BILL SHANKLY
(NOV 59 - JUL 74)
information reproduced with permission from Shankly.com

The Sixties Team

When Bill Shankly arrived at Anfield in 1959, Liverpool were in the second division and going nowhere. Yet, Shankly was immediately at home here. He sensed in the huge crowds a kinship with the supporters from the word go. They were his kind of people. With the backing of Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan and the enthusiasm of the fans behind him he set about rebuilding the team. In came Yeats and St. John, two players he had wanted at Huddersfield.

By 1961-62 Liverpool were ready for promotion and with Roger Hunt scoring 41 goals they won their place back in the top flight. A season of consolidation followed in which they finished 8th, the only problem being Everton finishing as champions. As would happen again 20 years down the line, Liverpool and Everton were about to carve up the domestic honours between them in the next five or six seasons, but as the 63-64 season started, it was Everton who were top dogs on Merseyside, a fact that rankled with Shankly.

In 1963-64 Liverpool won the league with the nucleus of side that had gained promotion two seasons previously still in place. The following season they won the F.A. cup for the first time in the club's history and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, going out in controversial style to Milan. In season 65-66 they won the title again, easing up at the end, while neighbours Everton took the F.A. Cup. They lost the final of the European Cup winners Cup at Hampden Park to Borussia Dortmund.

The great sixties side had gained promotion from Division 2, won the League title twice, the F.A. Cup once, and reached the ECWC final and the European Cup semi-final all inside five seasons. Shankly's mistake now was to let the side rumble on without any major rebuilding for a season or two too long.

The Seventies Team

Liverpool's signing of Emlyn Hughes in March 1967 was their first major signing for almost two years. His signing was followed by two less successful ones in Tony Hateley and Alun Evans and it was this lack of foresight and planning that led to the slow death of the great sixties team. From 1965 to 1973 Liverpool failed to win any trophies as one great side waned and the next was built.

The breaking point of the sixties team was reached in season 69-70 during the F.A. Cup quarter final match against Watford at Vicarage Road. Watford humiliated Liverpool 1:0 and Shankly ripped the heart out the side and brought in his new young stars. Out went St. John, Hunt, Yeats and Lawrence; in came Clemence, Lloyd, Hall and Heighway. Shankly's allegiance to his older players harked back to the dying days of his own playing career where he believed he had been put on the shelf years too early.

With Smith, Lawler, Callaghan, and briefly Thompson, the survivors of the cull, the new team reached the F.A. Cup final in 1971, though coming up against eventual double winners Arsenal proved too much, Liverpool going down 2:1 in extra time. In season 71-72, a new face was introduced to the massed ranks of the Kop. Kevin Keegan made his debut against Nottingham Forest in sensational style, scoring after 8 minutes. A new hero was born. He was to forge an awesome partnership with John Toshack for years to come that would delight the fans. The title that season was lost on the final day, when Liverpool travelled to Arsenal needing a win. With the score at 0:0 Liverpool had a late goal disallowed and the championship went to Derby County, as their players sat listening to the match in a Majorcan bar !

There was no stopping Liverpool the following season however, and the championship was won along with the UEFA Cup, Liverpool beating German side Borussia Moenchengladbach over two legs 3:2 in the final. The club had not only begun a domination of the domestic game but had now mastered the art of playing continental football. The five-a-side training matches Shanks had taken from his days in Glenbuck to Melwood, via Carlisle, Grimsby, Workington and Huddersfield, had proved their worth. Liverpool were now able to stroke the ball around at will in short, neat passing movements.

In the 1974 Cup Final, the world of football was given a sneak preview of what was just around the corner in the World Cup Finals just two months away. Liverpool's performance in their demolition job of Newcastle United was as clinical a display of 'total football' as any ever put on by the Dutch masters at international level. The 3-0 scoreline hardly flattered such a virtuoso performance. Overlapping full-backs, one touch play, every man comfortable on the ball, all the hallmarks of Shankly's pass and move, keep it simple philosophy were on display for the world to admire and it brought Liverpool the F.A. Cup for the second time in their history. Liverpool's play that day was the final fullfilment for Shankly, and, on a shocking July afternoon, at the age of 60, he announced his retirement, leaving the club in the hands of his chosen successor Bob Paisley. Paisley was to take the club onto even more glory in the years that followed.

Managerial Record

League Matches: 609; Won 319; Drawn 152; Lost 138.