[citation needed] Despite interest from Manchester United, and in spite of Rush being a boyhood Everton fan, Liverpool won the race to sign the 19-year-old in April 1980, though he had to remain at Chester until the end of the season as the transfer deadline (27 March 1980) had passed.

He was standing in for his future strike-partner, Kenny Dalglish (out with an ankle injury but at the time one of the most highly rated strikers in the world), and wore his No 7 shirt.

For the European Cup campaign Rush also made one appearance; in the semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich, but he was left out of the squad for the final.

They also won their fourth European Cup by defeating AS Roma 4–2 on penalties (Rush made it 3–2 before Bruce Grobbelaar's famous 'jelly legs' antics) following a 1–1 draw after extra time.

Everton opened the scoring when Gary Lineker outpaced Alan Hansen to shoot past Grobbelaar at the second attempt and held this lead until half-time.

In the second half Liverpool drew level in the 57th minute when Rush latched onto a pass from Jan Mølby to round Everton goalkeeper Bobby Mimms and slot the ball into an empty net.

[29] After attracting much interest from top European sides, Rush accepted an offer to sign for Italian club Juventus on 2 July 1986 for a British record transfer fee of £3.2m.

[36] After just one season at the Stadio Comunale, he returned to Anfield, rejoining Liverpool for £2.7m on 18 August 1988 – a record signing for an English club at the time, which remained unbroken for three years.

Rush's former strike partner Kenny Dalglish (who had been appointed player-manager in 1985) was still registered as a player but by then he was in his 37th year and rarely played in the first team, retiring completely in 1990.

Arsenal needed to win by a two-goal margin to become champions, with a last-minute Michael Thomas goal famously giving them the title.

[46] 1990–91 saw Rush continue to score regularly and Liverpool led the table from the start of the season until January, having won their opening eight league games, but they were then overhauled by Arsenal and on 22 February 1991 Dalglish announced his resignation as manager.

[47] In 1992, he picked up a third FA Cup winners' medal, scoring Liverpool's second goal, in the 67th minute, in the 2–0 win against Second Division Sunderland at Wembley.

[48] He topped the goalscoring charts once again in 1993–94 with 19 goals, beginning the season with Nigel Clough as his strike partner until the brilliant young Robbie Fowler broke into the first team.

It was another disappointing season for Liverpool as they continued to perform unremarkably in the Premier League and Souness stepped down in late January following a shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Bristol City.

[49] Rush picked up his fifth League Cup winner's medal in 1995, when two goals from Steve McManaman saw off a spirited challenge from outsiders Bolton Wanderers, as Liverpool triumphed 2–1.

Earlier in the competition Rush scored a hat-trick as Liverpool beat Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, the team who would go on to win the Premier League that season.

[50] The 1995 close season saw Liverpool pay a national record fee of £8.4million for Nottingham Forest striker Stan Collymore, putting Rush's future at Anfield in doubt.

A hugely disappointing game looked to be heading for extra time and even a replay until Eric Cantona scored a late winner to give Manchester United a 1–0 victory.

Rush spent a season with Leeds and scored three times in 36 Premier League games and was given a free transfer at the end of the 1996–97 campaign.

[54] He then linked up with Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle United on a one-year contract but lost his place in the side after Christmas, when Alan Shearer returned from a long-term injury.

[56] He went on loan to Sheffield United later in the season, before leaving St James's Park in the summer of the year 1998 to sign, amid much fanfare, for Wrexham.

The 37-year-old less athletic Rush failed to score in 17 Division Two starts for the North Wales club, and was moved into midfield near the end of the season.

He made a brief playing comeback with Sydney Olympic in Australia, scoring one goal in two games, before finally retiring, aged 38, in 2000 ending an illustrious career.

[61] After working as a part-time striker's coach for Liverpool under Gerard Houllier in 2003,[62] he was appointed manager of his first professional club, Chester City (by this time in Football League Two), in August 2004.

After losing 3–1 at Boston United in their first game in charge, they strung together a two-month unbeaten run and he led the club to the FA Cup third round.

Rush seemed to be answering his critics, including former Liverpool teammate Mark Lawrenson, who doubted whether his tactical and coaching abilities could match his striking history.

Despite pressure from chairman Stephen Vaughan, Rush refused to resign after a humiliating 5–0 loss to neighbours Shrewsbury Town in February 2005.

[70] In 2005, at the age of 43, Rush considered coming out of retirement to play for Total Network Solutions, after the Welsh side were drawn against Liverpool for their opening round UEFA Champions League qualifying match, but later decided against this.

[75] On 7 September 2007 it was announced that Rush had been appointed Elite Performance Director for the Welsh Football Trust, a part-time role in which he would help develop the next generation of players for Wales' national teams.

[80] In August 2014, Rush was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.