'Once you leave Liverpool, there is no other club'
If you were to pick one member of Liverpool's 1986 double-winning squad who felt a particularly strong bond with Scousers, it might not be the man who hailed from further away from the city than any of his teammates.
But, while Craig Johnston was born in South Africa and raised in Australia, he idenitifed closely with the place he called home between 1981 and 1988.
The midfielder, a goalscorer against Everton at Wembley as the Reds completed their famous double, says it was the 'militant' nature of the city's people that appealed to him.
As such, he fully appreciated the importance of his role in a football team that acted as a beacon of hope during a time of economic woe on Merseyside.
He recalled: "It was a tough time in England's political history, not just the club. Merseyside in particular was a very depressed region, and then you had the two best teams in the country, if not Europe, if not the world.
"[You had] a group of people called Scousers who were well-versed in what football means to them and their families and their culture. Here were the Scousers, Liverpool and Everton, which was crazy.
"Maybe I saw it more than the others because I was an Aussie, I wasn't Welsh, wasn't Irish, wasn't English. I'm saying: 'This is powerful stuff, this doesn't happen back home on the beach!' Why do these people love this so much?
"And you look around and it's cold and it's miserable and it's grey and it's wet and nobody's got a job and nobody's got any money - but they'll find the money to go and watch the Reds or the Blues. That was the backdrop.
"Here was a town past its prime, in a way, that needed something, and both teams were giving it to them.
"It's kind of like years later when people ask you to reflect on those days, I kept getting asked by journalists in Australia when I recently went there with [the club], 'What's the big deal with this club? Why are all these people coming out of the woodwork in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne with red shirts on?'
"The things I just mentioned are what makes the club so special. It's not about football, really, it's about Scousers and what Scousers are and how they don't take any nonsense from anybody.
"They've got a militant side to them, which I believe is standing up for yourself. In the Irish I see that, in the Aussies I see that, so that's why I've always loved here because I'm a bit militant myself."
Johnston celebrates his strike against Everton at Wembley
The special connection between players and fans was a subject of great interest for Johnston during his time on Merseyside.
And it is the unwavering commitment of the supporters that meant the Aussie did not want to play for any other club when his spell at Anfield came to a premature end at the age of 27.
"I think that the players were all aware of the difficulties of the city because there was much more of an interaction with the fans back then compared to now," he added.
"I felt culturally connected because I was fascinated by [it].
"There was a group of guys who used to hang out with the first team and they were all Sammy Lee's mates, Graeme Souness' mates, all of these... I was going to say scallywags there - and you know what some of them probably were!
"That was part of what happened back then. They would tell us what the fans were saying and thinking and we would tell them what we were thinking.
"There were a couple of really, really good guys in there that made me love Scousers even more because of their love for the club.
"That, to me as a 20-year-old when I first came to the club, was quite fascinating - how you could live for this game? Then I found out that it wasn't a game, it was the concept of this brand and team, and then I learnt about Shankly and all the sacred things that make the club [special].
"[It's] another reason I didn't leave when other clubs came in for me, [I said] no this is the only club.
"When I retired at 27, I said I'm not going to play football anywhere in the world again and I was true and honest to my word, I never did. Once you leave Liverpool, there is no other club."
A new feature-length documentary celebrating Liverpool’s clinching of the coveted league and FA Cup double is available on LFCTV GO now.
‘Double Winners ’86 – On The March With Kenny’s Army’ relives an unforgettable season and features the likes of Hansen, Dalglish, Molby and more.
Narrated by ITV Football's Clive Tyldesley, the 86-minute film can be seen by subscribers now. Click here to find out more about how to subscribe to LFCTV GO.
