Ian Rush: 'My biggest regret is not getting the chance to play with Maradona'

Former Liverpool favourite Ian Rush played alongside some of the biggest names in world football over a two-decade career, from Kenny Dalglish to Michael Laudrup.

With Liverpool, he won the European Cup once and the old English First Division five times as well as three FA Cups, and was named PFA Player of the Year in 1984.

The Welshman replaced Michel Platini as Juventus’ marquee foreign player in 1986, who in turn had taken the mantle from Liam Brady before leading the Old Lady to a league title.

Rush’s year in Turin was to prove unhappy on the pitch – if a pivotal one in his personal development – but the striker reveals one other reason for regretting his time in Italy.

“Napoli tried to sign me just after they signed Maradona in ‘84 and the chairman at the time Sir John Smith didn’t let me go,” said Rush at the Aviva Stadium on Monday morning.

“My biggest regret is probably not getting the opportunity to play with Maradona. I was lucky enough to play against him but never got to play with him, unfortunately.

“To even be on the same pitch as him was absolutely incredible. He made such a big impact everywhere he went.

When he went to Napoli they were just an average side and he then won the league for them and also won the World Cup for Argentina so that in itself tells its own story.

“When he went from Barcelona to Napoli, when he went to Napoli they were just an average side.

“He then won the league for them and also won the World Cup for Argentina so that in itself tells its own story.”



Napoli are the opposition for Liverpool in this season’s big pre-season friendly at the Aviva Stadium, which has been pencilled in for Saturday, August 4th, just after the conclusion of the World Cup in Russia.

Last season saw the Reds in action against Athletic Bilbao, while Manchester United faced off against Italian side Sampdoria.

This time around, it’s Liverpool who face Italian opposition in the form of Napoli – but unlike Samp the Neopolitans could arrive in Dublin as Serie A champions.

Liverpool, for their part, stand a very good chance of being European champions at that stage, with another Italian side – Roma – standing between them and a final date in Kiev in May.

To take it full circle, Roma provided the opposition – and the venue at the Olympic Stadium in Rome – when Rush helped the Reds to win the European Cup in 1983-84.

Liverpool host Roma at Anfield tonight – the visitors won both of their knockout ties against Shakthar Donetsk and Barcelona on away goals – before travelling to Rome next week.



And Rush can’t help but be reminded of the circumstances that led to his biggest achievement as a player, scoring a penalty in the shoot-out win after it finished 1-1 after 120 minutes.

Rush continued: “Going into Roma, it’s like going into the Coliseum. It doesn’t matter if you lose and all that. We were probably a bit more relaxed than we would have been.

“But to go there and win is an absolutely amazing feat. It brings back so many memories when you mention Roma and everything.

“So many things happened during the game with the penalty situation and everything, the singing before the game, so it all adds up. That’s what makes Liverpool the way we are.

“We had a great team spirit and I think that got us through that. I can see it in this Liverpool team now – you can see a really good team spirit coming in this Liverpool side now.

“They get that from the manager. We had Joe Fagan, and he let us get on with it, and he was talking to everyone.

“Jurgen Klopp does exactly the same to this side, so I can see the similarity of the team spirit from ’84 to that’s at Liverpool now.”