Alan Hansen

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Alan Hansen
Personal information
Full name	Alan David Hansen
Date of birth	June 13, 1955 (age 51)
Place of birth	Alloa, Scotland
Nickname	Jocky
Playing position	Defender
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1973–77 1977–90	Partick Thistle Liverpool Total	086 0(6) 434 0(8) 520 (14)
National team
1979–87	Scotland	026 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Alan David Hansen (born Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, June 13, 1955) is a television football pundit and a former football player. He played for Partick Thistle FC (1973 to 1977 - 108 appearances), Liverpool FC (1977 to 1990 - 623 appearances), and the Scottish national team (1979 to 1987 - 26 caps).

Contents 1 Football career 2 Television career 3 Honours 4 Runner Up 5 External links

[edit] Football career

Hansen turned down the opportunity to study at Aberdeen University in order to join his brother John at Partick Thistle. In fact, he was watching in the Hampden Park stands as Partick Thistle F.C., which included his brother John, upset firm favourites Celtic in the 1971 Scottish League Cup final, convincingly beating their illustrious couterparts 4-1. Celtic's consolation goal that day was scored by Kenny Dalglish. He is a life long Celtic FC fan.

After breaking into the first team, Hansen quickly established a reputation for himself as a confident central defender, and was watched by numerous top clubs, including Bob Paisley's Liverpool. In 1975/76 season Hansen played 21 times as Partick won the Scottish First Division championship to gain entry into the Scottish Premier Division. By the end of the following season Hansen had racked up 35 top flight appearances which helped earn him a move south of the border.

Hansen cost Liverpool the bargain price of £110,000, as the Anfield club pursued the treble of League championship, FA Cup and European Cup. They missed out on this, winning the league and in Europe but losing the FA Cup final to Manchester United. Hansen was put into the first team sporadically the following season - he wasn't in the side which lost the League Cup final after a replay to Nottingham Forest in 1978 but was selected for the side which retained the European Cup with a 1-0 victory over FC Bruges at Wembley, the goal scored by his, now, team-mate Dalglish.

Hansen made his Reds debut on the 24 September 1977 in a league match at Anfield, Derby County were the visitors and were beaten by a single goal by Terry McDermott, he hit his first goal the following month on the 19 October during a European Cup 2nd round 1st leg tie at Anfield. He opened the scoring in the 14th minute as Liverpool demolished German side Dynamo Dresden 5-1.

The following year Hansen was in the squad as Liverpool regained the League title and also fully established himself as a first choice central defender when long serving club captain Emlyn Hughes was sold to Wolves with Craig Fielding .He also made his full debut for Scotland, though his international career would prove something of a frustration for him. Jock Stein gave Hansen his Scotland debut on the 19 May 1979 in a British Home Championship match at Ninian Park, Cardiff, in which Wales were the hosts and soundly beat the Scots 3-0. Hansen 2nd cap came the following month on the 2 June in a prestigious friendly against reigning World Champions Argentina, The South Americans proved why they were the best in the world beating the Scots by 3 goals to 1 at Hampden Park.

Liverpool's domination of club football continued in 1980 with another League title and then in 1981 they ended the season with their first League Cup after defeating West Ham United 2-1 in a replay at Villa Park. Hansen scored the winning goal in the 28th minute. They also regained the European Cup with a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid.

The league title returned to Anfield in 1982, and the team also retained the League Cup with victory over Tottenham Hotspur, although Hansen missed this triumph with injury. Hansen was selected in the Scotland squad for the summer's World Cup in Spain, which proved an enormous disappointment. The team failed to progress beyond the qualifying group, and one match was lost partly because an accidental collision between Hansen and central defensive partner Willie Miller allowed USSR striker Ramoz Shengelia through to score.

In 1983, Liverpool once again took the League title and held on to the League Cup, this time defeating Manchester United in the final. The two trophies would remain at Anfield too in 1984, although Hansen was involved in a controversial incident in the League Cup final at Wembley when he appeared to handle a shot on the goal line. Despite protests from opponents and fierce Merseyside rivals Everton, no penalty was given. Liverpool won the final after a replay.

The club then completed a treble of trophies when they added yet another European Cup to the league title and League Cup. The final against AS Roma ended 1-1 and went to a penalty shoot-out, which Liverpool won.

Liverpool emerged trophy-less from the following season, and were banned from all European competition after the 1985 European Cup final at Heysel ended in rioting which caused the deaths of 39 Juventus fans. Though the result of the game was immaterial, Liverpool lost it 1-0. Hansen would never play a European tie again.

Manager Joe Fagan retired after Heysel, and Hansen's friend, team-mate and fellow Scotsman Dalglish was appointed as player manager. He gave Hansen the captaincy and the season ended in triumph, as in 1986 Liverpool became only the third side in the 20th century to complete a League and FA Cup "double", following Tottenham in 1961 and Arsenal in 1971. Hansen lifted both trophies as captain and earned his first FA Cup winners' medal, thereby completing the domestic set.

Hansen won his last of a paltry 26 Scotland caps in 1987. The reason given for his lack of caps by Scotland coaches of the late 70s and the whole of the 80s was that a formidable partnership had formed between Miller and Alex McLeish at the dominant Scottish side Aberdeen (managed at the time by Alex Ferguson) and it made sense to keep them together at international level. Indeed, Ferguson (in temporary charge after the sudden death of Jock Stein) dropped Hansen from the whole squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, a highly controversial and unpopular decision which led to Dalglish also withdrawing his services.^{[citation needed]}

Liverpool won nothing in 1987, losing the League Cup final when Arsenal defeated them 2-1, while arch-rivals Everton took the League title. But in 1988, arguably the most skilled Liverpool team of all, with Hansen as skipper, lost just twice as they coasted to the League title - Hansen's seventh - and reached the FA Cup final, where they were beaten 1-0 by Wimbledon in one of the competition's biggest shocks.

Hansen missed much of the 1989 season with a knee injury, but battled back to regain his place in the side in the latter half of an eventful campaign on the pitch and a tragic one off it. In April 1989, after the Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans, Hansen was among many Liverpool stars left distraught by the tragedy, attending 12 funerals and visiting the injured in hospital. Liverpool eventually won the FA Cup against Everton in the final at Wembley, though Hansen didn't lift the trophy - this honour was given to team-mate Ronnie Whelan who had deputised capably in Hansen's absence through injury and retained the role on the basis of continuity and reward even after the club's first choice captain was fit again. Hansen did not complain. In the 1988/9 season, Liverpool lost the League title and a second "double" thanks to a crucial goal in the final seconds by Arsenal player Michael Thomas at Anfield which gave the Highbury club the title.

Hansen made fewer appearances the following season as his persistent knee problems continued to affect his fitness, but he still captained Liverpool to another League title, which made it eight individually for Hansen, a record which stands to this day alongside ex-Liverpool team-mate Phil Neal and Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs. The club came close to the "double" yet again, but lost a thrilling FA Cup semi final 4-3 to Crystal Palace. Hansen tried to continue the following season but the knee got the better of him, and he retired in 1991.

Hansen is regarded by many people as the most skillful centre half in the history of British football. Famous for breaking from defence to set up attacks, his game was majestic and he seemed to glide through games.

On 4 October 2006 Hansen once again pulled on a Liverpool shirt playing in a charity match for the Red's Legends team against a Celtic Legends team.

[edit] Television career

Sky Television employed Hansen as a pundit and summariser almost as soon as he ceased playing, and soon he had established enough of a reputation as a considered observer and thinker within the game for the BBC to approach him. For more than a decade now, Hansen has been employed as the main pundit for the BBC's football coverage (rights to show matches or highlights permitting) and he is known as a calm, authoritative, and rational analyst of the game who is particularly keen on highlighting the triumphs and "diabolical" mistakes of defenders. It is worth noting that unlike all the other ex-professional footballers now employed by the BBC, Hansen has always refused to sit with the commentator at matches; preferring instead to be in the studio at the stadium for live matches and at Television Centre for highlights programmes.

There were strong rumours that Hansen would be approached to take over as manager of Liverpool after his former captain Graeme Souness left in 1994. However, he ruled himself out of the running, stating that despite his great affection for the club, he simply was not interested in coaching or management; a position he has maintained ever since Roy Evans got the job.

In 1995, after Manchester United had lost their opening fixture of the season to Aston Villa with a team containing many young players who had just broken through from the youth side, Hansen famously remarked: "You'll never win anything with kids." It is a quote of which he is constantly reminded, as this Manchester United team (containing players such as Gary Neville, Phil Neville, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt - all of whom were 20 or under) went on to win the League and Cup "double", including a defeat of Hansen's old club Liverpool in the FA Cup final.

Hansen continues to appear on the BBC's football coverage of domestic and international tournaments to this day. Away from football analysis, Hansen is a keen and talented golfer, playing off a handicap of three. He has hosted documentaries on the sport and worked at the Masters tournament for the BBC. He has also presented programmes on the rise in status and wealth of the modern footballer and appeared in numerous television commercials, most recently starring as a butler cleaning his master's football boots in an advert for Danish lager, Carlsberg. Coincidentally, Hansen's grandfather was Danish. He is a columnist for the Daily Telegraph and the BBC website on football issues and has also built a good reputation as a motivational speaker.

Hansen was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He is, unsurprisingly, still a firm favourite amongst Koppites everywhere, so much so he was voted in at No.12 in the official Liverpool Football Club web-sitepoll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop conducted in 2006, 11,000 supporters worldwide voted for their favourite 10 Reds of all-time.

Arguably Hansen's best television role came in the adverts for Bull Boy Shoes in the mid 1990s. With the tough task of succeeding Gareth Southgate, Hansen produced a performance of 'shear class'. How could any football fan resist the offer of a free pair of shinpads 'signed by me, Alan Hansen'.

Hansen is married to Janet and has a son and a daughter.

[edit] Honours

• Scottish First Division: 1
  

1975–76

• Charity Shield: 6
  

1977–78*, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1986–87*, 1989–90

• European Cup: 3
  

1977–78, 1980–81, 1983–84

• League Championship: 8
  

1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90

• League Cup: 3
  

1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84

• FA Cup: 2
  

1985–86, 1988–89

• Screen Sport Super Cup: 1
  

1985–86

* Shared

[edit] Runner Up

Liverpool FC

• 1977/78 League Championship (Level 1)
• 1978/79 European Super Cup
• 1981/82 Intercontinental Cup
• 1983/84 Charity Shield
• 1984/85 Charity Shield
• 1984/85 Intercontinental Cup
• 1984/85 European Super Cup
• 1984/85 League Championship (Level 1)
• 1984/85 European Cup
• 1986/87 League Cup
• 1986/87 League Championship (Level 1)
• 1987/88 FA Cup

Scotland (1979 - 1987) - 26 caps

[edit] External links

• Official past players at Liverpoolfc.tv
• LFChistory.net player profile
• Liverpool appearances part 1 1977/79-1979/80 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool appearances part 2 1980/81-1982/83 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool appearances part 3 1983/84-1986/87 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Liverpool appearances part 3 1987/88-1989/90 at Sporting-heroes.net
• Scottish caps 1979-87 at Sporting-heroes.net

	Scotland squad - 1982 FIFA World Cup
1 Rough | 2 McGrain | 3 Gray | 4 Souness | 5 Hansen | 6 Miller | 7 Strachan | 8 Dalglish | 9 Brazil | 10 Wark | 11 Robertson | 12 Wood | 13 McLeish | 14 Narey | 15 Jordan | 16 Hartford | 17 Evans | 18 Archibald | 19 Sturrock | 20 Provan | 21 Burley | 22 Leighton | Coach: Stein