THE GLENBUCKWAY
LIFE IN MINING VILLAGE SHAPED SHANKLY CAREER
Scots footballing legend used what he learned in his hometown to help him become an icon on the pitch with Liverpool and a folk hero off it
ANY motorist on the A70 could pass the site of the village of Glenbuck and be none the wiser.
The coal mine has been closed for more than 80 years and the last homes disappeared in the 90s.
But for a dedicated group of football fans, this is a Mecca.
The village began to decline in the 30s after the coal pit closed. It suffered a long slow death until eventually, nothing remained.
Yet this village of 1200 souls at its peak, produced 50 footballers who went on to play for the giants of the Scottish and English game.
Chief among them was Bill Shankly.
And for the fans, Glenbuck has become known as Shankly’s lost village.
After two years working in the pit. he took his football boots and forged a career at the top level in England, winning an FA Cup with Preston North End.
As a manager, he took ailing Liverpool FC out of England’s second tier, winning the FA Cup for the first time, making them champions, then forged progress in Europe.
His rapport with the fans was legendary, and his teams played a passing game where the ethos was that no one was better than anyone else, and the team, the collective, was everything.
Shankly’s legacy is such that even now, 36 years after his death, football fans want to see the site of where he came from.
Gates and a statue at Liverpool’s Anfield ground carry his name, but it’s not enough for some fans, who call themselves the Spirit of Shankly.
They know he changed their club forever.
His niece, Barbara Alexander, said her “Uncle Wullie” lived by the rules of Glenbuck and carried that idea on to the pitch.
She said: “Glenbuck produced 50 professional players. The Shankly family produced five.
“His uncle Bob Blythe played with the Rangers and was the chair of Portsmouth
and his uncle Wull Blythe played with Preston and became chair of Carlisle.” Bill’s brother Bob was also a successful player and manager. A stand at Dens Park is named after him in recognition of the sole time Dundee could call themselves champions of Scotland in the early 60s. Barbara says football was in the DNA of Glenbuck, because it offered fresh air and a different kind of exrecise than the pit. She said: ”Glenbuck was in the middle of nowhere. There were very few cars. “The men went down the pit, they came up and then they played football. “It was all about coming up from the pit and into the fresh air. Sometimes it was 20-a-side. You had to be there quick otherwise you wouldn’t get a game.” Barbara said her uncle – like other miners – embraced a collective attitude, a non-political self-help ethos where scarce resources were shared. As a boy, Shankly and his family knew hunger. He would go to farms where the farmers turned a blind eye to some produce vanishing. Barbara said: ”Anything that came back to the village was shared out. If
BARBARA ALEXANDER
your neighbour had less than you, they would get their share.”
Shankly never lost this ethos. It became his rule book.
He was well-rewarded for his talents but it would stand no comparison with the mega-wages football players and managers can command now.
Barbara remembers her uncle visiting the village when she was a child. She said he would often ask how families were getting on, and quietly gift them a financial helping hand.
The fascination with the man who admired Labour’s founding father James Keir Hardie is still very strong.
This Sunday, on BBC2, a documentary will tell the story of why Shankly remains so revered.
It is preceded by a special showing at the Glasgow Film Theatre on November 8.
Shankly: Nature’s Fire reveals that his glittering career as a manager had humble roots.
Before joinng Liverpool he cut his managerial teeth at Workington.
There, he often had to do all the jobs, such as answer mail and carry out maintenance.
When he arrived for his first day, he tried to switch the lights on only to be told there was no electricity. It didn’t phase him. He built his reputation in a culture far removed from the current era of elite football, which is shaped by sponsorship and media deals and where fans often feel isolated from their heroes.
Contributors include members of the Spirit of Shankly, a supporters’ group dedicated to keeping his legacy and values relevant to the club.
The film follows them on a pilgrimage to where the Shankly legend began.
His relatives also provide insights into how he reacted at both triumphant and challenging times in his life and career.
Ex-players such as Ian St John, Kevin Keegan and Denis Law – as well as award-winning sportswriter and fellow Ayrshireman Hugh McIlvanney – reflect on what made Shankly a one-off.
Despite his huge talent and the change he inspired in Liverpool and football generally, Shankly and wife Nessie always lived in a modest suburban house.
When he died in 1981, he left £99,000 to his family. A rich man, yes but not to the extremes of football figures of today.
“He wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” said Barbara. Shankly: Nature’s Fire, BBC2, November 12, 9pm.
The men went down the pit, they came up and then played football