Alan Hansen

At 68 years old, Alan Hansen has this physical status:

Alan David Hansen (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit.

He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, for the successful Liverpool team of the late '70s and '80s, and for Scotland.

As a football pundit, Hansen is known for his outspoken views, particularly on teams' defensive performances, frequently criticising what he believed was "diabolical" or "shocking" defending.

He made his name as a pundit on Match of the Day from 1992 to 2014.

Early life

Hansen was born in Sauchie, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, and attended Lornshill Academy and supported Rangers growing up. His paternal grandfather was Danish. Hansen played his early football (along with his older brother John, a one-club player) at Scottish Junior league club, Sauchie Juniors near Alloa.

At the age of 15, Hansen ran into a plate-glass panel after playing volleyball and was left with a large scar on his forehead. The glass was in a brand-new youth club which Hansen attended. During his two-hour hospital stay he had 27 stitches in his head. He sued the education authority and won the case. Hansen stopped playing football between the ages of 15 and 17 and concentrated on playing golf, with aspirations of becoming a professional. His father and brother wanted Hansen to play football, so he accepted the offer of a trial with Hibernian when he was 17. Hibernian manager Eddie Turnbull offered Hansen a professional contract, but he refused because it would have stopped him from playing golf competitively.

Personal life

Hansen lives in Southport with his wife Janet. They have been married since 1980, and have a son, Adam, and a daughter, Lucy.

During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum Hansen was a supporter of the Better Together campaign against Scottish independence.

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Club career

Hansen declined to study at the University of Aberdeen in order to join his older brother John at Partick Thistle. He spent six weeks in the offices of GM Accident insurance during the summer, which he resents. Hansen, a student at the 1971 Scottish League Cup Final, saw a Partick Thistle team with his brother John produce one of Scotland's biggest upsets ever, beating favourites Celtic 4–1 at Hampden Park.

Hansen was watched by top clubs, including Bob Paisley's Liverpool, after breaking into the first team at Thistle. Hansen played 21 times during Thistle's 1974-1976 season to gain entry to the Scottish Premier Division. Hansen had made 35 first team appearances by the end of the season by then, before heading south of the border to Liverpool on May 5, 1977. After arriving at Anfield, the nickname he loathed for years ("Stretch") was forgotten, and the phrase "Jockey" was born.

Liverpool's Hansen cost the club £100,000. He made his debut in a league match at Anfield on September 24, 1977. Terry McDermott scored a single goal for Derby County, defeating them 1-0. During a European Cup 2nd leg tie at Anfield on October 19th, Hansen scored his first goal the following month. Liverpool defeated East German side Dynamo Dresden 5-1, and he opened the scoring in the 14th minute.

Hansen was drafted into the first team sporadically throughout the season. He was not in the team that lost the 1978 League Cup final replay to Nottingham Forest, but he was chosen for the Liverpool team that won the 1978 European Cup Final 1–0 over FC Bruges at Wembley on a goal by Kenny Dalglish. Hansen made 18 appearances in the First Division this season, when Liverpool finished runners-up to Nottingham Forest.

Hansen was a regular in the team from 1978 to 1979 as Liverpool regained the league championship. The team's final points total score of 68 was a record under two points for a victory system, and they conceded only four goals at home at Anfield. When Emlyn Hughes, the long-serving club captain, was sold to Wolves, Hansen became the team's automatic first-choice central defender, and Liverpool's domination of English club football continued in the 1979–80 season with another league title.

Liverpool gained two trophies in the 1980-81 season, but Aston Villa did not win a third straight league title, but not in the 1980s, as the English champions Aston Villa finished as champions. Liverpool won their first League Cup in 1981, beating West Ham United 2–1 in a replay at Villa Park. Hansen also won his second European Cup champions medal in 1981, beating Real Madrid 1–0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris on May 27.

Liverpool won the League Cup for the first time in 1981–82, and Liverpool retained the league Cup for the second time in 1982, although Hansen missed this victory due to injury. Liverpool did not win the European Cup in 1982, only to lose in the quarter-finals to CSKA Sofia 2–1.

Liverpool won the league championship in 1982-83 and moved on to the League Cup in 1983, defeating Manchester United 2–1 after extra time in the final at Wembley. Bob Paisley, who signed Hansen for Liverpool in 1977, was fired as boss by long-serving coach Joe Fagan after leaving him at the end of the 1982-1983 season.

Liverpool won the league championship, League Cup, and European Cup in 1983-84. Hansen was involved in a tumultuous match in the League Cup final at Wembley when he attempted to take a shot at the goal line. Despite opposition from opponents and Merseyside rivals Everton, no penalty was given. After a replay at Maine Road, Liverpool defeated the final.

Liverpool defeated Romanian champions Dinamo Bucharest 3-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals, qualifying them for the 1984 European Cup final. The first leg at Anfield was an ill-tempered affair, with Liverpool captain Graeme Souness breaking the jaw of a Bucharest midfielder. Hansen won the European Cup final against A.S. Roma, which Liverpool won on a penalty shoot-out after the match ended 1–1 in front of a crowd of 69,000 at Roma's home stadium, the Stadio Olimpico.

Liverpool did not win a trophy in the 1984–85 season and was barred from all European competition until the 1985 European Cup Final, pitting Liverpool against the Italian giants Juventus in Heysel, which killed 39 people, including 32 Italian Juventus supporters. Liverpool lost the match 1–0. Hansen will never play in a European tie again.

After the Heysel tragedy, Joe Fagan was fired as manager, and Hansen's colleague, colleague, and fellow Scot Kenny Dalglish was appointed as player-manager. Hansen was given the captaincy, but the season came to an end in 1986, when Liverpool became only the third team in the twentieth century to finish a League and FA Cup "double" following Tottenham in 1961 and 1971. Hansen received his first FA Cup champion's medal as captain and ended the domestic set.

Liverpool lost the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium, losing 21-0 to Arsenal, while Merseyside rivals Everton claimed the league championship. With Hansen as skipper, the team lost just twice in the 1987-88 season. Liverpool also qualified for the FA Cup final, but they were denied a second "double" after losing 1–0 by Wimbledon in one of the competition's biggest upsets. 31,000 spectators attended Hansen's testimonial match against an England XI preparing for UEFA Euro 1988.

Hansen was limited to only six league appearances in the 1988-1989 season as a result of a dislocated left knee injury in a pre-season friendly against Atlético Madrid in Spain. Hansen competed in the 1989 FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, where Liverpool defeated Everton 3–2 in extra time against Everton, but Hansen did not lift the trophy as captain. Ronnie Whelan, a teammate who had been deputised in Hansen's absence due to injury, was awarded the award even after the club's first choice captain was fit again. Hansen had no objections to Whelan's captaincy that season.

Liverpool lost their second "double" in four seasons after winning the 1989 FA Cup, defeating Arsenal on May 26. Michael Thomas scored a vital last minute goal for Arsenal at Anfield, giving the North Londoners a 2–0 victory. Arsenal gained the league title on goals scored after the two teams ended the season with the same number of points and virtually the same goal difference.

Hansen made more appearances during the season, but his persistent knee injuries continued to affect his health, though he captained Liverpool to another League title, making it eight for the first time. Again, the club came close to the "double" but lost an FA Cup semi-final 4–3 at Villa Park in extra time.

Hansen was unable to participate in any competitive games during the 1990–91 season (when Liverpool finished second in the league and were trophyless for the third time since Hansen's arrival 14 years ago), and he resigned in March 1991, a month after Kenny Dalglish resigned as manager. Ronnie Moran, the caretaker boss, was unaware until Graeme Souness was appointed as the permanent manager shortly after.

In Hansen's playing career, his winners include 8 league titles, 3 European Cups, 2 FA Cups, and 4 League Cups.

The Hillsborough tragedy claimed the lives of 94 Liverpool supporters on April 15, 1989 (eventually risen to 97). Hansen was selected for the FA Cup semi-final match against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, England. He was playing the first six minutes of the game before it was called off. Hansen attended 12 funerals and visited the wounded in hospital.

Hansen's autobiography referred to the tragedy as "the darkest period of my life." "The number of broken hearts was incalculable," he said. Kenny Dalglish and the other people attended the funerals and expressed love for the grieving families took me more out of me emotionally than no other experience." Hansen wrote about the tragedy on Match of the Day in April 2009. "It was a terrible time, traumatic for everybody," he said. It must not be forgotten." Hansen said in 2010 that each of the funerals he attended after Hillsborough became more difficult. "The emotional scars will be with us for a lifetime," he said.

Hansen referred to the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report in a writing in The Daily Telegraph in September 2012: "I've been ignorant of Hillsborough on several occasions and was forced to correct the inaccurate version of events." Those who mistook the tragedy specifically are not included in the study. Every sentence in it reads as a tribute to the families' honesty, integrity, and dignity, as well as an acknowledgment of everything they have been saying since those first, scurrilous allegations emerged."

International career

Hansen made his complete debut for Scotland in a British Home Championship match against Wales in front of 20,000 spectators at Ninian Park, Cardiff, having previously worked for the under-23 team. Jock Stein, Scotland's manager, made debuts to four Scottish players on the day – George Burley, John Wark, Paul Hegarty, and Hansen. England defeated Wales 3–0 against a relatively inexperienced Scottish line-up, with striker John Toshack scoring a hat-trick for Wales.

Hansen's second Scotland cap came the following month in a historic Saturday afternoon friendly match against reigning World Champions Argentina. The South Americans defeated Scotland 3–1 on the hottest day in 30 years, with an 18-year-old Diego Maradona scoring his first international goal for Argentina in a virtuoso display of skill and trickery. Maradona was "without a shadow of a doubt the best player I ever encountered," Hansen said in a 2007 interview. And at 18, he was virtually unplayable.

In 1982 World Cup in Spain, Hansen played for Scotland. When Scotland needed a victory to advance in the tournament, the team struggled to progress outside of the qualifying group, having drawn 2–2 with the USSR. Ramaz Shengelia, the Soviets' second goal, was allowed by an accidental collision between Hansen and central defensive partner Willie Miller.

Willie Miller and Alex McLeish of Aberdeen, who were supervised by Alex Ferguson, formed a strong Scotland central defensive alliance. Hansen was dropped from the squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico by Ferguson, who took over the national team after Jock Stein's sudden death. Hansen was dissatisfied with the decision, who believed that his form in the 1985–86 season (when Liverpool had won a league and cup double) was near his best. Hansen had played sparingly for Scotland before the tournament and had often been barred from squads. In 1987, Hansen won the last of his 26 Scotland caps.

Media career

After dismissing the prospect of leadership when he retired from football in 1991, he decided to take three months off. After his wife reported that no one had contacted them during his rest period, he began calling the networks. Hansen was hired as a pundit and summariser as soon as he stopped playing, and shortly after, he had earned a reputation as a thoughtful observer and thinker in the game for the BBC, he was hired. He began working for BBC Radio 5 Live before moving to Match of the Day. Hansen was employed for 22 years as the BBC's most trusted pundit, "poor" or "diabolical" errors of defenders, as well as reporting on "mediocre" results. He began working as a motivational speaker, as a columnist for The Daily Telegraph, Telegraph.co.uk, and the BBC Sport website on football topics.

Hansen, who made the remark following Manchester United's 3–1 loss to Aston Villa on the first day of the 1995–96 FA Premier League season, is known for coining the phrase "You can't win it with kids." United had welcomed youth team players Paul Scholes, Mark Hughes, and Andrei Kanchelskis, who were sold in the summer of 1995, after bringing three high-profile players (Paul Ince, Mark Hughes, and Andrei Kanchelskis) into the first team. United proved Hansen wrong by winning a league and cup double this season. Hansen continues to use this word for amusing effect. As people would yell it at him in public places, he later said that the word "made him" as a pundit.

"The Argentine defender warrants firing for a mistake like this," Hansen said in an interview with Argentina-Romania in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Andrés Escobar, Colombia's defender, had been shot dead on the previous day, a homicide largely due to his own goal Escobar's goal in Colombia's 2–1 loss to the United States earlier in the same tournament. Hansen's poor choice of words was reflected in the BBC's public apology.

Hansen caused controversy after twice using the word "coloured" in reference to black footballers during an appearance on Match of the Day on Sunday. By the following morning, the BBC received 82 reports, although some, including Shamrock Rovers player Rohan Ricketts, had sluggish words, including on social media Twitter. "He is a part of the problem when using the word," Ricketts posted. We are black Alan! Some people defended his word choice. "In his defense, Hansen could cite the fact that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, America's top civil rights body, the NAACP." Why isn't it acceptable for the NAACP to use the word "colored"? "I unreservefully apologize for any offence caused," Hansen wrote later the following day. "I had no intention to say so, and I deeply regret the use of the word."

Hansen's BBC deal was set to come to an end after the 2014 FIFA World Cup, according to a tweet. Following the 2014 World Cup, Hansen announced on September 5th that he would retire as a Match of the Day pundit. On May 11, 2014, the final day of the 2013–14 English league season, with his last appearance as an analyst coming two months later.

Hansen, who departed from football analysis, is a keen golfer and a member of Hillside Golf Club who competes off a three-over-par roughness handicap and regularly returns to Clackmannanshire, Scotland, to participate in various charities. He has hosted documentaries on the subject and worked at the Masters Tournament for the BBC. He has also hosted programs on the rise in stature and fortune of the modern footballer, as well as appearing in television advertisements such as for Carlsberg and Morrisons supermarkets.

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