Liverpool FC deeply saddened by passing of Peter Cormack
Liverpool FC is deeply saddened by the passing of former midfielder Peter Cormack, aged 78.
The Scot – a league, UEFA Cup and FA Cup winner during a four-year spell with the club between 1972 and 1976 – died on Thursday night.
Signed by Bill Shankly from Nottingham Forest, the skilful Cormack would go on to be a key figure in the successes of the legendary manager’s final seasons in charge of the Reds.
He debuted against Derby County in September 1972 and then opened his Liverpool goalscoring account just a week later with an Anfield strike versus Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It was a first season of multiple highs for Cormack and his new club, and he quickly endeared himself to Reds supporters with a late winning goal in the Merseyside derby on home soil in October. “It was a terrific feeling and I didn’t spend much money that night!” he later said.
By that campaign’s end, Peter had made 52 appearances in all competitions and scored 10 goals, helping Shankly’s men clinch the First Division championship for the first time since 1965-66 and playing every minute of the two-legged UEFA Cup final as Liverpool beat Borussia Monchengladbach to lift their first piece of European silverware.
Cormack repeated that personal output in 1973-74 with 57 matches and 11 goals, including eight starts in the FA Cup run that culminated in a comprehensive Wembley win over Newcastle United.
He continued to feature regularly following the appointment of Bob Paisley as Liverpool manager in 1974, but his career at Anfield was sadly to be curtailed by a knee cartilage issue that escalated in December 1975.
On what would prove to be his final appearance for the club, Peter provided the winning goal in a 1-0 home victory over Manchester City.
“I’ve always had this problem with my knee, my cartilage was cracked,” he explained. “I was told I could keep playing but that eventually it would give way. One day it did just that.”
He departed the Reds in November 1976 having totalled 178 appearances and 26 goals, moving to Bristol City, which was followed by a second playing spell at Hibernian – with whom he had begun his professional career.
Cormack switched to management with Partick Thistle in late 1980 and would subsequently take charge of Anorthosis and Botswana, before returning to the dugout in the early 2000s with Cowdenbeath and Greenock Morton.
The thoughts of everyone at Liverpool FC are with Peter’s family and friends at this very sad and difficult time.
RIP Peter Cormack, 1946-2024
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