Bill Shankly
The charismatic manager who resurrected Liverpool and built a dynasty.
Bill Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish football player and manager, best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. He brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winning three League Championships and the UEFA Cup. He laid foundations on which his successors Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan built, winning seven league titles and four European Cups in the ten seasons after Shankly retired in 1974.
- Role
- Manager
- Club
- Liverpool FC
- Tenure
- 1959 – 1974
- First Division Title
- 1963–64 (Liverpool's first top-flight league title)
- FA Cup
- 1964, 1965
- European Cup
- 1965 (vs Inter Milan, San Siro)
- Key Players
- Ian St John, Roger Hunt, Gerry Byrne, Tommy Smith
Lore & Background
Shankly was born in the small Scottish coal mining village of Glenbuck, Ayrshire, one of ten children. All five Shankly brothers played professional football. He worked as a miner before signing for Carlisle United in 1932. He played as a ball-winning right-half, spent most of his playing career at Preston North End, winning the FA Cup in 1938, and was capped twelve times for Scotland. After retiring as a player in 1949, he managed Carlisle United, Grimsby Town, Workington, and Huddersfield Town before becoming Liverpool manager in December 1959.
In Their Own Story
The dressing room at Anfield, 1965. The European Cup final is over. Inter Milan's great team, the team that had dominated the continent, is beaten. Two goals to one. The silence in the tunnel is the kind that only exists in the immediate aftermath of something that should not have been possible. Then the roar hits — not from the stadium, but from inside the room, from the players themselves, a sound like a boiler exploding. Shankly stands in the corner, arms folded, his face unreadable. A young player, still in his boots, grabs his arm and shakes it. Shankly doesn't smile. He never smiles in the moment. He simply says, 'Right. Now we go and get the bus.' And the room erupts again, because even in the greatest night of his life, the man who built them all is already thinking about getting them home safe. That is the man. That is the religion.
Reader's Guide
Shankly took charge of Liverpool when they were in the Second Division. He led them to the Second Division Championship in 1962, then won three First Division Championships, two FA Cups, four Charity Shields, and one UEFA Cup. During his tenure, the club changed to an all-red home strip and 'You'll Never Walk Alone' became the club's anthem. He announced his retirement after winning the 1974 FA Cup final, having managed the club for 15 years, and was succeeded by Bob Paisley.
Did You Know?
- Shankly was among the inaugural inductees into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
- He led Liverpool out for the last time at Wembley for the 1974 FA Charity Shield.
- Ronnie Moran, captain of Liverpool when Shankly arrived in 1959, said 'he was the one that resurrected the club.'
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