Initially an international football player, Dalglish built his reputation with Celtic and then replaced Kevin Keegan at Liverpool F.C in 1977 after a £440,000 transfer, coupling prolific goalscoring and with medal-winning team play. He later went on to become player-manager and then manager of Liverpool, following Joe Fagin as manager of the club in aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985.
His managerial career mirrored his playing career in its success, and he became the first manager of a Liverpool team to win the "double" of the League Championship and F.A. Cup in the same season.
He was in charge of the club at the time of the Hillsborough disaster in the 1989 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest F.C. His dignity and bearing during these tragedies was exemplary, but ultimately took its toll on his health. Dalglish resigned as manager of Liverpool in 1991.
He returned to management after a short break with Blackburn Rovers F.C, who he lead into the English Premiership. Having won the Premiership in 1995 with Blackburn, Dalglish "moved upstairs" to become Director of Football at Blackburn, a largely symbolic role which freed up his time for golf and TV punditry. In Spring 1997 he took control at a third top-flight English club, once again replacing the departing Kevin Keegan, this time as manager of Newcastle United F.C. Despite an initially strong performance, Dalglish's dismantling of one of the most exciting footballing sides in the Premiership lost him the support of the fans, and he parted company with Newcastle late in the close season of the summer of 1998.
His most recent role to date was as Director of Football at Celtic, but he resigned after one disastrous season which saw Celtic knocked out of the Scottish FA Cup by Inverness Caledonian Thistle and finish 21 points behind their arch-rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premier League.
Playing Career