Bill Shankly

William "Bill" Shankly, OBE (September 2, 1913 – September 29, 1981) was one of Britain's most successful and respected football managers.

Background

Born in the East Ayrshire mining village of Glenbuck, Scotland, Shankly was one of five brothers who played professional football. His brother Bob was also a successful manager, guiding Dundee to victory in the Scottish championship in 1962. His tough unpbringing 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 sence 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, never played for their first eleven.

Player career

Bill Shankly's playing career began in Scottish Junior Football, where he played for the now defunct Cronberry Eglinton. In 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 the summer of 1933 he signed for Preston North End for a fee of 500 pounds. A distinguished playing career that won the FA Cup with Preston in 1938, and 7 caps for Scotland was cruelly interrupted by war in 1939.

He played for Partick Thistle during the Second World War. When the 1946-47 season kick-started organised professional football again in England, Shankly was 33 and coming to the end of his playing days.

Managerial career

He was appointed the manager of Carlisle United in 1949, starting his managerial career where his professional playing career had also started. He was undistinguished Carlisle, and walked out citing a lack of financial committment on the part of the directors - a pttern which would repeat itself for the next ten years across a succssion of northern English football clubs.

He moved to Grimsby in 1951, and then Workington in 1953 and Huddersfield in 1956 - where he granted a professional debut to an upcoming 16 year old called Denis Law. After four years at Huddersfield, Manchester City signed Law or a transfer fee of £55,000, setting a new British record.<ref name=55k>.

Shankly appeared prone to falling foul of the boardroom at each club, as he never felt they gave the same committment to team affairs as he did. It was Shankly's own committment and enthusiasm that had initially intrigued chairman T.V. Williams years earlier when Shankly had been interviewed for the vacant Liverpool job in 1951. Back then, it was felt he wasn't a big enough name for the club, and somewhat lacking in experience, but this time Williams knew instinctively that Shankly and Liverpool were right for each other.

Liverpool

Shankly became the manager of Liverpool in December 1959.

Shankly is remembered by many Liverpool fans as their greatest ever manager. His record of honours (in itself notable) pales compared to some of his successors (including the man that immediately followed, Bob Paisley) but he is credited with establishing the club's reputation and setting the scene for subsequent successes.

Shankly retired in July 1974 season and was awarded the OBE in November that year. It was later revealed that Shankly wanted Jack Charlton to succeed him at Liverpool, and not Bob Paisley.

He died aged 68 of a heart attack early on 29 September 1981. 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.

Honours

Playing

• 1934 Second Division runners-up (with Preston North End)
• 1937 FA Cup finalists. (with Preston North End)
• 1938 FA Cup winners. (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.
1974 FA Cup winners, First Division runners-up.

Managerial Statistics

Team	From	To	Games	Won	Lost	Drawn
Liverpool	01-12-1959	12-07-1974	753	393	175	185
Huddersfield	01-11-1956	01-11-1959	134	49	50	35
Grimsby	01-07-1951	31-01-1953	80	47	17	16
Carlisle	01-03-1949	01-07-1951	108	48	27	33

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 'football is more important than life and death to you' and I said 'Listen, it's more important than that'."
• Shankly famously said about the offside law, "If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be."
• When asked what he thought about the team on the other side of Stanley Park he replied "There are only two teams in Liverpool; Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves.

External links

• LFC Online profile
• English Football Hall of Fame Profile
• A site dedicated to the life and times of Bill Shankly
• This Is Anfield: Managerial Profile