Bill Shankly

William (Bill) Shankly (born 2 September 1913 at Glenbuck, Ayrshire; died 29 September 1981 at Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool) was a Scottish professional footballer and team manager. He played as a defensive right-half and was especially noted for his tackling skills. His professional career began in 1932 at Carlisle United and, after one season there, he was transferred to Preston North End where he remained until his retirement in 1949. He was capped twelve times by Scotland. He was a member of Preston's FA Cup-winning team in 1938 when they defeated Huddersfield Town in the final at Wembley Stadium. Shankly lost the peak years of his career to the Second World War, through which he served in the Royal Air Force (RAF), though he did manage to take part in wartime matches for several different clubs and he made seven appearances in wartime internationals.

He retired from playing in March 1949 when he was offered the job of team manager at Carlisle, where he remained for two years. He then managed Grimsby Town for three seasons and Workington for one. He moved to Huddersfield Town as an assistant manager in November 1955 and then became team manager in November 1956. While he was at Huddersfield, he had two outstanding prospects in his team: Denis Law and Ray Wilson. Shankly resigned on 1 December 1959 after he received an offer to manage Liverpool, who were then a struggling Second Division club.

Shankly managed Liverpool until the summer of 1974 and transformed the club into one of the strongest in Europe, a legacy which has remained to the present day. Liverpool won the Second Division Championship in 1961–62 and, two years later, the First Division Championship. In the 1964–65 season, the team reached the semi-final of the European Cup and won the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history, defeating Leeds United in the final. They won the Championship again in 1965–66. After a period of transition in which the team was rebuilt, Shankly was again successful as his new team won both the Championship and the UEFA Cup in 1972–73. In 1974, Liverpool won their second FA Cup with an emphatic 3–0 victory over Newcastle United at Wembley. A few weeks later, Shankly astonished the football world by announcing his retirement. He was succeeded as Liverpool manager by his long-time assistant Bob Paisley who built on Shankly's foundation to make Liverpool the best team in Europe for many seasons. Shankly's last appearance was at the FA Charity Shield match in August 1974 when he led the team out.