Liverpool icon unrecognisable on holiday nine years after Match of the Day exit

Liverpool legend Alan Hansen has been spotted on holiday – and he looks unrecognisable nine years after leaving Match of the Day.

Hansen, who famously declared ‘You can’t win anything with kids’ at the start of a young Manchester United side’s double-winning season in 1995/96, was the lead pundit on Match of the Day for 22 years.

The Scot, now 68, retired from the show in 2014 following the World Cup in Brazil and has rarely been seen in public since. However, pictures have emerged of the former centre-back while on holiday on the Caribbean island of Barbados.

Snapped at the luxurious Sandy Lane Hotel, he looks very different to the man who signed off from the BBC following Germany’s triumph over Argentina in the final of the 2014 World Cup.

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At the end of his final appearance, Hansen said: “It’s a great way to go. The World Cup here [in Brazil] has been absolutely sublime. The matches have been great and it’s all about the product on the pitch. It’s been exciting.

“I’d just like to thank everybody who’s worked on the programmes and watched the programmes. I’ve had a great time here, I’ve worked with some great people.”

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Earlier in the season, as he announced his impending retirement, Hansen told The Telegraph: “The guys at the BBC know me and I said, 'Look, this is categorical. I'm leaving and nothing will make me change my mind'.

“I am contracted to do the World Cup and I will do that as it will be a good way to go out, but I have had a great run.

“I've been in football for 41 years and I'm going out right at the top, just as I did at Liverpool. The plan was always that I would retire at 55. I kept going, but I finally decided to retire during Euro 2012.

“I had just signed a two-year contract and felt that, by the end of it, I would have had enough. But I have worked for a great organisation with wonderful people on the most fantastic programme.”

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