Scottish quote of the week: Bill Shankly

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

Bill Shankly OBE (1913-1981) is widely recognised as one of football’s greatest ever managers.

Helping shape one of English football’s greatest ever legacies as Liverpool manager, Shankly is arguably the club’s most heralded figure.

Three First Division titles, a UEFA Cup, two FA Cups, four Charity Shields and a Second Division title made up a glittering haul for the Anfield trophy cupboard during Shankly’s reign until his retirement in 1974.

Shankly was known as a no-nonsense character who was obsessive about football - and winning at it - above all else.

His ruthless and uncompromising attitude to winning was in no small part due to his upbringing in a small Ayrshire coal mining village. It is something he alluded to when asked by a journalist about the pressures of elite football: “Pressure is working down the pit. Pressure is having no work at all. Pressure is trying to escape relegation on 50 shillings a week. Pressure is not the European Cup or the Championship or the Cup Final. That’s the reward.”