There aren't many things that unite a father and son more than football. A common adoration for the beautiful game can bring out the best in a relationship that otherwise may be strained by a difference in beliefs, morals, and ultimately, age.
That is no different in the Dalglish household, so when Celtic and Liverpool both won their respective countries' top flights the weekend before last, it is no surprise that Sir Kenny, an undoubted King at both clubs, enjoyed a special moment with his boy. "He got really emotional, it was weird to see someone who has won so much get so emotional when he normally doesn’t," said son Paul after picking up his Dad's Special Merit Award at PFA Scotland's annual dinner last Sunday evening.
"It was a good weekend to be Kenny Dalglish, I guess! Of course, we celebrated. Well, to be fair, we were drinking on the Sunday and all that. A few sore heads on the Monday morning! My dad's had his career, I've had my career. He's obviously won a lot more, I've been lucky enough to win one or two things myself. But that's the first time that I've ever been able to celebrate Liverpool or Celtic winning anything with my dad. He's either been working or I've been working. So that game on the Sunday was special.
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"Seeing Liverpool win the league, that's what you grow up with, don't you? Every kid gets taken to, most of the time you get taken to your first game by your dad. Going to a game with your dad means everything. To see your team win the league for the first time with your dad, yeah, it was special. He got emotional, he got really emotional. It was weird, you know? Somebody who doesn't show much emotion in day-to-day life to see him get so emotional over something he loves. He loves the club, he loves football. So it was really humbling to see how much he meant to him."
Dalglish Jr.'s apparent Liverpudlian tone makes clear his city of origin. Liverpool and Glasgow share multiple facets: welcoming natives, shipbuilding, and, particularly in the green and red halves, a love for King Kenny. The 74-year-old has never forgotten his roots throughout his lengthy spell south of the border and indeed, has continuously instilled them in his children, making his recognition from PFA Scotland all the more touching. "This honour will mean a lot to him. He always drums into us kids where we come from. It’s been a massive part of our upbringing so being honoured by Scottish football will mean so much to him. I spoke to my dad and he really wanted to come. He's never forgotten where he's come from.
"It's something that as kids we were always made well aware of, where we were from. It might sound like we've got different accents from down south, but the values that we were brought up with were always from Glasgow.
"It's something that our mum and dad have instilled in us from young ages. That self-deprecating humour, not taking things too seriously, helping others, all the things that are synonymous with Glasgow is what we've had instilled in us. So for him to be acknowledged by the place that means so much to him is huge for us. If it means a lot to him then it means a lot to all the rest of us in the family as well."
When Dalglish Jr. took his seat in a rather dull side room at Glasgow's Hilton Hotel, although I expected to at some point converse about matters at Celtic, I didn't for one iota predict Liam Scales to come up in discussion as heavily as he did. The Irishman isn't a fan favourite in Glasgow's east end, but Dalglish Jr. gets that, and indeed, knows the central defender very well - he is his agent, after all.
Never one to take to social media, lose his confidence over criticism, or even look to be in the limelight, Scales is Dalglish Jr.'s ideal client. "He just wants to play football, keep his head down, that's all he wants, he's just a down-to-earth guy, credit to him. The most important thing you've got to be in life is yourself, and not try to bow down to peer pressure or what other people are saying and try to change. Just be yourself, and that comes through with Liam in abundance.
"He's obviously been great for Celtic for the last few years. So it's probably helped me, looking after Liam for the last few years, it's probably helped me fall back in love with Celtic. Obviously, I was there as a youth player. Just that, having a reason, more than just coming up to watch a game, it's helped me fall back in love with Scottish football and with Celtic as well."
Scales' rise to stardom in green and white hasn't come without its hiccups. Brought in for just £500,000 from Shamrock Rovers in a summer of sweeping change under Ange Postecoglou, he never got going in his first year across the Irish Sea. A loan spell at Aberdeen in his second term proved crucial, and Brendan Rodgers' return north of the border eventually saw Scales emerge as, even in the current day, one of the most consistent names on the team sheet.
“Liam, he owes Brendan a lot, he put his trust in him. Celtic seems to have signed quite a few centre-backs over the years, but Liam still, all credit to him, he still finds a way to get his name on the team sheet, in that starting 11, and that's a credit to him, really. Brendan has given him the opportunity and continues to do so, so he owes Brendan a lot.
"You hope your players do perform at that level. It's not easy to play as a centre-back or a goalkeeper for Celtic or Rangers. You're under so much scrutiny. You have the ball so much, it's not really about what you do in the entirety of the game, it's about what you do in the key moments. It takes a special mentality to be able to play in those positions with so much responsibility for Celtic and Rangers. And to be fair, he's got that mentality in abundance, and I can see why he continues to be trusted.
"He just does what's asked of him, doesn't complain, doesn't want to be on social media, doesn't want any real public attention, just gets his head down and does his job, does it for his national team, did it for Aberdeen, he's done it for Celtic. He's probably the lowest-maintenance client that you could ever wish for. He doesn't want anything other than just to play football, keep his head down, so he really is the perfect client."
Whether Celtic's stranglehold on Scottish football will remain intact next season remains to be seen. Impending investment from 49ers Enterprises and Andrew Cavenagh over at Ibrox could pave the way for a competitive Rangers that challenge for domestic silverware regularly. Could is the key word, though. Indeed, we don't yet know the extent of the riches they may put into the club, nor how things will go on the park under their watch.
Barring an outlying 2020/21 campaign in which supporters weren't permitted to enter stadia, Rangers haven't fully recovered from 2012. Despite his newfound love for Glasgow's green and white through Scales, Dalglish Jr. still thinks a worthy test from across the city is invaluable for Celtic and the Scottish game as a whole. "Scottish football died a little bit when Rangers had their struggles, in my opinion. It lost its relevance. Most people outside of Scotland watch Scottish football for the Old Firm game, and the amount of money that was invested in Scottish football when there was no Old Firm game, TV revenue, it all went down because there was no Old Firm game.
"So you want Celtic and Rangers to be as strong as possible. It doesn't just help Celtic and Rangers, it helps everybody in Scottish football. So if Rangers become stronger, Celtic need to become stronger because they want to stay ahead, it can only help everybody, and then the trickle-down effect. Everybody else has to get grabbed by the coattails of Celtic and Rangers and try and keep up with them. So the best that Celtic and Rangers can be helps everybody involved in Scottish football."
