When Liverpool manager Bob Paisley decided his illustrious spell in charge at Anfield was coming to an end in 1983, a former player believed they were in line to replace the legendary figure.
Paisley’s assistant manager, Joe Fagan, ultimately got the job, however, with Liverpool promoting him from the famous ‘Boot Room’. That proved a great decision, with the Reds lifting another European Cup under Fagan’s watch.
For John Toshack, who spent eight great years leading Liverpool’s line in the 1970s, Fagan’s appointment ended his dream of following Paisley at Anfield. A feldgling manager himself, Toshack had taken over Swansea City in 1978 and in just three years and 62 days, the Welshman – still only 32 years of age – had taken them from the Fourth Division to the First Division with promotion at Preston.
Liverpool decided on hiring Joe Fagan over John Toshack
“We had to win – no other result would do,” Toshack exclusively tells FourFourTwo. “I invited Shankly, who had played more than 300 matches for Preston. He gave a talk to my players in the hotel and they listened attentively; he was almost a god-like figure.
“Some 15,000 Swansea fans came all the way from Wales, and we did it. Nobby Stiles, Preston’s manager, very graciously came over to congratulate me.”
The rise continued. Swansea – in their first ever top-flight season, barely seven years on from needing re-election to the Football League – led the First Division as late as the final week of March, before eventually finishing sixth. In an early 2-2 draw at Anfield, an already-significant fixture for the ex-Liverpool man became particularly poignant when Shankly died in the week of the match.
“The day before the game, I carried his coffin with three other team-mates,” Toshack says. “I was in shock – totally speechless. I wore a Swansea tracksuit during the game, but with a Liverpool shirt underneath.”
Toshack’s dream, of course, was to manage the Reds one day. Liverpool had informed that they wanted him to replace Paisley, with the Welshman then making a public statement, saying, “When I went to Swansea the thing I wanted in the long term was to end up at Liverpool”.
Toshack had spent the peak years of his playing career at Liverpool in the 1970s, winning three league titles, the European Cup, FA Cup and two UEFA Cups. He then moved into management with Swansea in 1978, keeping his playing career going to 1984 though largely stopped four years beforehand.
“I was close – very close,” Toshack says. “I went to Liverpool and Bob Paisley told me that he had to stay for another year because of his pension. I’d already spoken to secretary Peter Robinson and chairman John Smith in a private room in a hotel in Southport.
“I’d told the Swansea chairman it was my last season. I thought it was done. But Liverpool went for Joe Fagan and I had to go back to Swansea. From then on, nothing worked out and Swansea were relegated. I lost my motivation.”
Toshack did remain in management for a further 34 years after leaving Swansea, however, going on to take charge of Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Wales national team, Sporting, Besiktas and many other sides until his last job in 2018.
