Ronnie Moran (born 28 February 1934) is a former
Liverpool captain and coach, who has
twice served as caretaker manager (after the departures of
Kenny Dalglish and
Graeme Souness respectively). He was the
club's longest-serving employee when he retired in 1999, and he is
the only surviving member of the original Liverpool
Boot Room, with
Bill
Shankly,
Bob Paisley,
Joe Fagan, and
Reuben
Bennett having all passed on.
Moran was
born in Crosby
, just outside Liverpool
, and began his footballing career at Liverpool as
an apprentice electrician playing with the 'C' team. Originally a left
back, Moran signed professional terms for manager
Don Welsh in January 1952 and subsequently made
his debut in a 3-2 defeat at
Derby
County on 22 November 1952, at the age of 18 years old.
It was in season
1955-56
that Moran established himself as Liverpool's first choice number
three. The Reds were languishing in the
Second Division at this time
but Moran, a good marker who was rarely beaten by a winger for pace
and was also something of a penalty expert, proved himself a
consistent performer missing only six games between 1955 and
1959.
He was rewarded for his sterling service towards the latter part of
the decade when he was handed the club captaincy. In
1961-62, after a lengthy spell
on the sidelines, he played sixteen games as the Reds finally
regained their top-flight status and two seasons later was part of
the
Division One
Championship winning side missing only seven games all
season.
Injury problems then began to set in and he missed out to
Gerry Byrne for the left back slot
in the
1965 FA Cup Final win over
Leeds United.
He did, however, play
in the famous Anfield
victory over
Inter Milan three days later before
playing his last competitive game for the Reds in the awesome
setting of the San
Siro
stadium when Liverpool were controversially beaten
in the second leg of the European
Cup semi-final.
In 1966 Moran was invited onto the coaching staff by
Bill Shankly though he continued playing for
Joe Fagan's reserves for a further two
years, helping to bring on the younger players. He formally retired
from playing during the 1968-69 season and joined the coaching
staff full time, where he became a part of the famous Boot Room
team. In 1971 he took charge of the reserve team and in
1972-73 guided the Reds' second
string to the
Central
League Championship.
Moran, or 'Bugsy' as he had become known, became a vital ingredient
in the Liverpool success story with his shrewd knowledge of the
game and the ability to get the best out of the players. In a
spectacularly successful period for the club he was a fine, loyal
servant working first under Shankly,
Bob
Paisley, Joe Fagan and then
Kenny
Dalglish, and later for
Graeme
Souness and
Roy Evans.
In keeping with the
Boot Room traditions
he never sought the limelight, never promoted himself above his
colleagues or the team. He became famous on the bench for his loud
voice shouting instructions to the players which could be heard in
the packed Kop.
When Dalglish sensationally announced his resignation as manager in
1991, Moran was installed as 'caretaker' boss, a role he occupied
for only ten games. He had placed on record an unwillingness to
take the job on full-time and summarily stood down when Graeme
Souness was duly appointed as Dalglish's successor.
In 1992 Moran took job as caretaker again after Graham Souness went
in for a Heart Surgery. Souness's first time back was The FA Cup
Final where he chose the team along with Moran. Moran had the
honour and pleasure of leading Liverpool out At Wembley for The
Final. Souness returned to his fulltime duties in July.
Moran remained on the coaching staff under Souness and then under
friend Roy Evans when he took over as manager. Evans became the
ninth manager Moran had worked under at the club in one capacity or
another in his near half century of dedicated service, the full
list being:
George Kay,
Don
Welsh,
Phil Taylor,
Bill Shankly,
Bob Paisley,
Joe Fagan,
Kenny Dalglish,
Graeme Souness,
Roy
Evans.
Ronnie Moran finally announced his retirement from football and
left Liverpool in 1998. Along with the great Bob Paisley, he had
filled every role imagineable at the club from player, to physio,
to coach and trainer, through to manager.
Perhaps though, like his great Boot Room colleague Joe Fagan, Moran
is destined to be remembered most for his years of unstinting
loyalty as a coach, a key member of the Boot Room set up which was
the cornerstone of English football's greatest ever success
story.
Honours
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