As part of the 50th anniversary celebration of Bill Shankly's arrival at Anfield, there is interesting information about the great man flying about all over the place. Here are 10 random snippets of information some fans might not know about (and if you do, great!)
1. Shanks had to wait almost three years to experience his first Merseyside Derby as manager of Liverpool. The game (in September 1962), finished in a 2-2 draw.
2. Shanks' record against Everton:
Played 28
Won 12
Drew 8
Lost 8
3. Shanks' record against Man United
Played 26
Won 10.
Drew 7
Lost 9
4. Liverpool’s biggest victories under Shankly:
5. Red cards were surprisingly scarce during Shanks’ reign, with his players picking up a mere 10 in 15 years. Compare that to 26 in 6 years under Gerard Houllier and 15 in 5 years under Rafa Benitez (!).
6. Liverpool had some major luck with own goals during Shanks’ reign, with the team benefiting from 25 in total. Having said that, Liverpool also scored 18 own goals during the same period!
7. Liverpool players scored 23 hat-tricks during Shank’s tenure, the same amount achieved during the combined reigns of Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez (so far!)
8. First Liverpool player to score under Shankly: Alan A' Court (vs. Charlton). Last player to score under Shankly: Steve Heighway (vs. Spurs).
Note: Ronnie Moran’s testimonial match against Celtic took place a week after the 73-74 season ended. Liverpool lost 4-1, with the Liverpool goal scored by Robert Tynan, a Tranmere Rovers player who was a guest player in the game. Thus, Tynan was technically the last player to score for Liverpool during the Shankly era...but he wasn't technically a Liverpool player ;-)
9. Liverpool were awarded 83 penalties during Shanks’ reign; 54 were scored - 29 were missed.
10. Liverpool were unbeaten in 77% of games with Shankly in charge. (578 in total)
11. And one more for luck ;-) Shankly’s rolltop desk - at which he wrote his resignation letter - was recently sold at auction for £4200. The contents of the desk included Don Welsh's contract terms and conditions; the ladies itinerary from the 1950 Cup Final; the gate receipts letter for the 1955 Cup tie against Everton, and and the expense returns to Billy Liddell for his appearance in the Great Britain team in 1955.
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1. Shanks had to wait almost three years to experience his first Merseyside Derby as manager of Liverpool. The game (in September 1962), finished in a 2-2 draw.
2. Shanks' record against Everton:
Played 28
Won 12
Drew 8
Lost 8
3. Shanks' record against Man United
Played 26
Won 10.
Drew 7
Lost 9
4. Liverpool’s biggest victories under Shankly:
Year | Result | Opposition | Competition |
1969 | 10 - 0 | Dundalk | European Fairs Cup |
1967 | 8 - 0 | TSV Munich | European Fairs Cup |
1963 | 6 - 0 | Wolves | League |
1964 | 6 - 0 | Ipswich | League |
1967 | 6 - 0 | Newcastle | League |
1968 | 6 - 0 | Wolves | League |
1964 | 5 - 0 | KR Reykjavík | European Cup |
1964 | 5 - 1 | Burnley | League |
1965 | 5 - 1 | West Ham | League |
1969 | 5 - 1 | Burnley | League |
1960 | 4 - 0 | Plymouth | League |
1961 | 4 - 0 | Charlton | League |
1968 | 4 - 0 | Burnley | League |
1969 | 4 - 0 | Dundalk | European Fairs Cup |
5. Red cards were surprisingly scarce during Shanks’ reign, with his players picking up a mere 10 in 15 years. Compare that to 26 in 6 years under Gerard Houllier and 15 in 5 years under Rafa Benitez (!).
6. Liverpool had some major luck with own goals during Shanks’ reign, with the team benefiting from 25 in total. Having said that, Liverpool also scored 18 own goals during the same period!
7. Liverpool players scored 23 hat-tricks during Shank’s tenure, the same amount achieved during the combined reigns of Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez (so far!)
8. First Liverpool player to score under Shankly: Alan A' Court (vs. Charlton). Last player to score under Shankly: Steve Heighway (vs. Spurs).
Note: Ronnie Moran’s testimonial match against Celtic took place a week after the 73-74 season ended. Liverpool lost 4-1, with the Liverpool goal scored by Robert Tynan, a Tranmere Rovers player who was a guest player in the game. Thus, Tynan was technically the last player to score for Liverpool during the Shankly era...but he wasn't technically a Liverpool player ;-)
9. Liverpool were awarded 83 penalties during Shanks’ reign; 54 were scored - 29 were missed.
10. Liverpool were unbeaten in 77% of games with Shankly in charge. (578 in total)
11. And one more for luck ;-) Shankly’s rolltop desk - at which he wrote his resignation letter - was recently sold at auction for £4200. The contents of the desk included Don Welsh's contract terms and conditions; the ladies itinerary from the 1950 Cup Final; the gate receipts letter for the 1955 Cup tie against Everton, and and the expense returns to Billy Liddell for his appearance in the Great Britain team in 1955.
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Very interesting! Also, shouldn't the penos add up to 83? And 29 missed? That's unusually high. I'd like to know how the penalty stats have fared over the years. It would seem they have increased in favour of the penalty-takers from the look of it.
ReplyDeletenice edit to cover your mistake :) ))
ReplyDeletenice to see a non negative article for once, oh wait its just a series of facts...
Hey Bikram - you're right. I added it up wrong.
ReplyDeleteHere are the scored/missed stats since Shankly:
Paisley: 65 scored/23 missied
Dalglish: 59 sored/13 missed
Souness - 28 scored/4 missed
Evans - 15 scored/5 missed
Houllier - 41 scored/16 missed
Benitez - 34 scored/11 missed
Liverpool were cleary robbed during Evans' reign when it came to getting penalties!
poor old Joe Fagan, doesn't even warrant a mention
ReplyDeleteFor the purposes of like-for-like comparison, Liverpool's single-season stats under Fagan are not really worth including. Nice subtle attempt at making it sound like I just didn't know about Fagan's reign though ;)
ReplyDelete;)
ReplyDeleteJamie,
ReplyDeleteHow does Benitez compare with point 10 - unbeaten percentage?
GBH
Hi GBH - Benitez is on 78% at the moment:
ReplyDelete247 out of 315 games (178 wins; 69 draws)
Some others:
Houllier: 76%
Evans: 76%
Souness: 71%
Dalglish: 86%
Fagan: 82%
Paisley: 82%
Your point 8 includes a minor mistake in that you should have written Tynan was the LAST player to score. However, in the spirit of many of the articles on this site I can claim that you have lied, and decieved us to further your own aims.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're clearly correct. You must be a member of SOS because that's the type of thinking they apply to the owners ;)
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't there an attack on Rafa in this article?
ReplyDeleteidiot
ReplyDeleteDamn. A glaring oversight on my part :-D
ReplyDeleteActually, there is a veiled attack on Rafa. I highlighted his atrocious red card record: 15 in 5 years compared to Shankly's 10 in 15 years. My real aim was not to write about Shankly but to denigrate Benitez's inability to instill discipline into his players.
ReplyDeleteAs opposed to acknowledging 1) the game & rules have changed 2) our disciplinary record easily stands up against any other Premier sidce
ReplyDeleteBored now
irony n. , pl. , -nies . The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
ReplyDeleteirony n. , pl. , -nies . The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
ReplyDeleteRead more: <span>http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/12/10-little-known-facts-about-liverpool.html#ixzz0YXHAgHMM</span>
Now that's more like it :) Great post. Nice to see you reporting on something warm & fuzzy. Top work. More like it please.
ReplyDeleteYeah good column, relating to a great man.
ReplyDeleteAlso, worth noting that Liverpool did not win a trophy between 1966 & 1973, yet the fans support was total while he was building his second great team!
YNWA
So Souness' reign had the highest return on penos? So he can be proud of something ;)
ReplyDeleteNice information. Like the LFC very much. Best wishes from Germany. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://z10.invisionfree.com/Sports4U/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=1
ReplyDeleteDid Keegan not score the last competitive goal for Shankly in the 74 Cup Final?
ReplyDeleteLiverpool had a league game 4 days after the cup final against Spurs.
ReplyDelete