Liverpool FC Forum

by **RedRoots** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 3:57 am

Found this on the four-four-two website, it's a good read.

'You'll like it, it's by the seaside,' said Bill Shankly to his wife, trying to convince her of the merits of a move to Liverpool. She believed him, though she probably realised the grey shores of the Mersey were a long way removed from the beaches of the Costa Del Sol, and on 1 December, 1959, the directors of Liverpool Football Club announced that they had appointed a new manager.

They thought they were appointing a canny coach with a firm grasp of tactics and on-pitch priorities. In fact, they were unleashing a whirlwind of change that was to take the club higher than the stevedore cranes that towered above the docks of the 'seaside' city.

In the years leading up to his appointment at Anfield, Shankly had made his mark. He was known as a tough player who became an even tougher manager, a man who could galvanise his teams with pithy team talks and astute analysis of the game. He was, in short, exactly the kind of man Liverpool needed.

Although huge crowds flocked to Anfield, there was an agonising hunger for success. The League championship had been won in 1947 but now, 12 years later, the memory of that success was shrouded in the Mersey mists. Liverpool had been relegated to Division Two in 1954 and had not escaped. So poor was the Liverpool side of the era, they even lost to non-league Worcester City in the third round of the FA Cup in January 1959. Liverpool needed a soccer Messiah and that is exactly what they got.

Shankly was born in Glenbuck, a mining village in Ayrshire which has long since disappeared, although traces of it can still be seen and a plaque in memory of him has become something of a shrine for football fans, particularly Liverpool fans.

Bill (or Willie, as he was known as a boy) had four older brothers who all became professional footballers. Two of his uncles, Bob and Billy Blyth, were also professional players, so it is hardly surprising young Bill also entered the game.

Shankly did not become a footballer immediately. Before his talent was spotted he had already joined most of the male population of Glenbuck working down the mines.

'Something I learnt from my mining days was the need to have a joke,' Shankly remembered later. 'It was hard work, very hard work and a tough life. Sometimes the only thing that kept people going was the ability to laugh. That is why I like to have a joke in the dressing room before a game. It takes away the tension and adds a spirit of togetherness. If you laugh together you will work harder together.'

In August 1932 Shankly, then 19 years old, was able to say farewell to the mines. Carlisle wrote to him, asking if he'd care to come to Cumberland for a trial. Of course, Shankly went, accompanied by his brother. The trial was a success and Carlisle landed themselves a new right-half who was going to cost £4 a week.

The club was having a miserable season and manager Billy Hampson decided young Shankly might make a difference. He gave him his first-team debut against Rochdale on New Year's Eve 1932 and Carlisle got a point from a 2-2 draw. Shankly kept his place for the rest of the season.

That was just the start. Shankly went on to join Preston and helped them to promotion at the first attempt. It was for Preston that Shankly scored his first professional goal in February 1938 - against Liverpool. A few months later he picked up an FA Cup winner's medal, playing in the Preston side that beat Huddersfield. International recognition beckoned, and Shankly made five appearances for Scotland before World War Two intervened.

Shankly's final playing appearance was on 19 March, 1949, when he lined up for Preston in a 3-1 defeat by Sunderland. It was an ignominious end: not only did Preston lose, but Shankly was in dispute with the club. They wanted him to continue as player-coach for the reserves and offered him a testimonial game as an incentive.

Shankly thought he deserved the testimonial for having been at Deepdale for 16 years, not as an incentive to stay longer. While this was going on, Carlisle were waiting in the wings to lure Shankly as player-manager. Preston refused to hand over his playing registration, so Shankly announced his retirement and joined Carlisle as boss for £14 per week.

'When I went into management for the first time I had a lot to draw upon,' Shankly later explained. 'You have to learn from life and your experiences. Remember them and use them to improve yourself.'

By the time he became Liverpool manager a decade later, Shankly had added a whole new dimension to his experiences. Within days of joining Carlisle, a run-down club, Shankly was holding a trophy: the Cumberland cup, secured with a 2-1 win over Workington. It might not sound like much, but to a man like Shankly winning an egg cup was worthy of a lap of honour.

During the following decade Shankly made a speciality of joining ailing clubs and changing their course. He did not win any actual trophies before he joined Liverpool, but he won many accolades and a great deal of respect. It was not just that he could turn a club around, but that he did it with a style that was exciting and inspiring.

He turned ordinary players into worldbeaters, notably a pair he had at Huddersfield - Denis Law and Ray Wilson, who went into the Shankly orbit as youngsters and went on to become legends.

Shankly's career progressed through the lower divisions, from Carlisle to Grimsby to Workington and then to Huddersfield. But the best was yet to come. Huddersfield had just lost 1-0 to Cardiff when two men approached Shankly and asked him, 'How would you like to be manager of the best club in the country?'

'Why? Is Matt Busby packing it in?' Shankly replied.
The two strangers shared the joke and introduced themselves as Tom Williams, Liverpool's chairman, and Harry Latham, a director of the club. They explained that their existing manager, Phil Taylor, had a health problem and had to retire (Liverpool had, in fact, just lost 5-4 to Swansea and the board may well have looked for a new manager regardless of Taylor's health).

For once Shankly bit his tongue. He could have told them that he had been turned down when he applied for the job back in 1951, but these were different directors and he knew there was nothing to be gained from the jibe. He wanted the job and the negotiations that followed during the next couple of weeks were really just a jostling for agreement. His wife, Nessie, also knew he wanted the job. She did not want to leave Huddersfield and she was not really taken in by her husband's attempt to make Liverpool sound like a seaside resort but she supported him, as ever, and began packing.

The Huddersfield board were not happy at losing their principal asset and held up the move as long as they could (Huddersfield actually beat Liverpool 1-0 while all this was going on). Shankly eventually lost patience and resigned, to be appointed Liverpool manager.

'Candidly, the place was a shambles when I came,' Shankly admitted. 'I knew Liverpool had the best supporters in the world. I knew their potential was tremendous - those are the only reasons I joined the club. I had seen Liverpool slump to a position in which they were going nowhere.

'In one game at Huddersfield we beat them 5-0 and we only had ten men. That saddened me to see such a great club in trouble. When I joined them I knew I had a battle on my hands. It wasn't just battles on the field but battles in the boardroom as well. I was going to have to get them to see things my way.'

That was how it all started. For a short time he doubted he had taken the right decision in taking the job with Liverpool. He said as much to Nessie as they strolled round the training ground one afternoon. She told him that if he really wanted to be the manager of a First Division club this was his best chance. He needed no further encouragement. He did need money, though, and it came in the shape of a man named Eric Sawyer.

'I had been at Anfield for about 18 months and things had improved a little but not enough,' said Shankly. 'I kept saying that we had to spend some money and they kept telling me that they didn't have any. Then Eric Sawyer joined the board. He was in the accountancy section of Littlewoods Pools and he was as sick as I was of seeing Liverpool struggle. He is the man that turned them around.

'I said at a board meeting that I had heard Ian St John was for sale. I knew that if we were going to get anywhere he was the kind of player we needed. Someone on the board said we couldn't afford to have him. Then Eric Sawyer spoke and said that we couldn't afford not to have him. That was music to my ears. That man, Mr Sawyer, was the real start of Liverpool. He told me that if I could find the players he would find the money.

'Within a week we had signed Ian St John. He made his debut against Everton in a Liverpool Cup match. They beat us 4-3 but he scored a hat-trick and set the place on fire. It was the end of the season and during the summer I was able to buy Ron Yeats for £30,000.

'Now I knew things were starting to take shape. Yeats was in the centre of the defence and looked after that department, St John was centre of the attack and took care of scoring.'

After a period of gradual rebuilding (24 players were sold and some promising youngsters - including Roger Hunt and Ian Callaghan - were blooded), the new-look Liverpool was launched at the start of the 1961/62 season. It was now up to the team to prove that Shankly had been right to launch his revolution.

When Shankly arrived at Anfield there were already some famous faces in place but he organised them into a winning combination. One of his most celebrated moves was to establish the now legendary Boot Room.

'It was a little room by the manager's office,' said Shankly. 'It was only small but we had a table-top football pitch permanently set up to help with our discussions. Everyone piled in there to discuss the game coming up or look back on the previous one. Everyone had said their piece and we had some really useful meetings in that little room.'

Joining Shankly in the Boot Room was his coaching staff of Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Reuben Bennett. His captain was Ronnie Moran, who would later graduate to the Boot Room, too.

The training ground at Melwood was also given an overhaul. Shankly believed that if players were given poor facilities they would feel poor and play badly. He added a touch of class to the place, at the start with just a coat of paint. Even that little effort made a difference to the players.

There were other displays of player psychology. Before a game he would watch the opposition arrive and rush to his own team's dressing room and tell them that certain key opponents were limping or looked ill.

He would assure them they were playing a side doomed for relegation or who had hit a bad patch of form. After a game, victory gained, he would tell them that they had just beaten the second best team in the world. Amazingly, his players believed every word, every time.

'He was an incredible man,' said Ian St John. 'When I first met him he had come up to see me play for Motherwell. He struck me as a caricature of James Cagney. He asked me about joining Liverpool but I wasn't keen. He ignored my answer and arranged for us to meet the next day.

'My wife was with me and before we knew it we were sitting in a Rolls Royce bound for Liverpool. I'm sure if I hadn't agreed to sign he would have kidnapped me. The following night I found myself playing for Liverpool and scoring a hat-trick. Time never stood still for Bill Shankly.'

Ron Yeats tells a similar story. 'Bill Shankly just turned up on my doorstep one day and told me that Liverpool were going to be going up the following season and he was going to build the team round myself in defence and Ian St John in attack. There I was, expecting to have an average career in the game when suddenly you hear something like that.

'Imagine how my confidence soared. That was how he was. He made any player feel like a great player. If you feel like one, you'll play like one. Even when we lost, he would prove that it had all been a mistake - the winning goal was offside, one of our blokes was fouled and so on.

'Having said that, he would not tolerate any lax attitudes, no matter who you were. We didn't have any stars, everyone was treated the same. It was embarrassing if you were ever injured and couldn't play. He reacted as if you'd let him down personally and sometimes he would walk straight past injured players without even acknowledging them.'

The new season began with a line-up including Bert Slater and Jim Furnell sharing goalkeeping duties and an outfield selection of Alan A'Court, Gerry Byrne, Ian Callaghan, Roger Hunt, Tommy Leishman, Kevin Lewis, Jimmy Melia, Ronnie Moran, Dick White, Ian St John and Ron Yeats. Team spirit was high. Shankly had convinced his players this was going to be their year and the supporters were caught up the mood of optimism and determination.

What had always been a noisy crowd suddenly transformed into the Kop of popular legend, the twelfth man on the Liverpool team.

'There must be a better word than fantastic to describe the Anfield spectators,' said Shankly. 'I think it's more than fanaticism, it's a religion with them. The thousands who come here do so to worship. It's a sort of shrine, not just a football ground. These people are not simply fans, they are more like members of a tremendous family.'

Those fans cheered themselves hoarse as Liverpool took scalp after scalp during the 1961/62 season. The Reds won 18 and drew three of their 21 home games, scoring 68 goals.

Away from home they were beaten seven times, each defeat dismissed by Shankly as bad refereeing, luck or a terrible pitch. The Liverpool machine found the net 99 times and Roger Hunt's tally of 41 goals is still a club record for one season.

With two weeks left of the season Liverpool were crowned Second Division champions, and the party began. There was Shankly with arms outstretched saluting the Kop, knowing Liverpool were back in the top division. He had given the club a heart transplant and it was glowing with health and vitality.

There was more work and new challenges ahead, but for that moment the Second Division Championship was as good as the World Cup to Shankly.

As they sang, Shankly joined in with the words that were soon to soundtrack an unprecedented period of domination of English football: 'Liv-er-pool, Liv-er-pool, Liv-er-pool.'

Bernard Bale

by **NANNY RED** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:54 am

RedRoots wrote:'There must be a better word than fantastic to describe the Anfield spectators,' said Shankly. 'I think it's more than fanaticism, it's a religion with them. The thousands who come here do so to worship. It's a sort of shrine, not just a football ground. These people are not simply fans, they are more like members of a tremendous family.'

Good read and that little quote sums us up perfectly thats why were different

by **Leonmc0708** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:52 am

There is no e in Shankly, I will fix the thread title for you . . .

by **Red Hot Mama** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:29 am

by **redtrader74** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:17 am

Now before i get shot, take a second, but can't you see a bit of Shankly in (oh my god!) Mourinho, (just a bit), all defeats were down to bad refereeing, bad luck, bad pitch etc.
Great read, good reminder in these cynical times by the great man, that Liverpool are a family.

by **Sabre** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:32 am

Great read, and there were many bits I didn't know

'Having said that, he would not tolerate any lax attitudes, no matter who you were. We didn't have any stars, everyone was treated the same. It was embarrassing if you were ever injured and couldn't play. He reacted as if you'd let him down personally and sometimes he would walk straight past injured players without even acknowledging them.'

That's a bit shocking, but it shows how every manager has tricks to keep the people up and running. Some would ignore the injured players, others wouldn't tell "well done" to a player...

I don't get tired of reading things about this man. Great article.

by **taff** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 2:05 pm

An incredible man and I can recommend any books you get on him. There is also a tribute on LFC TV tonight and over the weekend.

Its amazing how many older scousers have stories about him, a mate of mine actually played football in the street with him although he did that quite a lot

Get his interviews or quotes, after reading or listening to him I cant understand why everybody in the world doesnt support Liverpool

by **RedRoots** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:13 pm

Leonmc0708 wrote:There is no e in Shankly, I will fix the thread title for you . . .

Right you are, in my defence i posted it at 4 in the morning after a nights work! Cheers Leon.

Now before i get shot, take a second, but can't you see a bit of Shankly in (oh my god!) Mourinho, (just a bit), all defeats were down to bad refereeing, bad luck, bad pitch etc.
Great read, good reminder in these cynical times by the great man, that Liverpool are a family.

I can understand where you're coming from here, i wasn't around at the time but i can imagine him getting up a few peoples noses although from the stories i've read Shankly strikes me as more of a genuine character as opposed to Mourinho who is more of a press whore! If Shankly was around today he'd run rings around Mourinho.

by **mighty mo** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:47 pm

one word LEGEND!!!!!!!

by **glenbuck patriot** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:20 am

A Short Passage from the Shankly.Com website......... befitting of THE LEGEND, THE GENIUS,THE MAN, on the 26th anniversary of the passing of "OUR SPECIAL ONE"!

The glen is silent now, no one would know
that here, where gorse and thistles grow,
a thousand people lived with pride
until the village died.

A store stood in that clump of birch
and there's the shadow of a church,
the school lies scattered on the ground,
it's now a rubble mound.

But see that patch of moorland fern,
down there where sheep graze by the burn,
beneath that wilderness concealed,
you'll find a football field.

Go down and walk upon that land
for that was once a hallowed stand,
out here they shaped the people's game,
a field of dreams, a place of fame.

They crawled in darkness underground
until they heard the whistle sound,
then left the danger and the dark
to run in sunlight on that park.

Their team was forged from guts and coal,
it captured Glenbuck's heart and soul,
now miners fought for village glory
to write the Cherrypickers' story.

They played with style, they beat the rest,
those Cherrypickers were the best,
wealthy clubs came for the men
who had the magic of the Glen.

But fate holds cards of joy and sorrow,
we live today, depart tomorrow.
She dealt her hand - the story ended,
and broken dreams cannot be mended.

The pit was closed, it didn't pay
and closure took all work away,
that one decision, it was said,
killed Glenbuck dead.

A ruined Glen, a flooded mine,
a boy who lost his chance to shine
but in his heart he vowed one day
to win the Cherrypickers' way.

His name was Shankly, he was the best,
his memory shines above the rest.
He won the heart of every fan,
he dignified the working man.

He came to Liverpool, he built a team,
he brought alive his Glenbuck dream,
and Anfield, his adopted home,
made sure he never walked alone.

Don Gillespie

SHANKS YNWA

by **red37** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:28 am

I could have sat and listened to the fella for hours. No need to say anything else really, he's just....Bill Shankly.
If the rest of us had even half this mans Spirit and Humility, we'd be very well off indeed.

R.I.P Bill. Still the brightest star of the bloody lot.

by **Kharhaz** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:11 am

Is this how things are? somebody posts something about the past liverpool and are recognised for something most of us already know? Great quote yes, William Shankly was recognised for many, and here is a quote on this site of something he said that was picked up on another site? Must remember in future, to recieve recognition copy and paste a topic on another website in which most of us already know the topic but another website has quoted it.

by **Rush Job** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:27 am

Kharhaz wrote:Is this how things are? somebody posts something about the past liverpool and are recognised for something most of us already know? Great quote yes, William Shankly was recognised for many, and here is a quote on this site of something he said that was picked up on another site? Must remember in future, to recieve recognition copy and paste a topic on another website in which most of us already know the topic but another website has quoted it.

So what do you propose exactly? Top post.

by **Leonmc0708** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:15 am

Hope the box of toys do Shanks proud today.

by **NiftyNeil** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:24 am

I've just been reading some of his quotes on the .tv website. Most of them I've read time and time again, but this one was new to me :

'I know this is a sad occasion, but I think that Dixie would be amazed to know that even in death he could draw a bigger crowd to Goodison than Everton on a Saturday afternoon' – speaking at the funeral of Everton legend Dixie Dean

It's an absolute pearler that one.
Nice one Shanks, RIP.

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