Bill Shankly

The 60th anniversary of the Scot's tenure at Huddersfield Town

November 5, 1956

Monday November 5, 1956: Bill Shankly becomes first team manager of Huddersfield Town


The 43-year-old Scot stepped up from his role as the reserve team coach to take over from Andy Beattie, who had brought him to the club the year before.

In Shankly's time as head of the reserve team, he had overseen the development of many promising youngsters - such as World Cup winner Ray Wilson - and, after suffering relegation in 1955/56, many of the reserves were given their chance in the first team.
Shankly won his first two games in charge of Town, beating Barnsley and Port Vale before being held to a 3-3 draw by Yorkshire rivals Rotherham.
The Scot would not taste victory in Division Two again until Christmas Eve - five matches later - when a Ron Simpson brace secured all three points for Huddersfield Town against Notts County.
The match at Meadow Lane was remembered for another reason however, as Shankly handed a full first team debut to 16-year-old prodigy Denis Law.

"Right from the start Denis stood out with his enthusiasm and will to win. He would have died to have won."

Just 48 hours later, Law had repaid the faith Shankly had shown in him by scoring Town's third goal in a 3-0 victory over the same opposition at Leeds Road.
After the festive period, Town took part in the FA Cup, joining at the third round stage.
Three ties were needed to beat Sheffield United, but Town eventually overcame the Blades and Peterborough United to set up a Yorkshire v Lancashire tie against Burnley in the fifth round.
Over 55,000 people crammed in to Leeds Road to watch the match, but Town were beaten 2-1 by their cross-county opponents.
Six wins in seven league matches from February to April took Town up to ninth in the Division Two table, but the season tailed off with just one point picked up from their final four games.
Town finished 12th in the second tier.

1957/58

A second season in charge


Shankly built on his first season at the helm, going unbeaten in the first four matches of the 1957/58 season.
In the opening four matches, Town played Liverpool both home and away, taking three points off the Reds - in a time when two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw.
Town drew against Liverpool in their second match of the season - a game which saw Shankly manage at Anfield for the first time in his career in front of 41,447 fans.
Shankly had previously been interviewed for the managerial role at Anfield when he was in charge of Carlisle in 1951, but refused the position.

"In 1951, when I was the manager of Carlisle United, I got a telephone call from Liverpool and was asked if I'd like to be interviewed for the manager's job.
"George Kay had just resigned. I stayed in Southport on the Sunday night and went to meet the Liverpool board the next day.
"The big snag had cropped up when the Liverpool board had said the manager could put down his team for matches and the directors would scrutinise it and alter it if they wanted to.
"So I just said, 'If I don't pick the team, what am I manager of?'


"And that was that."

Defeats to Rotherham, Cardiff and Grimsby halted Town's early-season momentum, which had seen them climb to fourth in the Division Two table.
Town were back to winning ways against Stoke in late October and the following week won away at Bristol City with Ray Wilson bagging his first goal for the club.
From mid-November to early match of the 1957/58 season, Town lost just two matches - both away to Charlton, once in the league and once in an FA Cup third round replay.
The league match Town lost to Charlton on December 21, 1957 remains the only league match in which a losing side has scored six goals.
Shankly's Town were 5-1 up in the 62nd minute before a Johnny Summers-inspired Charlton came back to snatch a historic 7-6 victory.
And a 2-1 win at Leeds Road against Blackburn Rovers on March 5 took Shankly's team to fifth in the league.
Unfortunately Town again stumbled in latter stages of the season, winning three and losing five matches in the final 10 fixtures of the season.
Town ended 12 points off the promotion places in ninth in the 1957/58 season, but the three points they had taken off Liverpool proved to be all important.
The Reds missed out on promotion by two.

1958/59

Shankly's final full season at Town



The 1958/59 season was a tough one for Huddersfield Town and their manager.
Three wins in their opening 10 fixtures took almost any hope of promotion away from Town by the start of October, but Shankly's finest moment for Town was just around the corner.
When Liverpool arrived at Leeds Road on October 4, 1958, Shankly must have been expecting a tight encounter with both sides sitting mid-table in Division Two.
But Town dominated the match from start to finish, putting three past Liverpool keeper Tommy Younger in the first half and adding an extra two in the second.
Derek Hawksworth bagged two for Town, with Les Massie, Ken Taylor and Ray Wilson rounding off the scoring for the jubilant hosts.
On the match Shankly recalled:

"We beat Liverpool 5-0 with ten men one day. Taylor damaged ligaments in the first five minutes, but that didn't stop us.
"I remember the Liverpool directors leaving the ground in single file with their shoulders slumped, like a funeral procession."

The Liverpool match gave Town a boost, with Shankly's side losing just one of their next seven league matches.
But the streak proved another false dawn for Town who went on to lose nine of their next 11 matches from November through till January.
This saw the club drop to 16th in Division Two and get knocked out of the FA Cup by Ipswich in the third round.
A 2-2 draw at Anfield in February helped Town kick on in the Spring, going on another six-match unbeaten run and climbing to 12th in the table.
Four points from a possible ten in the run-in left Town 14th in Division Two at the end of the season.

1959

The end of an era, the start of a dynasty


Shankly's Town started the 1959/60 season quickly, winning five of their opening seven matches - placing them second in the Division Two table.
By October 17, 1959, Town were fourth in the table after a slightly rocky patch, but were still well in with a shot of promotion to the top tier of English football.
The 1-0 home defeat to Cardiff City on that day dropped Town down to sixth, but was also a day to remember off the field - especially for Shankly.
As he recalled:

"One day in 1959, when Huddersfield were playing Cardiff City, Tom Williams, who was then chairman of Liverpool, and Harry Latham, a director, came down the slope at Leeds Road to see me.
"Mr Williams said, 'How would you like to manage the best club in the country?'


"'Why, is Matt Busby packing it up?' I asked."

Although Shankly's response may have been sarcastic, he would go on to hold talks with Liverpool and - after six final matches in charge of Town - join them.
Town notched a 2-2 draw with Derby and a 3-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle in November 1959 before Liverpool visited Leeds Road.
Rumours of Shankly's departure began to circle in the build up to the match and, despite Town winning the game 1-0 thanks to a Les Massie strike, the manager resigned from his post on December 1.
On leaving the club, Shankly told the Town players:

"I'm going to a place where they live, eat, sleep and drink football. And that's my place."

In 129 matches in charge of Huddersfield Town, Shankly won 49, lost 47 and drew 33.

During his time managing Huddersfield Town, Shankly lived in Crosland Road, Oakes and would regularly walk down to the fields off Cowrakes Road to play football with local youngsters.

"Football is not a matter of life and death... it's much more important than that." - Bill Shankly