Tribute To Bill Shankly, 50 Years After His Arrival At Liverpool FC

With arms aloft, scarf tied tightly round his neck and celebrating with the Kop, the iconic image of Bill Shankly has become what defines Liverpool Football Club.

The benchmark for any future manager, player, member of the backroom or supporter, and what they strive towards, was raised to unprecedented heights as the man from Glenbuck realised his managerial potential to unleash a new era in British and European football.

It was April 1973 when Shankly and Anfield, a pair of footballing souls intertwined, rejoiced together at winning the First Division championship for the third and ultimately final time.

And immortalised in statue form outside Liverpool’s home today, Shankly’s presence is as keenly felt now as it was between 1959 and 1974.

To know of Shankly has becomes almost a right of passage one has to pass when the love of Liverpool is handed from generation to generation.

A man idolised by thousands, but who thought of himself as merely one of the people, Shankly would be talked about like a member of the family – his resignation in July, 1974 was grieved in a similar way.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Shankly signing for the Anfield club, replacing the departed Phil Taylor, and ushering in a revolution, taking Liverpool from the humble surroundings of the Second Division to where the club stands today – as an outfit with a revered history and one with a now global appeal.

Everything which has already been achieved and that which will be won in the future by Liverpool, will have been done so with the foundations built under the Scotsman’s reign.

There is almost as much myth and legend surrounding the tenure of Shankly as there is truth, but it makes his legacy that more epic, inspirational and glorious to Liverpool supporters.

Anecdotes from former players and fans detailing acts of generosity, an unrivalled competitive streak and quotes of poetic quality all add to the aura Shankly had and still holds to all associated with Liverpool.

Talk of the former Preston North End player and Scottish international never ceases, but with such a poignant anniversary and in times when the current Liverpool are looking for inspiration, it was natural those he encountered began to reminisce.

Kevin Keegan was somewhat of an unknown when Shankly plucked him from Second Division Scunthorpe United but by 1971 but the Liverpool fans had learned to trust in everything their manager did – it came as little surprise Keegan would be one of the most stellar signings the club have ever seen.

“He brought me to the club, he believed in me and he inspired me. That first meeting with him changed my life forever,” said Keegan.

“Apart from my parents, Bill was the most important person in my life.

“Bill’s departure certainly played a part in my decision to leave.

“No disrespect to Bob (Paisley), but when Bill left half the club went for me as well.

“Bill took Liverpool by the scruff of the neck and put down the foundations on which the club’s been built.”

The Second Division title arrived in 1962 with a team comprised of players such as Ron Yeats and Ian St John and signalled a remarkable turnaround in the club’s fortunes as the former Huddersfield Town manager had transformed a club with a run-down stadium, training facilities not to standard and an average playing squad.

“When we won promotion to the First Division I went to a shareholders’ meeting and they were so thrilled about it that they presented us with cigarette boxes,” Shankly said.

“I told them, ‘we got promotion, but you don’t think that is satisfactory, do you? Next time we come back here for presents we will have won the big league, the First Division’.”

The gifts no doubt became grander after a first ever FA Cup triumph followed in 1965, when Leeds United were dispatched 2-1 after extra-time, and then being named the best team in the land the season afterwards, using just 14 players.

It would be seven years until Shankly brought silverware back to Anfield but he did it after building his second all conquering side – out went those including Roger Hunt and Tommy Lawrence and in came Ray Clemence and John Toshack.

Pipping Arsenal to the championship by three points in 1973, Shankly revelled in his ‘finest hour’ hailing the league win.

“This title gave me greater pleasure than the previous two, simply because here we had a rebuilt side, some of them only two or three seasons in first team football and they stayed the course like veterans”, he said.

“I wanted that title more than at any time in my life.”

More glory followed in 1973 as the club’s first European trophy was secured with a 3-2 win on aggregate against Borussia Moenchengladbach in the final of the UEFA Cup – lighting the touch paper for Liverpool to become European trailblazers.

His final trophy arrived 12 months later when Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0 in the FA Cup final courtesy of Kevin Keegan’s double and one from Steve Heighway.

“These are my kind of people.”

Shankly sensed something special when he became Liverpool manager half a century ago yet few of the club’s supporters would have predicted just how monumental a 15-year love affair it would become.

But as evocative as the recollections of other people are, the words of Shankly himself are those which resonate the loudest.

"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,” is the line which crossed the most footballing borders.

Though when uttering, “If Everton were playing at the bottom of the garden, I'd pull the curtains,” he probably spoke loudest to the Liverpool fans.

Yet they were silenced when Shankly announced his shock resignation from the Anfield job – though the irrepressible Ayrshire man did it in his own style by announcing the signing of Ray Kennedy and then his own departure.

“It has been a momentous day, but his signing shows that I am not running away. Maybe it will be said that one of the last things I did at this club was to sign a great new player,” he said.

It is fitting that Shankly would have the final word.