David Fairclough (born 5 January 1957) is an English retired professional footballer, most famous for playing for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

as a striker during the 1970s and 1980s.

Life and playing career

Known affectionately as ''Supersub'' (because he was a talented goalscorer who, in comparison with other players, rarely started matches for Liverpool – but frequently came into the match as a substitute to make an impact), Fairclough was born in inner city Liverpool and as a child moved to the new Cantril Farm housing estate in the 1960s due to slum clearances. He rose through the Liverpool ranks as a teenager and made his debut for the club on 1 November 1975 in the 1–0 league win over

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in the Ayresome area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It ...

. As the season progressed, Fairclough scored seven crucial goals in just 14 appearances to land Liverpool the League championship. Nine of these appearances were as substitute. His first goal for the club came three days after his debut on 4 November 1975, during the 6–0 defeat of Spanish side

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

in a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

2nd round 2nd leg tie. The pecking order of strikers at the club saw Fairclough trailing behind the 'dream duo' of

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...

and

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

, as well as

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

centre forward David Johnson. In the 1976–77 season, Fairclough made more appearances as a substitute, because of a succession of injuries to Toshack. His most famous Liverpool goal came at

as a substitute in a crucial

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

quarter final against the French side St Etienne. Liverpool had been a goal adrift from the first leg in France, and when they went 2–1 up in the home return, the

aggregate score There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

was level at 2–2 but St Etienne led on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. Liverpool's manager

Bob Paisley Robert Paisley (23 January 1919 – 14 February 1996) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a wing-half. He spent almost 50 years with Liverpool and is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time. ...

sent Fairclough on in the last 20 minutes of the game and with six minutes remaining, Fairclough ran on to a long ball upfield and held off two St Etienne defenders to score the tie's decisive goal at the Kop end. ITV commentator

Gerald Sinstadt Gerald Morris Sinstadt (19 February 1930 – 10 November 2021) was an English sports commentator, broadcaster and newspaper columnist. Early life Born in Folkestone, Kent, Sinstadt attended The Harvey Grammar School. Broadcasting career Sinst ...

remarked: "Supersub strikes again!" Liverpool won the League title again and reached both the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

and the European Cup final in Rome. Fairclough was not selected for the Wembley squad as Paisley named veteran winger

Ian Callaghan Ian Robert Callaghan (born 10 April 1942) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He holds the record for most appearances for Liverpool. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in th ...

as the substitute, and Liverpool lost to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. However, he was a substitute in Rome as Liverpool won 3–1. The following season, Fairclough scored a goal in each leg as Liverpool thrashed Keegan's

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

7–1 on aggregate in the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

. Liverpool reached the European Cup final again and this time Fairclough started the match. A 1–0 victory over

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

retained the trophy for Liverpool. He managed 29 league appearances that season, scoring 10 goals, but the Reds were beaten to both the league title and the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

by newly promoted

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

under

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

. In 1978–79, Liverpool regained their league championship crown but Fairclough did not play enough games to seal another title medal, as he had played just four times in the league, scoring twice. Fairclough scored his only Liverpool

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on 9 February 1980 in the thrilling 5–3 league victory over

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

. His goals came in the 4th, 18th and 75th minutes, with

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

and

Jimmy Case James Robert Case (born 18 May 1954) is an English retired professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He gained national prominence with Liverpool F.C., Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Early life Case wa ...

scoring to guarantee a late win for the Reds. However, Fairclough's league chances were again restricted that season, as he played just 14 league games and scored five goals. He came on as a substitute in the League Cup semi final second leg against Nottingham Forest four days after his hat trick at Norwich, and scored a late equaliser to preserve Liverpool's long two-year unbeaten run at Anfield. Even though Liverpool went out on aggregate to Forest, Fairclough's goal helped create an English record of eighty five unbeaten matches in succession at home. Fairclough spent another five years at Anfield, although in what was a golden era for the club, he was rarely in the first team. He was a prolific scorer in the reserves, but the phenomenal partnership of Dalglish and

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best Welsh playe ...

rendered him surplus to first team requirements. In the 1982–83 season he scored three times in eight league appearances but failed to play enough games to merit a title medal. He had also failed to make the squad for the League Cup victories of the previous two seasons, and in the 1981–82 season, when the Reds won another league title as well as the League Cup, he did not play a single first team game. The ''Supersub'' tag belied the number of first team starts Fairclough made at Liverpool; of his 153 appearances, only 61 were from the bench. He scored 55 goals (34 of them in the league), averaging a goal every 2.8 games. Fairclough left Liverpool on 4 July 1983 after a loan spell at NASL side

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

. He then moved to the Swiss side

FC Lucerne Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league system, and has wo ...

before returning to England for spells with

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, Norwich,

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. He moved overseas once more to Belgium club

Beveren Beveren () is a former municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') ...

for three seasons before returning home for stints with

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. He ended his playing days at non-league Knowsley.

Later life and legacy

Fairclough now works as a pundit and also on the after-dinner circuit. Fairclough is still a firm favourite amongst the Anfield faithful and was voted in at No.18 on the 2006 poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop. The poll was conducted by the Reds official web-site, 110,000 supporters worldwide took part listing their favourite 10 Liverpool players of all time. Fairclough's 18th place was higher than John Toshack's 34th and David Johnson's 77th positions, two of the players that prevented Fairclough from gaining more Liverpool appearances. Fairclough was married to Jan Fairclough who died on 9 April 2011. Jan collapsed suddenly on the morning of 6 April of a brain haemorrhage and died 3 days later. A minute of silence was held for Jan (as well as the 96 Hillsborough victims and Mark Burgan, a soldier from Liverpool) at Anfield before a Liverpool vs. Manchester City match on 11 April 2011. Fairclough and Jan have two children, Tom and Sophie. Fairclough suffered a minor heart attack on 3 October 2010, at the age of 53, but made a full recovery.

Honours

Liverpool *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1975–76, 1976–77, 1979–80 * League Cup: 1982–83 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

: 1976–77, 1977–78 *

: 1975–76 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

Tranmere Rovers *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website *
Profile on LFChistory.net

Sporting-Heroes profile

Partner in JDB Health & Performance Ltd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairclough, David 1957 births Living people English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland England men's B international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada English men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada FC Luzern players Men's association football forwards K.S.K. Beveren players Liverpool F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Manchester City F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Footballers from Liverpool UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Europa League–winning players English Football League players

Life and playing career

Later life and legacy

Honours

References

Further reading

External links