This week marked the twenty ninth anniversary of the death of the great Bill Shankly on the 29th September 1981.
Unfortunately I am too young to remember Bill Shankly but growing up on Merseyside it was impossible to avoid the legend of the great man. There are a great many stories in Liverpool of his generosity and character and I thought I would share a personal one with you today that I was told a couple of years ago by a former co-worker John.
When John was a kid in the 1960s his dad worked on the London to Liverpool service for British Rail and often he would take his son with him for the ride at the weekends. On one particular Saturday evening they happened to be traveling on the exact same train home with the Liverpool team after they had played an away fixture in the capital. What a fantastic coincidence as my mate John was one of the biggest Reds fans I've ever met. So upon hearing the news of their famous fellow passengers his dad managed to get into the carriage with the players by pretending he was there on official British Rail business.
When he got in there he went around the players, Ian St John, Roger Hunt, Ron Yeats etc and got them to sign autographs for his lad. When John's dad got to Bill Shankly, he was asked where his son was today. As soon as Shanks' heard that the young lad was waiting in the next carriage he insisted he was brought in to meet the players. He ended up riding the entire journey back to Liverpool with all his heroes who posed for pictures with him & signed various mementos for him. I know this story is true because I have visited John's house and seen the pictures all framed & the mementos on display still in perfect condition from being lovingly looked after over the 30 years since the incident.
It was a gesture that cost absolutely nothing to Bill Shankly but it gave my mate something that no amount of money could ever buy & you could see in his eyes when telling the story just how much effect it had on his life.
I'm sure there are hundreds if not thousands of people from Merseyside who have similar stories of Bill Shankly. He was a man who gave everything he had to "make the people happy" and without him who knows what might of happened to Liverpool Football Club.
He may no longer be with us in person but the spirit of Bill Shankly will never fade away and it will always run through the hearts of everybody associated with the club, whether that be staff, players and the fans.
Ste Speed
