Alan Hansen seriously ill

[ClaretTony]

Just been reported that he’s seriously ill. The fact that it’s been announced and Liverpool FC have commented suggests very serious.

[Pearcey]

Oh that’s sad news. Hope he’s able to pull through.

[Tricky Trevor]

Only 69, best wishes to him and good thoughts for his family.

[ClaretTony]

Statement from Liverpool FC

“The thoughts and support of everyone at Liverpool FC are with our legendary former captain Alan Hansen, who is currently seriously ill in hospital.

"A defender of the utmost elegance, Hansen's outstanding raft of honours across a 14-year spell with the Reds - he joined from Partick Thistle in 1977 - included eight league titles, three European Cups, two FA Cups and three League Cups.

"'Jocky', as he was known by teammates, is in the top 10 for all-time appearances for the club having played 620 matches, and the Scottish centre-back also served as Liverpool skipper for four seasons.

"The club is currently in contact with Alan's family to provide our support at this difficult time, and our thoughts, wishes and hopes are with Alan and all of the Hansen family.

"We will provide any further updates as we receive them in due course, and we request that the Hansen family's privacy is respected at this time."

[ClaretTony]

Only 68 and he was an outstanding footballer in probably the best ever Liverpool side.

[jdrobbo]

Sending best wishes. Hope he pulls through. A wonderful player for his club and country.

[Wokingclaret]

Great footballer and pundit

"You'll never win anything with Kids"

[elwaclaret]

Just adding my wishes to those of others that Alan Hanson pulled through.

Two great careers: A leader on the pitch and a devastating loss to football punditry when he retired. The overlooked member of the frightening trio of Scots that propelled the club to greatness with his close friends Souness and Dalglish.

Hope he overcomes it.

[Bosscat]

Thinking of Alan and his family and sending my wishes for his recovery ...


One of my favourite pundits on MotD ... far more knowledge than some of the current crop.

[quoonbeatz]

Great player and one of the best pundits there'll ever be. Hope he gets well.

[bfcjg]

He'd still be brilliant in the modern game,as a defender he had it all.

[Juan Tanamera]

A superbly talented defender and similar to Bobby Moore, he wasn't blessed with great pace but read the game superbly.
Wishing him a speedy recovery.

[ElectroClaret]

So sad to hear this hope he's ok.
Thats a mighty impressive roll of honours quoted in the Liverpool statement.

Get well soon.

[ClaretPete001]

Brilliant player and a decent pundit.... wishing him a speedy recovery.

[Burnley1989]

Had no idea he was so old, weirdly I thought he was still 50s, probably because I’ve not seen much of him for so long

[aclaretinstevenage]

The original "play out from the back" central defender while most others of his era were "get rid" defenders. Wonderfully elegant on the ball and rarely beaten one on one despite not being the quickest.

Lets hope he pulls through...........he's a year younger than me!

Thoughts with his family.

[ClaretTony]

Had no idea he was so old, weirdly I thought he was still 50s, probably because I’ve not seen much of him for so long

He’s 69 in four days time. I can remember him signing for Liverpool so was able to have a reasonable guess at his age. His partnership with Mark Lawrenson was a real feature of that Liverpool side in the early 80s when Bob Paisley was manager.

[aclaretinstevenage]

His partnership with Mark Lawrenson was a real feature of that Liverpool side in the early 80s when Bob Paisley was manager.

Indeed, they were irritatingly good and so consistent! Not seen a pair as good - save perhaps Maldini and Baresi - since.

[Lip]

A great footballer,I will never forget the goaline clearance he made against us at the turf in the second leg of the football league cup to stop us making it 2-2 ..Hope he pulls through..

[Walkerpool]

Fingers crossed he makes a full recovery.

[ElectroClaret]

A great footballer,I will never forget the goaline clearance he made against us at the turf in the second leg of the football league cup to stop us making it 2-2 ..Hope he pulls through..

Remember the game, but was that him or Mark Lawrenson? Really can't recall, although I
think it was Steve Taylor who had the chance to score.

[ecc]

Great footballer and pundit

"You'll never win anything with Kids"

No really need for that.

If you ever saw Hansen play football you would respect the man for that alone.

[ElectroClaret]

No really need for that.

If you ever saw Hansen play football you would respect the man for that alone.

Don't think Woking meant anything nasty by that, ecc.
It's just that it's probably the main saying by which AH
is remembered.

Everyone hopes he gets well.

[ClaretTony]

Don't think Woking meant anything nasty by that, ecc.
It's just that it's probably the main saying by which AH
is remembered.

Everyone hopes he gets well.

I’m sure he didn’t. It became Hansen’s trademark almost.

[Quickenthetempo]

Have any other sides won the league with kids in it?

Or was he 99% right?

[mdd2]

I think Alan would smile whenever that comment re not winning anything with kids
But what a player and IMO pundit. I do hope he is going to pull through

[BurnleyFC]

Terrific player and pundit.

Hoping he manages to pull through.

[Buxtonclaret]

Hope he gets through whatever this is.
He & Lawrenson formed the backbone of a superb Liverpool side.

[Lip]

Remember the game, but was that him or Mark Lawrenson? Really can't recall, although I
think it was Steve Taylor who had the chance to score.

Yes,think it was Mark Lawrenson now.. Another senior moment.ah well never mind

[ClaretTony]

Yes,think it was Mark Lawrenson now.. Another senior moment.ah well never mind

It was Lawrenson - he was the only defender on the pitch probably quick enough to get back.

[Wokingclaret]

No really need for that.

If you ever saw Hansen play football you would respect the man for that alone.

Sorry ecc, just my favourite quote from the great man. (Thanks everyone above re this)

Yes saw him play live lots of times on the telly, sadly living in the North East at the time, I wasn't able to go to the cup games in the early 80's.
Lovely player calm assured, great passer too and more than anything what a captain. Should have got more Scotland caps for sure.

Come on Alan, hoping for good news.

[Jamesy]

Yes best wishes to Alan and hope he pulls through, although as Tony said in the OP it must be serious, otherwise they wouldn’t have put the press release out.
A real classy footballer who made defending look really easy.

[alf_resco]

Class on the pitch
Class off the pitch
Class as a pundit
Class as a family man
Class as a genuine bloke
A true PROFESSIONAL.

[Jamesy]

Class on the pitch
Class off the pitch
Class as a pundit
Class as a family man
Class as a genuine bloke
A true PROFESSIONAL.

Agree on all of these pal. Let’s hope the great man can fight this serious health issue.

[boatshed bill]

I'd never seen a centre-back carry the ball out of defence better than Hansen.
Hope he recovers from this illness.

[Quicknick]

One of the best central defenders ever. Get well, Alan.

[IanMcL]

Get well and quick!

[Clive 1960]

Great defender who read the game and made it look easy at times and was very elegant on the ball . Get well soon Alan..

[Vegas Claret]

Good news
https://news.sky.com/story/alan-hansen- ... d-13154328

[Wokingclaret]

Great news from Souness

[ClaretTony]

Good news
https://news.sky.com/story/alan-hansen- ... d-13154328

Souness spoke about him so emotionally a few days ago. They are clearly big mates and he was obviously very concerned. This sounds like good news.

[IanMcL]

Phew.

[Dark Cloud]

Did he really only play for Scotland 26 times? That's absolutely amazing considering how damn good he was and how poor Scotland have been down the years. For those who didn't see him play I think Virgil Van Dyck is a great comparison. (And yes, it was Lawrenson who cleared Taylor's shot off the line in the LCSF at the Turf, but only after Grobbelar had got a touch on it (I think?) which slowed it down unfortunately.)

[Juan Tanamera]

Good news
https://news.sky.com/story/alan-hansen- ... d-13154328

Everything crossed for Alan's continuing recovery.

[Salukem]

Did he really only play for Scotland 26 times? That's absolutely amazing considering how damn good he was and how poor Scotland have been down the years. For those who didn't see him play I think Virgil Van Dyck is a great comparison. (And yes, it was Lawrenson who cleared Taylor's shot off the line in the LCSF at the Turf, but only after Grobbelar had got a touch on it (I think?) which slowed it down unfortunately.)

Was it not Derek Scott’s shot ??

[Dark Cloud]

Was it not Derek Scott’s shot ??

I realise we're digressing from the thread, which is a very serious one, but I know Scott could/should have scored twice early on in the first leg at Anfield, but I'm sure it was Taylor who was denied at the Turf.

[randomclaret2]

Did he really only play for Scotland 26 times? That's absolutely amazing considering how damn good he was and how poor Scotland have been down the years. For those who didn't see him play I think Virgil Van Dyck is a great comparison. (And yes, it was Lawrenson who cleared Taylor's shot off the line in the LCSF at the Turf, but only after Grobbelar had got a touch on it (I think?) which slowed it down unfortunately.)

I think for much of the time he was playing the SFA were going out of their way to pick as many domestic based players as possible, a classic case of cutting their nose off to spite their face.

[Steve1956]

Did he really only play for Scotland 26 times? That's absolutely amazing considering how damn good he was and how poor Scotland have been down the years. For those who didn't see him play I think Virgil Van Dyck is a great comparison. (And yes, it was Lawrenson who cleared Taylor's shot off the line in the LCSF at the Turf, but only after Grobbelar had got a touch on it (I think?) which slowed it down unfortunately.)

26 caps for a player of Hansens quality is a shocking return,defenders with his quality regularly get 80 + caps...shocking if that was the selectors policy of picking home based players at the time....anyway glad if he's getting better.
All the best AH.

[ClaretTony]

Did he really only play for Scotland 26 times? That's absolutely amazing considering how damn good he was and how poor Scotland have been down the years. For those who didn't see him play I think Virgil Van Dyck is a great comparison. (And yes, it was Lawrenson who cleared Taylor's shot off the line in the LCSF at the Turf, but only after Grobbelar had got a touch on it (I think?) which slowed it down unfortunately.)

Ridiculous isn't it but in 1986, when Alex Ferguson replaced Jock Stein, he opted not to include Hansen in their World Cup squad. In that squad he named seven players from English clubs, thirteen from Scottish clubs plus Graeme Souness (Sampdoria) and Steve Archibald (Barcelona). The SFA were not happy apparently with the number of times he'd withdrawn from the squad citing injury. Ferguson went with his Aberdeen pairing of Alex McLeish and WIllie Miller.

For me, Hansen should have always been the first on the team sheet.

[Enola Gay]

Did he really only play for Scotland 26 times? That's absolutely amazing considering how damn good he was and how poor Scotland have been down the years. For those who didn't see him play I think Virgil Van Dyck is a great comparison. (And yes, it was Lawrenson who cleared Taylor's shot off the line in the LCSF at the Turf, but only after Grobbelar had got a touch on it (I think?) which slowed it down unfortunately.)

Scotland weren’t poor when Hansen was at his peak, they were regular World Cup qualifiers.

As to why Hansen only got 26 caps, a couple of points. He never seemed to play anything like as well for Scotland as he did for Liverpool. Same as Dalglish and Souness to be honest, but we didn’t have as many options to replace them as we did with Hansen.

The other point - and tied in with the first - is that as hinted at elsewhere there was a defensive triangle at Aberdeen with McLeish, Miller and Leighton all training together every day for their clubs and generally playing very well, making it difficult for anyone else to get a look in; especially someone who’s international form could legitimately be described as ordinary.

There used to be a Scottish version of ‘When Saturday Comes’ called The Absolute Game and I remember Hansen’s low number of caps being mentioned. As much as people appreciated how well he played for Liverpool, none of the Scotland fans commenting were particularly surprised or all that bothered that he never played more; just maybe disappointed that he never looked as good in dark blue as he did in red.