10 Happiest Reunions in World Football History

"You should never go back."

So goes a common phrase in footballing circles, where the dewy-eyed look upon their heroes of yesterday with selective memory, ever-growing fondness and the odd frivolous "I wish we'd never sold so-and-so."

Well, once in a while, somebody takes the risk and does go back, whether for their own reasons, their love of a club or because they simply have no better offer.

Sometimes it doesn't quite go to plan.

Sometimes, however, the legend is enhanced even further.

Here are 10 of the happiest* reunions in world history.

*There are many forms of happiness!

Ian Rush to Liverpool

Liverpool's greatest ever goalscorer, Ian Rush, joined the club the first time-around in 1980 from Chester City and, after a slow start, went on to score 207 goals in just seven years.

Highlights of this first spell included netting four goals in a single game against derby rivals Everton in '83, winning four First Division titles, four consecutive League Cups, an FA Cup and a European Cup.

Not a bad haul considering he took over a year to net his first goal for the Reds.

The summer of 1987 however saw "Rushie" move to Juventus of Italy.

A single season in Turin was enough for the moustachioed striker, who returned to Liverpool in 1988, prolonging his Anfield stay until 1996.

During his second spell with the club Rush scored another 139 goals, giving him a record total of 346 strikes in total.

Just a year after re-joining the Reds, Rush lifted another FA Cup as he scored two goals in the Final itself.

He also went on to win a third FA Cup, a fifth League Cup and another First Division title.

Mario Zagallo to Brazil National Team

A wildly underrated manager in many corners of the world, master tactician Mario Zagallo was at the forefront of cutting edge managerial outlooks—and bizarre superstitions—for the best part of three decades.

As a player, Zagallo won the FIFA World Cup with his country on two occasions: 1958 and 1962, playing as a forward.

In 1970 he stepped up to the plate to manage his nation in the same tournament—and led the team to glory as he guided the likes of Rivelino, Tostao and Pele to lift the trophy.

Zagallo wasn't finished yet though, as he went on to play a key role in a fourth World Cup win, as assistant manager to Carlos Parreira in the 1994 success.

Cesc Fabregas to FC Barcelona

At just age 16, Cesc Fabregas left his home club Barcelona to join Arsenal in the English Premier League.

He left before he had ever made a first team appearance for the Catalan side.

Several years later after rising through the ranks and going on to make more than 300 appearances and even captaining the Gunners, Cesc moved back to Spain and Barcelona with a rumoured £30 million transfer fee at the beginning of the 2011-12 season.

At the beginning of this article I intimated that there were many forms of happiness—it is without doubt that I can say that the biggest happiness of all for this reunion was the cessation of the protracted, seemingly-endless, repetitive and monotonous on-again-off-again nature of the transfer which dragged on for at least five transfer windows

I imagine most of the footballing world was glad when the deal was finally signed and sealed, and we could all move on.

Kenny Dalglish to Liverpool

On the 5th January, 2011, Liverpool lay in 12th place in the Premier League, a mere four points above the relegation zone, following a dismal 3-1 defeat away to Blackburn Rovers—their ninth loss of the season in just 20 games.

Fast forward a couple of days and the abysmal, short-lived and ill-conceived reign of Roy Hodgson had come to a swift and yet well-overdue end.

In came Kenny Dalglish.

Liverpool's last domestic league title success came in 1990, with Dalglish at the helm.

On a cruise liner somewhere near Dubai when the call came that he was needed, "King" Kenny made his immediate way back to Liverpool to pick up where he'd left off 20 years earlier.

At the time, following months and even years of internal strife, poor on-pitch performances and boardroom battles, Dalglish was perhaps the one man capable of pulling the entire club together—and that he did with a run from January until the end of the season which saw Liverpool rise to finish sixth, narrowly missing out on a Europa League spot.

The following campaign—the present one, in fact—Dalglish steered Liverpool to their first silverware in six years with the League Cup win at Wembley.

Though the Reds' league form this season leaves much to be desired at times, there can be little doubt that the Return of the King has had the desired impact, given the state of play when he arrived.

Romario to Vasco Da Gama

Romario de Souza Faria—Romario—is one of the greatest strikers to have ever played the game at the professional level.

The Brazilian maverick forward enjoyed a hugely varied and "entertaining" career (for want of a better word) but certainly had his most popular spells in the white of Vasco da Gama.

Romario started out at Vasco and scored 80 goals in his four years there as a youngster, before moving to Europe with the likes of PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona and Valencia.

Though he also appeared for rival Brazilian sides Flamengo and Fluminense, Romario's love-affair with Vasco da Gama never died as he rejoined the club on no less than three occasions.

In 2000 Romario amassed a whopping 65 goals for Vasco over the two championships that year. He followed that up with a further 66 in the year and a half which followed before leaving again.

In 2005 he was back, at 40 years of age, yet still managed to top score in the championship with 24 goals.

The final brief spell in 2007 yielded an impressive 15 goals in 19 games, before Romario finally retired, having unofficially surpassed the 1000-goal mark for his career.

Walter Smith to Rangers

Few managers are able to accumulate the success over time that Walter Smith has done with Glasgow Rangers.

Appointed manager in 1991, Rangers went on to win no less than seven consecutive Scottish Premier League titles with Smith at the helm, as they dominated the landscape of Scottish football entirely.

In 2007 Smith was back in charge as he took over midway through the season, with rivals Celtic now in control of the league which he had dominated for so long previously.

Only the next season, Smith had led Rangers to the League Cup title and a real shot at European glory for the first time in nearly 40 years—they were eventually beaten in the UEFA Cup Final by Russian side Zenit.

At the end of the 2008-09, Smith marked hi return to Scottish football in style by winning both the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Cup.

The final two years of his second tenure was just as successful, as he and Rangers won both the League and the League Cup in both '09-10 and '10-11.

Diego Maradona to Boca Juniors

I'll let the video speak for itself on this one.

Diego Maradona is not just adored by Boca Juniors fans, not just idolised by them, he is absolutely revered by them.

Pep Guardiola to Barcelona

A little different this time in that the first spell was as a player and the second as a manager, but Pep Guardiola's return to Barcelona has been no less happy for all concerned for that minor detail.

As a classy central midfielder, Guardiola represented Barcelona for 11 seasons, playing over 350 games and winning six La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles and four European trophies, including one European Cup.

In 2008, seven years after leaving for Italy, he was appointed as the new head coach of the first team, having previously worked with the "B" side.

Suffice to say, it has been a pretty good choice so far.

In his almost four seasons in charge, Guardiola has an above-70% win rate and has won a spectacular 13 trophies, including league titles in all three completed seasons and two Champions League wins.

So far, so good then.

Hakan Sukur to Galatasary

Perhaps the greatest sportsman to ever come out of Turkey, former striker Hakan Sukur terrorised defences at both club and country level during the late 80s, the 90s and most of the 00s.

Though he also played for Inter Milan, Parma and even Blackburn Rovers, as well as two or three other Turkish clubs, his greatest successes undoubtedly came in the red and yellow of Galatasary.

Joining the side in 1992 originally, Sukur helped them to the Turkish League championship with 19 goals in his debut season, with 26 in all competitions.

He netted a total of 71 goals in his three seasons with Galatasary, before Torino came calling and he made the move to Italy.

However just half a season later he was back, having failed to settle and netting only once in Italy.

Being back on home soil obviously agreed with Sukur as the next season he scored an astonishing 48 goals in just 39 games, with 38 coming in 32 league matches to help claim the first of four successive Turkish League titles.

In 1999-2000 Sukur hit another 25 in all competitions, including 10 in Europe as Galatasary won the UEFA Cup, the first Turkish side ever to win a European competition.

Sukur then went back to Italy but returned to Galatasary in 2003 to play out the final five seasons of his career, scoring another 72 goals in the process and adding another two league titles and a Turkish Cup winners medal to his collection.

Sukur is the top scorer of all time in the Turkish league wit 249 goals, with 228 of them coming for Galatasary.

Paul Scholes to Manchester United

Inspired?

Or desperate?

That was the question aimed at Alex Ferguson as he recalled the retired Paul Scholes to his first team squad earlier this season.

With two goals in his 13 games so far this season since becoming a player once more, Scholes has certainly had a good influence on United's on-pitch performances.

Whether this truly becomes a happy reunion of course, depends on two things.

Firstly—whether United do indeed go on to retain the Premier League this season.

Secondly—if the first one does come to pass, who you support!