The George Scott interview, January 2000

George Scott talks
EXCLUSIVELY
to shankly.com

You may be forgiven if the name George Scott fails to ring any bells in connection with Liverpool, Shankly, and those famous glory days of the sixties and seventies. However, as Derek Dohren recently found out, here is a man who was an unseen 'cornerstone' of the fabulous cathedral that is Anfield.

George Scott emerged from the tunnel onto the Wembley pitch and into a wall of sound. A few yards in front, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley drank in the scene before them. Shankly

turned to his right hand man and said, "Christ Bob, we've got to win it for these fans." The date was May 1965, and that afternoon, Liverpool Football Club was about to claim the F.A. Cup for the first time in it's history.

Scott was destined not to make the starting eleven that day. Keith Peacock's appearance as the first ever substitute to see action in British football was still some three months away but Liverpool's 12th man, on that never to be forgotten spring afternoon, had good reason to look forward to the coming season as the one in which he would make his longed for breakthrough. After three profitable years plundering goals in the Central League George Scott was on the brink of the first team after a run of form that had taken him within an ace of the '65 cup winning team.

( Right ) George Scott today, proud of his memories

"I can still remember the train journey home. We celebrated and drank champagne out of the cup and from Crewe onwards you couldn't see any buildings for the flags and banners. At the Town Hall reception Shanks addressed the mass of people who had come out to greet us and the noise was terrific. There must have been half a million people in the streets of Liverpool that day." However, the sheer ecstasy of those celebrations was wiped out in a single stroke the moment Scott returned to his Anfield digs. "There was a letter from the club waiting for me. I opened it to read that the board had decided to let me go. I was being transferred."

On the Monday morning I barged into Shanks' office distraught. He could see I was upset and asked me what was wrong. 'I've come to ask you about this', I said, and Shanks asked me what I was talking about. I showed him the letter and said 'I'm the leading scorer in the reserves and I've just been to Wembley.' He replied, 'Pay no attention to that letter son.' I was puzzled. Here I was absolutely shattered and Shanks told me not to worry. Then he added, 'I'll give you five good reasons why you should leave this club'. 'Five' I thought, what's he talking about ? 'Callaghan, Hunt, St.John, Smith and Thompson' said Shanks. 'If you want to progress, it's time to go.' "

( left ) Shanks' reference for George, written in 1966

It's a moot point whether Shankly, knowing the board were letting Scott go, deliberately made him 12th man in the cup final to soften the inevitable blow that was to follow. Certainly, he was full of understanding and sympathy for his young protege.

"He could see I was upset and he came round from his desk and put his arm round me. 'George, I want you to always remember that at this particular time you are the 12th best player in the world. Now go back to Aberdeen and prove it.' " Scott had gone into the office devastated and received confirmation of what he had dreaded, yet had come out feeling 10 feet tall.

"It wasn't just the words, it was the total conviction in the way he delivered them that had the effect. Another thing he said to me was 'You're like the cornerstone of the Anglican Cathedral. Nobody ever sees it but without it the cathedral doesn't get built.' He was referring to the fact that I was one of his first signings. I don't know how he thought these things up, or whether they were off the cuff but he knew how to deal with people."

Liverpool had agreed a £ 12,000 fee with Aberdeen to transfer George Scott's services and Scott found himself back at the club he had initially turned down as a schoolboy to join Liverpool.

"Shanks had been on the phone to the Aberdeen manager Eddie Turnbull and done a real sales job on me. I was happy to go to Aberdeen as it was my home town club. It was like winning second prize really. I scored on my debut after 13 minutes against Clyde, played against Rangers and had a bit of a run in the first team. Then, about halfway through the season I had a bad cruciate ligament injury and found myself freed by the club at the end of the season."

It was then that Shanks came to Scott's rescue by fixing him up with a trial for South African club Port Elizabeth City. That summer of 1966 was also the time George Scott got his prized reference from the great man. "I watched him type it up with one finger on his little typewriter. Even in that letter you can see the way he communicated. He didn't put 'Dear Sir' or 'Dear Madam' but he wrote 'Dear People'."

Bill Shankly was continuing to look after the boy he had brought down from his native Aberdeen as a fifteen year old early in 1960. "I can still remember arriving at Lime Street Station with Bobby Graham, who was joining from Motherwell." Alongside Tommy Smith, Scott became a key member of the 62-63 youth team, helping them to reach the final of the youth cup were they were beaten in a high scoring encounter by a West Ham side aided and abetted by one Harry Redknapp.

Scott's goalscoring performances saw him progress smoothly to the reserve side, where in a successful spell over three seasons, he scored 41 goals in little over a hundred games. "In hindsight, the pivotal moment of my career came in the summer of '63. Liverpool went to the U.S. for a pre season tour and I'd got all kitted out with a club suit and so on. Then I got injured just before we flew out. Shanks was disappointed and told me I had to stay at home. He went and bought Phil Chisnall from Man. Utd and I think really that was the moment my big chance came and went."

Young gun

Scott's contemporaries from the youth and reserve team years, Smith, Lawler, Graham, Thompson, Byrne, Arrowsmith had all made it to the first team yet through a combination of bad luck and a lack of opportunity, Scott never did. After leaving Liverpool, Scott spent the 65-66 season with Aberdeen, playing 12 games and scoring twice for his home town club. "It was special to play for Aberdeen, having been a local lad myself and I played against Rangers in front of 40,000."

In the summer of 1966, Scott was approached about playing in South Africa and signed for Port Elizabeth City. It was then that Shankly gave Scott his treasured reference. "It's got me out of a scrape or two over the years. A reference from Shanks is priceless really."

Port Elizabeth City were an 'English' based side. Kevin Lewis, a former Liverpool team mate and Terry Mancini, who was to go on to further success in the Enlgish first division in later years, also played for them. Scott was a success out there and scored plenty of goals as they won the championship in 1966-67.

George Scott spent two seasons in Africa but returned to England after becoming the victim of a bizarre stabbing incident. "One night I went to tackle an intruder who'd broken into the house. He stabbed me in an upwards motion from my belly button up towards my neck, popping all the buttons off my shirt, before getting away. It really shook me up, and I thought then, that it was time to come home."

Luckily, he hadn't been too seriously wounded and it was back at Anfield, after another encounter with Bill Shankly, that George found himself embarking on his next footballing adventure.

"I was talking to Roger Hunt and he was asking me what I was going to do. I didn't really know and Roger suggested I go and see the boss ( Shankly ). So I just strolled into Anfield, not something you could do now of course, and Shanks was delighted to see me. He took me into his office and asked me where I wanted to go, who I wanted to play for. 'What about Spurs or Arsenal ?', I said. 'That's a bit ambitious George,' said Shanks, 'how about Tranmere ?' ".

George Scott, circled centre, and the 63/64 title winning squad

Scott gratefully agreed and listened with amazement as Shankly picked up the phone and dialled Tranmere straight away. "He exchanged a few pleasantries with their manager, Dave Russell, then began his usual sales patter. 'The best player ever to play for my reserves, can do a 100 yards in even time and will get you 30 goals a season.'"Well, I was at Prenton Park that afternoon and straight into the first team for the next game. I had a blinding first half on my debut and at half time they offered me a two year contract !"

It went well at Tranmere. Scott scored 6 goals in 46 games over two seasons but he began to find it hard to play at the likes of Hartlepool and Rochdale after previously playing at a higher level. After discovering and developing a knack for sales and the business world, Scott drifted into non-league football for several years before finally quitting in 1975.

In his current job as General Sales Manager with a major UK pharmaceutical wholesaler, George Scott uses Shankly's methods to instil a feeling of pride and motivation to his younger colleagues. "I learnt a lot from Shanks about how to talk to people and build them up. The lads all love hearing my stories."

"Shanks had an aura about him. You always felt his presence even before you saw him. He had a way of building you up. I remember once he came up to me and looked me up and down and said, 'By Christ George, you're looking fit. I heard you scored four for the reserves on Saturday. There was a lad in the other side who's going to play for England and he never scored at all.' He was talking about Alan Ball. Those comments had a way of giving you an enormous lift."

Shankly would often talk to his players about Tom Finney, who was his all time playing hero. When Manchester City visited Goodison Park in the early sixties, Shankly was acutely aware that City's ranks contained a player who was every bit as much a hero to one of his own players. "Denis Law was my big hero, partly because like me, he came from Aberdeen. One night, he was playing for Man. City over at Goodison Park and Shanks took me along to the game so he could introduce us. After the match we shot straight down to the dressing room and Shanks went in and got Denis to come to the door. He still had his kit on as the game had only just finished. 'Denis', he said, 'I want you to meet George Scott. He's going to be better than you.' "

He may well have added 'in fact, he's going to be the 12th best player in the world.'

© Spion Ltd
January 2000