Few moments in English football carry the strange charm of the final day of the 1994/95 Premier League season — a day when Liverpool supporters packed into Anfield and openly cheered for the away side. That away side was Blackburn Rovers, managed by the man those fans had long worshipped: Sir Kenny Dalglish.

Blackburn arrived at Anfield needing a result to clinch the title ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, who were playing at West Ham United on the same afternoon. Ferguson had publicly floated the idea that Liverpool might not be fully motivated — a classic piece of managerial gamesmanship.

Ferguson was entitled to say it, Dalglish insists

Rather than take offence, Dalglish told FourFourTwo that he understood Ferguson's approach entirely. "As managers, you were in competition with everybody; what's wrong with that?" he said. "He was going to speak up for his club, to put ideas into people's minds or dismiss other people's ideas, and I was the same."

"If you weren't supporting your club, the punters were going to be unhappy, so he had every right to do it. He was as good as gold," Dalglish added.

A fairy tale ending at Anfield

Blackburn ultimately lost the match on the day, but Manchester United could only draw at West Ham United — handing the Premier League title to Rovers regardless. The Anfield crowd, aware of events elsewhere, had been cheering updates from Upton Park throughout the afternoon.

"The TV people wouldn't tell us what the score was from Manchester United's game at West Ham, but people were cheering when their game finished, and it came to pass that we were champions," Dalglish recalled.

He reflected on just how fitting the setting felt. "If you're not going to win the league at home, then for me, that was a fairy tale to win it at Anfield," he said. "It's not often that they go to Anfield and want the opposition to win, is it?"

Jack Walker's tears of joy

Dalglish reserved particular warmth for Blackburn's late benefactor, Jack Walker, whose financial backing had made the title challenge possible. Despite his enormous influence behind the scenes, Walker had never interfered in football matters.

"When I saw Jack Walker after the game, he couldn't speak," Dalglish said. "He'd played a huge, huge part in the financial support, and he never, ever interfered. To see somebody of his business strength in tears, you'd think he'd done something wrong — but they were tears of joy."

Dalglish also praised the squad's mentality, noting that many of the players had limited experience of winning trophies before arriving at Blackburn. The message to them had been simple: "Get on with it, you are where you are because you deserve to be there, so just do your best."