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Bolton/Liverpool: They Played for Both Clubs - Peter Beardsley

Not quite as good as McAteer....at least not in a Bolton shirt

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Undoubtedly one of the most skillful players that the English game has ever produced, Peter Beardsley made his name at Newcastle United, scoring 67 goals for the club between 1983 and 1987.

He then moved to Wanderers' opponents this weekend, Liverpool, for a British record fee of £1.9m under the supervision of legendary manager and ex-Liverpool striker Kenny Dalglish.

Beardsley would go on to make 175 appearances for Liverpool, winning two Football League Championships in 1988 and 1989, along with two runner-up medals. He would win the 1989 FA Cup, and another runner-up medal in 1988. He would also win three Charity Shields in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Beardsley also made 59 appearances for England, scoring nine goals.

He was controversially sold to Everton in 1991 for £1m, before moving back to Newcastle United in 1993, joining his former Liverpool teammate Kevin Keegan at St James' Park. Newcastle had just won promotion to the Premier League as Division One champions, and in 1993-94 they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup, with Beardsley scoring a total of 25 goals and his strike-partner Andy Cole scoring a club record of 41 goals in all competitions.

He played for a further four years at the club, almost captaining them to the FA Premier League title in 1996, but they were pipped to the title by Manchester United. During his second spell at St James's Park he racked up 157 appearances and scored 56 goals, bringing his overall total after two spells with the club to 321 appearances and 117 goals.

It was, then, with excitement, that Bolton Wanderers signed a 36yr old Beardsley for a fee of £450,000 in an attempt to stave off relegation from the Premier League at the first attempt.

The move can best be described as disastrous.

Failing to settle at the Reebok Stadium, Beardsley would only make 17 appearances for Wanderers, scoring twice, before he was loaned and eventually sold to Manchester City the following summer. He just didn't fit in at Bolton.

He began to wind up his career back with Keegan at Fulham, before joining Hartlepool United and then retiring at Melbourne Knights in Australia bringing to a close a glittering career in 1999 following 237 goals in 755 appearances.