St John's moving tribute to Hateley

Bill Shankly paid what was then a club record transfer fee of £96,000 to secure the services of the Derby-born centre-forward from Chelsea in the summer of 1967.

Hateley racked up 52 appearances during his debut campaign at Anfield and registered an impressive 27 goals, netting a hat-trick in his third game for the club in a 6-0 hammering of Newcastle United.

Hateley was a proud member of the Liverpool former players' association and was an active participant on the golf course with the Kop legends.

Paying tribute to his good friend, St John said: "Tony was a smashing big fella. He was an infectious and bubbly character and was always happy and good to have around the dressing room.

"It was a shock hearing he has passed away. It is a great loss and we will miss him dearly.

"I remember when we signed big Tony. Shanks had decided we would change our style with a big man up front. I remember he had played against Ron Yeats and given him a hard time and Shanks said he had to get him to Liverpool.

"He was a terrific header of the ball and unplayable in the air. He played up front with Roger Hunt and I moved back to midfield for a spell which I really enjoyed."

St John regularly played golf with Hateley on the charity circuit and recalls a funny story during an event with legendary comic Norman Wisdom.

He said: "We played golf regularly raising a lot of money for charity around the North West. When we played in pairs, Tony always played alongside Norman without fail and we used to wonder why they played together.

"I remember one day when we were playing four-ball when Norman hit this shot that looked like it was missing the hole. The next thing I saw this big pair of size 10s of Tony blocking the ball to within two feet of the hole! So then we knew why they played together (laughs).

"Tony was always a popular character with the lads and that's how we will remember him."

RIP Tony Hateley 1941-2014