Sir Kenny Dalglish Chosen as PFA Merit Award Winner

The Professional Footballers' Association have chosen former Liverpool player and current LFC Ambassador as a 2026 recipient of the Merit Award, an honor that recognizes his "outstanding contribution to the game."

Dalglish looms large over both English and Scottish football, with his time as both a player and a manager leaving a lasting impact. His spirit and humanity in the immediate and long-term aftermath of the Hillsborough Disaster, which happened during his first stint in charge of the club, is his most important legacy. His constant support of survivors and bereaved loved ones speak to who he is as a man.

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As a footballer, Dalglish won six league titles and three European Cups with Liverpool, as well as one FA Cup and four League Cups. His Liverpool career followed a heavily-decorated time at boyhood club Celtic, where he won four league titles, four Scottish Cups, and one Scottish League Cup. At the international level he finished his career as the most-capped player for Scotland with 102 appearances for his country. In 1983 he was the runner-up for the Ballon d'Or, losing to Juventus' Michel Platini.

At the coaching level, Dalglish won three First Division titles with Liverpool and one Premier League title with Blackburn, where he also won the Second Division play-offs. With Liverpool he managed the team to two FA Cups in his first managerial stint, including one ultimately overshadowed by the enormity of the Hillsborough Disaster. During his second stint in charge he saw his side win a League Cup.

While acting as interim manager for his boyhood club, Celtic, Dalglish added a Scottish League Cup to his trophy cabinet.

He received the honor of an MBE in 1985.

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