Football Rewind MOLBY’S HIDDEN WORLDIE
SO, what exactly did happen when Liverpool played Manchester United in the League Cup in November 1985?
Did the 41,291 crowd really see one of the best goals ever at Anfield?
Was it really a 60-yard run followed by a shot so powerful the goalkeeper didn’t even see it ?
For 24 years, the answer could only be found on a video cassette in Jan Molby’s house.
Because of a dispute over television rights, no matches were televised in the first half of the 1985-86 season.
United boss Ron Atkinson (below) had the match filmed and lent the tape to Molby after the Dane’s scorcher, one of the highlights of his 12-year Liverpool career.
Team-mate Alan Hansen added to the myth by remembering the shot that flew past United keeper Gary Bailey as “one of the hardest I have ever seen in my life” – and Bailey went along with that.
According to Molby, those who were at Anfield that night were reluctant for others to see what became known as ‘The Lost Goal’.
He said: “There are an awful lot of people who were at the match who have said, ‘Jan, you could do us a favour and not release that goal because we have our own memories and we are happy with those’.”
Molby ended 24 years of debate in 2009 when he agreed to release footage of his goal.
United had been the team to beat that season, storming to 10 straight wins to open up a lead at the top of the table, and they were on course for the quarter-finals of the League Cup as well after taking a first-half lead at Anfield.
Twelve minutes after the restart, United striker Norman Whiteside lost control of the ball inside his own half, Molby whipped it off him and accelerated away.
He breezed past a defender or two, reached the edge of the penalty area and, without breaking stride, let fly with what he described as “one of those shots that you just know is right when you hit it”.
Sixty seconds later, Molby added the match-winning penalty that changed the course of the season.
Liverpool went on to win the league and the FA Cup – and United finished trophyless.