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Rush,
Ian
Born:
20th October 1961, Position: Centre Forward
(Chester
City,
Liverpool, Juventus, Liverpool, Leeds United, Newcastle United,
Sheffield United, Newcastle United, Wrexham (Player/coach), Sydney
Olympic and Wales) |
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Major
Honours:
European Cup Winner 1984
Relevant
Career Statistics: 346
goals in 658 games for Liverpool, 73 caps and 28 goals for Wales.
Admitted
to the Hall of Fame:
1st February 2001 with 30% of the votes.
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Roy
of the Rovers References:
Ian Rush
was awarded the Roy of the Rovers "Centre Forward of the Year" for
the 1982-83 Season - 27th August 1983 edition refers.
Ian
appeared in the Roy of the Rovers Sign Please pages in the 13th
November 1982 and the 8th June 1985 issues.
Between
23rd August and 13th September 1986, Ian was the
subject of a 4 week profile story called "Story of the
Star" in the Roy of the Rovers comic.
Ian has a full page
interview with Roy Race during the time he was loaned back to
Liverpool from Italy - 11th October 1986 edition.
Ian 'models' the new
Melchester Rovers kit - 20th December 1986.
To celebrate Ian's return
to Liverpool, Ian appears in a full page photograph entitled
"Welcome Home" - 8th October 1988.
"Fact File" feature - Roy
of the Rovers comic - 16th December 1989.
Roy of the Rovers comic - Ian appears in a black and white photograph in
"Roy Race's Super Strikers Booklet" - 20th January 1990.
Ian gives a full page
write up of his "FA Cup Day Diary" in 1989 when they reached the
final - 19th May 1990 edition.
Ian is picked by Roy in the
Liverpool "Team of the Decade" from the 1980's as part of
competition promoted by Candy, Liverpool's sponsors - 16th
February 1991.
"Star Man" Ian Rush is the
subject of a half page feature with "10 things you never knew
about....." - Roy of the Rovers comic - 6th July 1991.
Colour photograph of Ian
scoring the winner for Wales against West Germany - 13th July 1991
edition.
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Internet
Links: There
are no specific web sites dedicated to Ian Rush, but the
following links offer great sources of information.
Ian
Rush Profile - A past players profile which is on the Official
Liverpool website.
Soccer-Europe's
Player Profile on Ian Rush - The great man
remembered!
50
moments in Welsh Sport - Rushie recognised for his
contribution to Welsh sport.
A
Leeds United tribute - Leeds fans remember Ian Rush.
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Videos:
Ian
Rush's Finishing School - Get taught by the master!
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He has been called the
"Welsh Roy of the Rovers", a superb all-time great and prolific
marksman Ian Rush has all the credentials to be admitted to the Hall of
Fame. The seventh of seven sons he had that lean and hungry look and this is not surprising for two
reasons. First, Ian has never lost his appetite for scoring goals, and
secondly when he was only six years old, he contracted meningitis and
spent three weeks in an oxygen tent - the weight rolled off him.
Born
in Flint just across the border from England he used to go with his pals
to watch Everton, though the first League match he saw was versus
Liverpool, at White Hart Lane. He had trials with Wrexham and Chester and
was a target for Burnley after having made his name as a schoolboy
marksman. As an eleven year old he hit 72 goals to help Deeside Primary
Schools win all their 33 matches. Eventually he opted to sign for Chester.
He
then joined Liverpool for £300,000 and went on to form a prolific
partnership with Kenny Dalglish which was the cornerstone of the all
conquering Liverpool side of the 1980's. However he did not hit the headlines
straight away and at one point wondered if he had a future at the Anfield club.
When he left
Chester his manager Alan Oakes forecast 'Ian can go all the way to
the top.' He wasn't a bad judge - Ian was rated the deadliest marksman of
the 1980's, as he finished top league scorer for Liverpool in five seasons
out of six and became a target for Juventus. In his final derby game
against Everton he scored twice, to equal Dixie Dean's haul of 19 derby
game goals and on his return from Italy he carried on scoring against the
neighbours from Goodison with two goals in an FA Cup Final and two more at
Goodison to take his tally to 23 in 24 games!
Rushy's
haul of hat-tricks began when he struck three goals for the Welsh
schoolboy side against the Republic of Ireland side in 1978 and he also
hit a hat-trick for Juventus against Pescara in season 1987-88. In the
First Division he scored his first hat-trick during the season 1981-82
(against Notts County) and he hit four against Everton, three against Coventry
City and Notts County again the following season! Then it was five against
Luton Town, four against Coventry and three against Aston Villa and
another hat-trick this time against Leicester City in the 1986-87 season!
All
in all, including FA Cups, European Cups, League Cups and Super Cups
he netted 15 hat-tricks.
Ian
also did a Roy of the Rovers by returning to Liverpool from Juventus and
became a success second time round
Ian
Rush, set scoring
records and transfer records as he starred for Liverpool then Juventus then returned to
Anfield to demonstrate that he had lost none of
his killer instinct. He was also a loyal servant to Leeds United and Newcastle
United where he shared his experience rather than repeating his goal scoring
exploits. A man with perfect 'Roy of the Rovers' credentials, we welcome
Ian Rush to the Roy of the Rovers
Hall of Fame.
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