64 Facts About Kenny Dalglish

1.

Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish was born on 4 March 1951 and is a Scottish former football player and manager.

2.

Kenny Dalglish won the Ballon d'Or Silver Award in 1983, the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1983, and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1979 and 1983.

3.

Kenny Dalglish is very highly regarded by Liverpool fans, who still affectionately refer to him as King Kenny, and in 2006 voted him top of the fans' poll "100 Players Who Shook the Kop".

4.

Kenny Dalglish began his career with Celtic in 1971, going on to win four Scottish league championships, four Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup with the club.

5.

In international football, Kenny Dalglish made 102 appearances and scored 30 goals for Scotland between 1971 and 1986, becoming their most capped player and joint-leading goalscorer.

6.

Kenny Dalglish became player-manager of Liverpool in 1985 after the resignation of Joe Fagan, winning a further three First Divisions, two FA Cups and four FA Charity Shields, before resigning in 1991.

7.

Eight months later, Kenny Dalglish made a return to football management with Blackburn Rovers, whom he led from the Second Division to win the Premier League in 1995.

8.

In January 1997, Kenny Dalglish took over as manager at Newcastle United.

9.

Kenny Dalglish went on to be appointed Director of Football at Celtic in 1999, and later briefly manager.

10.

Kenny Dalglish won the Scottish League Cup in 2000 before an acrimonious departure that year.

11.

Between 2000 and 2010, Kenny Dalglish focused on charitable concerns, founding The Marina Kenny Dalglish Appeal with his wife to raise money for cancer care.

12.

In January 2011, Kenny Dalglish returned to Liverpool for a spell as caretaker manager after the dismissal of Roy Hodgson, becoming the permanent manager in May 2011.

13.

In October 2013, Kenny Dalglish returned to Anfield as a non-executive director, and Anfield's Centenary Stand was renamed after him in May 2017.

14.

The son of an engineer, Kenny Dalglish was born in Dalmarnock in the east end of Glasgow and was brought up in Milton in the north of the city.

15.

Kenny Dalglish attended Miltonbank Primary School in Milton and started out as a goalkeeper.

16.

Kenny Dalglish then attended High Possil Senior Secondary School, where he won the inter-schools five-a-side and the inter-year five-a-side competitions.

17.

Kenny Dalglish won the Scottish Cup playing for Glasgow Schoolboys and Glasgow Schools, and was then selected for the Scottish schoolboys team that went undefeated in a Home Nations Victory Shield tournament.

18.

In 1966, Kenny Dalglish had unsuccessful trials at West Ham United and Liverpool.

19.

Kenny Dalglish signed a professional contract with Celtic in May 1967.

20.

Celtic manager Jock Stein wanted Kenny Dalglish to spend a second season at Cumbernauld, but the youngster wanted to turn professional.

21.

Kenny Dalglish got his wish and became a regular in the reserve team known as the Quality Street Gang, due to it containing a large number of highly rated players, including future Scottish internationals Danny McGrain, George Connelly, Lou Macari and David Hay.

22.

Kenny Dalglish continued his goalscoring form in the reserves into the next season, scoring 23 goals.

23.

Still not a first-team regular, Kenny Dalglish was in the stands when the Ibrox disaster occurred at an Old Firm match in January 1971, when 66 Rangers fans died.

24.

Kenny Dalglish went on to score 29 goals in 53 games that season, including a hat-trick against Dundee and braces against Kilmarnock and Motherwell and helped Celtic win their seventh consecutive league title.

25.

The deal was unpopular with the Celtic fans, and Kenny Dalglish was booed by the crowd when he returned to Celtic Park in August 1978 to play in a testimonial match for Stein.

26.

Kenny Dalglish was signed to replace Kevin Keegan and quickly settled into his new club.

27.

Kenny Dalglish made his debut on 13 August 1977 in the season opener at Wembley, in the 1977 FA Charity Shield against Manchester United.

28.

Kenny Dalglish recovered his goal-scoring form the following season, and was an ever-present player in the league , scoring 13 goals as Liverpool became league champions for the 13th time, and the third time since Dalglish's arrival.

29.

From 1983 Kenny Dalglish became less prolific as a goalscorer, though he remained a regular player.

30.

Kenny Dalglish started in all three games as Scotland were eliminated during the group stages despite not losing any of their three games.

31.

In 1976, Kenny Dalglish scored the winning goal for Scotland at Hampden Park against England, by nutmegging Ray Clemence.

32.

Kenny Dalglish was selected for the 22-man squad travelling to Mexico for the 1986 World Cup, but had to withdraw due to injury.

33.

In total, Kenny Dalglish played 102 times for Scotland and he scored 30 goals.

34.

Kenny Dalglish had already purchased goalscorer John Aldridge from Oxford United in the spring of 1987 and early into the new campaign, bought Oxford United midfielder Ray Houghton.

35.

The new-look Liverpool side shaped by Kenny Dalglish topped the league for almost the entire season, and had a run of 37 matches unbeaten in all competitions from the beginning of the season to 21 February 1988, when they lost to Everton in the league.

36.

However, Kenny Dalglish's side lost the 1988 FA Cup Final to underdogs Wimbledon.

37.

Kenny Dalglish was the manager of Liverpool at the time of the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April 1989.

38.

Kenny Dalglish attended many funerals of the victims, including four in one day.

39.

Kenny Dalglish returned to management in October 1991 at Second Division Blackburn Rovers who had recently been purchased by multi-millionaire Jack Walker.

40.

The title meant that Kenny Dalglish was only the fourth football manager in history to lead two different clubs to top-flight league championships in England, after Tom Watson, Herbert Chapman and Brian Clough.

41.

Kenny Dalglish became Director of Football at Blackburn in June 1995.

42.

Kenny Dalglish was reported as having played a central role in the signing of Chile international Sebastian Rozental.

43.

In January 1997, Kenny Dalglish was appointed manager of Premier League side Newcastle United on a three-and-a-half-year contract, taking over from Kevin Keegan.

44.

Kenny Dalglish then broke up the team which had finished second two years running, selling popular players like Peter Beardsley, Lee Clark, Les Ferdinand and David Ginola and replacing them with ageing stars like John Barnes, Ian Rush and Stuart Pearce, as well as virtual unknowns like Des Hamilton and Garry Brady.

45.

Kenny Dalglish made some good long-term signings like Gary Speed and Shay Given.

46.

Barnes was dismissed in February 2000 and Kenny Dalglish took charge of the first team on a temporary basis.

47.

Kenny Dalglish was dismissed in June 2000, after the appointment of Martin O'Neill as manager.

48.

The appointment was confirmed in July 2009, and Kenny Dalglish was made the club's ambassador.

49.

On 22 January 2011, Kenny Dalglish led Liverpool to their first win since his return, against Wolves at Molineux.

50.

On 12 May 2011, Liverpool announced that Kenny Dalglish had been given a three-year contract.

51.

In October 2013, Kenny Dalglish returned to Liverpool as a non-executive director.

52.

On 13 October 2017, Anfield's Centenary Stand was officially renamed the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand in recognition of his unique contribution to the club.

53.

Kenny Dalglish has been married to Marina since 26 November 1974.

54.

Kenny Dalglish retired in 2008 and became a coach, spending time as head coach of Ottawa Fury FC and Miami FC in the second-division leagues of North America.

55.

Kenny Dalglish later launched a charity to fund new cancer treatment equipment for UK hospitals.

56.

Kenny Dalglish was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1985 New Year Honours for services to football.

57.

Kenny Dalglish was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to football, charity and the City of Liverpool.

58.

Kenny Dalglish dedicated the award to former Celtic and Liverpool coaches Jock Stein, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley stating that he was "Humbled" and "A wee bit embarrassed".

59.

Kenny Dalglish was an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame the same year, and later an inaugural inductee to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

60.

Kenny Dalglish is very highly regarded by Liverpool fans, who still affectionately refer to him as King Kenny, and in 2006 voted him top of the fans' poll "100 Players Who Shook the Kop".

61.

In early April 2020, while in hospital for treatment for an unrelated condition, Kenny Dalglish was found to be positive for COVID-19, though asymptomatic.

62.

Kenny Dalglish has participated in a number of events to raise money for the charity, including a replay of the 1986 FA Cup Final.

63.

Kenny Dalglish often competes in the annual Gary Player Invitational Tournament, a charity golfing event which raises money for children's causes around the world.

64.

On 1 July 2011, Kenny Dalglish was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Ulster, for services to football and charity.