Bill Shankly
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Shankly OBE | ||
| Date of birth | 2 September 1913 | ||
| Place of birth | Glenbuck, East Ayrshire, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 29 September 1981 (aged 68) | ||
| Place of death | Liverpool, England | ||
| Playing position | Wingback | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Cronberry Eglinton F.C. | |||
| Glenbuck Cherrypickers | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1929–1932 | Partick Thistle | ||
| 1932–1933 | Carlisle United | 16 | (0) |
| 1933–1949 | Preston North End | 296 | (13) |
| Total | 312 | (13) | |
| National team | |||
| 1938–1939 | Scotland | 5 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1949–1951 | Carlisle United | ||
| 1951–1954 | Grimsby Town | ||
| 1954–1955 | Workington | ||
| 1956–1959 | Huddersfield Town | ||
| 1959–1974 | Liverpool | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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William "Bill" Shankly, OBE (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was one of Britain's most successful and respected football managers. Shankly was also a fine player, whose career was interrupted by the Second World War. He played nearly 300 times in The Football League for Preston North End and represented Scotland seven times, as well as playing for Partick Thistle and Carlisle United.
He is most remembered, however, for his achievements as a manager, particularly with Liverpool. Shankly took charge of Liverpool when they were bottom of the Second Division but soon established them as one of the major forces in the English game. During his 15 years at the club they won three league championships, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup, before his surprise retirement after winning the 1974 FA Cup Final.
Even long after his passing, Bill Shankly's quotes and anecdotes remain among the most often used with regards to football, highlighting the extensive influence he had on the British game.
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Background
Shankly was born in the Ayrshire mining village of Glenbuck, He was one of 5 brothers who went on to play professional football. His brother Bob (1910–1982) was also a successful manager, guiding Dundee to victory in the Scottish championship in 1962. His tough upbringing was the basis for his own brand of humanitarian based socialism, and he would joke in later life that he never had a bath until aged 15, and that the poverty brought about a good sense of humour.
Football was a way of getting away from the mine shafts - either on a Saturday afternoon and during weekly training, or as a professional option. All five Shankly brothers were members of the Glenbuck Cherrypickers - a team famous at the time for producing 49 footballers from the village, straddling the latter part of the 19th and the early years of the 20th century - although Bill, the youngest brother, never played for their first eleven.
His other brothers were Alec, who played for Ayr United and Clyde, Jimmy (1902–1972), who played for various clubs, including Sheffield United and Southend United, and John (1903–1960), who played for Luton Town and Blackpool. His maternal uncle, Bob Blyth, played for Preston North End and Portsmouth, before becoming Portsmouth's manager.
Playing career
Bill Shankly's playing career began in Scottish Junior Football, where he played for the now defunct Cronberry Eglinton and Glenbuck Cherrypickers. In July 1932 he caught the eye of scouts and was signed to play for Carlisle United making his debut on 31 December 1932 against Rochdale. In July 1933, after only 16 appearances for Carlisle, he signed for Preston North End for a fee of £500.00, and was a key member of the Preston side promoted to the First Division in 1934. He played for Preston in two FA Cup finals, losing to Sunderland in 1937, but beating Huddersfield Town in 1938.
Shankly made his debut for Scotland in a 1-0 win against England in April 1938. He made four further appearances for his country, plus another seven in wartime internationals, but his distinguished playing career was interrupted by war in 1939.
He played for a number of teams during the war, including Northampton Town, Liverpool, Arsenal, Cardiff City, Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town, Partick Thistle and King's Park, and helped Preston to victory in the 1941 Wartime Cup Final at Wembley. With the resumption of organised professional football again in 1946, Shankly resumed playing for Preston, but was 33 and coming to the end of his playing days. World War II had taken away the best years of Shankly's career.
Managerial career
Carlisle United
Shankly retired from playing in March 1949 and the same month was appointed the manager of Carlisle United, beginning his managerial career where his professional playing career had also started. He lifted Carlisle from 15th in Division Three North in 1949 to a title challenging 3rd in 1951, but resigned in that year citing a lack of financial commitment on the part of the directors - a pattern which would repeat itself for the next ten years across a succession of northern English football clubs. However, Shankly influenced the careers of players such as Ivor Broadis (who went on to collect 14 caps for England and remained friends with him long after his departure), for many years to come. [1][2]
Grimsby Town
After a failed interview at Liverpool, Shankly moved to manage Grimsby Town in 1951.
When Shankly arrived at Grimsby, he inherited an ageing group of players and the club has just been relegated to Division 3 North, their second relegation in four seasons. While the morale of the players and supporters was low, Shankly reasoned that they were the same players who had served Grimsby in the top flight, and he was quickly able to use the raw material at his disposal to weld the players into a capable side. [3] He quickly became a cult figure at Blundell Park, and the team regularly drew crowds in excess of 20,000, while Shankly, still a competent player, would attract attendances in excess of 5,000 when appearing for the reserves. However, Grimsby missed out on promotion in 1951-52, despite picking up 36 points out a possible 40 in the last 20 matches. It was to be a last hurrah for the old team, and after a bright start to the 1952-53 season, their form slumped. Shankly was given little money to buy new players and was reluctant to blood some promising reserves because of the loyalty he felt to these older stalwarts (a fault that was to surface at Liverpool years later). Disillusioned by events, he quit in January 1954, citing once again a lack of ambition by the board as his main reason.
Intriguingly in his autobiography Shankly was to claim that his Grimsby team was: "Pound for pound, and class for class, the best football team I have seen in England since the war. In the league they were in they played football nobody else could play. Everything was measured, planned and perfected and you could not wish to see more entertaining football."
Workington
After Shankly left Grimsby he went on to manage Workington in 1954-55, lifting the side from the lower end of Division Three North to a respectable 8th place, their highest finish at the time, and for the first time above their local rivals Carlisle United, Shankly's former club.
Huddersfield Town
Shankly arrived at Huddersfield in 1955 to assist the brilliant, but perfectionist Andy Beattie, who had offered to resign after Huddersfield had finished 12th in Division One, having finished 3rd in the season previous. They were unable to prevent the club's decline however, and Huddersfield were relegated, with Beattie resigning to become a postmaster (he eventually returned to management two years later, and had a brief spell as Scotland manager) in the November of 1956, leaving Bill Shankly in sole charge.
Overall, Shankly's tenure at Huddersfield was relatively unsuccessful, as the Terriers recorded three successive mid-table finishes in Division Two, a period that included an extraordinary 7-6 loss to Charlton Athletic, after being 5-1 up with half an hour to play. He appeared prone to falling foul of the boardroom at each club he managed, as he often felt they did not apply the same commitment to team affairs as he did, and Huddersfield was no exception. Shankly was particularly resistant to the board's desire to sell a young Denis Law, on one occasion stating to the boardroom: "Get out your diary and write this down. One day, Denis Law will be transferred for £100,000." After four years at Huddersfield, and after Shankly's departure for Liverpool, Manchester City signed Law for a transfer fee of £55,000, setting a new British record, and Shankly's prediction was eventually met and exceeded in 1962 when Law was signed by Manchester United for £115,000.
Liverpool
It was Shankly's own commitment and enthusiasm that had initially intrigued Liverpool chairman T.V. Williams when Shankly had been interviewed for the vacant Liverpool job in 1951, and in December 1959, following an embarrassing defeat to non-league Worcester City in the FA Cup, Shankly was appointed manager of Liverpool.
Liverpool had suffered a period of decline in the 50s, after having won five league titles in the first half of the century, and were at this time languishing in the Second Division, with a crumbling stadium, poor training facilities, and a large pool of untalented players. Shankly released 24 of these players, and converted a storage room into a room for tactical discussion, where Shankly, along with other Boot Room founding members Joe Fagan, Reuben Bennett and Bob Paisley began to reshape the team. [4] [5]
The training ground at Melwood was in a poor state of affairs, overgrown and with only one mains water tap. Shankly turned this into a strength, by arranging for the players to arrive instead at Anfield, and then bus them over to Melwood, creating team camaraderie. At Melwood Shankly introduced fitness training, including diet assessment, and skills training including using an artificial goal painted on a convenient wall, split into eight sections which he would demand the players hit each time. For playing practice, Shankly introduced five-a-side games, and after training, the team would all bus back to Anfield together to shower, change and eat a communal meal. This way Shankly ensured all his players had warmed down correctly and he would keep his players free from injury.
1960s team
Slowly at first, and then with a gathering pace, Shankly and his backroom team turned Liverpool around, and with new signings Ron Yeats, Ian St. John and Gordon Milne, promotion was gained back to the First Division in 1961-1962.[4] Liverpool finished 8th in their first season back in the top flight, but were helpless to prevent city rivals Everton from winning the title. However, the addition of Peter Thompson in 1963 further strengthened the team, and in 1963-1964[4], Liverpool clinched their 6th title, ahead of Manchester United, with former champions Everton in 3rd.
In 1964-65 Shankly's Liverpool faded to 7th in the League, but the season was brightened by the club's first F.A. Cup win and a European Cup run where Liverpool reached the semi-finals, before eventually succumbing 4-3 on aggregate to Inter Milan[4] managed by Helenio Herrera, after taking a 3-1 first leg lead to the San Siro.
In 1965-66 Liverpool reached the final of the European Cup Winner's Cup, losing 2-1 in extra time to Borussia Dortmund, and again won the League title, beating Everton to win the subsequent following season's Charity Shield. However, Liverpool's performance in the 1966-67 European Cup was poor, and after struggling to overcome FC Petrolul Ploieşti in the first round, were dumped out of the last-16 by Ajax inspired by then 19-year old Johan Cruyff (7-3 on aggregate; including a 5-1 hammering in Amsterdam). It was this game that convinced Shankly that a more patient, possessive way of playing would be required if Liverpool were to achieve consistent success in Europe. [6] Liverpool gradually improved their League performances again over the course of the next few years, finishing 5th, then 3rd, then 2nd, as Leeds United and Manchester United prevailed.
1970s team
The early 1970s team saw a transitional period which preceded the birth of Shankly's second great Liverpool side. Players such as Roger Hunt, Ian St.John, Ron Yeats and goalkeeper Tommy Lawrence were sold or released, and fresh players like Kevin Keegan, Steve Heighway, Larry Lloyd and Ray Clemence were brought in.
Liverpool finished 5th in 1969-70 as Everton regained the title, and 5th again in 1970-71, losing out in the F.A. Cup Final to double winning Arsenal. They just missed out on another title in 1971-72, finishing third in a close group of four teams challenging for the title, and only a single point behind Brian Clough's Derby County. This earned Liverpool a UEFA Cup place however, and they overcame Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 in a two-legged final to win the club's first European Trophy. The club also cruised to the 1972-73 League title, despite strong competition from Arsenal and Leeds. Liverpool lost out to Leeds in the following season's League race, but won the F.A. Cup once more,[4] as Liverpool overcame Newcastle United 3-0 at Wembley, in what proved to be Shankly's last competitive game in charge.
Relationship with fans
Due to his working class background, Shankly had a strong feeling for how the fans followed the team and wanted them to perform. He felt he was letting the fans down when the team didn't do well. When he wasn't managing the football club, Shankly was often working at his typewriter, personally replying to letters from fans that arrived at Melwood. Shankly even called some supporters at home to discuss the previous day's game, while the accounts of him providing tickets for fans are endless.[7]
One of the most iconic images of all was caught on television in April 1973, when he and the team were showing off the League Championship trophy to the fans in the Kop. A Liverpool scarf which had been thrown at Shankly during a lap of honour was flung to one side by a policeman. Shankly pounced on the scarf and reprimanded him, uttering "Don't do that. This might be someone's life". After his retirement he said: "I was only in the game for the love of football - and I wanted to bring back happiness to the people of Liverpool."
The journalist John Keith, who wrote the play The Bill Shankly Tribute Story, commented that Shankly knew how important the fans were to a successful team, and that even after his retirement, at the 1976 second leg of the UEFA Cup final in Brugge: "A fan came over and said he didn't have a ticket - so Shanks went and bought him one."[8]
Retirement
Shankly was by now 60 years old, and on 12 July 1974 decided to retire - he said that going to tell the chairman of his decision was like facing the electric chair. He wanted to spend time with his wife Ness and their family. When news of Shankly's resignation first emerged, distraught fans jammed the club's switchboard and at least one local factory's workers threatened to go on strike unless their hero returned.[8]
The club was left in capable hands, with the bootroom staff supplemented by ex-players Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans and they got behind new manager Bob Paisley. Later it was revealed that Shankly wanted Jack Charlton to succeed him at Liverpool, and not Bob Paisley.
Shankly regretted resigning from Liverpool and began watching training sessions at Melwood. The board were unhappy that Shankly was not allowing new manager Bob Paisley to settle into the management role. Phil Thompson even claims that at Melwood Shankly was still called "boss" while Paisley was known as "Bob". Ronnie Moran claimed things "began to get a bit awkward". Liverpool striker Kevin Keegan states that Liverpool "didn't get it wrong very often but they did that time" and believed that Shankly should have been placed on the board of directors.
Shankly was awarded the OBE in November 1974. He continued to live in a house bought when he and his wife moved to Liverpool, and he was a regular sight around the city, happy and willing to talk to anyone about football.
Death
On the morning of 26 September 1981, Bill Shankly was admitted to Broadgreen Hospital following a heart attack. While in hospital he insisted on being nursed in an ordinary ward not a private one. "That is where he wanted to be", a hospital spokesman told the Liverpool Echo newspaper.[7] His condition was stable and it appeared that he was going to make a full recovery. There was no suggestion that his life was in danger. The switchboard was jammed with concerned fans and prayers were said for him at the Sunday morning and evening services at both of the Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals. However, late on 28 September, Shankly's condition unexpectedly took a turn for the worse and he died, aged 68, at 1.20am on 29 September 1981. He was cremated, and his ashes buried at the Anfield Crematorium on 2 October.[9]
The Labour Party conference stood in a minute's silence when his death was announced, for a man who had always been a socialist. Sir Matt Busby was so upset when he heard the news of Shankly's death that he refused to take any telephone calls from people asking him for a reaction. Some years before his death, Shankly had paid tribute to Busby, saying that he was "greatest football manager ever".
On the evening following his death Liverpool defeated Oulun Palloseura 7-0 in the European Champions' Cup; prior to the kick off a banner was unfurled on the Kop which read "Shankly Lives Forever".
Four days after his death Liverpool played Swansea City in a first division match. Swansea manager John Toshack, a player Shankly had signed for Liverpool, wore a Liverpool shirt for the minute silence prior to the match.
His widow, Nessie Shankly, outlived her husband by almost 21 years. She died, aged 82, after suffering a heart attack on 2 August 2002.[10] At the time of her death, she was still living in the house on Bellefield Avenue, West Derby, where she had moved on her husband's appointment as Liverpool manager in 1959.[11]
From the mid-1990s Preston North End commenced a complete rebuilding of their ground to convert it into a modern all seater stadium. When the former Spion Kop end was replaced by a new stand in 1998 it was named the Bill Shankly Kop, and was designed with different coloured seats providing an image of the great man's head and shoulders.
Bill Shankly was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002, in recognition of his impact on the English game as a manager.
The Mersey Poet Adrian Henri, a die-hard Liverpool supporter dedicated a poem "The Thoughts of Chairman Shankly" to Bill Shankly.
Honours
Playing
- 1934 Second Division runner-up (with Preston North End)
- 1937 FA Cup finalist. (with Preston North End)
- 1938 FA Cup winner. (with Preston North End)
- 1941 Wartime Cup winner (with Preston North End)
Managerial
- 1962 Second Division champions.
- 1964 First Division champions.
- 1965 FA Cup Winners, European Champions' Cup semi-finalists.
- 1966 First Division champions, European Cup Winners Cup beaten finalists.
- 1969 First Division runners-up.
- 1971 FA Cup beaten finalists, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-finalists.
- 1973 First Division champions, UEFA Cup winners, English Manager of The Year.
- 1974 FA Cup winners, First Division runners-up.
Managerial statistics
| Team | From | To | Games | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlisle United | 1949 | 1951 | 108 | 48 | 27 | 33 | 44.44 |
| Grimsby Town | 1951 | 1953 | 80 | 47 | 17 | 16 | 58.75 |
| Huddersfield Town | 1956 | 1959 | 134 | 49 | 50 | 35 | 36.57 |
| Liverpool | 1959 | 1974 | 753 | 393 | 175 | 185 | 52.19 |
| Total | 1,075 | 537 | 269 | 269 | 49.95 | ||
Quotations
- An interview on a Granada Television chat-show hosted by Shelley Rohde in 1981 produced arguably Shankly's most famous (and most often misquoted) quote - "Someone said to me 'To you football is a matter of life or death!' and I said 'Listen, it's more important than that'." But on the official Liverpoolfc.tv website, it states that the official quote is "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." It is likely that Shankly paraphrased a quote attributed in the 1950s to Henry Russell Sanders, an American football college coach, although his was referring to a rival - "Beating 'SC is not a matter..."
- "A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are. In my time at Anfield we always said we had the best two teams on Merseyside, Liverpool and Liverpool reserves."
- "If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd pull the curtains." (Ironically, his home in West Derby was opposite Everton's former training ground in Bellefield, where he was always a welcome visitor after his retirement.)
- "If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be." (about the offside law, also attributed to Brian Clough)
- Shankly was famously competitive in 5-a-side matches, in which his talented full-back, Chris Lawler was also famed for his taciturnity. Bob Paisley was refereeing one day and decreed a goal offside. Shankly argued long and hard, so much so that in the end Bob Paisley asked Lawler: "Chris - you were the last man, was Bill offside?" To which Chris replied "Yes Bob, he was." Shankly exploded with rage. "All these years he keeps his mouth shut, and when he does speak, it's to tell a lie".[12]
- Shankly was once asked how a top star of the 1970s compared to his former Preston North End teammate Tom Finney: "Aye, he's as good as Tommy – but then Tommy's nearly 60 now."[13]
- "The socialism I believe in is not really politics. It is a way of living. It is humanity. I believe the only way to live and to be truly successful is by collective effort, with everyone working for each other, everyone helping each other, and everyone having a share of the rewards at the end of the day. That might be asking a lot, but it's the way I see football and the way I see life."[14]
- On playing for the Scotland national team, Shankly remarked "It's fantastic. You look down at your dark blue shirt, and the wee lion looks up at you and says 'Get out after those English bastards!'"
See also
- List of UEFA Cup winning managers
- The Boot Room
References
- ↑ Ivor Broadis profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website
- ↑ Plus.com
- ↑ http://www.grimsby-townfc.co.uk/page/History/0,,10417~1073423,00.html
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Reuben Bennett"
- ↑ Kelly. You'll Never Walk Alone. p. 57.
- ↑ Greatest Moments in Football, Graham Betts
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chris Bascombe, Shankly - legend who forged the Liverpool way (page 2), Liverpool Echo, 26 September 2006
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Remembering Bill Shankly". BBC News. 29 September 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/5381414.stm. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ↑ Bill "Shanks" Shankly (1913 - 1981) - Find A Grave Memorial
- ↑ Rivals.net
- ↑ ICnetwork.co.uk
- ↑ My Autobiography Ian St John 2005, London, Hodder & Stoughton ISBN 0340841141
- ↑ When Saturday Comes (2005). When Saturday Comes - The Half Decent Football Book. Penguin Books, London. p. 143.
- ↑ Shankly by Shankly, Bill. Barker Limited, Arthur, London. 1976. p. 32.
External links
- LFC: Kevin Sampson - 25th Anniversary memories of Bill Shakly original from Esquire magazine
- It's Not Your Leg Son - Book of Shankly Quotes pub. Tangent Books
- LFC Online profile
- Bio at the English Football Hall of Fame
- Shankly.com a website dedicated to the life and times of Bill Shankly
- This Is Anfield: Managerial Profile
- Manager profile at LFChistory.net
- Audio Interview Recordings
| Preceded by Bill Nicholson |
UEFA Cup Winning Coach 1972-1973 |
Succeeded by Wiel Coerver |
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