It was a gesture that confirmed John Toshack’s place in Liverpool FC folklore – yet it happened when he was manager of Swansea City.
Toshack’s decision to unveil a Liverpool shirt from under his Swansea tracksuit at Anfield in October 1981 went down well with the Kop faithful, but was not so greatly received by everyone.
The incident came at an emotional time for everyone at Anfield in the days following the death of legendary ex-manager Bill Shankly.
Shankly had taken Toshack to Liverpool as a player and, when his playing days were behind him, he became a mentor to the manager who would go on to take charge of Swansea, Real Madrid and Wales among others.
So when Swansea, promoted to the old First Division under Toshack for the first time in their history, travelled to Anfield on October 3, 1981 he paid his own tribute to Shanks.
During an emotional minute’s silence before the match started, Toshack proudly wore the red shirt of Liverpool with number 10 on the back.
“My relationship with him was always a good one and it got even stronger when I later went into management with Swansea,” said Toshack 25 years later.
“A lot was made about me wearing a Liverpool shirt that day during the minute’s silence but it was just my personal tribute to somebody I owed everything to.”
Swansea legend Alan Curtis, who started for the Swans that day, remembered the incident in his autobiography.
He said: “Much fuss was made about Tosh wearing a Liverpool shirt during the minute’s silence, but I thought it was a great and fitting tribute to an absolute icon who had been a major influence on Tosh’s career.”
But the gesture divided Swansea supporters and didn’t have the desired effect with members of the Liverpool board at the time, who thought Toshack was “touting” himself for the manager’s job down the line.
