A new documentary on the life of Bill Shankly has been commissioned.
BBC Scotland’s ‘Shankly: Nature’s fire’ is feature-length a film that will chart the origins of football and features the legendary Liverpool manager as its core.
Shankly’s influence in transforming Anfield’s fortunes and spawning a lasting legacy is set to be explored when it hits UK screens in autumn this year.
Following the basic arc of a biopic, the film will also interweave a narrative of the present-day Liverpool and how fans still rally around the Scotsman’s name.
With extensive archive, mixed with interviews and observational footage, the film will give contemporary viewers a real sense of Shankly’s personality and the time of his reign.
Filming concluded in May on the production, which was two years in the making and will feature an impressive array of contributors from across the game.
They include Ian St John, Denis Law, Kevin Keegan and Steven Gerrard, as well as iconic sports writer Hugh Mcillvanney and Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh.
Peter Hooton, lead singer of local band The Farm and a Liverpool fan has worked as a producer on the film.
He said: “Shankly epitomised a different set of values that I think are still admired to this day.
“He was a charismatic leader but believed in a collective effort with everyone pulling in the same direction.
“I agreed to be involved in the making of this documentary because Shankly was my boyhood hero – I idolised the man, so I was determined to do his story justice.
“He built Liverpool Football Club up from the doldrums of the Second Division to be in his own words ‘a bastion of invincibility.’
“He was quite simply our Messiah and his name resonates through the ages.”