Liverpool have an impressive Anfield record and when a game is lost at home, it’s safe to say that nobody of a Red persuasion will enjoy the moment.
However, when we lost our only home game of the season in the penultimate match in our stadium, of the 1980/81 campaign, against Sunderland – something did seem amiss.
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Speaking on The Football Historian Podcast, Howard Gayle disclosed about the game: “We got beat 1-0 by Sunderland and Sunderland needed to win to stay up and the game the game was of no significance for us.
“There was a lot of innuendos and complaints leveled at us because we’d been beaten at home, we hadn’t been beaten at home all season and then lost on the last game of the season.
“I know the boss [Bob Paisley], he was a northeast man and he was quietly pleased at Sunderland being able to avoid relegation.”
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As reported on Roker Report: ‘for the first time ever, Liverpool won the toss ahead of kick-off and decided to attack the goal in front of the Kop in the first half’ – it does seem something was a little off that day in terms of normal preparation.
From the words of the 65-year-old, there wasn’t a message to all the players but it seems that there may have been some joy from our legendary manager in seeing his local side as a boy – avoid the drop.
You can view Gayle’s comments on Paisley (from 3:07) via The Football Historian Podcast on YouTube: