When Ron Greenwood picked his first England side, he named seven Liverpool players. By the middle of the decade they were the team everyone had to beat. In 1973-74, having finished runners-up to Leeds and beaten Newcastle Utd in the FA Cup Final, Liverpool were the latest club to experience a shock managerial resignation. Bill Shankly announced his retirement, ending his 15-year reign at Anfield. After Liverpool’s 3-0 demolition of
Newcastle at Wembley, Liverpool fans had prostrated themselves at Shankly’s feet on the pitch. Two months later he was gone. His final act was a typically shrewd move. The Liverpool way was to strengthen well before it was necessary. Competition was so fierce that players dreaded being sidelined through injury for fear that they might not get back in the team. It was after Shankly unveiled his last signing. Arsenal’s Ray Kennedy, that he shuffled off the stage. The Liverpool board may have been worried that the Shankly aura might continue to pervade Anfield in the way that Busby’s had at OldTrafford. In the event the break was swift and final, something Shankly was said to have found surprising and hurtful.
World History
