Benitez gives £96,000 to Hillsborough fund

Rafa Benitez may have left Liverpool but his parting gesture proved that the Merseyside club still has a significant place in his heart. The Spaniard made a donation of £96,000 to the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG) on the same day as he was confirmed as the new boss of Inter Milan.

Benitez was in charge at Anfield for six years and remained popular with the fans despite the side's travails on the pitch last season. The donation is sure to cement his place in the affections of the supporters.

He handed the cheque to HFSG chairwoman Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son in the tragedy, as he toured Liverpool saying his farewells after returning from a family holiday in Italy.

The donation represents £1,000 for each life lost in the crush at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium during an FA Cup semi-final in 1989.

A week after he parted company with Liverpool Benitez was officially named as the successor to Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.

In a statement Inter described their new boss as one of the "true greats" of European football, but made it clear that they expected him to carry on where Mourinho, and before him Roberto Mancini, left off.

"Benitez comes to Italy fully aware of the club he has chosen: Inter, an exceptional team that has just won its fifth consecutive Serie A title, its sixth Coppa Italia and its third Champions League," said the club.

Back in Liverpool, legend Kenny Dalglish has resigned from the selection panel appointed to find a new boss for the club because he wants the job himself.

The idea installing the former Anfield great, who was manager when Liverpool last won the league in 1990, with Sammy Lee as his assistant is gaining ground.

Dalglsh's son Paul said: "He's a born winner. He's an inspiration to everyone connected to Liverpool Football Club. No one can inspire the whole club in these difficult times like my father." ·