Shankly: The Leaving of Liverpool

On Friday 12 July 1974, Bill Shankly shocked football by announcing his retirement as Liverpool manager at the age of 61.

Between taking over as Liverpool manager in October 1959 and his retirement 15 years later, he transformed a second-rate, moribund club, stuck in the depths of the Second Division, into the finest team of its generation.

And yet by the time of his death Shankly was a tragic figure, the forgotten architect of Liverpool’s footballing dominance. Shunned by his former club and increasingly bitter at his treatment, he traversed the game he loved searching for a meaningful role, for the camaraderie and belonging that once defined his life. ‘It was,’ said Kevin Keegan, ‘the saddest, saddest thing that ever happened at Liverpool.’

On the centenary of Shankly's birth and following recent publication of David Peace's acclaimed fictionalised account of the great man's final years, Red or Dead, award winning author, James Corbett, tells the true story of the last days of a football legend.