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John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former footballer and manager. Nicknamed “Aldo”, he was a prolific, record-breaking striker. His tally of 329 Football League goals is the sixth-highest in the history of English football.
During his early career, he worked his way up through the lower leagues. He played in every league from the old Fourth Division to the old First Division. Initially signed as a replacement for Ian Rush, Aldridge spent over two successful seasons at Liverpool. He won the league and FA Cup once. He narrowly missed out on a second league title. Aldridge spent two seasons at Real Sociedad. He was the first non-Basque player to sign for the club in several decades. They abandoned their selective recruitment policy. In 1991, he returned to England to play for Tranmere Rovers, becoming their player-manager in 1996. He retired from playing in 1998 and resigned as manager in 2001 and has not managed since.
He was a Liverpudlian by birth. He was recruited to play for the Republic of Ireland as part of Jack Charlton’s “Granny Rule” policy. His great-grandmother was from Athlone and traveled to Liverpool to settle in the 19th century. His career with Ireland coincided with their most successful period in international football, and he played at two World Cups.
John Aldrige signed for Kenny Dalglish’s side on 27 January 1987 for £750,000. Initially, he was used as a partner for Rush. He filled a position previously occupied by player-manager Dalglish and fellow striker Paul Walsh. He also served as an occasional substitute.
Liverpool ended the season without any trophies. They faced a defeat at Wembley to Arsenal in the League Cup final. Aldridge was ineligible for this match.
Aldridge made his debut for Liverpool on 21 February 1987. The match ended in a 2–2 league draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park. A week later, on 28 February, he scored his first goal for his new club in the 60th minute. It was the only goal of the game as Liverpool beat Southampton in a league match at Anfield.
Aldridge scored 26 goals in a successful season for Liverpool. He included a strike in each of the first nine games. This formed a 10-match scoring run as he had scored in his final league appearance of the previous season.
He linked up with new signings Peter Beardsley and John Barnes as Liverpool lost only twice in the league season and went unbeaten for the first 29 matches. Liverpool won the 1988 league title with a nine-point lead over their nearest rivals Manchester United, although the gap between Liverpool and their nearest contenders was considerably wider for much of the season.
Aldridge scored both goals in the club’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.[17] With Wimbledon 1–0 up in the FA Cup final at Wembley, midway through the second half, Liverpool were awarded a spot-kick when Aldridge himself was fouled, and he took the resulting penalty. Aldridge had scored all eleven of his penalty kicks that season, but goalkeeper Dave Beasant noticed that he always placed the ball to the keeper’s left. Aldridge did, as predicted, place the penalty to Beasant’s left, and the keeper sprang across to save it.[18] He became the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in a Wembley FA Cup final. Aldridge’s failure was his first penalty miss for Liverpool. He was substituted shortly afterwards as Liverpool lost 1–0.
The following season was tough and eventful for Aldridge. Rush failed to settle in Italy and Liverpool paid £2.8 million to bring him back to Anfield just before the season started. Dalglish played Aldridge and Rush together. In the Charity Shield match against Wimbledon at Wembley, Aldridge started the match and scored both Liverpool goals in a 2–1 win. Aldridge maintained his scoring streak, often playing alongside both Rush and Beardsley in attack, while Rush missed a number of games or started games on the bench due to injuries. In the first league game of the season a week later, Aldridge scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win at Charlton Athletic. He scored another league hat-trick on 14 March, in the 5–0 home win over Luton Town, which took his league tally for the season to fifteen goals. He reached the twenty-goal mark, finished the season as the club’s top scorer with 22 goals in the league, eight in the FA Cup, two in the League Cup, and two in the Charity Shield, amounting to 34 in all competitions.
In the 1989 FA Cup final at Wembley, against Merseyside rivals Everton, Aldridge scored after four minutes with his first touch of the ball. Rush, who replaced Aldridge as a substitute, scored twice in extra time to earn Liverpool a 3–2 victory. The League and FA Cup double, achieved by Liverpool in 1986, was again possible, with a deciding game against Arsenal to come at Anfield. Aldridge played in a game which would guarantee Liverpool the title as long as Arsenal failed to win by two clear goals. 1–0 down in injury time, Liverpool conceded another goal to Michael Thomas with virtually the last kick of the season, thus losing the League title.
Aldridge played 104 times for Liverpool, scoring 63 goals, 50 of them in the league.
Factfile:
Full Name: John William Aldridge
Position: Forward
Date of Birth: 18.09.1958
Birthplace: Liverpool, England
Nation: Ireland
Caps: 69
Goals: 19
Club Career: Liverpool
Period: 1987-1989League Games, 83
League Goals, 50
Previous Club: Oxford UnitedTransfer Fee: £750.000
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