It happens quite a lot nowadays in Liverpool. A man (or woman) walks into a room, bearing a small pin-badge on their clothing, and instantly gets the thumbs-up. The badge may be understated, but its emblem, and what it stands for, is most definitely not.
Arms outstretched, with a red scarf around his neck, Bill Shankly is captured forever in his most famous pose. It could not be a more apt symbol for the supporters' union which is keeping his name alive at Liverpool Football Club.
The Spirit of Shankly was formed in January 2008 in the Sandon pub, a stone's throw away from Anfield. Over 350 supporters crammed into the venue - the birthplace of Liverpool FC - that night, disillusioned at the direction in which their beloved club was heading. The UK had its first football supporters union.
Today, the Spirit of Shankly boasts 3,500 paid members, a figure that is increasing by the week. The group holds quarterly meetings to update members of progress and is coordinating numerous campaigns aimed at ousting the club's controversial co-owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.
Paul Gardner, the group's Community Liaison and Regeneration Officer, is one voice that aims to be heard in this current mini-crisis at Anfield, which came to a head with a fourth consecutive loss at home to Lyon. Not only did this throw Champions League qualification up in the air, but it also gave Rafa's current crop the unenviable distinction of having equalled a 22-and-a-half-year-old losing streak.
Speaking exclusively to Goal.com UK, Gardner is in no doubt of who is to blame for the current plight at Anfield.
"There are two culprits - Gillett and Hicks," he says. "They are the ones who put us into £245 million worth of debt, promised us a stadium which has not been built, took money out of the club to pay for their own expenses, and lied to us constantly."
Gardner and his group plan a demonstration march to Anfield from the supporters' club this Sunday, ahead of the Reds' mammoth encounter with Manchester United. It is a fixture that Hicks is scheduled to attend, and Gardner expects the demonstration to attract significant support from the Liverpool fans.
"We are asking fans to email Gillett and Hicks," he explains, "to let them know how we feel and how we went them out of the club. There will be a march from the supporters club (on Breck Road) at 12 noon ahead of the Manchester United game on Sunday.
"We are calling all Liverpool fans - whether you have a ticket or not - to come down and support us. This is another chance to make our voices heard and help put more pressure on the owners to sell up."
The Spirit of Shankly is eager to stress, however, that their efforts to rid the club of its American co-owners is not simply down to a personal distaste for the duo. They have the club's wider interests at heart, and Gardner speaks of much longer-term aims for Liverpool.
"The club's identity, community links and fan interaction is what Liverpool is all about," he says. "Without those, we are just another club. We are special and unique for those reasons, and all we want is suitable owners who will not load our club with debt, or treat us as a plaything with a business model which is unsustainable.
"Obviously, the ultimate aim of the Spirit of Shankly is a fan-ownership situation. This is something that we, and the people at ShareLiverpool (a scheme which encourages Liverpool fans to pledge £500 in a bid to buy the club as part of a fan's trust) are striving for."
Some may have derided the efforts of groups such as Spirit of Shankly or indeed ShareLiverpool as pie-in-the-sky, but there is a steely determination about the way in which Gardner and his team are going about their business, and they hope for a breakthrough sooner rather than later.
"We want the owners out now," says Gardner, "We cannot afford to just sit back and wait until they get bored, or into too much trouble. That is why we are arranging our banners and our marches and all the other things. If we sit back and wait, we could be another Leeds or Newcastle, in administration and falling down the leagues. That is not an option we even wish to think about."
The Manchester United fixture on Sunday already feels like the most important in Rafa Benitez's five years on Merseyside. For the Spirit of Shankly group, and their American nemesis, it is just the latest round in an ongoing battle, one which the supporters' union expects to win.
Arms outstretched, with a red scarf around his neck, Bill Shankly is captured forever in his most famous pose. It could not be a more apt symbol for the supporters' union which is keeping his name alive at Liverpool Football Club.
The Spirit of Shankly was formed in January 2008 in the Sandon pub, a stone's throw away from Anfield. Over 350 supporters crammed into the venue - the birthplace of Liverpool FC - that night, disillusioned at the direction in which their beloved club was heading. The UK had its first football supporters union.
Today, the Spirit of Shankly boasts 3,500 paid members, a figure that is increasing by the week. The group holds quarterly meetings to update members of progress and is coordinating numerous campaigns aimed at ousting the club's controversial co-owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.
Paul Gardner, the group's Community Liaison and Regeneration Officer, is one voice that aims to be heard in this current mini-crisis at Anfield, which came to a head with a fourth consecutive loss at home to Lyon. Not only did this throw Champions League qualification up in the air, but it also gave Rafa's current crop the unenviable distinction of having equalled a 22-and-a-half-year-old losing streak.
Speaking exclusively to Goal.com UK, Gardner is in no doubt of who is to blame for the current plight at Anfield.
"There are two culprits - Gillett and Hicks," he says. "They are the ones who put us into £245 million worth of debt, promised us a stadium which has not been built, took money out of the club to pay for their own expenses, and lied to us constantly."
Gardner and his group plan a demonstration march to Anfield from the supporters' club this Sunday, ahead of the Reds' mammoth encounter with Manchester United. It is a fixture that Hicks is scheduled to attend, and Gardner expects the demonstration to attract significant support from the Liverpool fans.
"We are asking fans to email Gillett and Hicks," he explains, "to let them know how we feel and how we went them out of the club. There will be a march from the supporters club (on Breck Road) at 12 noon ahead of the Manchester United game on Sunday.
"We are calling all Liverpool fans - whether you have a ticket or not - to come down and support us. This is another chance to make our voices heard and help put more pressure on the owners to sell up."
The Spirit of Shankly is eager to stress, however, that their efforts to rid the club of its American co-owners is not simply down to a personal distaste for the duo. They have the club's wider interests at heart, and Gardner speaks of much longer-term aims for Liverpool.
"The club's identity, community links and fan interaction is what Liverpool is all about," he says. "Without those, we are just another club. We are special and unique for those reasons, and all we want is suitable owners who will not load our club with debt, or treat us as a plaything with a business model which is unsustainable.
"Obviously, the ultimate aim of the Spirit of Shankly is a fan-ownership situation. This is something that we, and the people at ShareLiverpool (a scheme which encourages Liverpool fans to pledge £500 in a bid to buy the club as part of a fan's trust) are striving for."
Some may have derided the efforts of groups such as Spirit of Shankly or indeed ShareLiverpool as pie-in-the-sky, but there is a steely determination about the way in which Gardner and his team are going about their business, and they hope for a breakthrough sooner rather than later.
"We want the owners out now," says Gardner, "We cannot afford to just sit back and wait until they get bored, or into too much trouble. That is why we are arranging our banners and our marches and all the other things. If we sit back and wait, we could be another Leeds or Newcastle, in administration and falling down the leagues. That is not an option we even wish to think about."
The Manchester United fixture on Sunday already feels like the most important in Rafa Benitez's five years on Merseyside. For the Spirit of Shankly group, and their American nemesis, it is just the latest round in an ongoing battle, one which the supporters' union expects to win.
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