Bill Shankly Quotes & Sayings

It's a 90 minute game for sure. In fact I used to 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. — Bill Shankly

I always look in the Sunday paper to see where Everton are in the league - starting, of course, from the bottom up. — Bill Shankly

I'm a people's man - only the people matter. — Bill Shankly

Forget the Beatles and all the rest. This is the real Liverpool sound. It's real singing, and it's what the Kop is all about. — Bill Shankly

My idea was to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility. Had Napoleon had that idea he would have conquered the bloody world. I wanted Liverpool to be untouchable. My idea was to build Liverpool up and up until eventually everyone would have to submit and give in. — Bill Shankly

We are a team. We share the ball, we share the game, we share the worries. — Bill Shankly

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. — Bill Shankly

I've been a slave to football. It follows you home, it follows you everywhere, and eats into your family life. But every working man misses out on some things because of his job. — Bill Shankly

This city has two great teams - Liverpool and Liverpool reserves. — Bill Shankly

With him in defense, we could play Arthur Askey in goal.
(after signing Ron Yeats) — Bill Shankly

Liverpool was made for me and I was made for Liverpool. — Bill Shankly

Above all, I would like to be remembered as a man who was selfless, who strove and worried so that others could share the glory, and who built up a family of people who could hold their heads up high and say 'We're Liverpool'. — Bill Shankly

Some people think football [soccer] is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that. — Bill Shankly

Football is a simple game made complicated by people who should know better. — Bill Shankly

I don't drop players. I make changes. — Bill Shankly

One day in 1959, when Huddersfield were playing Cardiff City, Tom (T.V.) Williams, who was then chairman of Liverpool, and Harry Latham, a director, came down the slope at Leeds Road to see me.
Mr Williams said, 'How would you like to manage the best club in the country?'
'Why, is Matt Busby packing it up?' I asked. — Bill Shankly

Its great grass at Anfield, professional grass. — Bill Shankly

I have been received more warmly by Everton than I have by Liverpool. It is scandalous that I should have to write these things about the club that I helped build into what it is today. — Bill Shankly

Yes, Roger Hunt misses a few, but he gets in the right place to miss them. — Bill Shankly

Just go out and drop a few hand grenades all over the place, son.
(to Kevin Keegan) — Bill Shankly

What a great day for football, all we need is some green grass and a ball. — Bill Shankly

I never drop a player I only make changes. — Bill Shankly

Some people believe football (soccer) is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that. — Bill Shankly

The socialism I believe in is everybody working for the same goal and everybody having a share in the rewards. That's how I see football, that's how I see life. — Bill Shankly

The socialism I believe in isn't really politics. It is a way of living. It is humanity. I believe the only way to live and to be truly successful is by collective effort, with everyone working for each other, everyone helping each other, and everyone having a share of the rewards at the end of the day. That might be asking a lot, but it's the way I see football and the way I see life. — Bill Shankly

Aim for the sky and you'll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you'll stay on the floor. — Bill Shankly

The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.
— Bill Shankly

Some people believe that football[soccer] is a matter of life and death. I'm very dissappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much more important than that. — Bill Shankly

The best side drew
(after a hard fought 1-1 draw) — Bill Shankly

Train the right way. Help each other. It's a form of socialism without the politics. — Bill Shankly

Well the Kop's exclusive. The Spion Kop at Liverpool is an institution. And if you are a member of the Kop you feel as if you are a member of a big society where you've got thousands of friends all roundabout you. And they're united and loyal. — Bill Shankly

I have not been short of invitations to other clubs and have been received more warmly by Everton than I have by Liverpool. — Bill Shankly

Football (soccer) is a matter of life and death, except more important. — Bill Shankly

When I've got nothing better to do, I look down the league table to see how Everton are getting along — Bill Shankly

We murdered them 0-0. — Bill Shankly

If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be. — Bill Shankly

If you can't support us when we lose or draw, don't support us when we win — Bill Shankly

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that. — Bill Shankly

The problem with you, son, is that all your brains are in your head.
(to a Liverpool trainee) — Bill Shankly

If he isn't named footballer of the year, football should be stopped and the men who picked any other player should be sent to Kremlin.
(on Tommy Smith) — Bill Shankly

If a man ... .who's playing in front of the public, is being well paid, and he doesn't dedicate himself to the job, I'd be hard on him. If I could I would put him in jail, out of the road of society. Because he's a menace — Bill Shankly

F you are first you are first. If you are second you are nothing. — Bill Shankly

I would have played Tom Finney in his overcoat - there would have been four men marking him when we were kickin' in. — Bill Shankly

For a player to be good enough to play for Liverpool, he must be prepared
to run through a brick wall for me then come out fighting on the other side. — Bill Shankly

Tom Finney would have been great in any team, in any match and in any age, even if he had been wearing an overcoat. — Bill Shankly

It's to remind our lads who they're playing for, and to remind the opposition who they're playing against.
(on the 'This Anfield' plaque) — Bill Shankly

I have always had the deepest respect for Bill Nicholson as a person and as a manager. The Spurs boss is an honest Yorkshireman and you will go a long way before finding a straighter character than that. Bill has never wavered in his determination to give White Hart Lane fans the best. — Bill Shankly

Tommy Smith wasn't born, he was quarried. — Bill Shankly

Laddie, that man scored 200 goals in 270 matches - an incredible record - and he has won cup after cup as a manager. When he talks, pin back your ears. — Bill Shankly

Don't worry, Alan. At least you'll be able to play close to a great team.
(to Alan Ball, who'd just signed for Everton) — Bill Shankly

I want to build a team that's invincible, so that they have to send a team from bloody Mars to beat us. — Bill Shankly

Although I'm a Scot, I'd be proud to be called a Scouser. — Bill Shankly

A lot of football success is in the mind. you must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are. — Bill Shankly

Fire in your belly comes from pride and passion in wearing the red shirt. We don't need to motivate players because each of them is responsible for the performance of the team as a whole. The status of Liverpool's players keeps them motivated. — Bill Shankly

Chairman Mao has never seen a greater show of red strength. — Bill Shankly

Ian Callaghan is everything good that a man can be. No praise is too high for him. Words cannot do justice to the amount he has contributed to the game. Ian Callaghan will go down as one of the game's truly great players. — Bill Shankly

I've had many skilful men and the likes of Peter Thompson, Ian St John, Kevin Keegan and Steve Heighway were the ones who caught the eye. But the best professional of the lot was Gerry Byrne. He wasn't flashy and he wouldn't score you goals. But he was hard and skilful and gave you everything he had. More than that he was totally honest. Which is the greatest quality of all. He was a true Liverpudlian who couldn't look his fellow Scousers in the face after a game unless he'd given everything he had for 90 minutes. — Bill Shankly

If you get to the edge of the penalty area with the ball and don't know what to do next, just stick the ball in the net for now. We can evaluate the other options later. — Bill Shankly

I was the best manager in Britain because I was never devious or cheated anyone. I'd break my wife's legs if I played against her, but I'd never cheat her. — Bill Shankly

First is first,Second is nothing — Bill Shankly

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 checks. — Bill Shankly

We absolutely annihilated England. It was a massacre. We beat them 5-4. — Bill Shankly

He's not just the best centre-forward in the British Isles, but the only one.
(about Ian St John) — Bill Shankly

In my time at Anfield we always said we had the best two teams on Merseyside - Liverpool and Liverpool reserves. — Bill Shankly

A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing. — Bill Shankly

The very word 'Anfield' means more to me than I can describe. — Bill Shankly

It's the greatest thing in the world, natural enthusiasm. You are nothing without it. — Bill Shankly

Denis Law could dance on eggshells. — Bill Shankly

Of course I didn't take my wife to see Rochdale as an anniversary present. It was her birthday and would I have got married during the football season? Anyway, it was Rochdale reserves. — Bill Shankly

The difference between Everton and the Queen Mary is that Everton carry more passengers! — Bill Shankly

If Everton were playing down the bottom of my garden, I'd draw the curtains. — Bill Shankly

What can you do, playing against eleven goalposts?
(after 0-0 draw at Anfield) — Bill Shankly

If you're not sure what to do with the ball, just pop it in the net and we'll discuss your options afterwards. — Bill Shankly

I was in the game for the love of football - and I wanted to bring back happiness to the people of Liverpool. — Bill Shankly

My life is my work. My work is my life — Bill Shankly

Me having no education. I had to use my brains. — Bill Shankly

Pressure is working down the pit. Pressure is having no work at all. Pressure is trying to escape relegation on 50 shillings a week. Pressure is not the European Cup or the Championship or the Cup Final. That's the reward. — Bill Shankly