REVIEW: Kenny Dalglish, the new film by Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona director Asif Kapadia, outlines the triumph and tragedy of the Liverpool legend's career
Neil Docking
07:00, 22 Oct 2025Updated 07:06, 22 Oct 2025
The King of the Kop, Kenny Dalglish, is the subject of a new documentary about the life of the Liverpool legend
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The King of the Kop, Kenny Dalglish, is the subject of a new documentary about the life of the Liverpool legend
Long before Liverpool had an 'Egyptian King' in Mohamed Salah, 'King Kev' was football royalty on Merseyside.
But the departure of Kevin Keegan to Hamburg in 1977 saw the coronation of a new icon - Sir Kenny Dalglish. Oscar winning director Asif Kapadia's new documentary on the now 74-year-old is a tale of triumph and tragedy.
It's packed with nostalgia, from the Roy of the Rovers-inspired opening credits, to brilliant archive footage and never-before-seen clips of his playing career and home life. The razor-sharp witted Dalglish, his wife Marina and ex-team-mates Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen, are just some of the voices who narrate the Scottish striker's story.
A Protestant whose dad supported Rangers but who ended up playing for Celtic and marrying a Catholic, his life is as extraordinary as his footballing talent. Much of the film reveals how he shone for Jock Stein's Bhoys and then Bob Paisley's all conquering Liverpool, his smile a mile wide as he scored and created goals for fun.
The insight into those great teams and the admiration Dalglish earned from everyone from Bill Shankly to George Best - who compared him to Real Madrid phenom Alfredo di Stefano - is fascinating, while his trademark humour provides lots of laughs.
Kenny Dalglish and his wife Marina Dalglish
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Kenny Dalglish and his wife Marina Dalglish(Image: PA)
He recounts wanting to go to a Catholic school in Glasgow because they had a better football pitch and taking Marina, "the best signing I ever made", out for fish and chips on their first date.
And a measure of his character is shown by how he refused to leave Celtic until Stein had recovered from a near-fatal car crash, before the manager told him: "All the best you wee b******."
The documentary details the meticulous methods of the famous Anfield Boot Room team, tricks Dalglish used to outfox defenders and goalkeepers, and how the 'Jocks' - Dalglish, Souness and Hansen - helped themselves to chocolate biscuits while dishing out plain digestives for their English team-mates.
Liverpool's three 'Jocks' - Scottish stars and friends to this day Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen
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Liverpool's three 'Jocks' - Scottish stars and friends to this day Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen
But it's a film of two halves, with the second, covering the harrowing events of Heysel and Hillsborough, very distressing and at times difficult to watch.
Reds manager Joe Fagan retired and Dalglish was thrust into the role of player-manager the day after the 1985 European Cup final in Belgium, when 39 people, mainly Juventus fans, were killed when a wall collapsed during an attack by Liverpool fans.
Fourteen Liverpool supporters, along with a Belgian police chief, were found guilty of manslaughter. The film does not shy away from the shame felt by many Liverpool supporters in the aftermath.
Dalglish went on to win the Double in his first season in charge, scoring the goal that clinched the league title away at Chelsea in a moment described as a "fairy tale". He then signed the likes of John Barnes and Peter Beardsley, his side playing attacking football "like Brazil" that led to England icon Sir Thomas Finney describing them as "the best team of all time".
Anfield Boot Room boys Ronnie Moran, Kenny Dalglish and Roy Evans
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Anfield Boot Room boys Ronnie Moran, Kenny Dalglish and Roy Evans
But the horror of Hillsborough looms, when a crush developed before the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest in April 1989 that would take the lives of 97 Liverpool fans.
Essential viewing for those not familiar with one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history, the footage of what unfolded at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium that day is devastating and angering.
The personal fears of Dalglish and his wife Marina are laid bare as their son Paul was in the stands, before the role they and Liverpool's stars played in comforting the injured and bereaved is portrayed, from the former Reds boss' encounter with a young boy in hospital, to the funerals they attended in the weeks that followed.
As club and city rallied behind the bereaved and injured - with Dalglish saying "now it was our turn to be their supporters" - South Yorkshire Police, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government and The Sun newspaper falsely blamed innocent fans for the disaster, who in reality had been "unlawfully killed" as a result of police and safety failings.
Kenny Dalglish with John Barnes at the funeral of Gary Church, a 19-year-old fan from Merseyside who died at Hillsborough
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Kenny Dalglish with John Barnes at the funeral of Gary Church, a 19-year-old fan from Merseyside who died at Hillsborough
Thousands of flowers, wreaths and tributes are displayed on the Anfield pitch after the Hillsborough disaster
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Thousands of flowers, wreaths and tributes are displayed on the Anfield pitch after the Hillsborough disaster(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Dalglish's role in supporting the fans shows why his greatness extends far beyond the pitch. But as he breaks down in tears remembering his children laying teddy bears as tributes at Anfield, the impact the tragedy had on him as a man is all too apparent.
Liverpool would go on to win the FA Cup against Everton that year, with Dalglish wanting to "offer something back to the people who had been so cruelly treated".
But Marina explains why despite winning another title, the Kop hero "wasn't himself" before he quit the Liverpool job in 1991, having pushed himself to the limit and given everything to the club he loved.
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Football writer Henry Winter's closing words are poignant and moving. "The way he played is the way he lives his life... that backing in, that protecting element, is his approach to life.
"Everything Kenny does for his family. Everything is about Marina and kids. And the family of Liverpool."
'Kenny Dalglish' airs in cinemas on October 29 and 30, then on Prime Video from November 4.