Ian Rush was born in October 1961 at St Asaph in Flint.
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My three legendary R's are Ian Rush, Bryan Robson and Alf Ramsey.
Ian Rush
Welsh striker Ian Rush was born in October 1961 at St Asaph in Flint, and played for Hawarden Rangers, in the shadow of Shotton Steelworks where his father worked, before going on to represent Deeside Schoolboys. He began his professional career with Chester City but 17 goals in 39 appearances were enough to persuade Liverpool manager Bob Paisley to pay the then British transfer record of £300,000 for a teenager in May 1980.
Ian won his first medal in the League Cup Final victory over West Ham in 1981 but his phenomenal talents really came to the fore in the 1981-82 season. The perfect man to finish off chances created by Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and company, his razor sharp instincts were as potent a weapon as anyone's in Liverpool's history.
Certainly, few matched his ability at finishing off half chances while his work-rate was phenomenal. Rush was, in fact, one of a new breed of strikers who joined in the game even when his team was defending and his off-the-ball running and harassment of opposition defenders made him Liverpool's first line of defence.
In two glorious spells as a Liverpool player, Ian scored 346 goals for the Reds in all competitions, with an impressive goal-scoring ratio of 0.525 goals per game. Along the way, he accumulated a huge amount of silverware: five League Championships, three FA Cup and six League Cup winners' medals as well as a European Cup winner's medal. He also won the European Golden Boot award in 1984 after scoring an impressive 32 league goals.
In July 1986 Rush set another record, this time for British transfer fees, signing for Juventus for £3.2m. However, the move didn't work out and he returned to Kenny Dalglish's Reds in 1988 for £2.8m, a year after his departure.
The side he returned to already featured Irish international striker John Aldridge, and many considered that two such natural finishers couldn't play together. They were wrong. Rush and Aldridge scored goal after goal and became the key men in a side featuring the creative talents of John Barnes and Peter Beardsley plus the defensive prowess of Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson.
Rush's last championship medal came in 1990, the last time a Liverpool side won the title. Then without John Aldridge, they relied heavily on their inspirational striker, and he didn't disappoint.
He was only to win two more medals as a Red: the FA Cup against Sunderland in 1992, and (as captain) the League Cup victory over Bolton Wanders at Wembley in 1995. He moved to Leeds United in 1996 and then on to Newcastle United before a brief on-loan spell with Sheffield United followed by Wrexham FC and the Australian side Sydney Olympic before finally hanging up his boots.
An MBE, Ian scored 24 goals in 74 full internationals for Wales. In 1983 he was the PFA's Young Player of the Year, and in 1984, both PFA Players' Player and the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year.
Bryan Robson
A native of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, Bryan Robson was the archetypal 'Captain Marvel', leading by spirit and example. He joined Manchester United from West Bromwich Albion in 1981, Ron Atkinson paying a fee of £2million which included midfielder Remi Moses.
Bryan seemed to be able to draw upon an apparently endless supply of stamina and possessed great creative passing skills in both attacking, defensive and midfield situations. His controlled aggression in the tackle when under pressure, plus the added bonuses of genuine pace and powerful shooting and heading ability would also bring him an enviable career record of almost a century of League goals - many from late 'blind side' runs into the area.
At his peak, Bryan's game had no discernible weaknesses except that he would be cursed with injury. Nevertheless, with United Bryan met with great success. There was a hat-trick of Cup Finals starting in 1983 when he scored two of United's goals in the 4-0 replay victory over Brighton. He was a League Cup finalist in 1991 and won the European Cup Winners' Cup in the same season. Most satisfying of all, Bryan would lead United to their first Premiership title in 1992-93.
For England he won 90 full caps between 1980 and 1990 and holds the distinction of scoring his country's fastest goal, in 27 seconds, against France in June 1982. After winning a second Championship with United, Bryan left to manage Middlesbrough in 1994 after making 465 appearances and scoring 98 goals.
Alf Ramsey
Sir Alf Ramsey turned professional with Southampton after being spotted playing for an Army side. He subsequently signed for Tottenham in 1949 for £21,000 - a record for a full back in those days.
He originally played as an inside right, then a centre-half, but was moved into defence in the right-back slot, where he remained for the rest of his career. His move to Tottenham, under the tutelage of Arthur Rowe, was the key to the 'push and run' side that had been assembled by the astute Spurs manager. Alf's tireless running and accurate distribution made him a vital part of the side when playing out from the back.
His natural leadership (he captained both England and Tottenham) and his influence on the field earned him the nickname of 'The General' and he engineered Tottenham's free-kicks in an age where set-plays were not commonplace.
With Tottenham, Alf won a Second Division championship in 1950, a First Division championship in 1951, plus 32 England caps and the reputation as a solid, dependable and cerebral defender. He played three games in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil - most notably the 0-1 defeat by USA, and his last game was the 3-6 defeat by a Hungary side featuring Ferenc Puskas at Wembley in 1953 - this despite scoring one of his country's goals in their first defeat at the national stadium by a foreign side.
In 1955, he retired from playing to take up the manager's role at Ipswich Town and, subsequently, England. The rest, as they say, is history…
