# 1969–70 Liverpool F.C. season

The 1969–70 season was Liverpool Football Club's 78th season in existence and their eighth consecutive season in the First Division. This was a disappointing season, as the team finished fifth in the league after a promising start to the season while city rivals Everton won the championship title. It was to be a season of transition with so many of the players who were part of the 1960s side being replaced after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Second Division Watford. It was also a season in which they were knocked out in the early rounds of the League Cup and Fairs Cup.
One player who gave so much great service Roger Hunt, a 1966 World Cup winner left the club after 286 goals in all competitions in December 1969 to join Bolton Wanderers.

## Squad
### Goalkeepers

* Ray Clemence
* Tommy Lawrence
* Grahame Lloyd

### Defenders

* Steve Arnold
* Gerry Byrne
* Chris Lawler
* Larry Lloyd
* John McLaughlin
* Ian Ross
* Tommy Smith
* Geoff Strong
* Peter Wall
* Ron Yeats

### Midfielders

* Ian Callaghan
* Brian Hall
* Emlyn Hughes
* Alec Lindsay
* Doug Livermore
* Ian St. John
* Peter Thompson

### Attackers

* Phil Boersma
* Alun Evans
* Roy Evans
* Bobby Graham
* Roger Hunt
* Steve Peplow

## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Division 1 | Division 1 | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Fairs Cup | Fairs Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | FW | ENG | Phil Boersma | 6 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ian Callaghan | 53 | 5 | 41+0 | 3 | 6+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 3+1 | 2 |
| | GK | ENG | Ray Clemence | 17 | 0 | 14+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Alun Evans | 25 | 9 | 17+2 | 3 | 1+1 | 2 | 1+0 | 1 | 2+1 | 3 |
| | DF | ENG | Roy Evans | 3 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Bobby Graham | 54 | 21 | 42+0 | 13 | 6+0 | 4 | 2+0 | 1 | 4+0 | 3 |
| | MF | SCO | Brian Hall | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Emlyn Hughes | 53 | 7 | 41+0 | 7 | 6+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Roger Hunt | 22 | 7 | 15+3 | 6 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+2 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Chris Lawler | 54 | 11 | 42+0 | 10 | 6+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 1 |
| | GK | SCO | Tommy Lawrence | 37 | 0 | 28+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Alec Lindsay | 7 | 2 | 4+2 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Doug Livermore | 14 | 0 | 13+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Larry Lloyd | 9 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | John McLaughlin | 1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Steve Peplow | 3 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Ian Ross | 13 | 2 | 7+0 | 1 | 4+1 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Tommy Smith | 45 | 7 | 36+0 | 4 | 3+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 3 |
| | FW | SCO | Ian St John | 36 | 7 | 25+1 | 5 | 6+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Geoff Strong | 46 | 3 | 34+0 | 3 | 6+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Peter Thompson | 49 | 7 | 39+0 | 3 | 4+0 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 3 |
| | DF | ENG | Peter Wall | 16 | 0 | 9+0 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Ron Yeats | 48 | 3 | 37+0 | 3 | 6+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Chelsea | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 70 | 50 | 1.400 | 55 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Derby County | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 64 | 37 | 1.730 | 53 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 5 | Liverpool | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 65 | 42 | 1.548 | 51 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 6 | Coventry City | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 58 | 48 | 1.208 | 49 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 7 | Newcastle United | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 57 | 35 | 1.629 | 47 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
* ↑ Chelsea qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1969-70 FA Cup winners.
* ↑ Derby County and Manchester United qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

## Results
### First Division

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Report 1 | Report 2 |
| 09-Aug-69 | Chelsea | H | 4–1 | Lawler 26' St. John 49', 83' Strong 60' | 48,383 | Report | Report |
| 12-Aug-69 | Manchester City | H | 3–2 | St. John 2', 88' Hunt 83' | 51,959 | Report | Report |
| 16-Aug-69 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–0 | Hughes 2' Lawler 37' | 50,474 | Report | Report |
| 20-Aug-69 | Manchester City | A | 2–0 | Graham 44', 80' | 47,888 | Report | Report |
| 23-Aug-69 | Burnley | H | 3–3 | Smith 36 pen', 77' Graham 49' | 51,113 | Report | Report |
| 27-Aug-69 | Crystal Palace | A | 3–1 | Hughes 36' Hunt 73' Thompson 82' | 36,369 | Report | Report |
| 30-Aug-69 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–1 | Lawler 42' | 33,600 | Report | Report |
| 06-Sep-69 | Coventry City | H | 2–1 | St. John 37' Strong 89' | 48,337 | Report | Report |
| 09-Sep-69 | Sunderland | H | 2–0 | Strong 12' Smith 34' | 46,370 | Report | Report |
| 13-Sep-69 | Manchester United | A | 0–1 | | 59,387 | Report | Report |
| 20-Sep-69 | Stoke City | H | 3–1 | Hunt 15' Hughes 22' Callaghan 64' | 45,745 | Report | Report |
| 27-Sep-69 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2–2 | Graham 25' Hunt 89' | 34,343 | Report | Report |
| 04-Oct-69 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–1 | Own Goal 50' | 44,859 | Report | Report |
| 07-Oct-69 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 0–0 | | 46,518 | Report | Report |
| 11-Oct-69 | Newcastle United | A | 0–1 | | 43,830 | Report | Report |
| 18-Oct-69 | Ipswich Town | A | 2–2 | Graham 8' Lindsay 76' | 23,263 | Report | Report |
| 25-Oct-69 | Southampton | H | 4–1 | Hughes 10' Hunt 83', 84' Own Goal 88' | 41,611 | Report | Report |
| 01-Nov-69 | Derby County | A | 0–4 | | 40,993 | Report | Report |
| 08-Nov-69 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–0 | | 39,114 | Report | Report |
| 15-Nov-69 | West Ham United | H | 2–0 | Lawler 27' Graham 60' | 39,668 | Report | Report |
| 22-Nov-69 | Leeds United | A | 1–1 | Yeats 31' | 43,293 | Report | Report |
| 29-Nov-69 | Arsenal | H | 0–1 | | 40,295 | Report | Report |
| 06-Dec-69 | Everton | A | 3–0 | Hughes 47' Own Goal 54' Graham 74' | 57,026 | Report | Report |
| 13-Dec-69 | Manchester United | H | 1–4 | Hughes 25' | 47,682 | Report | Report |
| 26-Dec-69 | Burnley | A | 5–1 | Ross 26' Graham 39' Lawler 44' Thompson 52' Callaghan 60' | 22,944 | Report | Report |
| 10-Jan-70 | Stoke City | A | 2–0 | Graham 33' Thompson 70' | 30,038 | Report | Report |
| 17-Jan-70 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1–1 | Lawler 70' | 43,526 | Report | Report |
| 31-Jan-70 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–1 | | 30,838 | Report | Report |
| 16-Feb-70 | Newcastle United | H | 0–0 | | 38,218 | Report | Report |
| 28-Feb-70 | Derby County | H | 0–2 | | 43,594 | Report | Report |
| 03-Mar-70 | Coventry City | A | 3–2 | Hughes 38' Evans 65', 72' | 29,497 | Report | Report |
| 07-Mar-70 | Leeds United | H | 0–0 | | 51,435 | Report | Report |
| 11-Mar-70 | Southampton | A | 1–0 | Evans 43' | 23,239 | Report | Report |
| 14-Mar-70 | Arsenal | A | 1–2 | Yeats 83' | 32,333 | Report | Report |
| 16-Mar-70 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 3–0 | Lawler 50' Yeats 63' Graham 68' | 31,931 | Report | Report |
| 21-Mar-70 | Everton | H | 0–2 | | 54,496 | Report | Report |
| 24-Mar-70 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–0 | Callaghan 32' Smith 43 pen' | 29,548 | Report | Report |
| 28-Mar-70 | West Ham United | A | 0–1 | | 38,239 | Report | Report |
| 30-Mar-70 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–0 | Lawler 43' | 32,754 | Report | Report |
| 03-Apr-70 | Crystal Palace | H | 3–0 | Graham 16', 48' Lawler 47' | 30,999 | Report | Report |
| 15-Apr-70 | Sunderland | A | 1–0 | Lawler 86' | 33,007 | Report | Report |
| 18-Apr-70 | Chelsea | A | 1–2 | Graham 27' | 36,521 | Report | Report |

### Football League Cup

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Report 1 | Report 2 |
| 03-Sep-69 | Watford | H | 2–1 | Own Goal 6' St. John 75' | 21,149 | Report | Report |
| 24-Sep-69 | Manchester City | A | 2–3 | Evans 21' Graham 67' | 28,019 | Report | Report |

### FA Cup

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Report 1 | Report 2 |
| 07-Jan-70 | Coventry City | A | 1–1 | Graham 30' | 33,688 | Report | Report |
| 12-Jan-70 | Coventry City | H | 3–0 | Ross 39' Thompson 54' Graham 72' | 51,261 | Report | Report |
| 24-Jan-70 | Wrexham | H | 3–1 | Graham 51', 73' St. John 59' | 54,096 | Report | Report |
| 07-Feb-70 | Leicester City | H | 0–0 | | 53,785 | Report | Report |
| 11-Feb-70 | Leicester City | A | 2–0 | Evans 64', 90' | 42,100 | Report | Report |
| 21-Feb-70 | Watford | A | 0–1 | | 34,047 | Report | Report |

### Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Report 1 | Report 2 |
| 16-Sep-69 | Dundalk | H | 10–0 | Evans 1', 38' Lawler 10' Smith 24', 67' Graham 36', 82' Lindsay 56' Thompson 69' Callaghan 76' | 32,656 | Report | Report |
| 30-Sep-69 | Dundalk | A | 4–0 | Thompson 13', 31' Graham 48' Callaghan 81' | 6,000 | Report | Report |
| 12-Nov-69 | Vitória de Setúbal | A | 0–1 | | 16,000 | Report | Report |
| 26-Nov-69 | Vitória de Setúbal | H | 3–2 | Smith 60 pen' Evans 88' Hunt 90' | 41,633 | Report | Report |