He played 18 times for Liverpool when they secured League championship in 1988, losing just two out of 40 league games. Unfortunately, the emergence of fellow young defender Gary Ablett forced Dalglish into reshaping his defence and Venison was the player who lost his place in the team as a result. He was also hampered by injury and was unavailable for that season's FA Cup final, which Liverpool unexpectedly lost to Wimbledon.