Shame and confusion were two words you might not associate with an emphatic 11-0 victory, but they were just two of the emotions on the Liverpool pitch in their record-setting outing in 1974.
The year is 1974, the Reds just lost transformational legend Bill Shankly after he announced his surprising retirement after 15 years and 783 games in the top job.
His right-hand man, Bob Paisley, was the man who rose to the position of manager, a reluctant successor who eventually turned everything he touched to gold.
And it didn’t take long for him to make one of Shankly’s records his own, and he did it with the visit of Norwegian Stromsgodset in the European Cup Winners’ Cup on September 17, 1974.
How many reds did they score?
The visit to Stromsgodset was only Paisley’s tenth game in charge of the Reds, but a record of six wins, two draws and a single loss made the foundations more than solid.
However, few would have predicted what would unfold against the Norwegian side at Anfield that night.
“It’s a little embarrassing, but if we had been playing, people would have said they didn’t get value,” Paisley said after the game, and value is exactly what fans got.
With a tune of 11-0, the biggest victory in the history of Liverpool.
The tone of the match was set within two minutes when goalkeeper Inge Thun conceded a penalty, Alec Lindsay coming forward to make it 1-0.
It was the first domino to fall in a ruthless first half for the Reds, with five goals scored in 45 minutes of football.
Phil Boersma scored the Reds’ second 10 minutes after the first, Phil Thompson had the third after 30 minutes, and Boersma added his second shortly after before a Steve Heighway goal closed out the half.
Liverpool XI: Clemency; Smith, Thompson, Hughes, Lindsay, Cormack, Boersma, Hall, Heighway, Kennedy, Callaghan
Goals: Lindsay 3′, Boersma 13′, 40′, Thompson 30′, 72′, Heighway 42′, Cormack 65′, Hughes 76′, Smith 85′, Callaghan 87′, Kennedy 88′
The longest break in the match was just 20 minutes, when Stromsgodset emerged from the half-time break with a fire in his stomach that would soon die down.
Peter Cormack was Liverpool’s fifth different goalscorer after being the quickest to react to a clearance that fell in his direction, with Thompson scoring his second of the night moments later.
Not to be left out of the fun, Emlyn Hughes saw Thompson’s header and saved one of his own before Tommy Smith, Ian Callaghan and Ray Kennedy found the net in the final five minutes.
Eleven goals, nine different scorers. A record victory.
“They are the best team we have played against… better than Arsenal, who beat us years ago, and Leeds, who beat us last year. They were too good for us fans,” said Stromsgodset president Josef Mathisen.
48 years and counting
“In the second half, I was confused with all the goals. I even had a chat with Emlyn Hughes to try to find out what the score was,” was Thompson’s assessment after the game.
Long story short, midfielder Brian Hall was the only outfield player not to score that night.
Stromsgodset were part-time workers and the Echo at the time assessed: “Stromsgodset did their best, but it wasn’t good enough to give them a chance.
“They were clean and sporting, and for that they will be remembered, but they didn’t have a player to threaten Liverpool’s overwhelming control. The word surpassed was an understatement.”
While Paisley’s men put on a show that would be hard to take your eyes off, Kop didn’t miss an opportunity to show his wits when a cat ran onto the pitch during the scoring spree.
Perhaps he was trying to give the Norwegians a respite from the attack!
However, it was not enough to prevent Liverpool from racking up 11 goals and setting a new club record for their biggest win of all time, which stands firmly in place more than 48 years later.
The victory surpassed the Reds’ previous record of 10-0, set by Paisley’s predecessor, Shankly, in a resounding victory over Dundalk in 1969.
When Liverpool and Stromsgodset met a fortnight later in the second leg of the first round tie, the score was certainly more respectable with the Reds only finding the net once in a 1-0 win.
Paisley’s side would only achieve one more round of the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1974/75 thanks to the away goal rule, and he played his part in what turned out to be the manager’s only trophyless season.
