Mr Bill Shankly Mr Bill Slhankly, OBE, wvho as maniager of Liverpool Foot- ball Clbl from 1959 to 1974, created a team wvhich became a bywvord both for its successes in competitionis and the totugh, tuncompromising manner in wvhiich it achieved those suc- cesses, died on September 29 at the age of 67. Shankly fotunid Liverpool a Second Division club and piloted theimi to the First Division and a i'e- niarkable riun ther e of three League championships, two FA Ctups and a Uefa Clup. Durinig this peridcl Anfield became the graveyard of many reputations in the Football League and its chantinig, roaring Kop, faniatical in its faithfuln1ess to the hlome team, struck terror into the hearts of many visit- ing sides. During Shanikly's reign the club seemed to come to symbolise more than just footballing success for Liver- pool; overshadowing rival Everton it seeimed like the Beatles and the Mersey Sound, to be a part of the city's folk culture. Shlankly wvas always the first to admit that good footballers do not alvays make good and successful maniagers. But Shankly wvho forged one of the greatest Liverpool teams is, wvitlh Matt Busby, an example of a Scot wvhose managerial skill transcended outstanding ability on the field. He *vas a tougher player than Busby. In 1932 he left his village of Glenbuck in South Ayrshire to move to Carlisle. Then he went to Prestoin whliere be played in more than 300 matches, iliclud- ing the 1937 and 1938 Cup Finals. He also wvon five full caps for Scotland. Shankly became a manager at 34, first wvith Carlisle, then Grimsby, Workington and Hud- dei sfield. He tool over Liver- pool in 1959. They wvere then in the Second Division and Shankly shoved and guided them into the First. Xe then came into his inheritanice. Fit, toughl, demandinig and demon- strative, the most aggressively Scottish of all Scots who have managed an English club, he fulfilled himself with his ded- ication to Liverpool and made them one of the most success- fiul sides in Europe. Had there been a football manager's WI'ho's lWho his recreation wvould have been Football, and, his address Anfield. These wvere his con- suminig passion. Yet the family man lurkiiig inside the football fanatic emerged surprisingly in July 1974 wvheni he annoiniced his resignation in order to spend more time with his family. Ani O.B.E. followved together with a slight decline in the fortunes of the club-but significantly only that slackening of tension and effort wvhen a great director leaves the stage. He wvotild have been the first to agree that some declinie wvas inevitable had he stayed on himself. Thie profile of the player gives the key to the man. This old-fashioned half-back was said to have run wvith his palms turned out like a sailing ship striving foi extra help from the wvind. " I played on me toes all the time like a ballet dancer That gave me strength in me calves, and ah've still got it." He wvas light on his feet, fierce in the tackle, sharp but not bitter wvith his tongue, generous in spirit but a bit on the mean side wvheni it came to the details of playing the game. About the great masters he vas never -wrong.4 On Tom Finney his Preston team-mate, Shankly said: - He bad every- thing, good wvith both feet, good in the air, a deadly shot, precise in his passing. AMany skills have improved but he had one that is a lost art today-the accurate cross when r unninig at speed." Shankly became 'a hero on Merse;side: Everton, bardly a block- away, never produced the spirit there to match .his drive and enthusiasm. It might be argued that he created a win- ninlg side wvhiichi '-a's niOt attrac- tive to wvatch. One doubts that Tom Finnev wvould have fitted in wvith Shanklv's heavy mob. Itis strength of character, based alwvays on the techniques and reading of the game and backed by the roar of the Kop forged a sledgehammer r ather than a r apier. Some rush into the limelight, others back into it. Shankly tramped into it and sho,wed little surprise, when he wvas treated like a god. But -lie 'was alwvavs mn-re 1-mufi than divine an;d amid the euphnria and fantasv of the fnotball game he always kept his feet on the ground. MR BILL SHANKLY