Liverpool academy director remembers last non league side at Anfield - he was in it!

Jan 25 2008 by Chris Wright, Liverpool Daily Post

THE chance to merely get close-up with Steven Gerrard and the rest of Liverpool’s star-studded squad will be the highlight of their career for most of the Havant & Waterlooville squad tomorrow.

But someone who tasted that high as part of the last non-League side to visit Anfield is hoping they take as much from the day as he did – although being a lifelong Liverpool fan not a shock victory that proved beyond Altrincham.

Liverpool’s Academy director John Owens was a battle-hardened centre-half in an Altrincham side who had made their name by rubbing up the elite the wrong way in FA Cup ties. Being a season ticket holder at Anfield from the age of 13, the then 30-year-old lived his dream when he faced Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and the rest when the Alliance – now the Conference – League side came to Anfield but lost 4-1 on January 3 1981.

Unlike Havant, though, Altrincham were not virtual unknowns having secured FA Cup draws in previous seasons at Goodison Park, White Hart Lane and Ewood Park, and been at the top end of the non-League pyramid for most of the 10 seasons Owens was at the heart of their defence.

They went into the match confident they could make a game of it, but predictably they couldn’t stop the soon-to-be European champions.

Owens said: “I am now in my 44th season as a season ticket holder at Anfield. I have it since I was 13 and have been to many games. But when we were drawn away to Liverpool, well, it was a dream come true.

“Before then, though, we had had a bit of success. We had drawn at Blackburn, but lost the replay. Drawn away at Everton, but again lost in a replay when we played at Old Trafford in front of 30,000-odd crowd in 1975 and also in 1978 we drew with Spurs with Ardiles and Villa playing. You only get your one chance with these big teams, they don’t slip up in a second game.

“Against Liverpool no-one was expecting us to win, but because we had a little bit of history of doing well it wasn’t a totally forlorn hope. There was always a chance that if they were complacent, we could stonewall it, do a good defensive job and if every one of us play to our best we might sneak a draw. With Liverpool it wasn’t to be. They didn’t treat us lightly. They treated us very professionally and got the job done.

“We lasted 27 minutes before Terry McDermott scored. A bit like Luton last week, once the first went in it was always on the cards we were going to lose.

“I was centre-back and up front that day was Kenny Dalglish and David Johnson. Kenny scored two and the fourth goal was by Ray Kennedy. We were defending most of the time. It is all very well having the tactics on how to try and stop them. But they were a well established group of players, playing very well. The two full-backs, Phil Neal and Alan Kennedy, both attacked a lot and it did seem like although they had 11 players it seemed like they had 12 or 13 at times. We did our best it went the way of form.”

Owens believes something similar is likely to happen tomorrow. But as he and his Altrincham team-mates did, he hopes the Havant players at least go down fighting. And for some it could be a platform to play at a higher level.

He said: “Some fans would think we went out there quaking and they might think something similar with Havant this weekend having to face Steven Gerrard and Torres and so on. But it wasn’t, you are inspired by the fact you have got that challenge and that inspiration of who you are playing against – it can bring the best out of you.

“Until it happens you can’t be fully sure. But as long as you treat it the right way, playing at Anfield against people like that can only inspire you to bring about your best performance ever.”

He added: “I was happy I did play to my best that day. That is really the point with Havant & Waterlooville. They are coming into a big game that nobody really, other than a few of their hardened fans, would think they have got a chance. Some say there is nothing to lose and they haven’t in one sense. But what they want – if they can’t win, which is the most likely outcome – is that they actually come out of it with people saying how well they have played, how they have deserved to get this far. They don’t make fools of themselves. And for some of the younger players, who have ambitions to get into full-time professional football, this might be a stepping stone, a window for some of the lower league clubs to look at them, take a chance and sign them. It might work well for them.

“Our team was well-established. A lot of them had good jobs, some had offers of going into the league. I had a couple, but we had such good jobs in a sense we were getting better paid by staying where we were and staying semi-professional. It might well be the same for Havant.”

Owens, though, did taste success when Altrincham won the FA Trophy and also the Alliance League in 1981 and 1982. On both occasions they failed to win the vote to be elected to the Football League in the days when promotion was not guaranteed.

He said: “We won the Alliance in 1981 and 1982 which is the same as the Conference now – but you had to go into the vote to get into the League. The League clubs generally voted for the clubs that were there. We just missed out on going full-time, but look where Wigan have got to from a similar situation. They had been our competitors just before that time in the late 1970s and now they are in the Premier League. I would have been pleased, but I wouldn’t have made the move because of the job situation.”

He added: “The game at Anfield was one of the highlights, and the Everton game was a little bit better because of the result. We drew and it was great to annoy all the Everton fans. But winning the FA Trophy at Wembley was probably the best in my playing time. I have had good experiences at Wembley leading the team out with the England under-15s when I was manager. But to play there and win was special.”

Like for Owens, the Havant players who count Liverpool as their boyhood club, Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round tie at Anfield will be live long in the memory.

With DVDs and the chance to swap shirts with the likes of Gerrard or Torres, the likes of Liverpool supporter Rocky Baptiste will hope to have a memento to cherish.

Owens, not one for keepsakes, is happy he has both a mental and real picture of the day.

He said: “Most of the mementoes are in my head. I don’t really bother about medals and so forth. There are no football photos around the place. But I do have one photo of the Liverpool game and I am close to Kenny Daglish. This is the time before photos could be manipulated. My team-mates said, ‘it must be two photos stuck together because I was never that close to him in the game’.

“It is nice to have those memories. I hope we win of course, but I hope the Havant players put up a performance and have a great experience like I did.”