July 26 - Paisley Suits Anfield

WHEN Bill Shankly resigned as manager of Liverpool in 1974 the city went into shock. Shankly had transformed the club into the giant on English football it had become by the mid 1970s and his early retirement rocked the club to its core. The team was riding high and koppites obviously feared that their position at the top of the pile might be under threat.

Few would have thought that Shankly’s retirement would herald the beginning of the most successful period in the club’s history. On this day in 1974 the Anfield suits decided to hand the managerial reigns to Shanks’ assistant Bob Paisley, a man who had joined the club as a player in 1939 and following his playing retirement had served as a coach, and then Shanks’ number two for twenty years.

He did not really want the job, he was content to be the man behind the scenes, but the club came calling and he could not refuse. He did not have to wait long for his first trophy, beating Leeds to lift the Charity Shield at Wembley. It was to be the first of many - in nine years as Liverpool boss Paisley won an incredible 19 trophies with the club, including six League titles and three European Cups - he said once, “Mind you, I’ve been here during the bad times too - one year we came second.”

His record outstrips that of his illustrious predecessor and former boss Shankly, but there is no doubt that Paisley’s success was a continuation of the foundations laid by Shanks. Having said that it would be an insult to Paisley to ignore the work he did to keep Liverpool at the top, and he also had a good eye for a player and signed some of the club’s greatest during his spell in charge. Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness and Ian Rush were all Paisley buys.

He retired in 1983, having won the League yet again to finish his remarkable career on another high. Perhaps his great secret was keeping it simple. He said once: “If you’re in the penalty area and don’t know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we’ll discuss the options later.”

Have a look at Paisley enjoying the Anfield applause below, and click here to see our account of one of football’s biggest scandals from this day last year. That’s it folks, but more tomorrow as usual.

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