Liverpool
Meet the football maverick who failed a Liverpool medical TWICE after a summer of sex
It is one of the great football yarns, the tale of how Frank Worthington came within a hair’s breadth of joining Bill Shankly’s Liverpool in the summer of 1972.
The story was widely revisited in the days following the charismatic former England striker’s death four years ago, and it is easy to see why, for in many ways it captures the essence of one of English football’s most noted mavericks
Yet it is also an episode tinged with sadness, a path not taken towards a door that would never open for Worthington, who counted Huddersfield Town, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers among the 24 clubs he represented in a career spanning more than a quarter of a century.
‘If I had played for Liverpool I would have been inspirational,’ Worthington told this newspaper in 2016, less than a month before his daughter announced he was battling Alzheimer’s (a claim he immediately denied).
‘It would have been big time, I would have gone higher and higher. I would have been more than Kevin Keegan or Kenny Dalglish, as I had more skill.’
That was a big claim, given how deeply embedded Keegan and Dalglish are in Anfield folklore. Yet, on the red half of Merseyside, the prospect of a strike partnership that combined Keegan’s speed and industry with Worthington’s swashbuckling creativity was, for a time, the talk of the town.
It was not only on the pitch that Worthington’s reputation preceded him, however, and while his talent held obvious appeal for Shankly, his individualism and rakish lifestyle seemed out of kilter with what the Liverpool boss normally looked for in a player.
‘Frank was a maverick, he was the most wonderful player,’ recalls Phil Thompson, a former Liverpool captain whose own Anfield career was in its formative stages at the time. ‘Flamboyant, I think you would call him.
‘But it was quite left-field, Bill Shankly going for him. We’d come from Roger Hunt and Ian St John, who were not only centre-forwards but workaholics. They had a team ethic, whereas Frank had this individual brilliance, he could do something out of nothing. Getting one of those flair players, it wasn’t something that we were used to.
‘Frank was such a wonderful, lovely man, and you could see him mixing in the dressing room. But I think we all were wary of his lifestyle. Would that always be to [the liking of] our lieutenants Joe Fagan, Bob Paisley and Ronnie Moran? It would have been difficult for them to accept his lifestyle at the time.’
To judge from his assessment of the qualities Shankly valued in a Liverpool player, the decision to pursue Worthington may have caught Geoff Twentyman, the late Liverpool chief scout in whom Shankly placed implicit trust, similarly flat-footed.
‘Shankly wanted, above all, to know about the lad’s private life, what he was like, did he go out drinking every night, what his home background was, and so on,’ Twentyman told Shankly biographer Stephen F Kelly. ‘He liked players with character.’
Worthington was certainly a character, but how far his private life dovetailed with Shankly’s clean-living principles was another matter. A shaggy-maned roisterer renowned for sporting cowboy boots and under-utilising the top few buttons of his shirts, he was also an Elvis Presley devotee who routinely treated team-mates to a rendition of Are You Lonesome Tonight? on away trips.
The irony in that choice of song was palpable, for Worthington was rarely alone of an evening. Here was a man who did not so much play the field as the entire countryside, dating a seeming endless array of models and beauty queens. His first wife, Birgitta Egermalm, was a former Miss Sweden; his second, Carol Dwyer, was a former Page 3 girl.
Once asked by the British football magazine Shoot to name his previous clubs, Worthington replied: ‘The Playboy, Tramps and Sandpiper’ – before identifying ‘birdwatching’ among his hobbies.
Put it this way: there was a reason Worthington entitled his 1994 autobiography One Hump or Two? – and it was not down to a natural fascination with camels.
So as Shankly drove to Huddersfield to negotiate a deal for the 24-year-old striker, whose 18-goal tally in the 1969-70 season had been instrumental in returning the Terriers to the top flight, he must have known what he was getting himself into.
But neither that knowledge nor the club-record fee of £150,000 required to prise Worthington from his boyhood club were about to deter the Scot, for the simple truth was that Liverpool needed goals.
Roger Hunt and Ian St John, who had combined to score 341 goals in 386 appearances in the 60s, had left the club, while Keegan’s partnership with John Toshack was still in its infancy. Worthington, who had just been called up to the England under-23 side, was seen as the solution.
That might have surprised Sir Alf Ramsey, who was stunned when Worthington, true to form, pitched up at Heathrow airport for an international tour to eastern Europe wearing cowboy boots, a red silk shirt and a lime velvet jacket.
‘Oh s***, what have I f****** done?’ Ramsey reputedly exclaimed – although his misgivings may have been allayed when the striker marked his debut with a goal in a 3-0 win over Poland.
With Worthington yet to learn of his impending move to Anfield, he flew back to London to find Liverpool secretary Peter Robinson and Roy Lambert, Huddersfield’s chief scout, awaiting him. The trio drove to the nearby Ariel hotel, where they were met by Shankly.
‘Do yer wanna come and play for Liverpool?’ enquired the Anfield maestro. ‘We need yer, son.’
Worthington did not need to be asked twice. With terms agreed, the group made their way to Merseyside the following morning to complete the formalities. As Shankly, Robinson, and future manager Bob Paisley looked on, Worthington signed his new contract; all that remained was a medical.
What happened next was to change the course of Worthington’s career. A blood pressure test returned an unexpectedly high reading. The club doctor repeated the procedure several times, but the dial remained stubbornly unaltered.
‘It’s just tension, son,’ said Shankly.
Determining that a little sunshine would soon return his new prize to full working order, Shankly packed Worthington off to Majorca. It proved an uncharacteristic misstep by the Liverpool manager.
With an eye to the main chance every bit as sharp as his eye for goal, Worthington used the trip to unwind in his own inimitable style – and never mind that he was dating Carolyn Moore, the reigning Miss Great Britain, at the time.
There are differing accounts of what went on during that Spanish sojourn, and no doubt the episode became embellished over time.
Worthington said in his autobiography that he joined the mile-high club with a random stranger on the outward flight, later became intimately acquainted with a young Swedish woman and her mother, and hooked up with a Belgian model. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it has also been claimed he suffered a dizzy spell at one point that left him laid out on the floor of his hotel bedroom.
Whatever the reality of it all, the bottom line is that Worthington returned to Merseyside with his blood pressure higher than ever. His Liverpool career was over before it had even started.
‘I’m sorry, son, but as much as I want to, I can’t sign you,’ Shankly told him. ‘I can’t afford to lay out a record amount to bring in a player with a question mark hanging over his head.’
Like the rest of his Liverpool team-mates, Thompson remained in the dark about the background to the episode. Long after the event, though, it would come up in conversation between the pair.
‘We didn’t know how, why and what had actually happened at the time,’ Thompson recalls. ‘There was talk of medicals, there was talk of other things.
‘it was only many years later, now and again being in Frank’s company – now this is only allegedly – that he actually said, if I can remember, he’d had the most wonderful summer. He drank, he sunbathed, and everything else that he would get up to.
‘Frank came back and his blood pressure was through the roof. He’d been drinking and partying and enjoying his lifestyle, and of course his blood pressure was too far exaggerated to take a risk. Whether Bill Shankly had wondered why it was inclined to be like that, I don’t know.’
Again, there is an undercurrent of sadness to this jack-the-lad tale that is too often overlooked. Worthington’s father Eric had died not too long beforehand, leaving him with an abiding sense of loss.
‘The hardest thing that ever happened to me was losing my father, who I miss greatly to this day,’ Worthington would say almost a quarter of a century later.
Did that devastation contribute to his self-sabotaging behaviour that summer? Perhaps even Worthington himself would have struggled to answer that one. But grief confers a different perspective on life, and it would be foolhardy to dismiss the possibility that there were weightier things on his mind than the loss of a promising career move.
‘There was no point in getting upset,’ said Worthington. ‘I just told myself it was their loss.’
History tells a different story.
Liverpool won the league and UEFA Cup that season, and would go on to claim a glittering array of domestic and European silverware throughout the 70s and 80s.
Worthington went on to Leicester, where he would claim eight senior England caps – too modest a haul for so sweeping a talent, even in an era where Ramsey and his successor Don Revie rarely put their faith in flair.
On the face of it, Worthington remained unfazed.
‘People say I have squandered a fortune on women and booze,’ he would quip on the after-dinner circuit. ‘But it is better than wasting it.’
Yet Worthington would later describe not joining Liverpool as ‘by far my biggest regret’, reflecting with remorse that it meant he never had the chance to showcase his skills in a team challenging for titles.
‘It would have been nice to have played with Frank for a little bit,’ says Thompson. ‘We were of a mindset where we all knew our jobs – we had to work, but listen, we partied with the best of them, our era, and we were famous for it.
‘He’d have fitted in, in that department – and maybe he would have been astonished by how much we partied! But it would have been lovely for Frank, linking up with the Terry McDermotts and Jimmy Cases of this world. We were all good social animals.’
No appraisal of Worthington’s career would be complete without a nod to his most celebrated goal, scored for Bolton in a First Division game against Ipswich in April 1979.
It began when Worthington, stationed a couple of yards to the left of the penalty spot, intercepted a flick-on from Alan Gowling with his back to goal.
With a trio of defenders converging, Worthington brought the ball down with a cushioned header, juggled the ball twice in the D, and then flicked it over his head, catching the Ipswich players flat-footed as they tried to push out. The coup de grâce came in the form of an immaculate volley, drilled low and hard into the bottom left-hand corner.
‘It was something sensational, says Thompson, ‘it was one of the great goals, one of those moments that’s engrained in your mind.
‘That’s what he was, a free spirit who could produce those moments of magic.
‘Whether it would have worked at Liverpool, we will never know. But I think it’s probably one of those moments in Frank’s life – not his career, in his life – when he’s probably going, “Oof, what might have been.”‘
Tears of Joy: Isaac Kearney’s Mum Shares the Most Heartwarming News Today
Today, Liverpool fans everywhere have something truly special to smile about.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived — and it’s even more emotional than we could have imagined.
In a touching message shared earlier today, Isaac Kearney’s mum delivered the incredible news:
“So…… The news you have all been waiting for 
We have just VERY KINDLY been gifted tickets from Ian at Travel4Football for tomorrow’s game 
Honestly I could cry!
Isaac’s going to be sooo happy and what a day it’s going to be! 
Not only has Ian pulled it out the bag for us tomorrow, but all year round…. Sorting us out with transport to Wembley and also gifting us tickets to attend other home games… He hasn’t asked for 0 in return! But I just wanted to do an appreciation post! Because they definitely deserve it ”
The excitement, the gratitude, and the sheer happiness in her words perfectly capture what this means — not just to Isaac, but to everyone who has followed his journey.
For a young Liverpool fan, getting the chance to attend such an important game is more than just a ticket — it’s a dream turned into reality.
Huge appreciation goes out to Ian at Travel4Football, whose selfless acts of kindness have made unforgettable memories for Isaac and his family. It’s moments like these that remind us why football is more than just a game — it’s about community, generosity, and making dreams come true.
Tomorrow promises to be an unforgettable day for young Isaac, and no doubt, he will carry this joy with him for a lifetime.
Stay tuned — because the best is yet to come for this special young fan.
Liverpool
Liverpool fans are disgusted by what Darwin Nunez ‘posted’ 24 hours before club can become Premier League champions
Liverpool fans are not happy with Darwin Nunez after spotting what he posted on social media just one day before they could win the Premier League title.
On Sunday afternoon, Arne Slot’s Liverpool will win the 2024/25 Premier League title if they can get a win or draw out of their match with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.
Ahead of the match, several of Liverpool’s star players have spoken out about the importance of winning the title this season, with captain Virgil van Dijk asking fans attending the match to wear red to add to the occasion.
One player who has stayed relatively quiet throughout Liverpool’s run-in for the title is Nunez, but now it appears that he’s finally spoken out, fans are furious.
Since arriving from Benfica in the summer of 2022 as part of a €75 million (£64 million) deal, Nunez has largely been a disappointment at Liverpool, failing to reach the heights that many thought he could achieve in red.
When Slot replaced legendary manager Jurgen Klopp at the start of the season, some had hoped that things would change for the Liverpool striker, but it appears that this will not happen, leading to rumours Nunez could leave in the summer.
In what appears to be a now-deleted post on his X account, the 25-year-old wrote: “No wonder I don’t play more, because the last game I started in the Premier League went well and suddenly…”
Shortly after it was posted, Nunez’s alleged comment was taken down and replaced with a different post showing off a selfie of himself and teammate Alexis Mac Allister and one of his tea with the simple caption: “Good morning!”
Nunez also decided to change the profile picture of his X account shortly after he allegedly deleted the post.
https://x.com/SamueILFC/status/1916054934845317136?t=D1FPPJbQqiHR_r7glbqjvw&s=19
But that didn’t stop eagle-eyed Liverpool fans from spotting the initial post and sharing it online, and it’s safe to say they aren’t happy.
Reacting to the initial comment, one fan wrote: “Darwin Nunez is a moron. We all wanted it to work but it hasn’t. He’s childish and not worth the hassle. Simple as that.”
Another frustrated fan added: “Darwin Nunez career is officially over. Just freeze him out and sell him in the summer.”
“It’s a shame, he has all the tools but he just can’t put them all together consistently enough to be elite. I think this has sealed his fate, it it already wasn’t sealed.”
Liverpool
Liverpool Fans React as Isaac Kearney’s Mum Explains Why He Won’t Be Inside Anfield for the Sunday Game
Liverpool Fans React as Isaac Kearney’s Mum Explains Why He Won’t Be Inside Anfield for the Sunday Game
The Liverpool fanbase has once again shown just how powerful its heart can be.
Over the past few days, social media has been buzzing with questions and concern surrounding young Liverpool supporter, Isaac Kearney. The pint-sized footballer, who recently went viral for captaining his local team to a league title, has captured the hearts of fans across the world—Reds and even rivals alike.
Liverpool
Liverpool fans completely stunned after finding out Arne Slot’s real name ahead of Premier League title win
Liverpool fans could not believe that their manager’s real name is not really “Arne Slot”.
Slot, 46, is likely to become a Premier League-winning manager when his Liverpool side face Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday, with the Reds needing just a point to be crowned champions.
As a result, he will be one of the most popular men on Merseyside. And when such achievements occur, several pets and even some children may likely be named “Arne” as a nod to the Dutchman.
But that isn’t actually his name, which fans found out to their surprise.
One fan said: “Mad when you find out the manager’s name isn’t actually Arne.”
Another added: “Just googled this. Not sure I’ll ever recover.”
A third commented: “This is how myths and legends die. Delete and we’ll pretend it never happened.”
While a fourth explained: “Like finding out Pepe Reina’s name was Jose the whole time.”
So what is the Liverpool head coach’s real name?
Well, according to Wikipedia the Dutchman’s name is “Arend Martijn Slot”.
And of course, his name will not be the talking point if Liverpool secure their 20th English top-flight title on Sunday.
Despite the excitement in the city in the days ahead, Slot is not one to get over excited and revealed he has allowed two days off for his players to be “fully focused” ahead of the clash against Spurs.
“I have to wait and see because I haven’t experienced it here yet but what I know from my time with Feyenoord is that of course there is a lot of noise and everybody is very excited, but at our training ground we are just focused on the training sessions we do and trying to prepare in the best possible way for Tottenham, which is a team where all the injuries are coming back and are a team that deserves our full attention,” said Slot in his post-match press conference after the Reds’ 1-0 win against Leicester last Sunday.
“The boys also have one or two days off during this week because we’ve planned that already a long time ago and hopefully they will enjoy some time with their loved ones and be fully focused when we are back together to work towards Tottenham.”
Liverpool
“We Won’t Be Attending the Game…” – Isaac Kearney’s Mum Shares a Heartfelt Message That Will Move Every Liverpool Fan
“We Won’t Be Attending the Game…” – Isaac Kearney’s Mum Shares a Heartfelt Message That Will Move Every Liverpool Fan
As Liverpool edges closer to Premier League glory, emotions are running high among fans—but for one young supporter and his family, this weekend holds even deeper meaning.
Isaac Kearney, a passionate young Liverpool fan known by many in the Anfield community, won’t be watching Sunday’s massive clash against Tottenham Hotspur from the stands. His mum shared a touching update today that has stirred hearts across the fan base:
“We won’t be attending the game, but we will be heading down to Anfield early to soak the atmosphere and watch it down there 
What a day it will be.”
This Sunday, April 27th, Liverpool hosts Tottenham at Anfield, with kickoff at 4:30 PM BST. The Reds need just one point to officially seal the Premier League title—a moment fans have dreamed of all season. For Isaac and his family, being close to the club, even outside the stadium, is more than enough.
They won’t be in the seats, but they’ll be where it matters most: in the heart of Anfield’s passion. Soaking in the cheers, the songs, the unity. Feeling the energy of a club that’s more than just football—it’s family.
Isaac’s story reminds us all that football is about more than goals and trophies. It’s about moments. It’s about connection. It’s about showing up—even when life throws you curveballs—and standing tall in the crowd.
As the anthem rings out and the game begins, thousands will be watching… and somewhere outside those gates, one boy’s dreams will still shine brightly. To Isaac, there’s no giving up.
Liverpool
Fans can’t believe what Crystal Palace posted moments after Arsenal draw to leave Liverpool on brink of the title
Fans can’t believe what Crystal Palace posted moments after Arsenal draw to leave Liverpool on brink of the title
Fans were left stunned by what Crystal Palace posted to X in the moments after their 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday.
Heading into the match, both teams’ attentions were arguably on other competitions as Palace will take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday, while Arsenal have a mouth-watering Champions League semi-final with PSG to look forward to next Tuesday.
However, Wednesday’s clash proved to be an entertaining affair, especially for Liverpool fans who watched on in anticipation as a Palace win would’ve seen them crowned as Premier League champions.
Three minutes before half time, Leandro Trossard put the home side ahead, but once again the Eagles equalised, this time via Jean-Phillipe Mateta, who netted a spectacular long-range strike with seven minutes left.
And despite the action on the pitch, it was what Palace posted to their social media channels that really got fans talking.
At 10:09 pm (BST), the Croydon club posted: “You’re welcome Liverpool…” to social media, seemingly about the fact Arne Slot’s side can now win the league in front of their supporters if they defeat Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday.
And fans were quick to give their thoughts on social media.
One said: “I forgive you for 2014.
“Good luck on Saturday lads!”
Another added: “I had to do a double take on the profile I deadass thought this was a troll account.”
A third explained: “Absolute legends. What a performance. Deserved to win. Forgive 1990 FA Cup semi, now.”
While a fourth commented: “If you’d made me guess which team made a tweet like this we’d all guess Palace. Steve Parish probably wrote it himself.
“Meant to be a Premier League club and they go on like they’re in League Two.”
Speaking after the match, Palace head coach Glasner expressed his delight with side’s performance.
“I’m really proud of the players and how they performed today,” Glasner told Palace TV.
“Also, being 1-0 down – and in the last two away games we conceded 10 goals – and then playing here at Emirates against an Arsenal side who are in great shape, it’s a tricky situation.
“But the reaction was great – it was unbelievable to be honest. We didn’t lose anything of our courage, we didn’t lose anything of our belief, and then we played forward. I think it was a really well-deserved draw, coming back twice.”
Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold tipped to make shock Liverpool U-turn after surprise ‘twist’ in Real Madrid saga
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure from Liverpool is in fresh doubt.
Liverpool supporters are resigned to losing their right-back, who has been on the books at his boyhood club for more than 20 years, when his contract expires at the end of the season.
The Reds are on the cusp of their second title win of the Premier League era and have announced chunky new deals for both Mo Salah and captain Virgil van Dijk this month.
Alexander-Arnold is expected to leave in the summer, having won everything there is to win with Liverpool and been tempted away by the challenge of playing for Real Madrid.
But it’s been reported that the England star’s switch to the Spanish capital is not as inevitable as Liverpool winning the title.
Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that the expected sacking of Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti changes the picture.
Ancelotti was instrumental in attracting Alexander-Arnold to the Bernabeu, according to Brown, and Football Insider reports that “the 26-year-old is believed to be asking questions and having second thoughts about the move” as a result.
“The right-back is also under pressure from fans and the club to stay at Anfield.”
With no deal agreed, Alexander-Arnold has the luxury of choice. Deciding to join Real Madrid on the basis of the head coach alone comes with obvious risk and Ancelotti is unlikely to have been the only factor in the player’s thinking.
A reunion with Jurgen Klopp is just one of the possible outcomes.
“I think there’s a chance he stays at Liverpool,” said Brown.
“It’s gone on throughout the season, there’s been so much talk, but it’s not signed yet.
“It looks to me like Madrid are entering a rebuilding phase, and that will cause uncertainty for Trent Alexander-Arnold because he might not fit under a new manager.”
Alexander-Arnold has won the Premier League and Champions League in a Liverpool shirt but is thought to be ready to call time on his time in England’s top division and prove himself at one of very few clubs that can further test his abilities.
He scored the goal that put Liverpool within one win of the title in Sunday’s win at Leicester City, revealing nothing and everything in his post-match interview on the pitch.
Liverpool
Three players who could miss Liverpool’s clash against Tottenham Hotspur with the title on the line
Liverpool vs Tottenham team news ahead of the Premier League fixture at Anfield.
Liverpool supporters will be heading to Anfield in buoyant mood. They might be expecting to return home in the wee hours. That is because the Premier League title could be secured with a victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
Kopites have not celebrated an English championship properly since 1990. The Covid-19 pandemic denied them the chance to toast the feat when Jurgen Klopp’s side ended the 30-year wait. But new generations are on the verge of experiencing what their parents and grandparents got to cherish throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.
One point is all it will take for Liverpool to claim the title. In truth, many would have been overjoyed that Arsenal drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. Reds fans want to celebrate it properly. Of course, it was a nice problem to have. But the potential feeling of winning the silverware at the full-time whistle will be euphoric.
Yet Liverpool still have to keep to their end of the bargain. Head coach Slot, captain Virgil van Dijk and the rest of the squad know there is still a job to do and that is to beat Tottenham.
But Slot is set to head into the fixture with almost a full complement of players yet again. Trent Alexander-Arnold returned from an ankle injury in emphatic style to score the winning goal at Leicester City. It will be intriguing if Alexander-Arnold.
The only member of the current Reds squad absent is Joe Gomez. The defender is working his way back from hamstring surgery. There is hope that Gomez will be able to play some part before the end of the campaign.
Slot’s troops will be heavy favourites to defeat Tottenham. Pressure is on Ange Postecoglou after their 2-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest earlier this week was their 18th league loss of the season. Spurs languish 16th in the table and their main focus for the rest of the season is on the Europa League. They face Bodo/ Glimt in the semi-finals, with the victors of the competitions earning a spot in next term’s Champions League.
The visitors will definitely be without centre-back Radu Dragusin, who has surgery from an ACL injury in February. Meanwhile, captain Heung-Min Son is a doubt. He has a foot issue and was absent against Forest.
Head coach Postecoglou left Destiny Udogie out of his squad for the Forest reverse but he could return. Meanwhile, centre-half duo Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero were substituted at half-time.
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