**In January 1981, Liverpool’s first home league opponents of the year were trying to sign the 33-year-old Johan Cruyff.**
But would Cruyff come to Leicester?
The Foxes manager at this time was, like Shankly, a tough Scotsman - Jock Wallace. Upon taking the reins at Filbert Street, Wallace was in bullish form and he had the Reds in his sights:
> “Liverpool was taken out of the doldrums by Shanks. I hope that I can do the same for this Club. If honesty and endeavour mean anything in this game, then we have a chance. The players have got it. I think I’ve got it. My coaches have got it. I think this Club is heading for a great future. I really believe that.”
On the third day of 1981, Liverpool extended their unbeaten home run at Anfield in all competitions to 85 with a 4-1 FA Cup win over Altrincham.
**Few turning up for the visit of Leicester on the final day of January could have expected the run to end that afternoon.**
The match was sponsored by Bowyer’s Sausages and Pies. In the star draw the prize was a Hitachi clock radio. The programme cost 30p and featured photos of Sammy Lee and Phil Thompson on the front cover.
Leicester, missing promising young striker Gary Lineker through injury, were bottom of the table with just six league wins to their name. The first of those had come on the opening day, however, a surprise 1-0 win over Liverpool.
There would be no clean sheet for Mark Wallington in the return fixture, as his own team-mate Alan Young headed past him after 15 minutes to put Liverpool into the lead.
The hosts pushed for a second but Wallington was in inspired form and Leicester began to threaten in the second half, attacking the Kop end. Thankfully for the Foxes, Wallington’s opposite number, the England goalkeeper Ray Clemence, made a rare error to help draw the visitors level.
The game wasn’t televised live but Clemence appeared on Granada’s Match Night highlights show and was [grilled by a young Elton Welsby](https://www.facebook.com/80sfootballheaven/videos/ray-clemence-interview-1981/507261854288311/) on whether he was at fault for Leicester’s leveller.
> “I was at the fault for the equalising goal, yes. The ball was crossed to the far post. A ball that I should have caught.
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> Unfortunately I palmed it down and then lost my footing and instead of diving on the ball, I think it was their number seven ran in and hit it into the net.”
That number seven, the 24-year-old Pat Byrne, was one of the senior members of the team, whose average age was just 22. The youngest, 17-year-old Paul Friar, had been 3 years old when Cruyff dazzled Anfield in 1966.
The winner came from another young star, the 22-year-old Scottish striker Jim Melrose, who would later help bring another famous Lennon to Leicester in his post-playing career as an agent before becoming head scout at the club under Martin O’Neill between 1996 and 2000.
In the Liverpool Echo’s match report, Leicester’s old tag as the Reds’ bogey team was restored thanks to the league double despite Leicester not having won any of the 13 encounters between the sides prior to that campaign.
> “In a sensational hangover from their derby defeat, Liverpool lost their three year unbeaten home record at Anfield. Their bogey team Leicester, who had already beaten them earlier this season, finally did it and no one could query the justice of the result.
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> Liverpool’s fans, much criticised in recent weeks for their failure to support the team, gave the players a tremendous reception. The atmosphere was surprisingly electric for a game against a bottom of the table team.
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> The small contingent of Leicester supporters were now in full voice and out-shouting the Kop, who became quieter and quieter as Liverpool’s play deteriorated. Leicester’s young side sensed the champions were there for the taking.
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> With both sides committed to out-and-out attack, the match was exciting, but Liverpool’s inability to hold Leicester’s lively youngsters boded ill for the future. It was a sad way for Liverpool’s record to go yet none could deny Leicester were much the better team on the day.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to convince Cruyff. He instead headed to the sunny Spanish coast to play for Levante. Jock Wallace’s young Leicester side were relegated.
**Despite Shankly’s infamous claim that football was more important than life or death, Liverpool saw far more turbulent and emotional events than the loss of a long unbeaten home record in 1981.** In July, the heavy-handed arrest of the Jamaican photography student Leroy Alphonse Cooper precipitated riots in the suburb of Toxteth.
There were also two significant memorial services held at Liverpool Cathedral that year. The first, a peculiar multi-religious affair in March, was held to commemorate the life of John Lennon after his murder in New York City. The second, in November, was for Bill Shankly.