Ian St John

One of six children, St John's father Alex, a steelworker, died when he was six years old; he also showed talent for boxing as a boy, but his mother discouraged it.[3] Having played football for youth sides and works teams as a teenager while working in local industry, including at the Colville steelworks, St John began his career at boyhood favourites Motherwell, signing as a professional in 1957[7] after a spell with affiliated junior team Douglas Water Thistle as a provisional signing; he continued a part-time engineering apprenticeship (work which he admitted he disliked and actively avoided as much as possible) for a further two years.[3]

He was managed by Bobby Ancell, and was part of a group of talented young players (also including Andy Weir, Willie Hunter, Pat Quinn and Sammy Reid) that were nicknamed the "Ancell Babes".[8][9] His debut was against Dumfries side Queen of the South in an away fixture at Palmerston Park. St John scored a hat-trick for Motherwell in two minutes and 30 seconds against Hibernian in 1959, one of the fastest recorded in Scottish football history.[10] He left Motherwell in 1961, having scored 105 goals in 144 appearances for the club in the three major Scottish domestic competitions.[7]

On 2 May 1961 he was transferred to Liverpool for a transfer fee of £37,500,[11] setting a new club record. He was brought to the club by manager Bill Shankly, who was preparing for the 1961–62 season with the club still in the Second Division.[11] Many years later, after Shankly's retirement as manager, he described St John's arrival at the club – along with that of Ron Yeats during the same summer – as the "turning point" for the club as they began their transformation into one of Europe's top footballing sides.[12]

St John made his debut in a red shirt against Merseyside rivals Everton in the Liverpool Senior Cup.[11] Although Liverpool lost 4–3, he announced his arrival in spectacular style by scoring all three of his side's goals.[11] That first game served notice of the new boy's talent for goals, returning totals of 18, 19 and 21 goals in his first three seasons. His official debut came in a 2–0 league victory against Bristol Rovers at the Eastville Stadium on 19 August 1961, and his first official goals came 11 days later when he scored twice in a 4–1 win over Sunderland at Roker Park. His strike partner Roger Hunt got the other two goals, and the two would go on to strike up a productive partnership with St John the creative spark and Hunt the primary goalscorer.

Along with Ron Yeats, St John was brought in to turn around Liverpool's luck as they had been stuck in the Second Division for seven years, narrowly missing out on promotion in six of those seasons. The purchases paid dividends as Liverpool comfortably won the Second Division title by eight points over nearest challengers Leyton Orient.[11] St John played 40 times that season and scored 18 goals.[11] They finished in a respectable 8th place in their first season back in the top flight, 1962–63, and also reached the FA Cup semi-finals.[11]

Liverpool then produced a surprise by winning the league championship in 1963–64, overturning a 17-point deficit to win the title by four points over Manchester United and five over reigning champions Everton, St John played a major role in the title success by scoring 21 goals, which was his highest total in a season for the club.[11] His most important goal for Liverpool came a year later, a diving header past Leeds goalkeeper Gary Sprake in extra time of the 1965 FA Cup Final.[11] This goal won the FA Cup for Liverpool, the first time in the club's history that it had won the trophy.[11]

Another league championship followed in the 1965–66 season,[11] as Liverpool finished six points clear of Leeds. St John chipped in with 10 goals from 41 outings. Liverpool also reached their first European final, as Borussia Dortmund beat them 2–1 in the 1966 European Cup Winners' Cup Final at Hampden Park.[13]

Like the vast majority of Bill Shankly's first great team, St John was at his peak during the mid-1960s. He continued to play regularly during the later 1960s, mainly playing in a deeper position.[11] As he entered his thirties his form and fitness began to dip, and he was eventually dropped from the team by Shankly.[14] St John was a reserve team player in 1970–71,[11] and he left Liverpool on 25 August 1971, after playing 424 games and scoring 118 goals for the club.

St John played for South African club Hellenic during the middle of 1971. After his return to England in August 1971, he was transferred to Coventry City.[11] After a short spell with Tranmere Rovers, then managed by Ron Yeats, he retired from playing football in 1973.[11]

St John was selected to play for Scotland 21 times,[15] making his debut in a 3–2 friendly victory against West Germany at Hampden Park on 6 May 1959.[16][17] The first of his 9 international goals came a year later, again at Hampden, but this time in a 3–2 friendly defeat at the hands of Poland on 4 May 1960.[16][17] He scored twice in a 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification playoff match against Czechoslovakia in November 1961, but Scotland lost 4–2 after extra time and did not qualify for the World Cup finals.[18]

As of 4 March 2019[16][17][18]

As of 4 March 2019[16][17][18]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 May 1960	Hampden Park, Glasgow	5	Poland	2–2	2–3	Friendly match
2	26 September 1961	Hampden Park, Glasgow	8	Czechoslovakia	1–1	3–2	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 8)
3	8 November 1961	Hampden Park, Glasgow	10	Wales	1–0	2–0	1961–62 British Home Championship
4	8 November 1961	Ninian Park, Cardiff	10	Wales	2–0	2–0	1961–62 British Home Championship
5	29 November 1961	Stade Heysel, Brussels	11	Czechoslovakia	1–0	2–4	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 8)
6	29 November 1961	Stade Heysel, Brussels	11	Czechoslovakia	2–1	2–4	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 8)
7	13 June 1963	Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid	19	Spain	6–2	6–2	Friendly match
8	12 October 1963	Windsor Park, Belfast	20	Northern Ireland	1–1	1–2	1963–64 British Home Championship
9	10 April 1965	Wembley Stadium, London	21	England	2–2	2–2	1964–65 British Home Championship