In the league they were in, they played football nobody else could play. [24], Shankly had a single season, 193233, at Carlisle United, then relatively new to the Football League and playing in the Third Division North, their reserve side playing in the North Eastern League. [58], Shankly was always noted for his dedication to football and, in his playing days, would do his own training during the summer months. [37] Preston fulfilled their potential and gained promotion to the First Division as runners-up to Grimsby Town. [40] The outstanding Northern Ireland international Peter Doherty recalled how Shankly dogged his footsteps in one match and kept muttering: "Great wee team, North End, great wee team", subduing Doherty completely as Preston defeated Manchester City 31. Thats the reward.[83] On his belief in hard work, he referred to his time in the RAF: If I had a job to do, even if it was scrubbing the floor, I wanted my floor to be cleaner than yours. [173] It bears the legend: "He made the people happy". Liverpool made their European debut in 196465, competing in the European Cup and reaching the semi-finals. In any event, their perceived ruthlessness was vindicated by the unprecedented haul of League Championship titles and European Cups won over the next decade[173] under Bob Paisley[180] and Joe Fagan. [86] He quickly established working relationships with the coaching staff of Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Reuben Bennett who shared his views about loyalty to each other and to the club. . [21], While Shankly was employed as a miner, he played football as often as possible and sometimes went to Glasgow to watch either Celtic or Rangers, sharing his allegiance between the two and ignoring the sectarianism that divides Glasgow. [62] He even burned all the kit. Pressure is working down the pit. He wrote that he had his football future worked out in his mind and that, even when working in the pit, he was only "killing time". Shankly recognised the potential of Blackpool teenager Emlyn Hughes, a future England captain, and signed him for 65,000 in February 1967. In the second round, the club was drawn against the formidable Anderlecht. Other attributes were physical fitness and willingness to work, especially to struggle against the odds. On how his tough, working class upbringing kept him grounded. [89] Although Shankly believed he had an excellent coaching staff, the playing staff were not so impressive indeed, Shankly said of the latter:[90]. [111], One of Shankly's greatest ambitions when he joined Liverpool was to win the FA Cup and, after he signed Yeats and St John, he told the club directors that they would win it with these two players in the team. He briefly took up advisory roles at Wrexham and then at Tranmere Rovers, helping former Liverpool captain Ron Yeats at the latter. [99], Liverpool's recovery depended on new players being acquired and, in his autobiography, Shankly recalled the struggles he had with the board to make them realise the club's potential and the need to spend money on good players. Bill Shankly: The man whose vision reshaped Liverpool Football Club Jeff Goulding @ShanklysBoys1 September 2, 2021 On September 2, 1913, in the small mining town of Glenbuck in Ayreshire, a. [68] Kelly added that this kind of talk by Shankly could only boost morale at the club. [150] In the two-legged final they faced Borussia Mnchengladbach, whom Shankly rated the best team in Europe. [118] Eleven years later, Shankly maintained that two of Inter's goals were illegal. [86], Liverpool improved their league performances over the next two years, finishing third in 196768 and then second in 196869, although to Shankly himself it was "a mediocre time in the late 1960s as we prepared for the 1970s". He was reluctant to promote some promising reserves because of loyalty to the older players (a fault that was to resurface at Liverpool years later) and he finally resigned in January 1954, citing the board's lack of ambition as his main reason. [92], Melwood was overgrown and had only an old wooden cricket pavilion. Another prospect in his team was left back Ray Wilson who went on to become Huddersfield's most capped player before joining Everton. [173] There was a perception that Shankly was an overbearing figure, who could use a position on the board to be a "back-seat driver", and the board were well aware that Matt Busby's time as a Manchester United director had been disastrous. [37] He joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) and managed to play in numerous wartime league, cup and exhibition matches for Norwich City, Arsenal, Luton Town, Cardiff City, Lovell's Athletic F.C and Partick Thistle, depending on where he was stationed[37] (winning the Summer Cup with the Glasgow club in 1945). [159] This was particularly true at Liverpool and Shankly said he was made for Liverpool where the people that matter most are the ones who come through the turnstiles. [43] On 30 May 1942, he played a single game for Liverpool in a 41 win over Everton at Anfield. [148] This was the longest run in English top-flight history until it was surpassed by Jrgen Klopps Liverpool who made it 22 consecutive home wins in March 2020. These would first cycle through athletic exercises, like skipping or squats, before moving on to football-specific functions, such as a heading the ball or chipping it. They had met earlier during World War II, when Bill was serving as a Corporal with the RAF and "Nessie", who was six years younger, was serving with the WRAF. [44] He confirmed in his autobiography that his weight as an RAF boxer was 159 pounds (72kg) and he was only six pounds (2.7kg) heavier than that in 1976. Because of this, the six trophyless seasons that followed the league title winning campaign of 1965/66 is often overlooked, writes Peter Jones. Above all, said Twentyman, "he wanted to know if the lad had the heart to play for Liverpool". [188], Liverpool erected the 15-foot high cast-iron Shankly Gates in front of the Anfield Road stand. [54] Perhaps his most memorable international was the wartime game at Wembley on 18 April 1942 when Scotland won 54 and Shankly scored his only Scotland goal. Everything was done systematically with players rotating through exercise routines in groups with the purpose of achieving set targets. The foundations Shankly laid at Melwood manifested in success at Anfield. [136] Watching from the sidelines was another new player whom Shankly had recently signed from Scunthorpe United for 35,000 on Twentyman's recommendation. [27] A local newspaper report said that he had worked hard and might develop into a useful left back. He resigned and accepted an offer from Grimsby Town. During the summer of 1933 when he returned to Glenbuck after completing his first season as a professional, he decided to develop his throw-in skills. [68], Shankly made great use of five-a-side football in training at Grimsby, playing these games as if they were competitive cup or league matches. [41], In 193637, Preston reached the FA Cup Final but were well beaten 31 by Sunderland at Wembley Stadium. When, finally, he was invited to travel with them to the away leg of the 1976 UEFA Cup Final in Bruges, he was accommodated in a separate hotel and said he found that insulting. Shankly is the most significant icon in the clubs history. In his 1976 autobiography, Shankly stated that he still had the medal. It had become too important. [42] That season marked the pinnacle of Shankly's playing career. [119] Even today, the Liverpool website describes the match by saying that Liverpool were denied at the semi-final stage by a dishonest referee in Milan. [71], Although the Workington team was close to the bottom of the Third Division North, Shankly saw it as a challenge and attacked the job with all of his usual enthusiasm and relish. I made up my mind that we needed strengthening through the middle, a goalkeeper and a centre half who between them could stop goals, and somebody up front to create goals and score them. He led the side to three titles, delivered their first FA Cup and their first European trophy, the Uefa Cup. [154] It was the first time an English club had won both the league title and a European trophy in the same season. [69] Shankly's record in league football at Grimsby was 62 wins and 35 defeats from 118 matches. [14] Their maternal uncles, Robert and William Blyth were professional players who both became club directors at Portsmouth and Carlisle United respectively. Det hber jeg at der er bred enighed om i England. Chris Carline believes Shankly would be "spinning in his grave . [119] In the 196465 Football League Championship, Liverpool dropped from first to seventh with 13 fewer points than the previous season, perhaps due to the exertion of lengthy participation in the FA and European Cups. [95] Five-a-side games, as at all Shankly's earlier clubs, were at the heart of the system and he again insisted on these being as competitive as league matches. In 1967, he signed striker Tony Hateley from Chelsea for a club record 96,000 and then felt obliged to transfer him to Coventry City only a year later. October 2009. [100], The two Scottish players were centre half Ron Yeats and centre forward Ian St John from Dundee United and Motherwell respectively. [79] On another occasion, Huddersfield beat Liverpool 50 with ten men and Shankly recalled the Liverpool directors leaving the ground in single file as if they were in a funeral procession. [59] In spotting a player, he always applied a basic formula which was that, first and foremost, the player must have both ability and courage. LT John Shankly Birth 23 Jan 1873. Bill Shankly gave 15 years of his life to the club that he came to love, leading Liverpool out for the last time at Wembley for the 1974 Charity Shield. Shankly made a point of emphasising the importance of fans. In 1997, a seven-foot tall bronze statue of Shankly was unveiled outside the stadium. Liverpool decision to become one of the teams involved in the European Super League breakaway has been hit with further criticism, by the family of legendary manager Bill Shankly. Moore left Liverpool in August after a . [65] His main problems were that Grimsby had been relegated twice in recent seasons, dropping from the First to the Third Division, and some good players had been transferred before he arrived. A charismatic, iconic figure at the club, his oratory stirred the emotions of the fanbase. [140] Both decisions cost the team a vital point which would have been enough to claim first place. [72], Shankly's initial role at Huddersfield was as reserve team coach. He said in his autobiography that there was greater potential at Grimsby than at Carlisle. He spent one season at Carlisle United before spending the rest of his career at Preston North End, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1938. The terms for Shankly personally were a fee of 50 plus a 10 signing-on fee and wages of five pounds a week (equivalent to 378 in 2021). The revolutionary training methods implemented by Shankly at the clubs training ground, Melwood. [166], "Liverpool is not only a club. [119] Shankly and Paisley had learned a great deal about European football which Liverpool would eventually turn into trophies. [10], All five Shankly brothers played professional football and Shankly claimed they could have beaten any five brothers in the world when they were all at their peaks. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that. Eventually, Paisley had to point out to Shankly that he did not work there any more, that it was now Paisley's team and that he had things which he wanted to do with the team. [170] His wife, Nessie, had asked him to retire a year earlier but he decided that was not the right time. He died seven years later, aged 68. June 25, 2014. If nothing else was available he would join teams of youngsters in kickabouts. Shankly had fully realised the importance of football to its die-hard fans, himself included. [204] Family holidays were limited to a week in Blackpool, where they always stayed at the Norbreck Hotel. One young boy got killed at his work and a bus load of 50 people came to Anfield one Sunday to scatter his ashes at the Kop end. Shankly found a team mired in the second tier of English football and propelled them to the continents top table. Despite the football pedigree in his family, he did not play himself. [127], Many of the new players came to Liverpool because of a new scouting system created by Shankly in 1967 and placed under the control of new chief scout Geoff Twentyman, who had played for Shankly at Carlisle and had then spent several seasons at Liverpool, retiring shortly before Shankly's appointment. Shankly is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the club's history, having taken them from a Second Division outfit to three-time title-winners in the top flight, as well as. [39] In a summary of the 193334 season, a Preston correspondent, Walter Pilkington, wrote:[37]. 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