Today marks the 50th anniversary of Bill Shankly's official arrival at Liverpool Football Club. Despite being appointed as the new Reds manager on 1 December 1959, the legendary Scot did not take official charge until a fortnight later.
This evening, former Daily Express journalist John Keith will reprise his role of Shanks alongside several Anfield legends as part of 'The Bill Shankly Story' at the Liverpool Empire for a special one night only performance.
Joining him on stage tonight will be former Kop heroes Ian St John, Chris Lawler, Ian Callaghan and Shankly's very own 'Colossus', former Reds captain Ron Yeats.
With the half-century anniversary falling on the exact day that Shankly officially took charge, Keith insists that it was a very fortunate coincidence rather than being intentional.
He said: "It’s quite spooky and I think the man himself up there has had a hand in it because the Empire said they would like to do it but they had only one available night in the middle of the pantomime run – Monday 14 December.
“It is the exact 50th anniversary of his first day in charge at Anfield. How spooky and how fitting can you get and I think the atmosphere is going to be fantastic."
The show returns to Merseyside following a successful run in both Norway and Northern Ireland where the legacy of the Glenbuck-born visionary transcended generations of Reds as well delighting closet Shankly admirers from across Stanley Park, something which amazed the veteran Merseyside broadcaster.
"It’s just beyond description the intensity of it. They did the one in Norway as a cabaret-style show and what struck me was that the average age of the audience was 28. When you think that Shanks died in 1981, some of them weren’t even born and some of them told us they had travelled vast distances.
“One travelled seven hours across Norway to come and watch the show. So you understand the legacy of Shankly is beyond belief. I don’t think any football character has left a legacy like he has and far from diminishing, it grows by the year.
"We’ve been doing the show since 2006 and I would say each show is more intense with the audience which included quite a few Everton fans who loved Shankly.
“They are still very loyal Evertonians but there is something about Bill Shankly that transcended football. Not many people have it but he certainly had it and has still got it."
Keith also revealed to Click Liverpool that plans are afoot to expand the show on a global level with several venues on both sides of the Atlantic touted as well as some in the Greater Merseyside region.
"Ron Yeats, one of our sturdy cast members, is trying to talk to somebody in America because the New York supporters’ club have expressed some interes," he confirmed.
"We’d like to do it in London because there’s a huge number of Liverpool fans there and also in the Republic of Ireland. We’ve done it in Northern Ireland but we’d also like to do it in Dublin or Cork.
"There’s a few little things going on in that direction for 2010. We’d also like to do places like Crewe, Winsford and Runcorn; places which are outside cities but are full of Liverpool fans and all have nice theatres so we’d like to do that."
Shankly biographer Keith met and interviewed the great man on several occasions and remembers what a genuine and thoughtful person the awe-inspiring Scot was.
“I was a bit in awe of him when I first met him because I was on a weekly newspaper called the Bootle Times,” he admits.
“I was a young junior reporter who used to write the sport in the early 60s by which time he had established himself.
“People have the wrong image of Shanks. People were frightened of him but he was very kind and had a very soft centre. He never fined a player in all his time as manager and he never bore a grudge.
“He could have a fierce row with you and then within a minute he would say “Do you fancy a cup of tea?” He would never let anything linger. He was also very thoughtful.
“I remember being in his office once and he brought out a letter and said, ‘what about this for cheek?’ and he read this letter:
“Dear Mr Shankly – I hate you, I hate your club, I hate your team and I hate Liverpool. Could you send me two tickets for the derby game? And he said ‘I’ve sent the little bugger two!’ and that’s what he was like. He loved bantering with the fans whoever they supported. He just loved fans really.”
Shankly was also known for his sharp wit which also extended to his players if they ever stepped out of line.
“He caught one player going to nightclubs,” remembers John.
“There was a famous club in Liverpool city centre called the Wookie Hollow. Shanks didn’t quite know the name but he got hold of this player and said ‘You’ve been out. You’ve been at the Nookie Wookie, who do you think you are Errol Flynn?’ but again it was done with humour, this is what he always did.”
When he and his co-stars prepare to tread the boards of the Empire’s well-worn stage, Shankly’s lasting legacy will be at the forefront of Keith’s mind.
He added: “He was the revolution. Without Bill Shankly, Liverpool FC wouldn’t be what it is today. It was just a total revolution; the ground was crumbling, the training ground wasn’t good enough, the team wasn’t good enough and he changed all that. They already had Melwood but he made sure that it was brought up to the training standards.
“The legend on his statue at Anfield is ‘he made the people happy’ and he did. That’s exactly what he did and if he was looking down he’d be very happy to see that on the base of his statue because no other manager anywhere has ever communicated with fans like he did.”
Stay tuned to Click Liverpool tomorrow for our review of The Bill Shankly Story as well as an interview with the original Anfield hard man.
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