Profile

Ian Ross will forever be remembered as 'The Kaiser's shadow', when he man-marked Franz Beckenbauer to perfection in a European Fairs Cup game 18th of March 1971 against Bayern in Munich. He even had the time to score Liverpool's goal. Shankly used him to fill various positions in the team when needed. Ross played 175 matches at Aston Villa, captaining the side. In the twillight of his career he coached and played for a few years with Valur in Iceland and then became the manager of Iceland's biggest team, KR Reykjavik which was Liverpool's first European opponent back in 1964.

Ian was born in Glasgow in November 1947 and signed professional forms for Liverpool in August 1965 when he was 17 years old. Bill Shankly gave him a brief substitute debut at Sheffield Wednesday in the middle of January 1967 but he didn't figure in another League match until March 1968. The only season in which he became anything like a regular was 1971-72, when he played in 21 First Division fixtures with a further 10 appearances in cup games.

Ian's versatility was possibly the reason why he made only 69 first-team appearances for Liverpool in six seasons. Sure, there were some excellent players around at the time which did make it hard for him to break through and claim a regular place but he never let the club down when called upon.

Other Clubs:
Aston Villa, Notts County (loan), Northampton (loan), Peterborough, Wolves, Hereford, Valur (Iceland)