Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish MBE

Dalglish grew up supporting the Glasgow Rangers. Born on March 4, 1951, he was brought up in the docklands of Govan, just a stone's throw from Ibrox (Rangers stadium).

He wanted to join his idols at Rangers, but the call never came. He had another trial at West Ham, but that came to nothing, too. Most kids his age would stop but not Kenny and that's why he's my hero. Two years later when he was 17, he found himself playing for the Catholic Glasgow Celtic. Rangers Rivals! Dalglish was farmed out to a Celtic nursery side, Cumbernauld United in 1968. The following year he turned professional and was a regular member of a Celtic reserve team which was so good it was known as the Quality Street Gang.

The management at Celtic took a great interest in Kenny, recognizing his potentially outstanding talent. Eventually they gave him his chance in a benefit match. At Rugby Park, Kilmarnock on 14 May 1971. The result was Celtic 7 Kilmarnock 2. Nothing unusual about that in Scottish football - except that Dalglish scored six goals which is a record in Scotland even till today!

Liverpool made up for the mistake of losing him as a boy and Bob Paisley signed him for 400,000. But the fans weren't so sure. To them, Keegan, who he was bought to replace, was a God. Dalglish was handed the No.7 shirt - Keegan's strip.

Dalglish immediately silenced the doubters, scoring after just seven minutes on his league debut away at Middlesbrough. For good measure, he also scored on his Anfield debut against Newcastle. And when Liverpool met Hamburg (Keegen�s club) in the European Super Cup, Dalglish totally exorcised the ghost of his predecessor, running the game as Keegan and his new team-mates were tormented with a 6-0 defeat. The first season was a triumph for Dalglish. He scored 30 goals, including the goal that retained the European Cup against Bruges at Wembley.

Liverpool retained the Championship in 1979-80, won the League Cup four years in a row between 1980-81 and 1983-84 and then topped everything by winning a hat-trick of Championships in 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84. They also won two more European Cups. Only the coveted League and FA Cup double eluded them. Dalglish was at the heart of it all and became Footballer of the Year for the second time in 1983. The 1983-84 season was the most astonishing they won the Championship, the League Cup and the European Cup.

Kenny Dalglish is my hero because he worked hard to become one of the greatest players ever, and worked hard even though he played through three tragedies which made him a better person and player.