Profile

Ronny Rosenthal became an instant cult hero with his explosive start to his Liverpool career.

After spending three years in Belgium and on loan at Udinese he attracted the interest of Luton Town and Hibernian. He impressed in Luton's reserves, scoring two goals in three games but they couldn't broker a deal with Liege. The asking price was £500,000. Liverpool asked Liege to have a look and after only one reserve appearance he came off the bench for Liverpool's first team against Southampton. His second game was against Charlton and this time he was in the starting line-up. He scored no less than three times that night, and four goals in the last six games of the season followed and his contribution was vital to Liverpool's championship's triumph. Rosenthal's good form saw his asking price rise but that didn't deter Liverpool from tying up a permanent deal in the summer.

Ronny's dream start did not though secure him a starting place the following season and Liverpool's club record of eight straight wins from the start of the season kept him firmly in the reserves. Rosenthal scored an impressive tally of 19 goals that season in the reserves but sadly his opportunities to shine in the first team proved few and far between.

Ronny stayed at Anfield until 1994, when in January of that year Tottenham paid £250,000 to secure his contract. He made a 100 first-team appearances for Spurs scoring 11 goals, including a sensational second-half hat-trick in a cup replay at Southampton against his old mate Bruce Grobbelaar in 1995. In August 1997 Rosenthal made a 'free transfer' move to Watford and helped them win the Second Division championship. He retired as a player at the end of the 1998-1999 season at the age of 35.

Since retiring as a player, Ronny has continued to live in England and a decade after his playing days were over was working as a football consultant in a scouting role. His youngest son Tom is a member of Watford's Football Academy. Ronny has admitted that Liverpool will always have a place in his heart because of the four years he spent at Anfield and because oldest son Dean was born in the city. He fondly remembers the hat-trick he scored at Charlton on his full debut and also the last-minute winner he scored in front of the Kop in the Merseyside derby of 1993.

Less memorable is the often-replayed miss at Villa Park in September 1992 when he somehow managed to hit the crossbar at the Holte End after rounding the home 'keeper and being presented with the most open of open goals. Ronny did score later in that match although Liverpool lost 4-2. Twenty-two goals from 97 Liverpool matches was, however, a decent return from a popular figure amongst Kopites.

Other Clubs:
Macabbi Haifa, Bruges, Standard Liege, Udinese (loan), Luton (trial), Tottenham, Watford