Cup Winning Captains
LFC's European Cup Winning Captains
1977 – Emlyn Hughes
Appointed as Liverpool FC captain by Bill Shankly in 1973/74, Emlyn Hughes had been at the Club for 10 years when he became the first Reds' skipper to lift the European Cup following a 3-1 victory against Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach in Rome. Emlyn, 29, had already lifted the League Championship trophy in May 1977, but looked devastated when leading his team-mates up the Wembley steps to collect his losers' medal after the FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United FC on the Saturday before the European Cup final. Thankfully his trademark beaming smile returned to his face in Rome as he raised the iconic trophy aloft on a night when Liverpool FC's love affair with the European Cup truly began.
1978 – Emlyn Hughes
Bob Paisley's Reds retained the European Cup in 1978, courtesy of a 1-0 success against Belgium's Club Brugge KV, and once again it was Hughes who led his side to victory. Enthusiastic Emlyn, who began his career as a surging midfielder before moving to centre-half alongside Phil Thompson in 1973, showed his versatility at Wembley by playing at left-back and ended the night lifting the European Cup again following Kenny Dalglish's winning goal. The 1978 final was played two weeks earlier than the 1977 game had been, meaning 30-year-old Hughes was a European Cup-winning captain twice in less than 12 months and he is the only Liverpool FC skipper to lift the trophy twice.
1981 – Phil Thompson
In April 1979, following an FA Cup semi-final replay defeat to Manchester United FC at Goodison Park, manager Bob Paisley phased Emlyn Hughes out of the team and appointed Phil Thompson as the new captain of Liverpool Football Club. Kirkby-born Thompson was 25 at the time, first-choice centre-half alongside Alan Hansen and, having stood on the Spion Kop as a boyhood Red, massively passionate about LFC. Two years later in Paris, after a late Alan Kennedy goal gave Liverpool FC a 1-0 win against Real Madrid CF and a third European Cup in five seasons, 27-year-old Thompson was the Reds' second European Cup-winning captain. He famously celebrated by taking the trophy to The Falcon pub in Kirkby, as he was managing their pub team at the time.
1984 – Graeme Souness
After Liverpool FC made a poor start to the 1981/82 season Bob Paisley shook things up by handing the captain's armband to Graeme Souness, a Scottish midfield powerhouse who combined skill with steel and was once described as “the emperor of Anfield, a dead-eyed dictator.” It proved to be another Paisley masterstroke. Souness skippered LFC to League Championship and League Cup doubles in 1982 and 1983 before, under the management of Joe Fagan, captaining the Reds to a league, League Cup and European Cup treble in 1984. He was 31 on the night he lifted the European Cup in Rome, after the Reds beat AS Roma on penalties in their own stadium, and it seemed fitting that his LFC playing career ended by walking into the lion's den and leaving with the silverware.
2005 – Steven Gerrard
No player has captained Liverpool FC more often than Steven Gerrard and on the night of 25th May 2005, with his side 3-0 down to AC Milan at half-time of the UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul, the Huyton-born midfielder showed precisely why he was appointed as LFC skipper aged just 23. In the space of six minutes Gerrard inspired a sensational comeback by heading home the Reds' first goal and winning the penalty that led to Xabi Alonso's equaliser. He finished the game by playing at right-back in extra-time, to neutralise the threat of substitute Serginho, before joyously lifting Liverpool FC's fifth European Cup aloft after a penalty shoot-out success. At the age of 25, Gerrard remains Liverpool FC's youngest European Cup-winning captain.
2019 – Jordan Henderson
How do you follow Steven Gerrard as captain of Liverpool Football Club? By winning the UEFA Champions League yourself. But for a while it looked like Jordan Henderson, who took over the skipper's armband when Gerrard moved on in 2015, would never get his hands on any silverware. He captained Jürgen Klopp's side in the 2016 League Cup and UEFA Europa League finals, plus the 2018 UEFA Champions League final, only for the Reds to lose all three. To then narrowly miss out on leading the Redmen to Premier League glory in 2019, despite a 97-point haul, added to the heartbreak, but it all came good for Henderson in Madrid. Goals from Mo Salah and Divock Origi gave the Reds a 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur FC and ensured 29-year-old Henderson became the fifth different captain of Liverpool Football Club to lift the trophy. And what a trophy-lift it was!
