THE ORIGINAL KIT PART PLAYER

Ex-Ireland ace Whelan admits he did a ‘John Terry’

RONNIE WHELAN admits he may owe John Terry an apology.

The former Liverpool midfielder joined the wide chorus of fans and pundits mocking the England defender after he wore a full Chelsea kit (right) to collect the Champions League trophy in 2012, despite being suspended for the final.

But the Ireland legend has revealed how he did the very same thing in 1990 – on the day Liverpool last won the English title.

Last Tuesday marked the 30th anniversary of the Reds’ last league success, when goals from Ian Rush and John Barnes helped Liverpool to a 2-1 win over QPR, handing them a sixth title in nine years.

Whelan had broken his foot in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal ten days earlier, and so was forced to watch the titleclincher from the stands.

“I’d played every game up to then, but

Alan Hansen was injured as well that day so

Steve McMahon went up and lifted the trophy on the day,” Whelan recalled.

“Myself and Alan were in the stands but we got changed into our full kits and got pictures with the Cup, alongside Ronnie Rosenthal, John Barnes and Ian Rush.

“We played nearly all the games so we basically won it for them and let them take the cheers! “I must have forgotten about the kit because I did have a go at John Terry when he did the same thing for Chelsea.” Whelan received a barrage of messages last Tuesday, but wasn’t aware before hand that it was the precise anniversary of their last league title.

The wait goes on to see if Jurgen Klopp’s men will finally end the drought, and Whelan is certain that the next Liverpool players to lift the league trophy will embrace it a lot more than his side did in 1990.

“I can’t remember much about the game – it was a foregone conclusion really, and in the end we won the league by nine points,” Whelan says.

“We were hardly out of the top two all year, we lost five games all season.

“If it was any other year, it wouldn’t be talked about as a great season.

“It was our sixth title in nine seasons and we finished second in the other three.”