NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.45: Chris Lawler
Years: 1963-1975
Appearances: 549
Goals: 61
Trophies: First Division (1963-64, 1965-66, 1972-73), FA Cup (1965, 1974), UEFA Cup (1973)
Chris Lawler is Liverpool’s highest-scoring defender of all time and one of just 13 players to make 500 appearances for the club.
His tale is one of a local lad going on to do great things.
Lawler climbed through the Reds’ junior ranks to play the first of 549 games for the senior team in 1963.
After making the right-back role his own, the Scouser – who was also adept at centre-half – quite literally became a permanent fixture in the team. Indeed, between 1965 and 1973, incredibly he missed just three matches in the league.
Lawler was known as the ‘Silent Knight’ for his quiet demeanour and had the ‘brain of a striker’, according to Bob Paisley.
His tally of 61 goals is both record-breaking and astonishing, especially when you take into account he was not a penalty or set-piece taker. Instead, he would ghost into opposition penalty boxes and pounce.
In terms of collective achievements, the full-back was a starter in the 1965 FA Cup final, where Bill Shankly’s Liverpool finally ended the club’s long wait for success in the competition.
Lawler was a league winner in 1963-64, 1965-66 and 1972-73 – the latter season also brought glory in the UEFA Cup and saw him appear in all 66 matches.
A serious injury in November 1973 marked the beginning of the end of his fairy tale Anfield career.
He was able to add another FA Cup medal to his collection in 1974 before departing early into the 1975-76 season.
“An elegant player,” said Ron Yeats. “Good passer of the ball, good in the air. Didn’t get into much tackling – but he didn’t have to because he read the game very, very well.”
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