Thanks Mr. Shanks - 12th July 1974

Posted by nige on July 12, 2004, 10:06:32 am

12th July 1974

I was on a high in the summer of seventy four
I had it all - no kid could want more
Keegan and Heighway had won us the cup
A fishing holiday to come when school broke up

And then on the way home, the newsagents' signs
"LFC in shock as Shankly resigns"
He said "after giving Liverpool so much of me life
I'll now give more time to Nessie my wife"

But he was famous for being football obsessed
Anniversaries at reserve games, that made him the best!
He said that football was more important than life
How could he quit to spend time with the wife?

I read the Echo and through the tears
I didn't think about the fifteen years
But just thought about the years to come
How could anyone repeat the trophies he'd won?

I was only eleven, though, what did I know?
Nobody knew then how we'd thrive and grow
From the seeds of passion that Shankly had sown
To make The European Champions Cup our own

And dominate everything for the next fifteen years
If I'd only known that, I'd have saved my tears
Not for Liverpool, its young fans like me
But for the sacrifices of Bill & Nessie Shankly.

thanks Mr. Shankly

© nige 2004

How the BBC broke the story in 1974:

The manager of Liverpool football club, Bill Shankly, is retiring from his post.
Shankly, 58, has been in charge at Anfield for nearly 15 years.

He made the decision to leave five weeks ago, but club directors have been trying to persuade him to stay.

Shankly explained that he was starting to feel the strain after so long in the job and that he had to take his family into consideration.

"The pressures have built up so much during my forty years in the game that I felt it was time to have a rest," he said.




Since joining the club in 1959 Shankly has taken Liverpool into the first division where the team won the championship in 1964, 1966 and 1973, the FA Cup in 1965 and this year and the UEFA Cup in 1973.

Club chairman John Smith has said that his retiring manager is happy to offer the team "the benefit of his experience", but he doesn't want to undermine his successor.

The son of a Lanarkshire miner, Shankly rose to fame as a winger with Carlisle and Preston before beginning his management career back at Carlisle followed by stints at Grimsby, Workington and Huddersfield.

He is widely respected throughout the game for his socialist principles and sharp wit.


Wooltonian's excellent four part Bill Shankly Story which appeared on RAWK in 2002/2003 can be read at the following links:

The Bill Shankly Story part 1

The Bill Shankly Story part 2

The Bill Shankly Story part 3

The Bill Shankly Story final part

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