Alan Hansen

Alan Hansen, now famed as a football pundit, was one of the most successful British football players of all time, until a knee injury ended his playing career in 1991. A Football Writer’s Player of the Year Runner-up (1986 and 1990) and Anglo-Scot of the Year, he is the only player to have won every honour available at club level at least twice and captained the Liverpool side to an historic double victory in 1986.

Alan’s football career began in the Scottish Junior league club, Sauchie Juniors, and later on he turned down the opportunity to study at the University of Aberdeen in order to join his older brother, John, at Partick Thistle.

After breaking into the first team at Thistle, Alan was watched by top clubs, including Liverpool. Two seasons later, having helped take Thistle up to the Scottish Premier Division he moved south to join Liverpool in 1977. In Hansen’s illustrious playing career for Liverpool his winners medals include 8 league titles, 3 European Cups, 2 FA Cups and 4 League Cups. He served as Club Captain from 1985 to 1989.

He made his full debut for Scotland on 19 May 1979 in a British Home Championship match against Wales and won the last of his 26 Scotland caps in 1987. His relative lack of caps is excused by Scotland coaches with the excuse of the formidable central defensive partnership formed by Willie Miller and Alex McLeish, both at Aberdeen.

Following his retirement from the game he soon became a pundit and summariser for Sky. A keen tactical understanding of the game has made him the face of BBC television’s Match of the Day, following a brief spell with Radio 5 Live.  For over twenty years he presented Match of the Day until leaving in 2014.