I know there isn’t a lot you haven’t read about Bill Shankly, but with the 30th Anniversary of his passing coming later this week, here is my attempt at original material in tribute and a couple of pieces not well known
Merry Christmas from Bill
(written in 1970)
In the ups and downs inseparable from football one thing remained constant in my years at Anfield, the tremendous support that is the envy of every other club in England, Great Britain and Europe. This season I believe our fans have surpassed even their magnificent reputation and, at this particular time of the year, I would like to thank each and every one of you for what you have done for the club.
After years of success with what was mainly an unchanged side I began this season with an unfamiliar looking team. Nearly all the players were young and many of them inexperienced.
It was inevitable that, after all the attentions the club has attracted over the past few years, the new look side was going to come under close scrutiny and comparison. This in itself was an added pressure for the players.
While I never had any fears about their ability I knew they would make mistakes because of their inexperience. I was convinced that they would become a team, but I didn’t know how long it would take to find the blend.
The reaction of the fans was very important. Through the newspapers I asked you to be patient and to give the new players the type of support with which you had helped their predecessors. Perhaps I need not have bothered, for right from the very start your loyalty has been as strong as ever. You have continued to turn up with your customary regularity and magnificent support.
We do not take this kind of thing for granted at Anfield. It has had a lot to do with the success we have had. I am sure we would not have done so well without each and every one of you.
When we suffered a string of terrible injuries recently to key players, that support became even more crucial for the new players you can hardly have known. But as always you came through trumps.
When all the players are fit again, I am confident we will have the type of first team pool you deserve and it will be strong enough to give you and the players the type of results we all want.
Many thanks for what you have done for the players in the first half of a critical season. If neither you nor they do any better in the second half of the season, Bill Shankly is one manager who will have no complaints.
Merry Christmas to all.
Bill
Reading this back after so many years still brings a tear to my eye. He had a knack of making every fan feel special. Each of us read this Christmas message as if it had been written to us personally. And to this day I’m totally convinced that was his intention.
From the day that Bill Shankly became manager in 1959, Liverpool Football Club entered a new era. We had known success before then, of course, but little did we realise what honours were to come our way under Bill’s management.
We were not aware that we were going to claim so many of the top prizes in the game, almost season by season, and when we look back now, we realise that it has been a case of 15 years of uninterrupted success in the football league, in the FA Cup and in European competition.
It is true, and fair, to say that in no small measure this success has been due to the enthusiasm with which Bill Shankly applied himself to the Job of managing Liverpool. He had always been single minded in his devotion to our cause.
In my Opinion, he was the epitome of all that was good in the game. Also, anyone taking a leaf out of his book will not go far wrong, as time and events have proved.
I am delighted to pay this tribute to Bill, and I am delighted, as I am sure we all are, to see that his efforts this season so far have been rewarded with yet another manager of the month award. I sincerely hope he makes it a double, with the manager of the year award for the second successive year. (JWS 1974)
A Man for all Seasons
When Shankly arrived at Anfield 15 years ago, promotion to the First Division was his first objective. OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED !
His second objective was to make Liverpool a First Division force to be reckoned with.
OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED !
Not resting on his laurels his next objective was to make Liverpool the “Crème de la Crème” by becoming League Champions for the first time in 17 years. OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED !
By listening to the fans, who he respected more than anyone else, he came to realise his next objective must be to fulfil one of their dreams. The dreaded hoodoo of the FA Cup left Liverpudlians with a void that must sated. Haunted by years of taunting from those across the park, the FA Cup had always remained tantalisingly just out of reach. 1-5-1965 OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED !
Bill’s next objective was to make Liverpool a football club recognised throughout Europe. 4-5-1965 OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED ! Liverpool showed the Milan Giants INTER how to play the game, only to be robbed of success in the second leg. The following year the bitter taste of that night in Milan was almost wiped away. We proved too strong for Juventus, Standard Liege, Honved and Celtic only to be heart broken in the final against Brussia Dortmund.
After winning the title again in 1966 Bill was looking forward once again.
The next objective in his mind must be, to cement Liverpool’s Standing in both Domestic and European theatres. OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED ! In 1972/73 Liverpool not only won the League, making Shankly the first ever Liverpool manager to win THREE titles, but he also threw in the UEFA Cup for good measure.
Throughout his reign Bill won many personal accolades too, but to be frank he preferred the adoration of the Kop. He was awarded Manager of the Month regularly.
He won manager of the season more than once.
But the Accolade from the Kop of “A Man For All Seasons” was the one he treasured most until the day he died.
This Thursday 29-9-2011, is the 30th Anniversary of The Great Man passing and I think we as fans should pay tribute to the Man who built LFC.
Suggestions for personal tributes;
On this thread, put your favourite Shankly quote
This weekend, say a prayer for Bill at the Shankly Gates or leave flowers.
At Goodison on Saturday let Shanks know we still remember what he did for us and the club, sing SHANKLY to the tune of Amazing Grace.
To start the ball rolling here are some of my favourite Shankly quotes.
In distance terms Liverpool and Everton are separated only by Stanley Park, in football terms it’s more like THE GRAND CANYON.
Breaking down in the Mersey tunnel Bill was offered a tow by both Alan Ball snr & jnr
But he declined stating “Can you imagine the headline in The Echo, Shankly dragged out of the Tunnel by the BALLS”
Prior to the FA Cup final 1974 against Newcastle (His last game) he was asked how a young Phil Thompson would cope with The Mighty Supermac. “There is no comparison really, one has a big heart the other has a big mouth”
“When I've got nothing better to do, I look down the league table to see how Everton are getting along"
God Bless Bill, I know you will be stood next to each and every one of us this Saturday, giving us all the strength and courage we need in the Theatre of Wood.
May I contribute just two. Both brilliant.
"The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they don't know the game."
"If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd pull the curtains." Bill Shankly
Are Arsenal at full strentgh or is that Bob Wilson playing?
Shanks to a doorman at Arsenal when the young Bob Wilson was within earshot.
"Of course I didn't take my wife to see Rochdale as an anniversary present. It was her birthday. Would I have got married in the football season? Anyway, it was Rochdale reserves."
"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 Liverpool we always said we had the best two teams on Merseyside, Liverpool and Liverpool reserves "
To the press when he took over at Liverpool in 1959
"I am very pleased to and proud to have been chosen as manager of Liverpool FC, a club of such potential. It is my opinion that Liverpool have a crowd of followers which rank with the greatest in the game. They deserve success and I hope, in my own small way, I am able to do something towards to help them achieve it. I make no promises except that from the moment I take over I shall put everything into the job I so willingly undertake."
Match preparation
"After all the training was complete on Fridays, we always had a talk about the impending game. All the players and subs attended. One of the staff would have watched the opposition and would bring their report in. All I wanted to know was the formation. Was it 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or whatever. And did any of the opposing players have any little characteristics we might want to stifle? I never ever discussed the opposition at length.
The last thing you want to do is build up your opponents and frighten your own players. I always tried to have a joke up my sleeve to boost our lads and knock down the opposition. We took our football seriously, but we always tried to get a laugh out of the team talks. And I would always keep a few bombs for Saturday. I might say to the old guy on the Anfield door: 'Here's a box of toilet rolls. Hand them to the opposition when they come through the door.'"
He had a massive aura about him, even to non Liverpool fans or anyone related to any other club.
I remember when Northern Ireland had to play their home games at Goodison because of the troubles in the early 70's and me and a mate went to watch them against England.
After the match we stood behind the main stand to see if we could spot some of the players on their way out. We saw loads of players who were massively famous at the time, close up and obviously kids like ourselves were made up to get so close to them.
After about 15 minutes Bill Shankly walked out and everyone and I mean everyone just stood and looked at him as if he was God. Even photographers were pausing between taking pictures and looking at him with massive respect.
Through the newspapers I asked you to be patient and to give the new players the type of support with which you had helped their predecessors. Perhaps I need not have bothered, for right from the very start your loyalty has been as strong as ever. You have continued to turn up with your customary regularity and magnificent support.
Think anyone taking the
out of Adam, Henderson etc right now should read that line then take a good look at themselves in the mirror.Love this story so much
GEORGE BEST - Man Utd and Northern Ireland legend
"In 1967, we arrived at Anfield to play Liverpool and as I glanced out of the window of the coach I saw Bill Shankly standing at the main entrance. I was the first player to alight from the coach and when I reached the entrance Bill shook my hand warmly. 'Good to see you again, George,' he said. 'You're looking well, son.'
This was unusual for him, and knowing Shanks to be a wily old fox, I decided to hang around to try to find out what he was up to. As each of the United players entered Anfield, Shanks shook his hand, welcomed him and told him how good he looked. Eventually, Bobby Charlton, a born worrier, came up to Shanks.
'Bobby, son. Good to see you,' Shanks said, shaking his hand. 'But by God, if ever there was a man who looked ill, it's you, Bobby!'
Bobby's face went as colourless as an icicle. 'Ill? I look ill?' he repeated, running the fingers of his right hand over his forehead and down his right cheek. He was visibly shaken.
'Aye, Bobby, son. You look like you're sickening for something. If I were you I'd see a doctor as soon as you set foot back in Manchester.' Shanks patted Bobby on the back and took off down the corridor, leaving him trembling in the foyer.
In the dressing room, Bobby was conspicious by his absence and, ominously, there was a delay in announcing the team. We sat around kicking our heels, no one daring to get changed in case Matt Busby had a tactical plan which meant leaving one of us out. The thought of getting changed only to be told to put your clothes back on because you're not in the team is a player's nightmare.
Eventually Matt Busby entered the dressing room with Jimmy Murphy and told us they had reshuffled the team which had beaten West Ham the previous week. Bobby Charlton was unavailable. He'd suddenly been taken ill."
When Shanks spoke to individuals, he frequently used the word son as the last word. But it always came across more like a deep throated 'Sonnnnnnnnn'.
But my fave story is:
On awaiting Everton's arrival for a derby game at Anfield, Shankly gave a box of toilet rolls to the doorman and said - 'Give them these when they arrive - they'll need them!'
Shanks to a translator, when being surrounded by gesticulating Italian journalists :
"Just tell them I completely disagree with everything they say!"
The way he gave his new players heart and hope when nervous made him a legend.
The story of how he told a young and inexperienced Kevin Keegan that he'd just seen Bobby Moore getting off the bus 'he's been at the drink, got dodgy knees, and he's got dandruff' . Keegan had been worried about facing up to the great Bobby Moore, but after Shanks little talk he left the dressing room full of confidence. After keegan had had one of his best games and scored when returning to the dressing room he said "you were right boss he wasn't up for it today" Shanks said "what? your talking about the greatest defender in the country if not the world"
Prior to the game, Shankly had received the United team sheet and he incorporated it into his team talk. His intention was to run us down and, in so doing, boost the confidence of his own players. 'Alex Stepney,' Shanks began. 'A flapper of a goalkeeper. Hands like a Teflon frying pan - non-stick. Right back, Shay Brennan. Slow on the turn, give him a roasting. Left back is Tony Dunne. Even slower than Brennan. He goes on an overlap at twenty past three and doesn't come back until a quarter to four. Right half, Nobby Stiles. A dirty little -beep-. Kick him twice as hard as he kicks you and you'll have no trouble with him.'
'Bill Foulkes, a big, cumbersome centre half who can't direct his headers. He had a head like a sheriff's badge, so play on him. Paddy Crerand. Slower than steam rising off a dog turd. You'll bypass him easily.' The Liverpool players felt as if they were growing in stature with his every word. 'David Sadler,' Shanks continued. 'Wouldn't get a place in our reserves. And finally, John Aston. A chicken, hit him once and you'll never hear from him again. As the manager finished his demolition job on United, Emlyn Hughes raised his hand. 'That's all very well, boss,' he said, 'but you haven't mentioned George Best, Denis Law or Bobby Charlton.' Shanks turned on him. 'You mean to tell me we can't beat a team that has only three players in it?' he said, glowering."
With it being Derby week, this is appropriate
Shanks when told he had never experienced playing in a derby :
"Nonsense! I've kicked every ball, headed out every cross. I once scored a hat-trick; One was lucky, but the others were great goals."
I and many others like me still believe he plays in every Derby Game, sitting on his cloud.
I've retired now from going to game, believe me when I say this Saturday
I will kick every ball, score every goal, save every shot. After the game Saturday I will be totally exhausted, will you ?
My Favourite on Man U
Bill ;
Shankly to Tommy Docherty who said £100,000 wouldn't buy one of his players:
"Aye, I'm one of the 100,000."
Kop ; to Tommy Docherty who was shaggin the Man U Physio's wife
"Who's up Mrs Brown, Who's up Mrs Brown, Tommy Tommy Docherty, Tommy Tommy Docherty"
So so funny at the time, the story was printed as exclusive in the Sunday's
I had just arrived in Calpe on the Costa Blanca, Spain. My brother Derek had been living there since 1973 and had been a massive help to me, finding me somewhere to live and introducing me to both his English and Spanish friends, one of whom became a very good friend to me, Joaquin
So here is the extract;
Through Derek, Joaquin had learned something of my football history (no doubt exaggerated a little, my brother was my biggest fan) one morning Joaquin knocked on our door and told me he had been to see the Mayor of Calpe about the possibility of me becoming a football coach at the local club, Calpe CF. Apparently the coach for the “Infantiles” (12 to 14 age group) had retired and they were having difficulty finding a replacement.
An appointment was made for me to meet the directors of the club, it wasn’t so much an interview, more like a
up and the evening ended with everybody agreeing that I was the man for the job. I was told to start the very next training night.The thought of becoming a coach had never entered my head but I must admit I was rather taken by the idea, although I didn’t have any coaching qualifications, the obvious problem for me was that my Spanish was
but I knew that I could demonstrate any ideas I wanted to get across to the boys.I spent the night before my first training session trying to remember the training methods used at Melwood and getting them down on paper in some sort of sensible sequence. I didn’t want to look a complete prat in front of the boys.
I took heart from an occasion I remembered, I was sitting in Mr. Shankly’s office at Anfield and as usual we were talking football and drinking tea. His secretary knocked and entered, she had a pile of letters and put them down on Mr. Shankly’s desk and left. We carried on talking while he started to read them, some of the letters he put on the desk and some he put in the bin; this bothered me a little because I thought that they were fan letters.
I asked him if they were fan letters and he laughed, he said “No son, we have a vacancy for a youth team coach, the letters on the desk I will read later, the ones going in the bin have FA Coaching badges.
I arranged the training sessions just as I remembered them at Melwood.
Will only add a wee story about a random meeting I once had that shows you the kind of life-long impact he made on people when he met them. I work in London but my good lady (and now kiddies) are up in Dundee, so most weekends I trundle up and down on the train to have a couple of days' worth of normal life.
One Friday night the train pulled out of Newcastle and I was in a trance, about half way through Archie McPherson's biography of Jock Stein - a superb book that Shanks, naturally, features in quite a bit. The two of them were the best of buddies, and the book's strewn with brilliant stories of the pair of them and their shared obsession with the game, its dark arts, and the 'dugs' (greyhounds).
Anyway, next thing you know the seat to my left's been filled, and I glance round to see it's the conductor. I'm thinking 'aye aye, what's happening here?' but next thing he points at the book and says "Great book that. I knew the big man you know.".
Anyway, long story short, the conductor grew up in Dunfermline, where Stein served his pre-Celtic apprenticeship if you like, with striking result. The conductor's dad was massively into greyhound racing, as was Stein, and they were big mates. Stein was round their house regularly for a pot of tea and a blether.
Anyway, he said one night when he was still quite wee, in the middle of the night, his Mum came up and gently roused him from his slumber and when he came to said "I've got a surprise for you". She led him down to the kitchen, and round the kitchen table, sat with a pot of tea and hours deep into another marathon football and 'dugs' related chat, were his Dad, Jock Stein, and Bill Shankly.
He said that to this day it was one of the best moments of his life, getting to stay up and spend time in their company - that it'd stay with him til the day he dies.
The thing is, you know Shanks would have stayed up all the night chatting, then jumped back into the Ford Cortina and booted it back down to Lancashire. Shanks was a decade or so older than Stein, but they were kind of sporting soul mates it seems. That whole story as portrayed in McIlvanney's "The Football Men" is the best sports documentary you'll ever see. I hope to god the BBC see fit to show it again one day.
I'll always remember Nessie too mate...
She had my mum most confused when she proudly stated
"We have the dirtiest oven in the 1st Division"
my dad had to explain....Bill used to scour the oven with Vim and Wire wool every time we got beat, to vent his anger and frustration.
Not my work, just copied and pasted for all LFC fans. Football fans in general too will love some of the stories here.
Enjoy
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