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Liverpool was made for me and I was made for Liverpool.
Shankly to the Brussels hotel clerk who queried his signing 'Anfield' as his address on the hotel register:
'But that's where I live.'
'A lot of football success is in the mind.
You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are.
In my time at Anfield we always said we had the best two teams on Merseyside, Liverpool and Liverpool reserves.'
About the This-is-Anfield plaque:
'This is to remind our lads who they're playing for, and to remind the opposition who they're playing against.'
Shankly to a young Liverpool trainee:
'The problem with you son, is that your brains are all in your head.'
After a hard fought 1:1 draw:
'The best side drew.'
After beating Everton in the 1971 FA Cup semi:
'Sickness would not have kept me away from this one.
If I'd been dead, I would have had them bring the casket
to the ground, prop it up in the stands,
and cut a hole in the lid.'
To Tommy Smith after he'd turned up for training with a bandaged knee:
'Take that poof bandage off, and what do you mean YOUR knee, it's LIVERPOOL'S knee !'
'The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.'
To Kevin Keegan:
'Just go out and drop a few hand grenades all over the place son'
To Ian St John:
'If you're not sure what to do with the ball,
just pop it in the net and we'll discuss your options afterwards.'
To a reporter in the '60s:
'Aye, Roger Hunt misses a few, but he gets in the right place to miss them.'
'If a player isn't interfering with play or seeking to gain
an advantage, then he should be !'
'It's a 90 minute game for sure. In fact I used tae train for a 190 minute game so that when the whistle blew at the end of the match I could have played another 90 minutes.'
When asked what aspect of the game he disliked most:
'The end of the season.'
Radio Merseyside interviewer to Shankly:
'Mr Shankly, why is it that your teams' unbeaten
run has suddenly ended ... ?'
Shankly: 'Why don't you go and jump in the lake ?'
'I was only in the game for the love of football
- and I wanted to bring back happiness to
the people of Liverpool.'
"I'm just one of the people who stands on the kop. They think the same as I do, and I think the same as they do. It's a kind of marriage of people who like each other."
"Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple."
"Fire in your belly comes from pride and passion in wearing the red shirt."
Bill Shankly on his resignation : "It was the most difficult thing in the world, when I went to tell the chairman. It was like walking to the electric chair. That's the way it felt".
- to Ian St John when he signed for Liverpool.
'Son, you'll do well here as long as you remember two things. Don't over-eat and don't lose your accent.'
"People Say football is a matter of life and death" , " I believe it is much more important than that".
After signing Ron Yeats - 'With him in defence, we could play Arthur Askey in goal.'
Addressing the Liverpool fans who turned up in their thousands to welcome the team home despite losing to Arsenal in the 1971 FA Cup Final - 'Chairman Mao has never seen a greater show of red strength.'
On awaiting Everton's arrival for a derby game at Anfield, Shankly gave a box of toilet rolls to the doorman and said: 'Give them these when they arrive – they'll need them!'
After winning the FA Cup in 1974 Shankly goes into a fish and chip shop and orders a fish supper. The woman at the counter asks: 'Mr Shankly, shouldn't they be having steak suppers?' Shanks replied: 'No lass, they'll get steak suppers when they win the double!'
'"If you can't make decisions in life, you're a bloody menace. You'd be better becoming an MP!'
Adidas wanted to present him with a Golden Boot in recognition of what he'd done. Bob ( Paisley ) took the call and said, 'They want to know what shoe size you take'. Shanks shouted back, 'If it's gold, I'm a 28.'
"It was a quarter to three on match day at Anfield and there was no sign of Shanks. Suddenly, he came in. His shirt's torn, tie undone, jacket hanging off, hair all over the place. 'What's happened boss ?' 'I've just been on the Kop with the boys.' He'd gone in with 28,000 of them and they'd been lifting him shoulder high, passing him round, and he loved that."
(Peter Thompson, Liverpool winger)
