Sir Kenny Dalglish will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023 on Tuesday 19 December.
Sir Kenny Dalglish says: “Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award is truly an honour. I have always believed in the importance of team success, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without all of the players I’ve played with, the people I’ve worked for, and the supporters that stood by me, so this is for them.”
A career full of highlights, he scored 167 times in 320 appearances and lifted nine trophies at Celtic Park before departing in 1977 for Liverpool, in what was a British record transfer fee of £440,000.
Tasked with the unenviable challenge of filling Kevin Keegan’s boots, he scored just seven minutes into his league debut and immediately became a hero of the Kop. His first season ended with him netting the only goal of the game as Liverpool retained the European Cup against Club Brugge at Wembley.
Many more trophies and even more goals followed for ‘King Kenny’, who is regarded by many as Liverpool’s greatest ever footballer. He remains the only player to score more than 100 league goals in both Scotland and England.
Internationally, he played in three World Cups and is still Scotland’s record men’s appearance maker with 102 caps and joint record scorer with Denis Law on 30 goals.
Appointed Liverpool’s player-manager in 1985 following Joe Fagan’s resignation, he led them to a league and cup double in his first season. Two more league titles and another FA Cup would follow to further cement his legendary status at Anfield.
After a short break, he returned to manage second division Blackburn Rovers and within only four years he had led them to a memorable Premier League title in 1995.
A further stint would follow at Newcastle, while brief spells at former clubs Celtic and Liverpool both resulted in a League Cup triumph.
Kenny was manager of Liverpool at the match against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough on 15 April 1989, that tragically led to 97 Liverpool fans losing their lives. He was widely praised for leading the club’s response to the tragedy and his unwavering support to the families of the victims as they campaigned for justice.
He and his wife, Marina, have raised more than £10m for a variety of charities including the Marina Dalglish Appeal that raises money for cancer care.
In 2017 Anfield’s Centenary Stand was renamed the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand in his honour and he was knighted in 2018 for ‘services to football, charity and the city of Liverpool’.
Director of BBC Sport, Barbara Slater, says: “Kenny has dedicated so much of his life to football, both on the pitch and as a manager. He’s broken records for club and country, and always shown himself as a true leader, especially through the tragedy of Hillsborough in 1989 and the years to follow. Kenny is a true inspiration and a deserved winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement award.”
Previous winners of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement award include Billie Jean King, Pele, Sir Bobby Charlton, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, David Beckham, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Sir Chris Hoy, Simone Biles and last year’s winner, Usain Bolt.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year takes place on Tuesday 19 December at 7pm live on BBC One and iPlayer from Media City UK in Salford.
For voting criteria on all awards please visit : BBC Sports Personality
In an interview with BBC Sport about winning the award, Kenny said: “My accolades would be the players I played with, the supporters that stood by me and the supporters that gave me the support and the confidence to go and play.”
On the support from fans, Kenny said: “For every club side and national team I’ve been involved with, I’ve always said how important it is to have the support of the fans. And the fans who support you, they’re a vital, a vital part of any success. With all the teams, I experienced that, and I can tell you it is true, they do help us. When we are struggling, they’re still there and they’re willing you on, trying to get a result, a positive result.”
Reflecting on becoming a manager, he said: “To go from the dressing room to the manager’s office, I wasn’t always the most comfortable, but I had fantastic support from senior people at Liverpool. The most comfortable place for me as a player was in the dressing room. I missed the dressing room, but you’ve got to move on in your life and that is what destiny was telling me, move on.”
Speaking about Glasgow and Liverpool, Kenny said: “Glasgow and Liverpool are very similar. Obviously, they have shipyards with two teams in the city. But for me, the people were fantastic as well. They’ve got a real sense of humour and they take time to talk to you. As long as you’re respectful to them, they’re going to take to you and all they want on the football pitch is for you to do your best. Just try your best and if it doesn’t work then at least you’ve tried…and for me both at Celtic and Liverpool the fans were tremendously supportive of us.”
About Kenny and his family’s relationship with Liverpool, he said: “The football club means everything to ourselves as a family. For Marina and I, we brought the family here to start off a playing career and the way they adapted to life in Liverpool was unbelievable. They loved going to football when they were younger. They love the environment in Liverpool and going back there. It’s just really comfortable in and around Liverpool, a couple of them were born here. So, this is their home and they’ve loved it. Marina was there, she has spent most of her time with the kids and without her there spending time with the kids you’re not going to be successful as a player or as a manager. They say behind every successful man there’s a woman, but I say get her right beside you, not behind you.”
Source
BBC One
