From the Club Website:To mark the release of his new book 'Alright Aldo', we asked John Aldridge to talk us through eight of the most memorable images from his illustrious career.
The former No.8 scored 362 goals in 672 club games as well as firing for the Republic of Ireland at a World Cup.There were plenty more highs and lows - and the drama continued after he hung up his boots. Here's eight moments Aldo will never forget...
LFC Christmas parties
"Christmas parties were mad back then. I couldn't really talk about how mad they were. There was a big drinking culture in the game. I'm with Brucie (Grobbelaar) here but everyone had their picture taken because the Star newspaper would come down and put money behind the bar in return for photos. I think I was Cooperman at this one - which was Russ Abbot's Mickey-take on Superman. It was a great night. You'd be a mess in training the next day but at Liverpool you had to come in no matter what you were like. I think I threw up on the pitch after this party."
1989 FA Cup semi-final replay goals
"People always ask about your best goals and there are so many I always think about, but the most important ones for me are these two in the semi-final replay after Hillsborough. This picture is me celebrating my second goal which put us back into the lead. It was very emotional. It's hard to describe how I was feeling when this was taken. We were playing for families and you can see it in my eyes there. We'd been down on our knees for so long so there was elation after the game until the next day it hit home that winning didn't bring people back."
1989 FA Cup final goal
"This was a massive goal for me. It's amazing because my last touch at Wembley the previous year was Dave Beasant saving my penalty, and my next touch in 1989 was scoring. The ball went in the same place, the same corner - eerie. It helped me get over the previous year and it could have been the first time I beat Neville Southall, who's the best goalkeeper I ever played against."
Leaving Liverpool
"Throwing the shirt and boots into the crowd wasn't planned. I knew I was going to Sociedad and it was nice of Kenny Dalglish to let me come on, but it was scant consolation because I wanted to stay at the club. After the game I decided to go over to the Kop because they were singing my name and everyone knows how associated to the Kop I am. I threw the boots in and a couple came back and hit me on the head! But no, it was lump in the throat time."
Joining Real Sociedad
"This wasn't far from Playade la Concha beach and it was for an Irish magazine in 1990. It's a massive move moving to another country, especially for the family. I took it upon myself to have total respect for the culture over there and learn the language straight away. I had a tutor who came to my house four times a week, and I went out every Monday night with some lads I got to know and I wasn't allowed to speak any English at all."
1994 World Cup
"A World Cup is the highest level you can play at. I scored against Mexico when we were 2-0 down and I thought at the end of the game it was just a consolation goal. But it wasn't - it made our goal difference such that we only needed to draw our last game. We did draw and we went through. Before the goal there was the touchline incident (when Aldridge argued with a fourth official who was delaying his entrance as a substitute) which is always there in the top 10 moments in World Cup history. It's not something you want to be associated with but I'm very passionate and I say it how it is. I've had plenty of confrontations in life and they're all in the book. I totally lost the plot here but I was in the right."
Meeting his hero
"The whole book is to do with the number eight. There's my eight best players and my eight best this and that. And it's because of Roger Hunt - he was the reason I always wanted to wear No.8. Sir Roger, as we called him on the Kop, was my boyhood idol. He won the World Cup and was brilliant but hardly anyone knows about it because it was all about the West Ham three. He's an absolute gentleman. You couldn't meet a nicer man. Ian St John is also in this photo. I work with him at Radio City and he's a lovely fella too."
Singing on Irish TV
"The show was called Eurostar and it's like the X-Factor only with celebrities and in Ireland. I've always done work for charities like Claire House, Alder Hey and Temple Street Hospital in Dublin, and the girl at Temple Street rang me and asked if I'd do the show. I said no because I can't sing. But they pestered me and pestered me, so I gave in thinking I'd be so bad that they'd vote me off straight away. I couldn't have been more wrong. Unbeknown to me Louis Walsh was a judge and it was live. It ended up being like a prison sentence - people were voting for me because I couldn't sing! It helped to raise £160,000 for the kids. I'd have a few glasses of wine or pints of Guinness before I went out to sing, and a few more afterwards to celebrate it being over. I enjoyed that part of it!"
Home 
Log in 
