Liverpool's 1989-90 league winning team: where are they now?

They were the champion players who last took Liverpool to League glory…

But who was celebrating in the Anfield team of 1989-90 and what are they doing now?

Bruce Grobbelaar

The clown of Anfield, keeper Grobbelaar was famous for his ‘wobbly legs’ penalty shoot out or his handstand celebrations. He left the club in mid ’94 going to Southampton. He returned to his native South Africa in the late ‘90s and in May 2018 became goalkeeping coach for the Matabeleland football team.

Alan Hansen

Midfielder Hansen was captain of the squad and coming to the end of his career. The Scot retired from the game in 1991 and, after rejecting management, made his name as a pundit with Sky TV and on Match of the Day from 1992 to 2014. He’s taken part in charity golf tournaments, hosted and presented sport documentaries and appeared in TV ads for Carlsberg, Morrisons and Walkers crisps.

Steve Nicol

Defender Nicol moved into management, first with Notts County before heading to the US. He is now a commentator for ESPN FC.

Gary Ablett

Local lad Gary played for nine seasons with LFC before skipping across Stanley Park to Goodison. He later played for lower league clubs before ending his playing career in the States, and moving into coaching including Liverpool U21. Gary sadly died, aged 46, in 2012, following a 16-month battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Steve McMahon

After management here and in Australia, Halewood-born Steve kicked off a career in the media Since 2006, he has been working as a football pundit in Singapore with ESPN Star Sports, and is head coach for talent-spotting scheme Million Dollar Feet in Malaysia. He’s also a director at football coaching company Bootroom Academies alongside former Liverpool manager Roy Evans.

🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌 🙌🙌🙌
That’s it! 🔴@LFC are #PremierLeague Champions! 😍 ❤️

What an incredible season it’s been from #Jurgen & the boys. ✨

From all of us @TheGuideLpool…ENJOY 🤩 🎉 🎆#LFC #LiverpoolFC #Liverpool pic.twitter.com/KLzrCrQnW3

— The Guide Liverpool 🌇 (@TheGuideLpool) June 25, 2020

Gary Gillespie

Since retirement Gillespie has served regularly as an expert summariser for Liverpool matches on BBC Radio Merseyside and is a regular member of the commentary team on the official Liverpool TV channel, LFC TV. He also continues to represent Liverpool in their veterans’ side.

David Burrows

Burrows made more than 400 first-team appearances at Anfield and holds the record for the second fastest goal scored in a Merseyside derby – just 48 seconds from kick-off. After retiring in 2003 he spent time in amateur football before emigrating to South West France with his wife and three children. There, they have bought a couple of properties to rent with Burrows taking care of the maintenance.

Ronnie Whelan

The Irish midfielder now works on the after-dinner circuit and does some punditry, featuring regularly on RTÉ Sport‘s soccer programming, including its Premier League and UEFA Champions League coverage.

Ray Houghton

After returning to one of his former clubs Crystal Palace as a coach (including a brief spell as assistant manager) Ray moved into the media world and is now an established football pundit working for Sky Sports and talkSPORT. He also works as a co-commentator and game analyst on Irish TV network RTE and has also worked as a consultant on the Football Manager series of games.

John Barnes

Rarely away from our screens, footie legend Barnes competed in the 2007 edition of Strictly Come Dancing, lasting until week eight, and in 2018 as a contestant on Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother.

In March 2019, he joined football manager Harry Redknapp in ‘Harry’s Heroes’ in which a number of ex-professionals went on a weight loss journey with the end goal of playing a team of ex-Germany internationals and this year he was Harry’s assistant manager in a second series.

Mostly, though, we see him as a pundit and match analyst on a number of sports channels including Sky Sports, ESPN and South African channel SuperSport.

Barry Venison

Proud one-time owner of the best mullet in Anfield, Venison left the Reds in 1992 and had three years with Newcastle Utd and a short spell at Galatasaray (recruited by his old mate Souness) before ending his playing career at Southampton. He went on to be a Sky Sports pundit from 1997-2002 and played himself in a cameo in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager. He moved to the US in 2003 and became technical director and then head coach at Orange County Blues. He still lives in California, but with much shorter hair.

Steve Staunton

Irish defender Steve made 65 appearances during his first stint with Liverpool including the 1990 season. He returned to Anfield in 1998, then had spells at Villa, Coventry and Walsall. He was named manager of the Republic of Ireland in 2006, but when the team failed to qualify for the 2008 Europeans he was replaced. Management and scouting roles at Leeds, Wolves, Darlington and Sunderland followed. Since leaving Sunderland in 2013 he’s focused on charitable work with the Stephen Staunton Foundation.

Glenn Hysén

Alongside Hansen, the big Swede and his well-timed tackling were a major part of the Reds 89/90 win but after Dalglish went and Hysén struggled with injuries he left in 1992. He went back to Sweden to play for GAIS and go into management, then after he retired he went into punditry for Swedish TV. Showing off some expert footwork familiar to Reds fans, he appeared as a celebrity contestant in Let’s Dance 2014. He’s also had his own reality TV show called Hyséns featuring with his son Anton.

In a season filled with highlights, we take a look at six momentous matches that were pivotal in @LFC’s march to the title. #Champions

👉 https://t.co/hN5CxBaZKk pic.twitter.com/eqTKt4FTbt

— The Guide Liverpool 🌇 (@TheGuideLpool) June 25, 2020

Ian Rush

After a retiring from playing Rush embarked on a coaching career and worked as a striker coach on a part-time basis for Liverpool under Gerard Houllier.

He got his first managerial appointment in 2004 with Chester City but he resigned in April 2005 after a fallout with the board.

Since then Rushy’s been a pundit for ESPN and Sky Sports, and written his autobiography.

He still has strong links with Liverpool and has worked as an ambassador for the club’s soccer schools and helped their commercial team develop and support partnerships with global sponsors and brands.

Ronny Rosenthal

The former forward, ‘Rocket’ Ronny Rosenthal finally hung up his boots in 1999 after a spell with Watford where he helped them gain promotion from the old Second Division. Since retiring he has been working as a football consultant in England.

John Aldridge

Aldridge is now a pundit with various media organisations – most notably Radio City with for whom he commentates on Liverpool’s home and away games. He also continues to play in the Liverpool veterans’ team and, in 1999, published his autobiography.

In 2006, he gained celebrity in Ireland by appearing in RTÉ’s Charity You’re A Star competition where, despite not having a natural singing voice, Aldridge won the competition and in the process raised money for his nominated charity Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

Peter Beardsley

After retiring from playing, Beardsley moved back to England from Australia to take a coaching role at former club Newcastle United until 2006. He spent the next three years working in a marketing and PR role within St James Park, returning as an academy coach at Newcastle in 2009 before moving up to reserve team manager a year later, and then into a football development role for the club’s academy.

He also managed the club’s under-21 and under-23 sides but in January 2018, took a period of leave after allegations of racism and bullying. Although he denied the claims he was found guilty by the FA and suspended from all football related activity for 32 weeks.

Jan Molby

Great Dane Jan Molby spent 12 years in midfield with Liverpool before leaving to be player-manager at Swansea.

In 2009, Molby was awarded ‘Honorary Scouser’ status by the city of Liverpool by then Lord Mayor, Councillor Steve Councillor Rotherham, for ‘helping to make Liverpool great and acting as a tremendous ambassador for the city’.

Now popular in the media, Jan has worked for Viasat as a commentator, on TV3+ and Danish TV 2 channel. He also summarises on English games for BBC Radio 5 Live.

What a city. What a team ❤️ #LFC pic.twitter.com/XdaRkmGe1E

— The Guide Liverpool 🌇 (@TheGuideLpool) June 25, 2020

Kenny Dalglish

By then player manager, King Kenny – or rather Sir Kenny, MBE as he now is – left the club in 1991 to concentrate on management.

Between 2000 and 2010, he focused on charitable concerns, founding The Marina Dalglish Appeal with his wife to raise money for cancer care.

In January 2011, Dalglish returned to Liverpool for a spell as caretaker manager after the dismissal of Roy Hodgson, becoming the permanent manager in May 2011. Despite winning the League Cup which earned them a place in the UEFA Europa League, and reaching the FA Cup Final, Liverpool only finished 8th in the Premier League, and Dalglish left in May 2012.

Unable to stay away though, Kenny returned to Anfield in October 2013, as a non-executive director, and Anfield’s Centenary Stand was renamed after him in May 2017.