Ange Postecoglou has explained why Anfield still hits him emotionally, with the Australian admitting a lifelong Liverpool obsession that began with Kenny Dalglish and never really left him.
The 60-year-old former Tottenham head coach shared the story while speaking on Stick to Football, via The Overlap on YouTube, describing how Liverpool became the centre of his football world as a boy.
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“I was Liverpool mad, right? I was Liverpool obsessed.”
It’s not the first time he’s discussed a love for the Reds but that obsession intensified when Kenny Dalglish arrived on Merseyside in 1977, because Postecoglou said it changed everything about how he watched the game.
“When Kenny [Dalglish] came in ’77, it went to another level for me.”
Postecoglou also spoke about his father’s influence, and how the Scot’s “magic” became something they bonded over, to the point where it stayed with him long after childhood ended.
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Postecoglou’s Anfield promise and the Kenny Dalglish coincidence
The most striking part of the story was not really about tactics or management, but about a personal moment Postecoglou carried into his first season managing in the Premier League.
Postecoglou explained that his father died while he was working in Japan, meaning he never saw the later stages of his career that eventually took him to Celtic and then Tottenham.
When Tottenham played at Anfield in his first season, Postecoglou said he made a promise to himself, arriving early because he likes walking out before the stadium fills and the noise properly starts.
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“I promised myself I said, ‘Look, you know, I’m going to walk through the tunnel beneath the sign just for my dad just, you know [to say] we kind of made it’.”
Then came the surreal part, because Postecoglou said a voice called his name, and it was Kenny Dalglish.
Postecoglou described instantly feeling like a child again, caught between professional focus and a lifetime of admiration.
“I turn around and it’s Sir Kenny.”
Postecoglou said that moment ended with a realisation that still makes him smile, because it was the living version of a childhood poster coming to life.
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“I’ve just walked through the Anfield tunnel with Kenny Dalglish, the guy that I had on my walls.”
Why Dalglish’s Liverpool legacy still reaches across the world
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
There is a reason this story lands with Liverpool supporters, because Kenny Dalglish’s impact has never been limited to those who grew up locally.
The Glasgow-born forward joined us from Celtic for £440,000 on 10 August 1977 and built an era-defining record that still feels ridiculous when you lay it out cleanly.
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Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool record
Those numbers help explain why an Australian kid could become “Liverpool obsessed” in the first place, because Dalglish blended output with an identity that felt uniquely ours.
Postecoglou’s story also links neatly with the modern rivalry angle, because Mo Salah’s message after Tottenham’s Europa League success showed there is still respect for big personalities across the game, even when they are not wearing our shirt.
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That is the thing about Liverpool’s history, and particularly the Dalglish years, because it continues to shape other careers in ways we do not always see.
And when a Premier League manager admits Anfield is the one place that made him feel something real, it reminds us why the stadium still matters, even in a sport obsessed with what is next.
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