319: John Aldridge, Ireland, USA ’94 World Cup, UK and Eire Edition

Richard Allinson has a look at a striker with a record so impressive it’s no surprise that his spell at Liverpool resulted in them collecting more silver than Buckingham Palace. Back in 2014 Rich and I were relaxing ahead of the Reading Half Marathon by channel hopping in our Ibis hotel room when we stumbled across Russia Today and several men who clearly based their sartorial approach on today’s subject. Cue several hours of bad renditions of the Anfield Rap and less sleep than either of us probably required. Cushty la! Over to Rich.

“Hey, f**k off you. F**k off, you’re a t**t. You dickhead. Yeah, you know as well... f**k off.” 

As far as reasoned arguments go, John Aldridge’s conversation with the FIFA touchline officials at USA ‘94 is right up there. In Aldo’s defence, the FIFA representatives did act like a right bunch of bellends when they wouldn’t allow him on the pitch against Mexico and let’s face it, most people would have probably reacted in exactly the same way. However, the fact that he was eventually allowed on and not red carded for his antics is yet another example of why football in the nineties was better than it is today. The fact that John Aldridge then went on to score in the match highlights exactly why he is such a hero.

Although this is an iconic moment that lives long in the memory, it shouldn’t overshadow the fact that John Aldridge is a British and Irish footballing icon. Like many of his contemporaries he started out in the lower leagues and 70 goals in 170 games for Newport County between 1979 and 1984 saw him secure a move to Oxford United, then of the Third Division. Under the initial guidance of the Bald Eagle Jim Smith and then subsequently Maurice Evans, Aldo’s career gathered more pace and he went on to secure back to back promotions with the The U’s and, by 1986, was in the top flight of English football. The Panini sticker book from 1986, and in particular John Aldridge’s moustachioed face in a lemon yellow Oxford United shirt with WANG written on it, is my first memory of football sticker collecting and as a result I’ve always had a soft spot for old Aldo. Ironic then, that only two years later, I was jumping for joy when Dave Beasant saved his penalty in the 1988 FA Cup Final. 

Aldridge’s rise to the top coincided with an unrivalled period of success in Oxford United’s history, which reached its peak with their 1986 League Cup success, where they beat QPR 3-0 at the old (and better) Wembley stadium. 141 games and 90 goals later Aldo was on the move again, this time to the real big league: Liverpool. The Reds had just sold Ian Rush to Juventus and, presumably in attempt to hope that no one would notice, they signed his doppelgänger in big John. It was to prove to be one of the shrewdest bits of transfer business in the club’s history. Even better than the £32.5m they spent on Christian Benteke.

I make no bones about the fact that I’m not a massive Liverpool fan, but that said, their teams of 1988-90 sum up the word iconic. The red and grey Crown Paints kits, followed by the 1989/90 Candy home and away efforts are my favourites of all time. Then there are the players: Grobbelaar, Hansen, Mølby, Barnes, Beardsley, Rush, Aldridge. Even Craig Johnson’s hair. And Steve McMahon was my favourite outfield player in the world at the time, although that probably says more about me than anything else. They swept all before them for years and did it with a brand of football that was very easy on the eye. Swept all before them except that is for the 1988 FA Cup. 

Their march to the double in the 1987/88 season seemed almost inevitable when they were pitted against Wimbledon in the showpiece final at the old (and better) Wembley stadium: The Crazy Gang vs. The Culture Club. It was going to be a walkover right? Wrong. Lawrie Sanchez’s flicked header gave the Dons a first half lead and then, as the game ticked into the sixtieth minute, Clive Goodyear fouled Aldridge in the box and Liverpool were awarded a penalty. Aldridge stepped up to take it and parity was about to be restored, that is until Dave Beasant flung himself and his perm to his left to keep the spot kick out. Liverpool’s number 8 sunk to his knees and history was made. He’d just become the first man to miss a penalty in Cup Final history. I mentioned above that this made me jump for joy. This was nothing to do with Aldridge, but was solely down to the fact that as a fellow curly haired goalkeeper I bloody loved Dave Beasant. 

The following year Aldridge looked like he might be marginalised at Anfield as Ian Rush returned from Italy after a less successful spell than most people anticipated. Luckily though, the moustaches clicked and the pair went on to fire Liverpool to further success. The 1988/89 season and Liverpool will be intrinsically linked forever due to the loss of life suffered during the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April 1989. Aldridge, a Liverpudlian by birth, outlined in his autobiography that if he hadn’t have become a footballer he would have probably been in the Leppings Lane End himself that day. It is no small wonder then that he took the tragedy hard and considered retirement after the game. Thankfully though, he chose to carry on playing and following victory over Nottingham Forest in the rearranged semi-final, Aldo gave Liverpool the lead after four minutes of the 1989 final. The fact that the game was against Everton was fitting. The fact that Liverpool went on to win it was even better.

Aldridge was to leave his hometown club not long after this (but not before being denied a double again, this time by Michael Thomas’ title winning goal for Arsenal) as he was bound for Spain with Real Sociedad. On paper this might look a bit unremarkable but there are two things to note: 1) he was the first non-Basque player to ever play for the club; and 2) unlike most British and Irish players he was a success overseas. In total, Aldo scored 40 goals in 75 games but even this wasn’t enough for the more militant Sociedad support because of his non-Basque origins. He was subjected to insulting graffiti and even spat on by one of his own fans. Not surprisingly, he handed in a transfer request and was back on his way to the Wirral with Tranmere Rovers. 

I have massive respect to Aldridge for this move. Although he was coming towards the end of his career, he could probably have got a move back to the top flight quite easily. However, what he wanted to do was help Rovers, a club on the up at the time, into the promised land of the newly formed Premier League. In total Aldridge spent a decade at Prenton Park, seven of those as a player and five as a manager. I realise this doesn’t add up to ten, but there was a little bit of player-manager crossover in the middle. In his time at the helm, Aldridge led Rovers to the 2000 League Cup final which they unfortunately lost to Leicester City, and to two FA Cup quarter finals. This was his only job in management but his success is more than most achieve in their entire careers. 

John Aldridge: Played 889 games, scored 476 goals - the highest British post war total; represented, and won trophies with, his boyhood team; legend at every club he played for; went to a European Championships and two World Cups. It’s a career that can only be summed up in the words of the Anfield Rap “Alright Aldo, sound as a pound.”