On Friday September 10th 1999, a special celebration of Bill Shankly's time at Liverpool was held in the city's Moat House Hotel. The theme of the evening was the unveiling of the greatest eleven players to play for Liverpool under Shankly's management.

The initiative was the brainchild of the The Liverpool Daily Post and Echo., and the idea was put to its readers, who over a period of time, submitted the names of the players who they deemed worthy of selection to a fictional 'all time' Shankly eleven.

Some readers submitted individual names whilst others named a whole team and the result was the biggest ever sporting poll conducted by the Echo.

In his 15 years as manager, Shankly used the incredibly low number of 69 players. Many of these players, perhaps inevitably, played only a handful of games. As a marker of how dramatically the game has changed, it's an amazing statistic.

The Team

1. Ray Clemence
  2. Chris Lawler
    3. Gerry Byrne
      4. Tommy Smith
        5. Ron Yeats
            6. Emlyn Hughes
              7. Kevin Keegan
                8. Roger Hunt
                  9. Ian St John
                    10. Peter Thompson
                      11. Ian Callaghan

Three members of this great side, former captains of Liverpool, spoke passionately about Shankly and his influence on the club.

Ron Yeats, skipper of the 1960s team said "The boss was a complete one-off who inspired us all".

Tommy Smith, Liverpool's great captain of the seventies and scorer of the crucial European Cup Final goal in Rome in 1977 commented, "Bill Shankly changed a lot of people's minds for the good, not only on the football pitch but off it. What he did for Liverpool is beyond belief."

The man who succeeded Smithy as captain, Emlyn Hughes, gave an inspirational and typically emotional speech, saying "We have seen what Manchester United have achieved in recent years, but they will never, ever match Liverpool F.C., which is still the greatest club in the world."


Of those selected for the greatest team, only Kevin Keegan, Ray Clemence and Ian St. John were unable to attend but they each sent individual messages of support. Mrs. Nessie Shankly, Bill's wife, also sent a message saying how proud she was that Bill's boys were together again.