Ian James Rush, MBE, is a Welsh former footballer. Rush played for Liverpool F.C. from 1980-1987 and 1988-1996, and is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a total of 346 goals in all competitions for them during his two spells there. He also had spells playing at Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Wrexham and Sydney Olympic. He made 73 appearances for the Wales national football team and he remains the record goalscorer for Wales with 28 goals between 1980 and 1996. Since retiring as a player in 2000, Rush has had a stint as manager of Chester City (2004--05), and has worked as a television football pundit. He was also very well known for his moustache. Club career Rush's reputation was enhanced by scoring for Chester in a shock 2--0 FA Cup third round win at Second Division giants Newcastle United in January 1980, with Chester equalling their best run by reaching the last 16 where they narrowly lost to Ipswich Town two rounds later. His last game for Chester was a 2--1 win over Southend United at Sealand Road on 26 April 1980 in which he did not score. Despite interest from Manchester City, and in spite of Rush being a boyhood Everton fan, Liverpool won the race to sign the 18-year old in April 1980, though he had to remain at Chester until the end of the season as the transfer deadline (27 March 1980) had now passed. Manager Bob Paisley paid a record fee for a teenager of £300,000. It remained Chester's record sale until they went bankrupt in March 2010. Rush was managed throughout his time at Chester by Alan Oakes, although much of the credit for his development is given to youth manager Cliff Sear. Nearly 20 years later, Rush and Sear worked together on the coaching staff at Wrexham. Liverpool: 1980--1987 Rush had actually made his international début, in May 1980, just before he officially became a Liverpool player. His Reds début came on 13 December that year in a First Division fixture at Portman Road against Ipswich Town. He was standing in for his future strike-partner, Kenny Dalglish (at the time one of the most highly-rated strikers in the world), and wore his No 7 shirt. Midfielder Jimmy Case scored Liverpool's only goal in a 1--1 draw. At this stage, Liverpool were defending the league title and the League Cup, and also contending for the European Cup, while Ipswich were emerging as surprise title contenders. Ultimately, Liverpool disappointed in the league and finished fifth (with Aston Villa winning the title), but they did win the European Cup (for the third time) and the League Cup (for the first time). Rush was used sporadically during his first season at the club as Liverpool had a policy of bringing in young talent and playing them in the reserves to learn 'the Liverpool way'. Rush was treated no differently and had to begin his time at the club as a squad member rather than being thrown into the first team. Rush's first goal for the club took time to arrive, but it eventually came on 30 September 1981 during a European Cup first round second leg tie at Anfield against Oulun Palloseura. Liverpool had already won the first leg at the Raatti Stadium 1--0, and the second leg proved to be a formality as they trounced the Finnish team 7--0, Rush scoring in the 67th minute after coming on three minutes earlier for David Johnson. His first two league goals came on 10 October 1981 in a 3--0 home win over Leeds United, and a month later he scored in the Merseyside derby at Anfield in a 3--1 win. After Christmas however, Rush went into overdrive as Liverpool began a dramatic rise from mid table to the top of the table. He scored a hat-trick in the 4--0 away league win over Notts County on 26 January 1982, and was on the scoresheet in both of the next two games. He managed a total of eight goals in the League Cup (one of them in the final win over Tottenham Hotspur) and three of them in the FA Cup campaign which ended in a fifth round defeat by Chelsea. He ended the season as the club's top scorer, netting 30 times in just 49 appearances in all competitions, a ratio of 1 goal every 1.6 games. 17 of these goals came in the League as he helped the Reds reclaim the League championship from holders Aston Villa. The title triumph was all the more impressive by the fact that Liverpool had entered 1982 in 10th place, with the likes of Manchester United and minnows Swansea City leading the pack then, before a turnaround in Liverpool's fortunes saw the league championship trophy return to Anfield after two years away. He also scored a goal to help Liverpool win the 1982 Football League Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspur. Attribution: Article text available under CC-BY-SA Creative Commons image source in video

• published: 15 Nov 2013
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