More fans turned up to see us than The Beatles!
IN the storied history of Liverpool Football Club, amid the five european Cups, the 18 League titles and all the rest of the silver glory accumulated, there is a special place reserved for the 1965 Fa Cup final.
It was more than a Cup win, it was a breakthrough, a moment that cemented the club’s rising sense of itself — and Ian St John scored the winner.
‘the Fa Cup, for Liverpool it was the Holy Grail,’ he says.
St John is 80 now, as sharp as he was that afternoon at Wembley when heading in with three minutes of extra time remaining to make it 2-1 against Leeds.
a competition which Liverpool first entered in 1892 was won at last. ‘For a club like Liverpool not to have won it,’ St John says, ‘that’s what made it a magical trophy.’
St John had been signed from Motherwell by Bill Shankly in 1961. Liverpool were in the old Second Division. Promotion came in his first season.
‘It was mentioned to me when I joined that they’d never won the Cup,’ he says. ‘We won the title in ’64 but the Cup was a different feeling to the league. We were desperate to win it. and we’d lost a semi-final before.’
the semi-final defeat was to Leicester City in 1963, so there was some concern when Liverpool were drawn away to Leicester in the last eight in 1965.
Before then there was also anxiety in the third round at West Brom, in the fourth against supposedly lowly Stockport and in the fifth round at Bolton. ‘It was so hard,’ St John adds with feeling even 53 years on.
He scored the winner at the Hawthorns, but Liverpool needed a replay to beat Stockport and another to overcome Leicester.
‘they were a very, very good side then and were classed as our bogey team. they beat us in the semi-final in ’63. to get a draw at Filbert Street was a great result.’
roger Hunt scored the winner in the anfield replay, which brought a semi- final against Chelsea at Villa Park.
‘ they were a classy team, Chelsea. But then we’d won the league, so no one was taking us lightly. Peter thompson scored, then ‘Chopper’ Harris goes right through me. I was up in the air doing a spiral.
‘Must have looked bad. It was a penalty but, since ronnie Moran finished, we hadn’t a penalty taker. and no one wanted to take it. I was looking at the sky, big men like ron yeats went into hiding, everyone looking away.
‘So Willie Stevenson picks up the ball. now Willie had never taken a penalty before, but he was confident he’d score. and he did. there were sighs all round. It was fantastic.’
the final, against another rising club, Leeds, was tense and goalless for 90 minutes. Gerry Byrne had his collar bone broken in the seventh minute by Leeds captain Bobby Collins. He played on.
Hunt scored three minutes into extra time, Billy Bremner equalised. there were three minutes left when St John ran onto an Ian Callaghan cross to head in.
‘My outstanding memory is my goal and the minutes that followed,’ St John said. ‘Believe me, those were the worst three or four minutes ever. “Blow, ref!”, we were shouting, “time up, ref!”
‘Big ron was heading the ball away, tommy Lawrence punching and catching it. the defence did a marvellous job.’
But there was no long night of celebration, Liverpool had a european Cup semi-final at anfield against holders Inter Milan on the tuesday.
on the Sunday, though, when the squad returned to Merseyside, they were greeted by an unforgettable sight.
‘We were expecting fans to be on the streets but no one envisaged the scene when we got to Lime Street station,’ St John says.
‘the Beatles had a great reception when they came back from america but it was nothing on this. Incredible. to those who were in and amongst it, it was one of the memories of a lifetime.
‘then we had to train on Monday morning.’
Liverpool lost controversially to Inter over two legs. But they had the Fa Cup.
‘It was an achievement the club needed. We’d never done it. For where we were going as a club, you have to win, you have to win titles, cups, to be put up there with the teams in history.
‘We all felt the importance of it and the fans still talk about it. When you’re a kid in the street you dream about scoring the winner in a Cup final. then you do it. It’s unreal in a way. a huge memory.’