Why Middlesbrough landlady shared emotional Liverpool European Cup dream with Graeme Souness

Graeme Souness won just about everything there is to win in a glittering player career that saw him lift league titles and European trophies with Liverpool.

But the combatitive midfielder has never forgotten those that helped him on his route to success - with one person from his time with Middlesbrough standing out. Souness, now 71, spent six formative years on Teesside after arriving from Totteham in 1972.

He left for Liverpool in 1978 and went on to become a key part of the Anfield set-up, eventually going on to manage the Reds, as well as having stints in charge of Rangers, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers.

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Souness has recalled his special relationship with his landlady during his time with Boro - and how she looked after him as a youngster. The pair had such a close bond that she attended the 1978 European Cup Final to see Souness and Liverpool beat Club Brugge 1-0.

"Phoebe, my old landlady at Middlesbrough, was a very special lady so it was important to me she was there at the European Cup final. She looked after me for five years at Middlesbrough," Souness wrote in his Daily Mail column.

"I got away with murder sometimes and it mustn't have been easy. She made fantastic coffee cake. If I came in late from a night out, she would leave a glass of milk, a sandwich, and a slice of cake on the table, each protected in polythene, to make sure I was OK.

"I decided one day, in a fit of independence, to buy a flat in Saltburn. 'This is what you do as a grown up.' So I packed my bags and left Phoebe and went to my new home. I did not last an hour there, as, after unpacking my bags, I realised I'd made one almighty mistake leaving all the family comforts of Phoebe's house.

"I was sat there thinking: 'What am I doing here? I miss my afternoon tea, I miss my cake and miss being treated like a long lost son. In fact, I was so happy at Middlesbrough, largely thanks to her, that when I was told they had accepted an offer to sell me, I'd decided if it was from Leeds United or Manchester City I was going to stay. Only Liverpool, then European champions, turned my head. It meant a lot that she was there that night at Wembley with my parents."