Keegan: Shankly changed my life forever

KEVIN KEEGAN was sat on a bin the first time he met Bill Shankly. It was May 1971 and the 20-year-old Yorkshireman had been waiting patiently at Anfield to discuss his impending switch from Scunthorpe to Liverpool.

It's an encounter firmly etched in Keegan's memory bank because life would never be the same again.

"They were doing up the main stand at Anfield so they were using these temporary offices," Keegan said.

"The only place to sit was on a dustbin outside so I sat there talking to my manager at the time, Ron Ashman, while Bill was inside.

"After a while Bill came out, shook my hand and beckoned me over to his Capri to take me for my medical down near the docks.

"From the moment I met Bill I just gelled with him. I was from mining stock and so was he. I think he saw something in me that reminded him of himself.

"He wanted to help me and he did, massively. Apart from my parents, Bill was the most important person in my life.

"He brought me to the club, he believed in me and he inspired me. That first meeting with him changed my life forever."

Keegan cost £35,000 and it proved to be one of the shrewdest pieces of business in English football history.

Signed as a midfielder, Shankly soon spotted Keegan's striking talents and made him believe he belonged at the highest level.

"I had only been at the club a couple of weeks when Bill said to me 'you will play for England son'," Keegan recalled.

"I was a 20-year-old kid who hadn't even played for Liverpool's first team. I thought 'wow' if he thinks I can they maybe I can.

"Bill was a giver. He wanted to make people better.

"He always came in full of life and what I loved about him was that he was always honest. You always knew where you stood with him.

"If you did something wrong he would tell you but he was never negative about anything.

"If he didn't have anything good to say he just wouldn't speak to you."

Keegan went straight into the side for the first game of the 1971/72 season against Nottingham Forest and scored the opener in a 3-1 win at Anfield. It was the start of a successful double act with John Toshack and as Shankly predicted, international honours soon followed.

Keegan made his England debut against Wales in 1972 and went on to win 63 caps.

"I didn't expect to get in Liverpool's first team so quickly," the 58-year-old admitted.

"I came in at the end of the season and went on tour when a lot of the players were away with England.

"I got games, did well and forced my way into contention. It meant I never actually played a reserve team game for the club.

"That was one of the things about Bill. He wasn't scared to put someone in. If he thought you were good enough that was it.

"I was a 20-year-old kid who went straight from Scunthorpe in the Fourth Division to playing in front of 51,000 at Anfield against Forest."

When Keegan signed the Reds had won nothing since 1966 and Shankly was in the process of building his second great side.

"It was a period of transition for the club," Keegan said.

"When I signed there were great players there like Tommy Lawrence, Ron Yeats, Ian St John, Peter Thompson, Chris Lawler, Tommy Smith and Ian Callaghan.

"There was signings like Alun Evans, who had cost £100,000 from Wolves, John McLaughlin and Ian Ross.

"And new kids on the block like Emlyn Hughes from Blackpool and Ray Clemence who replaced Tommy Lawrence. Steve Heighway was a rising star and Brian Hall was coming through.

"There was a good mix of the old and the new, and Bill got the perfect balance."

A seven-year trophy drought was ended in style with the championship and the UEFA Cup in 1973. Keegan scored twice in the first leg of the final as the Reds overcame Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2 on aggregate.

He repeated the trick a year later with another brace in the FA Cup final as Newcastle were brushed aside 3-0.

However, two months later Keegan was stunned when Shankly resigned.

"I don't know anyone who saw it coming," he said.

"I remember someone called me and said 'have you heard about Shanks?' My first thought was 'he's been involved in an accident'.

"When I was told he had resigned I didn't believe it. There was talk after every season about Bill threatening to quit and the board talking him out of it.

"But when I spoke to Bill he said 'no, I'm finished this time'. It was a massive shock."

Keegan went on to play a key role under Bob Paisley as the Reds landed the championship and the UEFA Cup again in 1976. He scored in both legs of the final against FC Bruges and was crowned Football Writers Player of the Year.

However, the departure of Shankly had hit Keegan hard and midway through the following season he announced his intention to leave in the summer to play abroad.

Keegan signed off in style, winning his third league title and helping the Reds clinch their first European Cup with a 3-1 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach in Rome.

After 323 appearances and 100 goals, he made a £500,000 switch to Hamburg in the summer of 1977.

"Bill's departure certainly played a part in my decision to leave," Keegan said.

"No disrespect to Bob, but when Bill left half the club went for me as well.

"Don't get my wrong, I enjoyed playing for Bob. We had some great times and won the European Cup.

"But it wasn't the same after Bill left. I just didn't enjoy going into the club as much when he wasn't there. Nobody could replace Bill."

The fact that Shankly wasn't offered another role at Liverpool after he stood down in 1974 still grates with Keegan to this day.

"I was really saddened by the way he was treated by the club," he said.

"I appreciate it was a difficult situation for everyone. Bill was such a big personality but it could have been handled a lot better.

"It should have been a case of someone asking him 'what job do you want?' They should have done something for him whether it was a place on the board or whatever.

"I know it would have been difficult for Bob to have him around the place but I'm sure something could have been sorted out.

"Bill should never have been allowed to walk away and I'm sure if you could ask those people involved they would admit they regret the way they went about things.

"The sad fact is that Bill spent more time at Everton's training ground than ours."

After leaving Liverpool, Keegan won the Bundesliga title with Hamburg and was twice crowned European Footballer of the Year.

Spells with Southampton and Newcastle followed before he moved into management.

The former England boss believes both Liverpool and himself personally owe Shankly a massive debt of gratitude.

"Bill took Liverpool by the scruff of the neck and put down the foundations on which the club's been built," he said.

"Bob achieved more than Bill in terms of honours but Bob was the first to admit that Bill put in the ground work.

"Bill gave everyone connected with the club great belief and principles. Everyone counted for something whether you were the kitman or you cut the grass.

"I played under a lot of good managers but none were in the same county, let along the same street, as Bill.

"His way was right for me and I learned so much from him. I took a lot from what Bill taught me into my own management career.

"Things like if you treat people the right way and give them the chance to flourish then you will get the best out of them.

"Bill was unique and the man meant everything to me."

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