THE PASSING of Emlyn Hughes this week was unfortunately not a shock.

He had suffered for quite a while and it was no surprise to hear medical people say it was only his fighting spirit that earned him the bonus of a couple of more years.

As a player, Emlyn started life at Blackpool, where Bill Shankly spotted his energetic 100-per-cent efforts early on.

The story goes that when Bill was driving him to Anfield from Blackpool, he was stopped for speeding and told the policeman: "I've got to get to Liverpool quickly because I'm signing the captain of the England team."

The policeman looked in the passenger seat expecting to see Bobby Moore, didn't recognise Emlyn at all and questioned Bill's statement.

His reply was: "He may not be England captain now, but he will be soon."

The policeman, of course, let him off and I would think Bill gave him a ticket rather than the other way round.

Of course he was right on Emlyn, who, in a glorious playing career, captained his country many times.

He was nicknamed Crazy Horse because, at first, no matter what number he had on his back, he ran all over the field in pursuit of the ball.

After a while, like all the great old players at Anfield, he learned to play a team game and actually turned out at left back, centre-half and in midfield, where he scored many vital goals.

He even disproved the theory that players were never any good when they left Anfield by going on to pick up another trophy, the League Cup, at Wolves.

Emlyn famously carved out a good career for himself on television and on the after-dinner circuit. He had an infectious smile but was also quite cute.

He asked me to speak for him at the final dinner of his testimonial year and the room was full of people, who had sponsored different events for him as well as many players.

Max Boyce was the other speaker at the event, which was in a famous old Liverpool hotel. Max and I sat either side of him but, just as the soup was being served, he stood to say a few words.

He started by thanking everyone who had helped him during the year and then said that he unfortunately had to leave, because, being a good pro and with a game coming up at the weekend, he needed an early night.

With that, he shook hands, waved to the crowd and went out the door. Max broke the stunned silence by moving into Emlyn's seat and saying: "I've always wanted to take the place of the Liverpool captain."

We subsequently found out that Emlyn did this fairly often. His other line was that he had to be up early to be on breakfast television. No one there at the function could argue, because they would never be up early enough to watch it!

He'll be sadly missed, particularly by his old Liverpool teammates. They were all part of a team that won everything in sight, not just in this country but everywhere in Europe.

When people wonder why the likes of Gerard Houllier, who won so many cups, was not retained at Anfield, it's because they are still trying to get back to those glory days when even Arsenal and Manchester United were in their shadow.