An A-Z of Liverpool F.C., Part 5

I>K

Istanbul

The most famous match in Liverpool’s history? Very possibly.

The most sensational, memorable Champions League final ever? Almost certainly.

A game that began on May 25th 2005 in the Atatürk Stadium and finished on May 26th - 10pm start local time, plus extra time and penalties - it finished around 1 am.

Rafa’s ragbag assortment - including Djimi Traore and Milan Baros - 3-0 down at half-time against an awesome AC Milan team featuring Maldini, Cafu, Nesta, Stam, Kaka, Pirlo, Gattuso, Seedorf, Shevchenko, Crespo, Rui Costa …

You know the rest. Dudek’s last-ditch save from Shevchenko, heroics from Gerrard and Carragher, the half-time switch that brought Hamann on, and 21 years after No. 4, No.5 as duly paraded before the delirious and slightly bewildered red masses.

Joey Jones

There have been many better footballers than Joey Jones at the club. Even many better left-backs. But none have been more wholehearted than the fist-clenching Reds fan from Bangor, North Wales.

Signed from Wrexham in 1975 for £110,000, Jones played 100 games over three years for the club and never once did not give his all or shirk a challenge. What he lacked in finesse he emphatically made up for through effort and sheer enthusiasm. It earned him a League Championship, 2 European Cups, a UEFA Cup and a European Super Cup, as well as 72 caps for Wales.

His reputation as a nutter and a fan, one of us, on the pitch, made Jones a cult figure on the Kop, as suggested by that still-iconic flag at our first European Cup final in Rome in 1977: “Joey Ate the Frogs’ Legs, Made the Swiss Roll Now, He’s Munching Gladbachs”.

Rob Jones

Could have been the best right-back we ever had, but injury cruelly cut his career short. Manchester United left-winger Ryan Giggs said he was the toughest right-back he ever came up against.

Signed from Crewe Alexandra in 1991 for £300,000, Rob was a red since childhood and quickly established himself as one of Liverpool's most exciting full-backs.

Shin splints and a cracked vertebrae both caused long absences, the latter carrying a threat of permanent disability. Then he had to undergo three major operations to try to fix a knee problem, and the now-manager Gerard Houllier ruled him out of his future plans.

He trained with West Ham to get a contract there before the 1999/00 season but he only played in one Intertoto game before the knee started to swell up again. His career ended at only 28.

Between his debut in 1991 and his last appearance in 1998, Jones managed only 243 games, which ells its own story, and had an FA Cup and League Cup medal to show for his vastly truncated career at Anfield, aswell as 8 England caps - both a scant reflection of his ability.

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