Now if ever there was a player and/or manager who divided opinion it would be Graeme Souness. Loved as a player, not so as a manager. During his playing days he was the ultimate midfielder. Feared, respected, highly rated and coveted in equal measures it would seem. It was being coveted that led to Graeme Souness signing for Sampdoria on this day 12th June 1984.
In those days Serie A in Italy was the place to be. Many top flight players in Division 1 found there way over to Italy at some stage. As well as Graeme Souness, there was Ian Rush, Liam Brady, Ray Wilkins, Joe Jordan, Luther Blissett to name just a few.
Graeme Souness
Sampdoria completed the signing of Liverpool’s midfield lynchpin for £650,000. Sampdoria at the time were an up and coming team in Serie A, Italy. They had a fair few aspiring young players in their ranks. Including Roberto Mancini, who of course went on to manage Manchester City in the Premier League.
It is fair to say that Graeme Souness enjoyed a glorious Liverpool career as a player before his transfer. In all he won five league titles, three European Cups and three League Cups in just six years. He arrived at Liverpool from Middlesbrough for £352,000 in January 1978. The fee was a record fee between English
In total he played 359 games for Liverpool and scored 55 goals in the process. Some quite spectacular ones at that.
Graeme Souness was truly a midfield maestro who, most probably, would feature on everyone’s greatest Liverpool XI-list. Before his Middlesbrough days, Souness attracted attention for his part in Tottenham’ youth team’s great run in the FA Cup.
There were four finals in total and he scored in the first and fourth, but was sent off in the third. He has never lacked, shall we say spirit. For instance, when he was 17, he knocked on manager Bill Nicholson’s door and demanded a fair chance in the first team. Nicholson didn’t agree. So Souness stormed out and went back home to Scotland.
He then played ten games in the North American Soccer League for Montreal Olympique before Tottenham sold him to Middlesbrough in 1973 for £30,000. The only game Souness played for Tottenham’s first team was a European match against Icelandic club, Keflavík.
First Day At Liverpool
It’s fair to say that Souness took care of his appearance. To testify he said in his autobiography:
“That first day at Anfield, 10 January 1978, was a revelation. It seems a long time now but I remember how normal and ordinary it all was, no prima donnas, no superstars. I made only one error on that first morning, I asked Tommy Smith if I could borrow his hairdryer and he turned to Phil Neal and said pointedly: ‘Everyone is allowed one mistake.’ I took my own in the future.”
Imagine Tommy Smith having a hair dryer!!
Here is a short video of Souness in his Liverpool days…..
Graeme Souness. What a player. The ultimate midfield general. He had the lot. As this post relates to his ultimate transfer to Sampdoria as a player, I’ll leave any comments as his time as a manager for another time.
