I had spent a decade and a half in the Bill Shankly School of football. Now it was if a part of me had died. I took some consolation from the fact that Bill Shankly was getting out at the top, retiring as football’s greatest winner. Later on, chief executive Peter Robinson told that Bill used to threaten to retire every year. They had always cajoled him out of it. This time there was no going back.
- Tommy Smith om Bill Shanklys sensationella avhopp 1974