Tuesday, August 27, 2024

The Soccernostalgia Interview-Part 94- A video Interview and blog presentation with English Football fan Mr. Chris Bayes, discussing Liverpool’s return to Europe in the 1991/92 season of the UEFA Cup.)



 For this interview, I look back at Liverpool’s return to Europe in the 1991/92 season of the UEFA Cup.

The Interview will be as a video link companion, while the Blog will be a presentation of the events.

The Interviewee is:

English Football fan Mr. Chris Bayes

 

Mr. Bayes’ contact info:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.bayes.77


Mr. Bayes was previously interviewed about Liverpool’s 1977 and 1978 Champions Cup victories.

https://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-soccernostalgia-interview-part-85.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQQwUT00Kzo&t=2s

https://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-soccernostalgia-interview-part-91.html

https://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2024/07/compendium-to-soccernostalgia-interview.html

 

 

My contact information:

on twitter @sp1873 and on Facebook under Soccernostalgia.

https://linktr.ee/sp1873

 

Listen on Spotify / Apple:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/50yJ3cKtZunf095DATCi90?si=7QaOFmquQSmnGYx8yFQTyg&nd=1&dlsi=969a58c8528c4f71

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soccernostalgia-interview-part-94-a-video/id1601074369?i=1000666852222

















 

Liverpool FC in the UEFA Cup 1991/92

 

When the 1991/92 season kicked off, Liverpool were to take part in the UEFA Cup.

Liverpool had finished runners-up in the English League and had endured the resignation of club legend and Manager Kenny Dalglish during the season.

Nevertheless, the club had been winning the League title regularly in the previous two decades and were still regarded as a power in the English game.

Another former club legend, the Scottish Graeme Souness had taken over as Manager in the tail end of the previous season, seemingly intent on setting things right at his beloved club.

 

The backbone of the team at his disposal included many regulars who had won the League title a number of times, but some would leave before the end of the season and even during.

The eccentric Bruce Grobbelaar was still Liverpool’s number one in goal.

The defense was led by the Scottish Steve Nicol and included the likes of Barry Venison, the Swedish Glenn Hysen, David Burrows, and Gary Ablett.

The midfield still included John Barnes on the wing, the Republic of Ireland duo of Ronnie Whelan and Ray Houghton and Steve McMahon.

The strike force included club legend, the Welshman Ian Rush, and the Israeli Ronny Rosenthal.

 

However, Souness had wasted no time in making changes and stamping his authority in the transfer market.

He offloaded popular striker, the talented Peter Beardsley (to Everton). The Scottish striker David Speedie was also offloaded after a short stay at Anfield to join Blackburn Rovers.

Republic of Ireland International Steve Staunton joined Aston Villa, while Scottish defender Gary Gillespie joined Celtic Glasgow.

As the season progressed Souness also offloaded Jimmy Carter (to Arsenal) and veterans such as McMahon, Ablett and Hysen (to Manchester City, Everton, and GAIS Göteborg respectively).

 

Photo From: Panini England 1991/92

(Liverpool squad)



Photo From: Official Match Programme, Liverpool v. Auxerre, 1991



His first signings included the much sought after duo of England International defender Mark Wright and Welsh striker Dean Saunders from relegated Derby County.

He also welcomed winger Mark Walters, one of his previous signings from his time at Rangers Glasgow.

As the season progressed, he welcomed English right-back Rob Jones (from Crewe, who would earn his first cap in the new year) and former Arsenal midfielder Michael Thomas (the scorer of the goal that deprived Liverpool of the League title in 1989).

 

The novelty of this season was that Liverpool were back in Europe for the first time in six years following the Heysel ban in 1985.

English clubs had been welcomed back in the previous year 1990, but Liverpool were forced to stay out an extra year for their fans’ role in the tragedy.

Liverpool had to find their feet again after many years of absence. They also had to contend with new foreign-player restrictions (four maximum allowed) and could no longer regard British players as non-foreigners.

 

For the First Round, Liverpool faced little resistance as they faced Finnish side Kuusysi Lahti.

Liverpool effectively settled the tie in the first leg at Anfield on September 18, 1991, as they won (6-1) with a quadruple by Saunders, though many of the goals were scored in the closing stages.

The return leg at Lahti on October 2, 1991, was a formality and Liverpool’s (0-1) loss made no difference.

 

In the Second Round Liverpool faced good French side Auxerre managed by the legendary Guy Roux. Despite operating on a shoe-string budget, Auxerre were regular European qualifiers.

On the first leg on October 23, 1991, at Auxerre, they gave Liverpool a scare. The French side won (2-0) to have a more than decent chance of qualifying.

For the return leg on November 6, 1991, Liverpool had to perform an Anfield miracle.

They were helped with an early penalty kick. Steve McManaman, one of the new emerging young stars of Liverpool, won a penalty and the Danish veteran Jan Mølby dispatched it in the fourth minute.

Before halftime, it was all level as in the 30th minute, Mike Marsh headed in the second.

In the second half, Liverpool were further helped as Auxerre’s Darras was sent off.

In the 83rd minute, Walters scored the third and decisive goal and Liverpool overturned the deficit to bring back memories of their former glory years.

 

Photo From: Official Match Programme, Liverpool v. Auxerre, 1991

(October 23, 1991, UEFA Cup, Auxerre 2-Liverpool 0)



Photo From: Official Match Programme, Liverpool v. Auxerre, 1991

(October 23, 1991, UEFA Cup, Auxerre 2-Liverpool 0)



Photo From: Official Match Programme, Liverpool v. Auxerre, 1991

(October 23, 1991, UEFA Cup, Auxerre 2-Liverpool 0)



Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 35, December 1991

(November 6, 1991, UEFA Cup, Liverpool 3-Auxerre 0)



In the Third round, Liverpool faced Austrian side Tirol Innsbruck managed by another legend Ernst Happel.

Liverpool were victorious in this round as well as they comfortably won at home and away with Dean Saunders scoring five goals.

On November 27, 1991, at Innsbruck, Saunders scored twice in a (2-0) win.

On December 11, 1991, at Anfield, Saunders scored a hat-trick with Venison scoring a beautiful long-range strike in a (4-0) home win.

 

Apart from a minor hiccup at Auxerre, it had been a comfortable return to Europe.

The matters in the League were a different matter. Liverpool were struggling and not challenging for the title.

Liverpool had to deal with many injuries, and this derailed their season.

As for Dean Saunders, while he was prolific in Europe, but not a regular scorer in the League.

 

Photo From: World Soccer, March 1992 



Photo From: World Soccer, March 1992 



For the Quarterfinals in the Spring of 1992, Liverpool were to face Italian side Genoa.

This was the era of the Serie A dominance and a side like Liverpool were no longer favorites against Italian opposition.

For the first leg, Liverpool traveled to Genova on March 4th, 1992.

Due to foreign-player regulations, Souness chose to drop goalkeeper Grobbelaar and started with Mike Hooper.

The Italians were victorious (2-0) that included a brilliant free kick from the Brazilian Branco.

Liverpool still had a chance for the return leg at Anfield on March 18th, 1992, but Genoa were a different proposition than Auxerre.

 

When the Uruguayan striker Carlos Aguilera gave Genoa the lead in the 27th minute, the tie was effectively over,

To their credit Liverpool fought back and Rush tied the match, but Aguilera scored a second midway through the second half.

Liverpool’s European adventure was over, and they had lost home and away.

 

Photo From: Official Match Programme, Liverpool v. Genoa, 1992

(March 4, 1992, UEFA Cup, Genoa 2-Liverpool 0)



Photo From: World Soccer, May 1992

(March 4, 1992, UEFA Cup, Genoa 2-Liverpool 0)



Photo From: World Soccer, April 1992 

(March 18, 1992, UEFA Cup, Liverpool 1-Genoa 2)



Liverpool also finished sixth in the League, losing as many as 10 matches, very disappointing for a side used to winning the League title regularly.

Liverpool somewhat salvaged their season by winning the FA Cup against Second Division side Sunderland.

Perhaps, the first season back to Europe was satisfactory given the circumstances, however, Liverpool’s problems were much deeper, and this was only the beginning of a decline for the side.

 

 

Liverpool Football Club (1991/92 season):

Players who took part in these matches (on the field or on the bench):

Goalkeeper:

Bruce David Grobbelaar (Zimbabwe) (October 6, 1957, Durban, South Africa) (aged 33-34 years old at the time)

Michael Dudley Hooper (February 10, 1964, Bristol) (aged 27-28 years old at the time)

Robbie Holcroft (May 25, 1974, Liverpool) (aged 17 years old at the time)


Defenders:

Gary Ian Ablett (November 19, 1965, Liverpool -January 1, 2012, Tarleton, Lancashire) (aged 25-26 years old at the time) (left on January 13, 1992, to Everton)

David Burrows (October 25, 1968, Dudley) (aged 22-23 years old at the time)

Mark Wright (August 1, 1963, Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire) (aged 28 years old at the time)

Glenn Ingvar Hysén (Sweden) (October 30, 1959, Gothenburg, Sweden) (aged 31-32 years old at the time) (left on May 1, 1992, to GAIS)

Robert Marc Jones (November 5, 1971, Wrexham, Wales) (aged 19-20 years old at the time) (arrived October 4, 1991)

Stephen Nicol (Scotland) (December 11, 1961, Troon, Scotland) (aged 29-30 years old at the time)

Barry Venison (August 16, 1964, Consett, County Durham) (aged 27 years old at the time)

Nicholas Tanner (May 24, 1965, Kingswood, Bristol) (aged 26 years old at the time)

Steven Harkness (August 27, 1971, Carlisle, Cumberland) (aged 20 years old at the time)

Steve Hollis (August 22, 1972, Liverpool) (aged 19 years old at the time)

Scott Thomas Paterson (Scotland) (May 13, 1972, Aberdeen, Scotland) (aged 19 years old at the time) (arrived March 19, 1992)


Midfielders:

John Charles Bryan Barnes (November 7, 1963, Kingston, Jamaica) (aged 27-28 years old at the time)

Ronald Andrew Whelan (Republic of Ireland) (September 25, 1961, Dublin, Republic of Ireland) (aged 29-30 years old at the time)

Mark Everton Walters (June 2, 1964, Birmingham) (aged 27 years old at the time)

Raymond James Houghton (Republic of Ireland) (January 9, 1962, Glasgow, Scotland) (aged 29-30 years old at the time)

Donald Hutchison (Scotland) (May 9, 1971, Gateshead, England) (aged 20 years old at the time)

Michael Lauriston Thomas (August 24, 1967, Lambeth, London) (aged 24 years old at the time) (arrived December 16, 1991)

Michael Andrew Marsh (July 21, 1962, Liverpool) (aged 22 years old at the time)

Jan Mølby (Denmark) (July 4, 1963, Kolding, Denmark) (aged 28 years old at the time)

Stephen Joseph McMahon (August 20, 1961, Halewood) (aged 30 years old at the time) (left on December 24, 1991, to Manchester City)

Stephen Steven McManaman (February 11, 1972, Bootle) (aged 19-20 years old at the time)

Jamie Frank Redknapp (June 25, 1973, Barton on Sea, Hampshire) (aged 18 years old at the time)

James William Charles Carter (November 9, 1965, Hammersmith, London) (aged 25-26 years old at the time) (left on October 8, 1991, to Arsenal)

István Kozma (Hungary) (December 3, 1964, Pásztó, Hungary) (aged 26-27 years old at the time) (arrived February 10, 1992)

Barry Jones (June 30, 1970, Prescot) (aged 21 years old at the time)

 

Forwards:

Ian James Rush (Wales) (October 20, 1961, St Asaph, Wales) (aged 29-30 years old at the time)

Ronny Rosenthal (Israel) (October 4, 1963, Haifa, Israel) (aged 27-28 years old at the time)

Dean Nicholas Saunders (Wales) (June 21, 1964, Swansea, Wales) (aged 27 years old at the time)

Philip Lee Jones (Wales) (May 29, 1973, Wrexham, Wales) (aged 18 years old at the time) (arrived on March 12, 1992)

 

Coach: Graeme Souness (Scotland) (May 6, 1953, Edinburgh, Scotland) (aged 38 years old at the time)

Team Captain: -

Official Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas

Shirt Sponsor: Candy

 

 

Transfer Activity:

 

Arrivals:

Mark Wright (Derby County)

Dean Saunders (Derby County)

Mark Walters (Rangers Glasgow)

Robert Marc Jones (Crewe) (arrived October 4, 1991)

Michael Lauriston Thomas (Arsenal) (arrived December 16, 1991)

István Kozma (Dunfermline Athletic) (arrived February 10, 1992)

Philip Lee Jones (Wrexham) (arrived March 12, 1992)

Scott Thomas Paterson (Cove Rangers) (arrived March 19, 1992)

 

Departures:

David Speedie (Blackburn Rovers)

Peter Beardsley (Everton)

Steve Staunton (Aston Villa)

Gary Gillespie (Celtic Glasgow)

James William Charles Carter (left on October 8, 1991, to Arsenal)

Stephen Joseph McMahon (left on December 24, 1991, to Manchester City)

Gary Ian Ablett (left on January 13, 1992, to Everton)

Glenn Ingvar Hysén (left on May 1, 1992, to GAIS Göteborg)

 

 

References:

Guerin Sportivo, No 11 (887), March 11-17, 1992

Guerin Sportivo, No 13 (888), March 25-31, 1992

France Football, Issue 2377, October 28, 1991

France Football, Issue 2379, November 12, 1991

France Football N° 2396 - 10 Mars 1992

France Football N° 2398 - 24 Mars 1992

Onze-Mondial, Hors Serie 9, 1992

Onze-Mondial, Issue 34, November 1991

Onze-Mondial, Issue 35, December 1991

World Soccer, March 1992

World Soccer, April 1992

 


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