The granddaughter of Bill Shankly has spoken of the family's pride and delight that the former Liverpool manager is set to be made an honorary citizen in recognition of his contribution to the club and the city.
On Thursday Brian Hall, the Reds' head of public relations and a former Shankly player, will receive the award from Lord Mayor Mike Storey at the Liverpool Echo Arena during a performance of a show celebrating the great Scot's time at Anfield.
Karen Gill, 44, believes that nothing would have made her granddad more proud than receiving this recognition from the people who he kept close to his heart.
She said: "For my granddad to receive the Honourary Citizenship of a city that he loved with all his heart, is truly a magnificent honour.
"My only regret is that he is not here to receive it himself. It would have made him extremely proud. I would just like to say, however, that the people of Liverpool themselves made him feel like an honorary citizen anyway, when he was alive.
"For me that is the most important thing of all. My granddad really did receive so much adoration and respect from the fans that he truly felt like Liverpool was his hometown and the people were his family.
"On behalf of the Shankly family, I would just like to thank all the people who made this happen and especially Andrew Sherlock whose initial idea it was."
Today marks the exact 50th anniversary of Shankly's official arrival at Liverpool FC, despite being appointed as the new Reds manager on 1 December 1959.
On Wednesday evening, former Kop heroes and members of the Shankly family will be on the Anfield pitch to commemorate the milestone before Liverpool take on Wigan Athletic in their Barclays Premier League game.
To read Click Liverpool's exclusive interview with Karen Gill, stay tuned to our 50 Years of Shankly series.
You can find all other articles from the series at the bottom of this page.
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