...Shankly was without doubt the most inspirational person I’ve ever met. And probably the greatest football man this country has ever seen. Not because he was a playing legend. He wasn’t. Although he was a decent half-back who was the heartbeat of a successful Preston side and a strong wartime Scotland team. Not because he won more than any other manager. He didn’t. His haul of three league titles, two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup puts him behind Sir Matt Busby, Bob Paisley and Sir Alex Ferguson. Although he built two magnificent sides from scratch and only “a travesty of justice” (a referee later exposed as bent) stopped him from being the first British manager to reach a European Cup Final. Not because he arrived at an unambitious Second Division club and built a modern dynasty that would dominate European football for almost a decade. Not because of his extraordinary wit and charisma which rubbed off on his players, his fans, his adopted city and all who met him. But because of what was inside him. The love, dedication and honesty he gave to the game, and its people, all his life, while asking for so little in return. The passion and optimism he gave to tens of thousands of ordinary folk that lit up their ordinary lives. And never left them. Shankly’s politics were of the old school of Christian socialism, honed in the Ayrshire pit community he grew up in. It defined how he treated everyone: as his equal and with respect. How he built his football teams by making the most important people at every club, the fans, central to his vision...
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 09:30:26 +0000
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