Bill Shankly

Carlisle United

Shankly had a single season, 1932–33, at Carlisle United, then relatively new to the Football League and playing in the Third Division North, their reserve side playing in the North Eastern League. Shankly was recommended by scout Peter Carruthers, who had seen him playing for Cronberry. He was invited for a month's trial and said it was the first time he had left Scotland. He was signed after just one trial match for Carlisle's reserves against Middlesbrough reserves, even though Carlisle reserves lost the match 6–0. A local newspaper report said that he had worked hard and might develop into a useful left back. In fact, he developed into a top-class right-half. Shankly made his senior debut on 31 December 1932 in a 2–2 draw against Rochdale and made 16 appearances for the first team. At the end of the season, the reserves won the North Eastern League Cup, defeating Newcastle United reserves 1–0 in the final. In his 1976 autobiography, Shankly stated that he still had the medal. At this stage of his career, Shankly was assessed as "a hard running, gritty right-half" whose displays brought him much praise and credit. He was considered a promising key young player who was capable of taking Carlisle to greater things. He was paid £4 and ten shillings a week at Carlisle, which he considered a good wage as the top rate at that time was £8. Shankly was happy at Carlisle, which was close to his home at Glenbuck, and he had settled in well with almost a…

Shankly wrote in his autobiography that he had long prepared himself for a career as a football manager. He had absorbed all the coaching systems with any useful qualifications and had full confidence in his ability and in himself to be a leader. For him, he had done the hard work and it was simply a question of waiting for an opportunity to present itself. Shankly summed up the essential criteria for success in football management when he claimed he could speak common sense about the game and could spot a good player. In spotting a player, he always applied a basic formula which was that, first and foremost, the player must have both ability and courage. Other attributes were physical fitness and willingness to work, especially to struggle against the odds.

Carlisle United

Shankly began his managerial career at Carlisle United, the club where his professional playing career had started. Carlisle in the 1948–49 season were struggling in the bottom half of the Third Division North and finding it difficult to attract southern-based players because of the city's geographic remoteness in the far north of England. Shankly's work ethic transformed the team who finished 15th in 1948–49 after he had been in charge for only the last few matches. They improved to ninth in 1949–50 and then to third in 1950–51, almost gaining promotion. One of Shankly's players at Carlisle was Geoff Twentyman, then a promising young centre half, who was later transferred to Liverpool. After he…

Bill Shankly was born in the small Scottish coal mining village of Glenbuck, Ayrshire, whose population in 1913, the year of Shankly's birth, was around 700. People born there would often move to find work in larger coal mines. As a result, Glenbuck became largely derelict and by the time Shankly's ghost writer John Roberts visited it in 1976, there were only 12 houses left, including a cottage owned by Shankly's sister, Elizabeth, whom Roberts described as "the last of the children of Glenbuck". Shankly's parents, John and Barbara, lived in one of the Auchenstilloch Cottages with their 10 children; five boys and five girls. William was the ninth child and the youngest boy. Although he was known as Bill throughout his football career, his name in the family was Willie, pronounced [Wullie]. His father was a postman who became a tailor of handmade suits. Despite the football pedigree in his family, he did not play himself. All five Shankly brothers played professional football and Shankly claimed they could have beaten any five brothers in the world when they were all at their peaks. His brothers were Alec, known as Sandy by the family, who played for Ayr United and Clyde; Jimmy (1902–1972), who played for various clubs including Sheffield United and Southend United; John (1903–1960), who played for Portsmouth and Luton Town; and Bob (1910–1982), who played for Alloa Athletic and Falkirk. Bob became a successful manager, guiding Dundee to victory in the Scottish championship…

On the morning of 26 September 1981, Shankly was admitted to Broadgreen Hospital following a heart attack. His condition appeared to be stable and there was no suggestion that his life was in danger. On the following Monday morning, his condition suddenly deteriorated and he was transferred into intensive care. At 00:30 on 29 September, he suffered another cardiac arrest and was certified dead, aged 68, at 01:20. Supporters lined the streets of Liverpool on the day of his funeral, with many of his past players in attendance. He was cremated at the Anfield Crematorium on 2 October and his ashes were scattered on the Anfield pitch at the Kop end.

On the day of Shankly's death, training was cancelled at both Melwood and Bellefield. The Labour Party conference stood in a minute's silence for a man who had always been a socialist. Sir Matt Busby, the former Manchester United manager, was so upset that he refused to take any telephone calls from people asking him for a reaction. Tributes poured in from the world of football, especially from the former players of all Shankly's clubs. Liverpool chairman John Smith summed them up with a simple but fitting: "In my opinion, he was the most outstanding and dynamic manager of the century". On 3 October, Liverpool's first home league game since his death, the Liverpool and Swansea players stood for a minute's silence, including former red John Toshack who unveiled a Liverpool shirt from under his Swansea tracksuit. A fan on the Kop held…