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Our series of articles will start with a look at Tranmere Rovers legend John Aldridge, who represented the club so well not only in a playing capacity but as a manager as well.
Legend is often an over used word in football, but when used to describe "Aldo", the greatest goalscorer in English football since the Second World War, it is certainly not being used lightly.
Scouser Aldridge started his career with non-League club South Liverpool, before moving on to Newport County and then Oxford United, whom he helped propel up the Football League from Division Three to Division One during the 1980s.
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Aldridge was signed for the club he supported as a boy to replace the out-going Ian Rush, who had joined Italian giants Juventus, and it was a case of one natural goalscorer being replaced by another as Aldridge slotted perfectly into the Liverpool side.
Perhaps most famous for being the first person to miss a penalty in a Cup Final at Wembley as Liverpool lost 1-0 against Wimbledon in the F.A. Cup in 1988, Aldridge still managed to score an impressive 64 goals in 106 for the Anfield club, including one strike during the F.A. Cup final win over Everton at Wembley in 1989, a game that Liverpool won 3-2.
However, when Rush re-joined Liverpool in 1989, it was Aldridge who would lose his place in the side. In the same year, Aldridge moved to Spanish club Real Sociedad after Liverpool accepted a £1,000,000 bid for the player, with Aldo becoming the first non-Basque player signed by the club.
Aldo scored 33 goals in 63 games for the Sociedad, but he and his family longed for a move back to England, and preferably as close to their native Liverpool as possible.
In July 1991, that move home came. Aldridge heard that Tranmere manager John King was interested in signing him, and a move back to Merseyside to join the Division Two side interested the striker.
On July 11th 1991, Aldo was signed by Tranmere for a bargain price of £250,000, with Rovers funded by Owner Peter Johnson. With Johnson giving the cash, and manager King spending it wisely, Tranmere had potential and Aldridge saw that. They had already avoided relegation out of the Football League in 1987 with 1-0 win over Exeter, Rovers had been on the move up the divisions, being promoted twice to get from Division Four to Division Two and appeared in two Leyland Daf trophy finals, winning one, between 1987 and 1991.
With Aldridge's arrival, Tranmere now had the best finisher outside the Premier Division. On debut against Brighton and Hove Albion, Aldridge scored twice in a 2-0 win for Tranmere. A new star had just arrived, and the beginning of a love affair with the Wirral club had just begun.
To put it simply, the man was a natural goalscorer. In his first season with the club, Aldo netted forty times, a record for goals in one season by a Tranmere striker that still stands today, and a record that is highly unlikely to ever be beaten.
The striker stayed with the club for seven years, eventually finishing with a total of 174 goals in 294 games for Tranmere, meaning he is the clubs second leading scorer of all time, behind Ian Muir only.
There really aren't enough superlatives to describe Aldridges' ability in the penalty area. Balls would be fed into the box by wingers Pat Nevin and Jonny Morrisey, and Aldridge would just appear out of nowhere, surprising the opposition player as he darted in front of him, timing his run to perfection to pick up the cross and score.
It is probably Tranmere manager John King who described the striker best, as in 1991, when Aldo joined the club, Kingy said "Aldridge is like a gunslinger, he shows no emotion. He kills people and goes away".
He made his final appearance as a player for the Wirral club against Wolverhampton Wanderers on May 3rd 1998, the final day of the 1997/98 season. He signed off with two goals in a 2-1 win for Tranmere, of which one was, of course, a trademark penalty, that included that Aldridge stutter as he ran up to hit the ball.
As a player with Rovers, Aldo helped Tranmere to three consecutive play-offs to reach the Premier Division, all of which ultimately, and sadly, ended in failure, whilst in the 1993/94 season, Aldridge helped Tranmere to the League Cup Semi-Finals, where Tranmere were devistatingly knocked out by Aston Villa thanks to the away goals rule.
It was then that Aldo signed off his career, at the age of 39, with a win, and having played 739 games and scored a quite increadible 411 goals, the most any player has scored in English football since the Second World War.
A striker of Aldridge's quality of course could not go without an international cap either, and in 1987, he was recruited to play for the Republic of Ireland.
It took the striker plenty of time to get off the mark for his country, 20 matches in total, Aldo finished his international career with a tally of 19 goals from 69 games, then a Republic of Ireland record leading goalscorer, as well as being the player to have won the most caps whilst with Tranmere Rovers.
By the time Aldridge retired from playing in 1998, he was already the Tranmere Rovers managed, and had been since the controversial sacking of successful manager John King in 1996.
Aldridge had his moments as a manager too. Despite a lack of transfer funds after Peter Johnson withdrew his interest in the club, Aldo consistently kept Tranmere punching above their weight in what was now known as Division One for several seasons.
He helped to develop the likes of Alan Mahon, Jason Koumas, Steve Simonson and Clint Hill into exceptional players for their level, and it was he who signed players such as David Kelly, Steve Yates, Gareth Roberts, John Achterberg and Andy Parkinson - players who too would go on to become remembered for their efforts in the white shirt.
Aldridge's time as manager at Tranmere though will, without doubt, be most remembered for the clubs increadible cup runs that the club achieved during the 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 seasons.
In the 1999/2000 season, Tranmere reached the League Cup Final, having beaten Premier League sides Middlesbrough (2-1) and Coventry City (5-1) along the way, as well as beating Barnsley (4-0) and Bolton (1-0 and 3-0 in the Semi-Final). However, Rovers lost 2-1 in the final to Leicester City at Wembley, with David Kelly, the competitions leading scorer for that season, scoring the Tranmre goal.
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The real F.A. Cup drama though was saved for the next season. Rovers again reached the Quarter Finals, and having beaten Fulham away in the Third Round, Tranmere travelled to Goodison Park for their Fourth Round match and, fourteen years to the day since Aldridge had signed for Liverpool, his Tranmere side beat Everton 3-0 away. Their prize was a Fifth Round tie with Southampton, and after drawing the away game 0-0, Rovers won the replay 4-3 at Prenton Park, having trailed 3-0 at half-time. Even this achievement eclipsed Rovers Third Round League Cup win over Leeds United in the same season, when they came from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
Eventually, Tranmere were knocked out of the F.A. Cup at the Quarter Final stage at Prenton Park by Liverpool (4-2) but perhaps their cup run had cost them, as Aldo's side were relegated in the 2000/01 season, finishing bottom of Division One, with Aldridge resigning before the end of the season.
Despite this relegation though, Aldridge was a decent manager for Tranmere, and a quite superb player. Only Ian Muir has scored more goals for the club, although some would argue Aldo was a much better player. It is unlikely that the likes of him will be seen ever again at Prenton Park.
Now approaching 50, Aldridge is heavily involved in media work for local radio station Radio City, covering Liverpool's matches for the station, but he has never got back into management.
Check back next Wednesday for as we check in with another blast from the past as we take a look at another Tranmere legend.