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Shankly in the Sixties

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Shankly’s charisma has covered the country
There’s a new cathedral on the banks of the Mersey
Anfield’s red army is on a Roger Hunt
For more than life and death and they’re showing no mercy

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 Yeats is the rock on which the Blues beat
Lawler Melia Molyneux a back mnemonic
Lawrence and then Clemence will sign on for Renshaw Street
And Tommy Smith’s hair will ne’er know perm nor tonic

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Thompson is Liddell, Cally makes our day
St John revels in the elation he deserves
They’ll dominate Europe for the next two decades
While Bill treats his wife to Rochdale Reserves

Notes

Although I’m an Evertonian, I love Liverpool FC. That may seem strange in these “edgy” days, but I remember the post-Hillsborough days and the line of red and blue scarfs along Hope Street. Shanks loved to wind us up, and he sometimes didn’t know when to stop, but his charisma and humour were unforgettable. (Now who was that recent LFC manager who called us a “small club”?)
PS: Renshaw Street is or was the main Unemployment Office in Liverpool.

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/shankly-in-the-sixties/