Alan Hansen

Hansen was deeply disturbed by the ‘Hillsborough Disaster’ of 1989. Around 96 people lost their lives in this tragedy, which was caused by a clash between the fans of ‘Liverpool’ and ‘Nottingham Forest’ football clubs. Hansen penned his autobiography at a later stage of his life, where he spoke about this tragedy.

When not busy with his football related commitments, Hansen keeps himself engaged with golf. He usually plays the sport at Clackmannanshire, Scotland.

Alan Hansen was born on June 13, 1955 in Sauchie, Scotland. He completed his primary education from the ‘Alloa Academy’, located near Clackmannanshire. Since a young age, Hansen was a great fan of sports, and supported the ‘Rangers Football Club’.

One memorable event of his younger days occurred at a youth club, where Hansen hurt his forehead after running into a plate glass panel. The incident cost Hansen a two-hour long surgery, 27 stitches, and a long scar on his forehead. He was 15 years old at that time.

During the same time, Hansen focussed more on golf in a bid to pursue a full-time career in the sport. However, at the age of 17, he signed a trial contract with the ‘Hibernian Football Club’ on the insistence of his father and sibling.

Impressed by his football skills, Eddie Turnbull, the then manager of Hibernian Football Club offered Hansen a professional contract. Hansen turned down the offer since he felt that the commitment towards the club might become a hindrance in pursuing golf.

Hansen’s golf dreams didn’t really take wings. Soon after his tryst with Hibernian, Hansen started playing for ‘Sauchie Juniors F.C’, a Scottish football club, along with his brother John.

Hansen was supposed to pursue a degree from the ‘University of Aberdeen’, but instead, he decided to play for the ‘Partick Thistle F.C’. The formalities of joining the club, such as the processing of the application took a long time, which forced Hansen to join the insurance organization ‘General Accident’. After a long wait, he finally became an official member of Partick.

Hansen was one among the eleven players, who played for Partick in the historic 1971 Scottish League Cup Final match, where the club defeated the popular ‘Celtic F.C’ by a 4-1 margin.

Hansen appeared in 21 matches for Partick in 1975-76. In his presence, the team moved to the ‘Scottish Premier Division’ from ‘Scottish First Division’. Hansen’s skills soon grabbed the attention of the other football clubs, especially the famous ‘Liverpool’.

In 1977, Hansen moved to the ‘Liverpool Football Club’. He was signed by the franchise for a whopping 110000 Euros, which was a huge amount at the time. Just one month after he joined, Hansen proved his prowess in a match against the German team ‘Dynamo Desden’. In the 14th minute, he scored a goal for Liverpool, which helped his team secure a comfortable 5-1 victory over Desden.

The ‘British Broadcast Channel (BBC)’ aired a documentary in 2014 on Alan Hansen’s life. The documentary was more of a tribute to the man’s achievements.