Bill Shankly - Retirement From Liverpool

Retirement From Liverpool

Shankly was 60 years old when Liverpool won the 1974 FA Cup and said in his autobiography that, on returning to the dressing room at the end of the match, he "felt tired from all the years". His mind was made up and he knew he was going to retire. His wife, Nessie, had asked him to retire a year earlier but he decided that was not the right time. Tommy Smith said that Shankly's feelings for Nessie were undoubtedly a major reason for his decision. In 1974, he decided that he could leave Liverpool with pride in a job well done and only one regret, which was that he did not win the European Cup.

Summer was the worst time of year for Shankly who was restless without daily involvement in football, and so he had threatened to resign in previous years. The Liverpool secretary Peter Robinson was initially blasé in 1974 but, when he realised Shankly was serious this time, he tried to make him change his mind. Shankly's granddaughter, Karen Gill, said to The Observer in 2009: "I think that perhaps it was tiredness, that football had taken its toll on him".

Shankly's retirement was officially and surprisingly announced at a press conference called by Liverpool on 12 July 1974. The chairman, John Smith, said in his opening address:

"It is with great regret that I as chairman of Liverpool Football Club have to inform you that Mr Shankly has intimated that he wishes to retire from active participation in league football. And the board has with extreme reluctance accepted his decision. I would like to at this stage place on record the board's great appreciation of Mr Shankly's magnificent achievements over the period of his managership".

But Shankly soon regretted his decision and tried to continue his involvement with the club, mainly by turning up for team training at Melwood. He said he still wanted the involvement as the club had become his life. He soon stopped going to Melwood because he felt there was some resentment and people were asking what he was doinjg there. Feeling unwanted, Shankly began to resent the club although he still attended matches but sat in the stand away from the directors and staff. He was especially annoyed that Liverpool did not invite him to attend away matches as the club's guest. When, finally, he was invited to travel with them to the away leg of the 1976 UEFA Cup Final in Bruges, he was accommodated in a separate hotel and said he found that insulting. Shankly compared Liverpool's attitude to that he encountered at other clubs, including Liverpool's great rivals Everton and Manchester United, where he was received warmly. He recalled Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty's reply to a Liverpool director: "Aye, Bill's welcome here". About Everton, once his greatest rivals, he wrote: "I have been received more warmly by Everton than I have by Liverpool. It is a scandal that I must write these words about the club I helped to build".

From Liverpool's point of view, the situation was that Shankly had retired and the club had to move on. Shankly did not understand that by turning up for training at Melwood, he was effectively undermining Bob Paisley, who had succeeded him as manager, even to the point of actually taking over the training. Tommy Smith recalled that Shankly as manager never ran training and would only speak to Paisley, Fagan and Bennett about what needed to be done. But, as a visitor at Melwood he began to intervene and Paisley's initial pleasure on seeing him soon turned to polite embarrassment. Eventually, Paisley had to point out to Shankly that he didn't work there any more, that it was now Paisley's team and that he had things which he wanted to do with the team.

It is believed that Shankly wanted a seat on the Liverpool board, following the precedent of Matt Busby who joined the Manchester United board after he retired as manager in 1969. But, again, what Shankly did not understand was that his relations with the board had often been acrimonious with several resignation threats and a statement made by Shankly that: "At a football club, there's a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don't come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques". Although some club officials like secretary Peter Robinson wanted bygones to be bygones, Tommy Smith summarised the board's view as "Right, that's it, we've got rid of him at last". It should be remembered that Shankly was "an overpowering figure" who would certainly have used a position on the board to be a "back-seat driver" and the board were well aware that Matt Busby's time as a Manchester United director was disastrous, the team just having been relegated. Whilst Liverpool's treatment of Shankly may have seemed disrespectful, they were acting in the best interests of the club and its new manager by pursuing the same relentless winning ethic that Shankly himself had instilled. In any event, their perceived ruthlessness was vindicated by the unprecedented haul of League Championship titles and European Cups won by Paisley and Joe Fagan.