Ian Robert CallaghanMBE is an English retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He holds the record for most appearances for Liverpool.
Playing career
Callaghan played 857 times for Liverpool between 1960 and 1978, breaking into the first team just after the appointment of Bill Shankly as Liverpool manager. He was a regular member of the first team by the time Liverpool won promotion to the First Division in 1962, and went on to help them win the league title in 1964, 1966, 1973, 1976 and 1977, as well as the 1965 and 1974FA Cup Finals, the UEFA Cup in 1973 UEFA Cup Final and 1976 UEFA Cup Final, and the European Cup in 1977 and in 1978. He was voted FWA Footballer of the Year in 1974. He was booked only once in his career, in the 1978 League Cup Final replay at Old Trafford, which Liverpool lost to Nottingham Forest. Callaghan played in the 1977 European Cup Final, when Liverpool beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3–1. But in 1978 European Cup, which proved his last year at the club, his playing time was reduced as younger additions like Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish established themselves at the club. Callaghan was on the substitutes' bench when Liverpool retained the cup against FC Brugge in 1978. Callaghan also played four times at senior level for England. Although he was in the squad for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he did not play in the final and so did not receive a medal. Following a Football Association-led campaign to persuade FIFA to award medals to all the winners' squad members, Callaghan was presented with his medal by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009. He left Liverpool shortly after the 1978 European Cup final and signed for Swansea City, managed by former Liverpool striker John Toshack. He helped Swansea win a second successive promotion in 1979, which took them into the Second Division, and also had brief spells playing in the USA, Australia and Ireland towards the end of his career. He spent the final season of his career in the English Fourth Division with Crewe Alexandra, making 15 appearances in the 1981–82 season and retiring as a player in his 40th year.
