Exclusive extract: Steve Nicol reveals secrets of the Anfield Rap
Mention the name Steve Nicol to any Liverpool supporter and they will tell you he was one of the most versatile players to ever wear the red shirt.
Picked up by Bob Paisley from Ayr United in 1981, the Scot went on to make 468 appearances for the club.
And his brilliant new autobiography, '5 League Titles and a Packet of Crisps', lifts the lid on his success with the Reds with trademark humour and honesty.
Nicol recalls the glory of Rome 1984, the 1986 double-winning season and his memories of playing under Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness.
He reveals all about the practical jokes, wind-ups and crazy capers that Liverpool's players got up to off the field in the 1980s!
Nicol was also part of the Liverpool side that recorded one or two pre-cup final songs which made the pop charts.
Here in an exclusive extract from the book, we learn more about the recording of a tune that has earned cult status among Kopites - 'The Anfield Rap'.
'Before we could think about the 1988 FA Cup final against Wimbledon, there was the cup final song to do – get a squad of footballers drunk, put them in a recording studio for a couple of hours and see what happens. What could possibly go wrong? Well, apart from me nearly breaking Bruce Grobbelaar’s neck…
Think of pop stars and you probably think of glamour and wealth. Well none of that was evident at The Pink Museum recording studio in Hesketh Street when a bunch of tracksuit-wearing scallies got together to record Liverpool Football Club’s FA Cup final song for the princely sum of one hundred pounds each in expenses.
[Me] We’re Highland lads
[Gary Gillespie] Och aye the noo
[Kevin MacDonald] And there’s four of us
[Alan Hansen] And only two of you
[Me] So if you want nae trouble
[Gary] And you don’t want a slap
[All] You’d better teach us
[All] The Anfield Rap
The Anfield Rap, or Anfield Rap (Red Machine In Full Effect) to give it its full title, got as high as number three in the Official UK charts, behind only Wet Wet Wet and Fairground Attraction and ahead of musical luminaries such as Kylie Minogue, New Order, Prince, Belinda Carlisle, Michael Jackson and, of course, Harry Enfield. At least he had Loadsamoney…
Written by Craig Johnston, the lyrics centred on the two Scousers in our squad – John Aldridge and Steve McMahon – and the quest to get the rest of us to talk like them. We split into groups based on where we were born and I was with fellow Scots Kevin MacDonald, Gary Gillespie and Big Al. Kenny wasn’t singing because he was the boss and trying to act all cool, although he did make a cameo appearance in the video.
As for our gear? Absolutely honking. I was wearing a wee bespoke number by Puma – a black tracksuit with white diamonds on the shoulder – along with a black baseball cap sitting sideways on my head and some white high-top trainers. And to complete the ‘look’ we all wore long gold chains. I was also wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses but if you watch the video closely you’ll notice one of the lenses gets knocked out amidst the shenanigans.
Just before we filmed the video, Bruce was acting the goat and trying to do a headstand on a football. So I thought it would be a good idea to not only push him but also kick the ball out from under his head. I’d love to blame alcohol for being that daft but even a drunk person would know that was a stupid and dangerous thing to do. Thankfully, Bruce was not harmed in the making of the video, although maybe a bang on the head might have knocked some sense into him!
Not many people know this but Juventus striker Ian Rush was also present at the recording. It was done at the end of April so maybe he already knew he was on his way back to Liverpool that summer but Rushy certainly didn’t say a single word about that. Even if he didn’t know I’m sure spending that day with us cavorting in the studio made him wish he was back at the club.'
Nicol's autobiography is available to buy in our official online store, priced at £18.99. Click here to buy the book now.