336 Report Report 24-Jan-87 Newcastle United H 2–0 Walsh Rush 38,054 Report Report 14-Feb-87 Leicester City H 4–3 Rush Walsh 34,259 Report Report 21-Feb-87 Aston Villa A 2–2 Johnston Walsh 32,093 Report Report 28-Feb-87 Southampton H 1–0 Aldridge 33,133 Report Report 07-Mar-87 Luton Town H 2–0 Mølby Own goal 32,433 Report Report 10-Mar-87 Arsenal A 1–0 Rush 47,777 Report Report 14-Mar-87 Oxford United A 3–1 Wark Rush 14,211 Report Report 18-Mar-87 Queens Park Rangers H 2–1 Rush 28,988 Report Report 22-Mar-87 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–1 32,763 Report Report 28-Mar-87 Wimbledon H 1–2 Dalglish 36,409 Report Report 11-Apr-87 Norwich City A 1–2 Rush 22,879 Report Report 18-Apr-87 Nottingham Forest H 3–0 Dalglish Whelan Ablett 37,359 Report Report 20-Apr-87 Manchester United A 0–1 54,103 Report Report 25-Apr-87 Everton H 3–1 McMahon Rush 44,827 Report Report 02-May-87 Coventry City A 0–1 26,709 Report Report 04-May-87 Watford H 1–0 Rush 40,150 Report Report 09-May-87 Chelsea A 3–3 Rush McMahon Aldridge 29,245 Report Report
FA Charity Shield
1 Bruce Grobbelaar 2 Barry Venison 3 Jim Beglin 4 Mark Lawrenson 5 Ronnie Whelan 6 Alan Hansen (c) 7 Steve McMahon 8 Craig Johnston 9 Ian Rush 10 Jan Mølby 11 Kevin MacDonald Substitutes: 17 Mike Hooper 12 Kenny Dalglish Manager: Kenny Dalglish 1 Bobby Mimms 2 Alan Harper 3 Paul Power 4 Kevin Ratcliffe (c) 5 Ian Marshall 6 Kevin Langley 7 Trevor Steven 8 Adrian Heath 9 Graeme Sharp 10 Kevin Richardson 11 Kevin Sheedy Substitutes: 14 Neil Adams 12 Paul Wilkinson Manager: Howard Kendall
FA Cup
DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 11-Jan-87 Luton Town A 0–0 11,085 Report Report 26-Jan-87 Luton Town H 0–0 34,822 Report Report 28-Jan-87 Luton Town A 0–3 14,687 Report Report
League Cup
DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 23-Sep-86 Fulham H 10–0 Rush Wark Whelan McMahon Nicol 13,498 Report Report 07-Oct-86 Fulham A 3–2 McMahon Own goal Mølby 7,864 Report Report 29-Oct-86 Leicester City H 4–1 McMahon Dalglish 20,248 Report Report 19-Nov-86 Coventry City A 0–0 26,385 Report Report 26-Nov-86 Coventry City H 3–1 Mølby 19,179 Report Report 21-Jan-87 Everton A 1–0 Rush 53,323 Report Report 11-Feb-87 Southampton A 0–0 22,818 Report Report 25-Feb-87 Southampton H 3–0 Whelan Dalglish Mølby 38,481 Report Report
Final
GK 1 John LukicRB 2 Viv AndersonLB 3 Kenny Sansom (Captain)CM 4 Steve WilliamsCB 5 David O'LearyCB 6 Tony AdamsRM 7 David RocastleCM 8 Paul DavisCF 9 Niall Quinn CF 10Charlie NicholasLM 11Martin Hayes Substitutes:MF 12Perry Groves MF 14Michael Thomas Manager: George Graham GK 1 Bruce GrobbelaarRB 2 Gary GillespieLB 3 Barry VenisonCM 4 Nigel SpackmanLM 5 Ronnie WhelanCB 6 Alan Hansen (Captain)CF 7 Paul Walsh RM 8 Craig JohnstonCF 9 Ian RushCM 10Jan MolbyCM 11Steve McMahon Substitutes:FW 12Kenny Dalglish MF 14John Wark Player / Manager:Kenny Dalglish
Super Cup
Final First Leg
LIVERPOOL: GK 1 Mike HooperRB 2 Barry VenisonLB 3 Jim BeglinCB 4 Mark LawrensonLM 5 Ronnie Whelan CB 6 Gary GillespieSS 7 Kenny Dalglish RM 8 Steve NicolCF 9 Ian RushCM 10 Kevin MacDonaldCM 11 Steve McMahonSubstitute:MF 12 John WarkMF 14 Jan Mølby Player/Manager: Kenny DalglishEVERTON: GK 1 Bobby MimmsRB 2 Peter BillingLB 3 Paul Power CB 4 Kevin Ratcliffe (c)CB 5 Ian Marshall CM 6 Kevin LangleyRM 7 Neil AdamsST 8 Paul WilkinsonST 9 Graeme SharpCM 10 Trevor StevenLM 11 Kevin Sheedy Substitute:MF Warren Aspinall Manager: Howard Kendall
Second leg
EVERTON: GK 1 Bobby MimmsRB 2 Peter BillingLB 3 Paul Power CB 4 Kevin Ratcliffe (c)CB 5 Derek Mountfield CM 6 Trevor StevenRM 7 Neil AdamsCM 8 Adrian HeathST 9 Graeme SharpST 10 Paul WilkinsonLM 11 Kevin Sheedy Substitute:MF Warren Aspinall DF Neil Pointon Manager: Howard KendallLIVERPOOL: GK 1 Bruce GrobbelaarRB 2 Gary GillespieLB 3 Jim BeglinCB 4 Mark LawrensonLM 5 Ronnie WhelanCB 6 Alan Hansen (c)SS 7 John Wark RM 8 Steve Nicol CF 9 Ian RushCM 10 Jan MølbyCM 11 Steve McMahonSubstitute:FW 12 Paul WalshDF 14 Barry Venison Player/Manager: Kenny Dalglish
Liverpool won 7–2 on aggregate
Dubai Super Cup
DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 9-Dec-86 Celtic N 1–1 (Liverpool win 4–2 on pens) Hansen 15,000 Report
References
LFC History.net – Games for the 1986-87 season Liverweb – Games for the 1986–87 season