Past playersMark Lawrenson

He was playing for Preston North End in the lower half of the Second Division in 1977 when Brighton & Hove Albion offered £100,000 for the Republic of Ireland international.

The Seagulls were promoted to the First Division in 1979 and Lawrenson at last tested himself in the top flight; however, the club's financial crisis meant the defender became available for transfer and the Reds swooped in 1981 for a fee just shy of £1 million.

The centre-back was a great tackler, strong and possessed considerable skill and speed. He could play any position in defence, but his partnership with Alan Hansen in the centre was the one he was most admired for.

He started out at Liverpool as a left-back, replacing Alan Kennedy for a spell, and also played as a midfielder during his debut season.

He figured in 39 of the 42 games that would lead to him winning the first of the five championship medals he gained during his time at Anfield.

It was an unlikely success too, with many changes in personnel to the squad that had become champions of Europe the previous spring. Lying mid-table after a home defeat by Manchester City on Boxing Day, the team won 13 and drew three of their last 16 games.

Lawrenson's towering header past former Anfield favourite Ray Clemence in the penultimate fixture of the season against Tottenham Hotspur equalised Glenn Hoddle's first-half strike, before laying on a goal for Kenny Dalglish just four minutes later. Ronnie Whelan's late volley ensured that Liverpool could not be caught in the race for the title.

It was the first of three successive league wins for the club and 'Lawro' only missed five of the 126 fixtures that brought about that remarkable achievement.

He also won three successive medals in the League Cup and showed his usual composure in the intimidating atmosphere of the Stadio Olimpico in Rome when the Italian champions were held to a 1-1 draw in the European Cup final of 1984, before Kennedy’s kick won the resulting penalty shootout.

Lawrenson was a key member of the double-winning squad in 1986, although he was perhaps fortunate to play in the FA Cup final against Everton.

He had been injured against Oxford towards the end of March and missed four crucial games in the championship run-in, and although Dalglish did recall him for the last four league matches, only two of them were from the start.

However, Gary Gillespie's late withdrawal from the Wembley squad due to injury made the player-manager's selection headache a lot easier and Lawrenson did finally add an FA Cup winner’s medal to all his other honours.

He started the 1987-88 season at the age of 30 with seemingly several years of good football still ahead of him.

But after being forced to leave the field through injury against Arsenal in the middle of January 1988, Lawrenson was never able to recover the fitness he needed to continue at the top level and reluctantly announced that his playing career was over.