The 1965 heroics of Gerry Byrne
On this day 50 years ago, Liverpool were still without an FA Cup. But in the 1965 tournament they were as close as they'd ever been, facing Leeds United on May 1 in the final.
Now half a century on, we are commemorating how the Reds managed to break their FA Cup duck, with new interviews from the men who were there.
Today it's a look at one man's performance in particular, a display which has been described as one of the most heroic things ever seen on a football pitch.
The atmosphere at Wembley that day was so incredible that many of the players were taken aback. "It was just a whole sea of red, from behind the goals, all the way to the halfway line," said Reds midfielder Willie Stevenson. "At the back of us were the Leeds fans, but I thought the whole ground was Liverpool."
But barely had chants of support greeted the teams when their plans received a real blow. Leeds' reputation as one of the hardest teams of the 1960s and '70s has seeped into folklore, and after just five minutes Liverpool's left-back Gerry Byrne learned why at first hand.
The Reds were attacking when the ball came loose, rolling towards Byrne. Leeds' Bobby Collins looked to be set to retrieve it and threw himself at his Liverpool opponent, with his studs going into Byrne's leg and his shoulder smashing into him.
"Collins came in over the top, and we thought he'd done his leg - little did we know he'd done his collarbone as well," Stevenson recalled.
By 'done his collarbone' Byrne's teammate means that it was broken. These days such an event would be a minor setback for the team if not for the individual, necessitating an inconvenient substitution. In 1965, however, the incident was calamitous as no changes could be made.
If the injured Byrne was an ordinary man, Liverpool would've been down to 10 men and likely out of the final as a contest. Luckily for the Reds, their left-back was anything but ordinary - he played on despite being in excruciating pain.
What's more, he was far from a passenger either and, incredibly, his teammates didn't even notice that he was injured until they saw him at half-time.
Leeds' players never found out that their opponent was in agony, as Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley kept Byrne's injury a secret.
As goalkeeper Tommy Lawrence recalled: "You could see how white he'd gone, but he still wouldn't do anything about it."
In a final between two of the 1960s' greatest teams, no-one was willing to give an inch - with every player aware that one mistake could see their dream of cup success vanish - and the game went to extra-time.
Having never won the FA Cup before, Liverpool were desperate to ensure they lifted it at Wembley, rather than in a replay at Maine Road, and therefore attacked with gusto.
Incredibly, when they did finally break the deadlock, it involved the man whose bravery is still remembered by Reds fans. After beating his man on the overlap, Byrne put in the perfect cross for Roger Hunt, who couldn't help but score with a low header.
"Gerry took the ball to the byline, and he crossed it," Hunt said. "I was thinking am I going to head it, or am I going to side-foot it in? As it turned out, I headed it past [Gary] Sprake and in."
Leeds weren't about to give in to romance, though, and hit back with a superb Billy Bremner volley just nine minutes later.
It would've been easy for Liverpool to capitulate after having glory snatched from their grasp. Stevenson described the feeling when Leeds scored thus: "Our hearts just sunk, right into the pit of your stomach. 'Oh my God', I said, 'here we go again'."
Shankly's side were, of course, made of sterner stuff, and an Ian St John winner ensured that a replay wasn't necessary. In the eyes of his teammates, nobody was more heroic than Byrne, so much so that they struggle to find praise sufficient for him.
"For Gerry to go on and play the full game and extra-time was just one of the most heroic things there's ever been on a football pitch," Ian Callaghan said.
St John believes that, as ever, it was Shankly who put their feelings into words best. He said the boss told him: "'Gerry should've had all the medals.' I'm like, 'hang on boss, let us all get one each.' He says 'Gerry should've had them all.' The bravery of him was just incredible."
You can read about what it meant for St John to end Liverpool's FA Cup heartache on tomorrow's anniversary, and tune in to LFCTV on Friday at 8pm BST for the full story of how the club's first FA Cup arrived at Anfield in 'EE-AYE-ADDIO - 1965 And All That'.
The brand new documentary premieres on Friday May 1 at 8pm BST on LFCTV (available on Sky channel number 429 and for Virgin Media customers on 544) and will air throughout May.
For more information about how to sign up to LFCTV in the UK and Ireland, visit www.liverpoolfc.com/lfctv.
Fans outside the UK and Ireland can still enjoy the documentary, which will be available to view on LFCTV GO at www.liverpoolfc.com/video.
