Bob Shankly

Who was Bob Shankly?

Robert "Bob" Shankly was a professional football player and manager. from the village of Glenbuck in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Shankly was one of five brothers who all played football professionally, including Bill who would become a Scottish international and manager of Liverpool. Bob began his career with junior club Auchinleck before moving to the local club Glenbuck Cherrypickers.

He then moved into the senior ranks with Alloa Athletic after being turned down by Ayr United, despite scoring a hat-trick of goals in a trial match. Shankly then played for English non-league team Tunbridge. He later played for Falkirk, although he had signed for Falkirk whilst unaware that Preston North End wanted to sign him. Like many working class men from Ayrshire at the time, he began working life as a miner, combining this job with football on a part-time basis. He married in 1936 and had two children, John and Margaret.

It was as a football club manager that Bob Shankly made his name. After retiring from playing he had a spell as a coach of Stenhousemuir before managing Falkirk, Third Lanark, Dundee, Hibernian and Stirling Albion, where he eventually became a director. Whilst manager of Dundee, he managed to guide his club to victory in the Scottish Football League championship of 1961–62, three points ahead of Rangers and to date the only time Dundee have won the league title. The following season he guided Dundee to the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup, where they were defeated 5–2 on aggregate by AC Milan. Craig Brown later compared Shankly's achievements with Walter Smith, Jock Stein, Alex Ferguson and Jim McLean. Dundee made it to the 1964 Scottish Cup Final, but a Scottish Cup defeat by St. Johnstone the following season prompted his departure.