Bill Shankly: biography, sports career

Bill Shankly is one of the most famous football coaches in the UK. Especially famous for his work at Liverpool.

Origin

Bill Shankly was born on September 2, 1913. The birthplace is the small mining village of Glenbach. In the family, in addition to Bill, there were nine more children. Five out of nine children became professional footballers. One of his brothers (Bob Shankly), being a well-known coach, was able to win the champion title in 1962 with the Dundee team.

Bill Shankly repeatedly admitted that he had a rather difficult childhood. However, the legendary coach always remembered about those times with a smile. Once he joked that he didn’t wash until he was fifteen.

First steps

In the village where Bill Shankly spent his childhood, the most popular entertainment was football. The brothers and Bill himself spent all their free time on the sports ground. In addition, football was one of the ways to make money without going down the mine. Bill Shankly, quotes of which can be heard today in many sports programs, took his first steps in football, playing for the local team, “Glenbak Cherripikers”. By the way, all of Bill’s brothers also played for this club. It is worth noting that this small team was able to raise forty-nine professional football players in a short time. However, Bill (William) Shankly did not play a single match for the club’s main staff.

Carier start

Despite a difficult life, Shankly did not give up football. “Liverpool”, while Bill was just starting his career, could not declare himself and win a serious trophy. The first team for the future coach of the “Reds” was “Cronberry Eglington”, which, by the way, has already ceased to exist. In the summer of 1932, the player attracted the attention of Carlisle United Football Club and soon signed a contract with him. However, Bill Shankly (football for which became the meaning of life) was able to appear on the field only in December. For “Carlisle United”, he spent only sixteen matches, while not distinguishing himself even once. In July 1933, the player made the transition to Preston North End. The transfer amount was five hundred pounds.

Preston North End and Scotland

Only Bill Shankly, who joined the new team, was immediately able to win a place in the first team and become one of the key players. In 1934, Preston managed to get into the First Division. In 1937 and 1938, the football club managed to get to the final of the country's cup. The first title was not given to Preston, but in the second final the team managed to beat Huddersfield Town.

April 1938 was the month in which Bill Shankly, whose biography is filled with both ups and downs, made his debut in the Scottish team. He spent the first match against the British and helped the team win 1-0. He appeared in the Scottish team four more times, as well as seven times during the war. It is worth noting that it was the war that began in 1939 that prevented Bill Shankly from making a career in the national team.

The Second World War

During the war, Shankly continued to play football. “Liverpool”, “Northampton Town”, “Arsenal”, “Cardiff City”, “Bolton Wanderers”, “Luton Town” and “Partis Tisl” - these are the football clubs in which Shankly managed to play. In addition, Bill helped Preston win the War Cup in 1941. After the end of World War II, professional football was slowly reviving in the UK. Bill Shankly continued to play for Preston. However, at that time he was thirty-three years old, and his career was nearing completion.

Bill Shankly decided to end his football career in March 1949.

Coaching career

Immediately after the completion of his career as a football player, Shankly took up the position of mentor at Carlisle United, where he once took the first steps in professional football. According to Bill himself, he talked a lot with people who know about coaching. Shankly’s mentoring methods were significantly different from those used by other trainers. Bill was ready to do anything to achieve results. Quite often, I personally communicated with the fans of the team. However, he could not achieve significant achievements with the club. One of the reasons for the failures, he often called insufficient funding. He expressed this reason in working with other teams.

In 1951, Shankly decided to move to Grimsby Town, where his mentor had just vacated. By the way, “Grimsby” and “Carlisle” played in the same division. One of the reasons for the transition was great financial opportunities. Shankly spent two and a half years as a Grimsby mentor.

The next club for the Shankly coach was Workington Town, which played in the third division and was at the very bottom of the standings. In general, the team was close to ceasing to exist. However, Shankly was not afraid of difficulties. Thanks to the work of the coach, the workings of Workington went uphill. Most likely, Bill would continue to work in this club, but he was offered the role of an assistant in Huddersfield. And at the beginning of the 1956 season, the old coach was fired, and Shankly took his post.

The team had just flown to the lower division, and everyone was expecting from the coach that he would return it to the first. However, this did not happen. Soon, Shankly was faced with the problem of financing in this team. He wanted to get a couple of new players, and the management did not have enough funds.

"Liverpool"

Although Shankly could not win the titles with the teams that he had coached for ten years, the Liverpool management became interested in an ambitious and talented mentor. In 1959, Bill received an offer to lead the Reds and realized that he would finally be able to buy players who were interested in him. In December of that year, he signed a contract. It was with this team that he was able to achieve the greatest success in his career, having won many titles and awards. When Shankly led the “Liverpool”, the team was a rather miserable sight. She took the last places in the second division, had to play in the old stadium, terrible training conditions and so on. Players who were part of the then “Liverpool”, also could not boast of skill. The only thing that can be distinguished in the “Reds” is the coaching staff, which worked with Bill until the end of his career, and the famous Bob Paisley completely replaced him later.

However, in “Liverpool” Bill did not succeed all at once. It took several seasons to return to the elite division. Two seasons later, the Reds took the title of champions. This achievement was the first in a long chain of Liverpool trophies. In a short time, Shankley managed to put together a formidable team that posed a threat not only to local clubs, but also to European ones.

Unexpected departure from the team occurred in July 1974 (at that time he was 60 years old). Shankly spent 15 years as head coach, but at the end of his career, relations with the leaderships of the Reds worsened.

Bill Shankly died on September 29, 1981 from a heart attack.