Tom Watson remains Liverpool’s longest-serving manager and the first to lift a league title for the club, and his story is now rightly in the spotlight thanks to ‘Red Dawn’.
Liverpool’s history with managers is illustrious, with only 21 full-time figures since the club’s formation in 1892.
Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish, Gerrard Houllier, Rafa Benitez and Jurgen Klopp are the names thrust into the headlines, but there was a revolutionary figure that came before all of them.
Tom Watson.
Liverpool’s first title-winning manager
Liverpool FC squad photo season 1901/02 - 1900s
While there are countless dossiers on the likes of Shankly, Paisley and Klopp, biographies on Watson have been sparse, such was the time period he served in.
Over a 19-year period from 1896 to 1915, Watson laid the foundations at Anfield for what was to come, a story that is not often told but has been now thanks to Jeff Goulding and Kieran Smith’s book ‘Red Dawn: The Ballad of Tom Watson’.
The duo set the scene early by coining Watson “the greatest Liverpool manager you’ve never heard of”, and someone who “could be seen as the earliest exponent of what we now call ‘the Liverpool way’.”
His story is fascinating and engrossing, from his pre-Liverpool days of playing a key role in the north east with Newcastle and Sunderland to his Anfield vision and culture.
BH54WY Liverpool 1905, team photo of the Football League Champions at the start of the following season. Image shot 1905. Exact date unknown. Liverpool FC squad photo season 1905/06 - 1900s
When your club is covered so extensively, any untouched story is like gold, and Watson deservedly gets his moment in the spotlight.
This was a man who joined Liverpool when it was only four years old, while he himself was only 37. It was a signing that was considered a statement coup for the football club.
A much-respected figure in English football, Watson led Liverpool to their first top-flight league title in 1901 and again in 1906, and their first-ever FA Cup final in 1914.
He tragically only left the club when he died in 1915 at 56, after 742 games in charge.
An ode to Tom Watson’s legacy
We are all aware Liverpool Football Club is steeped in rich history, but there is something enriching about delving into untouched club history, and few do it better than Goulding and Smith.
It, admittedly on their own behalf, was a journey that required extensive research and digging, with a hunger for more, with the late 1890s and early 1900s was completely opposite to the current oversaturation!
Though there may have been challenges of uncovering details about Watson without an endless timeline of interviews or archives, you are not left feeling wanting when it comes to Watson’s story.
Liverpool FC squad photo season 1906/07 - 1900s
‘Red Dawn’ expertly sets the scene using key figures before, during and after his time at Liverpool, giving justice to the story of a man who helped Liverpool Football Club become what it is today.
He was the mastermind of Liverpool’s first team of champions, a charismatic leader whose approach to diet and exercise were, let’s say, unique – you’ll have to read to find out more!
In an age when information is so easily at our fingertips, looking back in time on Watson’s story is refreshing and leaves you questioning why he has gone unheralded for so long.
* You can start reading ‘Red Dawn: The Ballad of Tom Watson and Liverpool FC’s First Champions’ by purchasing a copy here