Liverpool’s rise from obscurity to glory, devised in the fabled Anfield Boot Room, was built on a set of ideals familiar in Merseyside: collectivism, community and loyalty. For in many ways, the nondescript sanctum under the grandstand stairs where Bill Shankly and his backroom staff worked together to orchestrate the club’s resurgence epitomised the spirit of the city. It was Liverpool in microcosm. Astonishing archive footage and a reminder of Liverpool’s collectivist culture reveals how the revered Boot Room Boys brought a city back from the brink and ushered in an unprecedented era of dominance.
Himself
The definitive film portrait of Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, and Jock Stein. An incredible story of how three men born in the central lowlands of Scotland within 30 miles of each other, grew up to become lifelong friends and three of the most influential men in football history.
Himself (Archive Footage)
SHANKLY: NATURE'S FIRE explores the remarkable life and career of BILL SHANKLY, the legendary Liverpool Football Club manager who came to leave such a legacy in his adopted home city. The film is a nostalgic journey into the origins of the world's favourite game, and how legends are born and transcend generations. Perhaps no one before or since has personified the spirit of the working class culture that gave birth to the modern game. Shankly's passion for football was boundless to the point of obsession. This unique feature length documentary is an exploration of the determination and commitment to community that emerged from Britain's industrial heartlands and manifested itself in this unstoppable game: creating a love affair still etched in the hearts of the generations that followed.
In the west of Scotland, nobody bothers to argue that football is a genuinely popular art form, the theatre of the people.
