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Bill Shankly
Personal information
Date of Birth

2 September 1913

Place of Birth

Glenbuck, Scotland

Date of Death

29 September 1981

Place of Death

Liverpool, England

Managerial statistics
Years managed

1959–1974

Total games

753

Wins

393

Draws

185

Losses

175

William "Bill" Shankly (born 2 September 1913 – died 29 September 1981) is a former Liverpool manager. He served as manager from 1959 and 1974; winning the league championships three times, the FA Cup twice and the UEFA Cup once in this period.

Liverpool Career[]

Shankly was made manager of Liverpool in December of 1959. At the time, due to a decline in the 1950's, Liverpool were competing in the second division. This was due to poor facilities and sub par players currently with the club. During his first year Shankly dismissed 24 of these players.

Shankly instituted a number of changes at Liverpool that are still used today. He started bus rides to Melwood to encourage player camaraderie. Now players would spend most of their time with each other to form more bonds off the pitch to help on the pitch. He introduced fittness training and diet assessment to keep players fit. After practice he would have players bussed back to Anfield to shower and eat a meal together. This helped the players warm down so less training injuries happened.

Shankly's new regime and agenda helped clinch promotion to the first division in 1961-62 with help from signing such as Ron Yeats and Ian St. John. The following year, their first back in the first division he took Liverpool to eighth place. In the 1963-64 season, just two years from their spell in the second division, Shankly won Liverpool their sixth top flight trophy.

In the 1964-65 season, Shankly led Liverpool to win their first ever FA Cup in a 2-1 victory over Leeds United at Wembley. The next season he led them to win the league title for the second time, Liverpool's seventh.

The early 70's brought about a transitional period in Liverpool's results and squad. Players leaving due to age opened up spots in the squad for Shankly to fill. During this time he brought in other Liverpool greats such as Kevin Keegan, Emlyn Hughes, and Ray Clemence. In the 1972-73 season Shankly brought Liverpool to their eighth league title, his third and final. The same year Shankly took Liverpool to win their first ever European cup against Borussia Moenchengladbach. Shankly helped Liverpool win their final piece of silver wear by ousting Newcastle United in the FA cup during the 1973-74 season. It was Shankly's second to last game in charge of the club, and Liverpool's second FA cup. The final match was a league match at White Hart Lane on 8th May in front of only 24,000 fans.

On 12 July 1974, at the age of 60, Shankly retired from Liverpool. The club's new position was given to Bob Paisley, a former Liverpool legend who had been a part of Shankly's staff.

Honours[]

Liverpool[]

Individual[]

  • English Manager of The Year: 1973

Stats[]

Competition Total Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against
League 609 319 152 138 1034 622
FA Cup 75 40 22 13 103 50
League Cup 30 13 9 8 5 35
Europe 65 34 13 18 114 54
Other 4 1 2 1 5 5
Totals 783 407 198 178 1307 766
Season P W D L GF GA FD SD FA LC EC CWC UC CS
1959-60 23 12 5 6 49 34 3rd R4
1960-61 47 23 11 13 97 67 3rd R4 R3
1961-62 47 29 10 8 105 48 1st R5
1962-63 48 21 11 16 80 63 8th SF
1963-64 47 29 7 12 101 48 1st QF
1964-65 60 28 16 16 100 85 7th W SF S
1965-66 53 31 11 11 94 44 1st R3 RU S
1966-67 52 24 15 13 77 59 5th R5 R2 W
1967-68 59 28 17 14 101 57 3rd QF R2 R3
1968-69 51 30 12 9 77 31 2nd R5 R4 R1
1969-70 54 27 13 14 95 52 5th QF R3 R2
1970-71 62 28 22 11 67 35 5th RU R3 SF
1971-72 53 28 11 14 76 40 3rd R4 R4 R2 RU
1972-73 66 37 18 11 108 60 1st R4 QF W
1973-74 61 32 19 10 80 43 2nd W QF R2

See also[]

External links[]

Liverpool F.C. – managers
McKenna and Barclay (t) (1892–96) • Watson (t) (1896–1915) • Ashworth (t) (1919–23) • McQueen (t) (1923–28) • Patterson (t) (1928–36) • Kay (t) (1936–51) • Welsh (t) (1951–56) • Taylor (t) (1956–59) • Shankly (t) (1959–74) • Paisley (t) (1974–83) • Fagan (t) (1983–85) • Dalglish (t) (1985–91) • Moran (1991) (c) • Souness (t) (1991–94) • Evans (t) (1994–98) • Evans and Houllier (t) (1998) • Houllier (t) (1998–2004) • Benitez (t) (2004–10) • Hodgson (t) (2010–11) • Dalglish (t) (2011–12) • Rodgers (t) (2012-15) • Klopp (t) (2015-2024) • Slot (t) (2024-)

(c) - caretaker manager, (t) - transfers made by manager

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