John Aldridge

In his 27th year, Aldridge finally had the chance to play in the First Division.

His first goal for his new club came a week later on 28 February, in the 60th minute, the only goal of the game as Liverpool beat Southampton in a league match at Anfield.

Aldridge scored 26 goals in a successful season for Liverpool, including a strike in each of the first nine games, forming a 10-match scoring run as he had scored in his final league appearance of the previous season.

He linked up with new signings Peter Beardsley and John Barnes as Liverpool lost only twice in the league season and went unbeaten for the first 29 matches.

John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager.

He began his career in the mid-1970s at non-league South Liverpool, before getting his break in the professional game when, aged 20, he signed for Newport County in the Fourth Division on 2 May 1979 for £3,500.

While at Somerton Park, Aldo, as he came to be known, played 198 times scoring 87 goals, a goal every 2 1⁄4 games, including seven goals in twelve FA Cup matches.

He partnered Tommy Tynan and Dave Gwyther for four years at Somerton Park, helping Newport to promotion from the Fourth Division and Welsh Cup glory in his first season, and to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in his second.

His first season with County, 1979–80, saw him score fourteen goals from 38 games as his side won the Welsh Cup and gained promotion to the Third Division.

A year later, he featured in the side that achieved a notable European run.

In the league, he scored seven goals in 27 league games.

He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool in the late 1980s.

His tally of 330 Football League goals is the sixth-highest in the history of English football.

During his early career, he worked his way up through the lower leagues, playing in every league from the old Fourth Division to the old First Division.

Initially signed as a replacement for Ian Rush, Aldridge spent over two successful seasons at Liverpool, winning the league and FA Cup once, and narrowly missing out on a second league title.

He scored eleven goals in 36 games in the 1981–82 season, but in 1982–83 he did better still with seventeen goals from 41 games as County narrowly missed out on promotion to the second tier.

In 1983–84, with Tynan having departed, Aldridge had scored 26 times by the end of February, and County were still in the Third Division.

Alridge was sold to Oxford United on 21 March 1984, when the club was preparing for their Third Division promotion run-in under the management of Jim Smith.

He made his debut on 7 April 1984, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Walsall at Fellows Park.

His first goal was in the 5–0 home win against Bolton Wanderers on 20 April 1984.

He was used sparingly in the run-in to the Third Division title but the following season forged a partnership with Billy Hamilton and became the first Second Division player for nineteen years to score 30 goals.

His 34 goals (30 in the league) in 1984–85 broke the club's goalscoring record for a single season, as Oxford gained promotion to the old First Division for the first time.

Aldridge also picked up a Second Division title medal.

He was the third-highest scorer in the division (only surpassed by Gary Lineker and Frank McAvennie) and netted six goals in United's League Cup-winning run in 1986 which culminated in a 3–0 victory over Queens Park Rangers in the final at Wembley.

This is Oxford's only major trophy to date.

His 23 goals from 39 games also assisted in Oxford avoiding relegation.

Aldridge ended up playing 141 times for Oxford, scoring 90 goals – a goal every 1.5 games – including fourteen League Cup goals in 17 ties.

He scored four goals against Gillingham in the League Cup on 24 September 1986 and three hat-tricks, the first in the 5–2 victory over Leeds United on 24 November 1984.

He also scored one of the two Oxford goals that defeated Manchester United in Alex Ferguson's first game as manager, on 8 November 1986, maintaining his fine form into the 1986–87 season.

By the time of his transfer to Liverpool in that 1986–87 season, Aldridge had already scored fifteen goals for Oxford in 25 games.

Liverpool ended the season trophyless, including a Wembley defeat to Arsenal in the League Cup final, for which Aldridge was ineligible.

In early 1987, Liverpool were losing striker Ian Rush to Juventus at the end of the 1986–87 season and needed a proven and experienced replacement.

He signed for Kenny Dalglish's side on 27 January 1987 for £750,000 and was initially used as a partner for Rush (filling a position previously occupied by player-manager Dalglish and fellow striker Paul Walsh) and as an occasional substitute.

Dalglish had been interested in signing other strikers, including Chelsea's David Speedie and Arsenal's Charlie Nicholas, for a number of months before settling on Aldridge.

Aldridge made his debut for Liverpool on 21 February 1987, when he came on as a 46th-minute substitute for Craig Johnston in a 2–2 league draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Aldridge spent two seasons at Real Sociedad, becoming the first non-Basque player to sign for the club in several decades as they abandoned their selective recruitment policy. In 1991, he returned to England to play for Tranmere Rovers, becoming their player-manager in 1996.

He retired from playing in 1998 and resigned as manager in 2001 and has not managed since.

A Liverpudlian by birth, he was recruited to play for the Republic of Ireland as part of Jack Charlton's "Granny Rule" policy: his great-grandmother was from Athlone, and travelled to Liverpool to settle in the 19th century.

His career with Ireland coincided with their most successful period in international football, and he played at two World Cups.

Aldridge took a long time to reach the top level of the English game.