How Shankly changed MY life

Throughout the week players and figures from the past will pay tribute to the great Bill Shankly on the 50th anniversary of his Anfield arrival. Here Bootroom legend Ronnie Moran, a man with over 60 years service to Liverpool FC, pays homage.

 
To put it simply, Bill Shankly set the foundations for Liverpool Football Club to go on and win trophies.
 

Click here to watch Moran recall his memories of Bill Shankly>>

I first met Shanks when he joined us in December 1959. I had been at the club since 1949 and signed as a professional in 1952.
 
Shanks changed my life and I learned so much playing and working for him. If he had not come to Liverpool FC you don't know what would have happened. He changed the club for the better and he changed it forever.
 
I remember his first game in charge when we played Cardiff at Anfield and we lost 4-0. I walked off the pitch at half-time with Alan A'Court thinking we'll be in trouble here. I quickly realised he was never the type of bloke to give a rollicking.
 
He was just brilliant and he didn't like losing any game, even in training when we were playing eight-a-side games. There was one game we were losing 2-0 and someone said to him it's 12.15pm boss it's time we finished, and he said we are not finishing until we are winning! We played on and luckily enough we got three goals by 1pm!
 
Everyone enjoyed playing for him. You knew you would always have to put the 110 per cent into every game.
 
When I came to the end of my playing days I was in the reserves and he brought me onto his staff. He called me into his room one day at the end of the season and I thought he was going to tell me my days at Liverpool were over. You would usually find out by a letter posted through your door back then. It would tell you whether you were going to be kept on or not.
 
I went in and he said: 'Sit down son! How would you like a job on my staff working with the youngsters?'
 
I said yes, that wouldn't be so bad but can I let you know tomorrow? He had no problem with that. I went home and spoke to the wife and she didn't want to go anywhere else so the next day I told Shanks I'd take the job.
 
I was working with the kids for three years and Joe Fagan was in charge of the reserves then. He asked me to help him with that. Joe then moved onto the first team staff in 1971 and I took the reserve team. In 1974 I joined the first team set-up when Bill retired to work with Bob and Joe.
 
One of the reasons he was so popular with our supporters was because he told the truth all of the time.
 
He just loved football. His house overlooked Everton's training ground and he used to tell the staff how he watched them train and how they were doing it all wrong!
 
He taught us all to think about what we are doing, where we are and what we want to achieve. If the players were not prepared to work hard and do that then they would be out of the team.
 
You could always go and talk to him and he would always make time for his players.
 
Shanks had people he could trust on his backroom staff like Bob, Joe and Reuben Bennett and he trusted every one of them. He was just a great man.
 

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