It’s Bill Shankly’s birthday today and Kopites are congregating in establishments, social gatherings and the internet to discuss the impact of the man who is wholly acknowledged to have had the greatest influence on Liverpool Football Club, inspiring the team to become the footballing giant that it is today.
Shankly breezed into Anfield with his magic broom. A fiercely single minded man, he addressed the press upon arrival: "I am very pleased to and proud to have been chosen as manager of Liverpool FC, a club of such potential.
"It is my opinion that Liverpool has a crowd of followers which rank with the greatest in the game. They deserve success and I hope, in my own small way, I am able to do something towards to help them achieve it.
"I make no promises except that from the moment I take over I shall put everything into the job I so willingly undertake."
Hailing from Glenbuck, an Ayrshire coalmining village in the east of Muirkirk, Shankly was born into a family of ten. Times were hard. He received no formal education, and spent two years of his youth earning a meagre wage down the coal pits.
His hard upbringing shaped his philosophy and it was no great secret that he was greatly influenced by Robert Burns, the eminent Scottish Poet.
With his deep thinking not shackled by the formalities of a University education, Shankly provided intelligent opinion and an alternative viewpoint to almost everything. His utterances struck a chord and were lapped upon by the public.
In 1932 Shankly joined Carlisle, leaving to join Preston North End a year later. His bright thinking of the game was noted by greats such as Sir Tom Finney.
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