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Ambassador: Ian Rush

Former Wales and Liverpool forward Ian Rush is the ambassador for the 2017 UEFA Champions League final at the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff.

Ambassador: Ian Rush
Ambassador: Ian Rush ©Getty Images

Playing career: Chester City (1978–80), Liverpool (1980–86), Juventus (1986–88), Liverpool (1986–87, loan), Liverpool (1988–96), Leeds United (1996–97), Newcastle United (1997–98), Sheffield United (1998, loan), Wrexham (1998–99), Sydney Olympic (1999–2000)
Managerial career: Chester (2004–05)
National team: Wales (1980–96)
Caps/goals: 73/28

• A predatory striker, Ian Rush was frequently on target for club and country throughout a career that peaked with victory in the 1984 European Cup final. In fact, he remains the record marksman for both Liverpool – having scored 346 goals in two spells at Anfield – and Wales, for whom he made his debut aged 18 in May 1980.

• Born in north Wales, he started out with Chester City, just over the border in England, his goalscoring exploits earning him a transfer to Liverpool for £300,000, then a British record fee for a teenager.

• Rush managed 47 goals in all competitions in the 1983/84 season, his top-flight tally of 32 making him the first British recipient of the European Golden Shoe. It was a campaign that ended with a league championship medal – the third of five he collected at Liverpool – and a penalties success over Roma in the European Cup decider.

• A short stint at Juventus punctuated his time with Liverpool, a club he left for good in summer 1996, the year he also made his 73rd and last international appearance. With Rush registering eight times in qualifying, Wales came within 90 minutes of reaching the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Terry Yorath's side losing 2-1 at home to Romania in their final match.

• The record scorer in FA Cup final history, his haul of five goals spanning three Wembley triumphs with Liverpool, Rush now works as a global ambassador for the Reds.