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Interested in soccer trivia? Visit the newest and best soccer trivia website at www.soccertrivia.org.uk
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Bill Shankly "A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe that 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 in Merseyside, Liverpool and Liverpool reserves." One
of the game's greatest characters, Shankly rescued Liverpool from the second
division and made them one of the greatest teams in English football. Shankly was born in the East Ayrshire mining village of Glenbuck, Scotland in 1913 into a family of ten children. He was one of five brothers who went on to play professional football. Shankly had a successful playing career with Carlisle United and Preston North End, with whom he won an FA Cup winner's medal in 1938. He won five Scottish caps but his career was curtailed by the Second World War. He managed Carlisle, Grimsby Town, Workington and Huddlesfield Town, before arriving at Anfield in 1959. He set about reconstructing the team around such future stars as Ian St John, Roger Hunt and Ron Years. They were promoted to the First Division in 1962, and two years later won the League Championship. This was the start of a remarkable run which saw them win the FA Cup in 1965 and the Championship again in 1966. He constructed a new side in the 1970s around
Kevin Keegan which saw them clinch both the League Championship and the UEFA Cup
in 1973. A year later they won the FA Cup defeating Newcastle United 3-0.
Shortly afterwards Shankly shocked the football world by announcing his retirement. Shankly was awarded the OBE in November 1974. He even went regularly to Melwood to watch the team train. He continued to live in the terraced house that he and his wife had bought when they moved to Liverpool. Shankly died on 29 September 1981 just seven years after leaving his beloved Liverpool - he was 68. However, he remains an idol at Anfield. Shankly was also well aware of the power football had to galvanise an entire city. After his retirement he said: "I was only in the game for the love of football - and I wanted to bring back happiness to the people of Liverpool."
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