Graeme Souness is regarded as one of the toughest players to have represented the club but it appears that even his former teammates weren’t safe from the wrath of the Scottish midfielder.
Speaking exclusively at the book launch of Crossing the Park: The Men Who Dared to Play for Both Liverpool and Everton, ex-Red Kevin Sheedy was asked who the hardest player he’d ever played against was and said: “When I was at Liverpool, we were playing five-a-side and I nutmegged Graeme Souness, just put the ball through his legs and ran round the other side.
“About three years later we [Everton] were playing in the first ever Merseyside final, the Milk Cup final [1984] and I did exactly the same again. I nutmegged him and as I was going round the other side [gestures an elbow], he broke my nose! So that’s the difference between training and playing!”.
The Everton legend may well have expected to not be greeted with a warm embrace from the legendary Anfield midfielder but a broken nose from a flying elbow was probably a little over the line of what was necessary!
It’s a foul that would have warranted a lengthy ban in today’s game but back in the 1980s, our man went on to lift the trophy at Wembley as captain of the Reds!
You can watch Sheedy’s comments on Souness (from 53:18) via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: