Liverpool Season 1961 1962

ENG Arts Documentary hosted by Jason Isaacs

published by BBC in (Very) 2020

Liv.1962.1962.twb22.mp4

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Examines the story of Liverpool’s quest to return to the top of English football by winning the Premier League. It is a revealing insight into why the club fell away after their domination of football in the 80s – how the club’s identity was shaped by both the tragedies of Heysel and Hillsborough, the struggle to keep up with the rapidly changing world of football, and the Jurgen Klopp revolution that has returned them back to the summit of the game.Narrated by Liverpool fan Jason Isaacs, this is a story told by the people who shaped the club we see today, including contributions from managers Jurgen Klopp, Rafa Benitez, Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier and Brendan Rodgers, chief executives Rick Parry and Ian Ayre, key players in Liverpool’s history, including Mohamed Salah, Jordan Henderson, Virgil Van Dijk, Robbie Fowler, John Barnes and Michael Owen, and the man who revolutionised the club, owner John Henry.

When Bill Shankly arrived at Anfield in December 1959 nobody had the faintest inkling that he might do more than possibly get us back into the First Division, from which we had dropped five years earlier. Our sojourn in Division Two had gone on longer than most had predicted and we were, frankly, dangerously close to becoming accepted as a second division side. Phil Taylor had done his best to improve the side that he had inherited from Don Welsh but somehow the club was unable to take that  necessary step that would have got them back in the top division. 

The chairman during those frustrating years in the fifties was Tom Williams, who seemed to us to be just another faceless football club director who revelled in the glory of local fame. Thomas Valentine Williams was more than that. He realised that the club was in danger of becoming the footballing equivalent of a second class citizen and he decided to do something about it. Shankly's ability to to run a small club had been well documented and it was rumoured that a few of the country's bigger clubs (Liverpool included) were interested in appointing him as their boss. In the event it was Huddersfield who took the plunge and they took him on initially as a deputy to their manager, Andy Beattie, with whom he had played at Preston North End. At the time Huddersfield were in severe trouble at the bottom of the old Division One and they were duly relegated at the end of Shankly's first season at the club. In a situation that had uncanny similarities to the one that developed at Anfield over 40 years later the newcomer took over from the incumbent within a year of joining the club.

Within a year or so of taking the reins rumours circulated that Shankly was unhappy at Leeds Road because of the parsimony of the board. Top players were sold, two of whom, Ray Wilson and Denis Law, would go on to international glory with England and Scotland respectively. Liverpool were understood to have approached him during this period with a view to him succeeding Don Welsh who had just been dismissed but the thorny problem of team selection proved to be the stumbling block. Like most other clubs Liverpool were still locked into the ancient system whereby the board of directors picked the team and the manager was judged on how that team performed. Shankly was having none of that and there the matter rested.

However by 1959 Tom Williams realised that something needed to be done if Liverpool were not to become mired in the lower divisions for the foreseeable future. He convinced his co-directors that, in order to attract a top manager, full control of all team matters would need to be vested in him and, having got their approval, he made another approach to Huddersfield and the deal that was to have such huge ramifications for Liverpool FC was done. Shankly had left one struggling Second Division team to join another one but he could see the possibilities that existed at Anfield and, once he had been given the assurances about control of all footballing matters he took little persuading to cross the Pennines.  Strangely enough, given the enthusiasm and energy that he was to inject into the club over the coming seasons, his arrival was very low-key. I don't recall any press conference taking place to introduce him to the local media and there were, of course, no television cameras in evidence. Little changed on the pitch, either. His first two games in charge were both defeats although there was a recovery of sorts in the New Year of 1960 but the only signing was that of Sammy Reid on a free transfer from Motherwell, a player who never actually had a game in the first team. 

The season ended with Liverpool where they had been ever since they had been demoted - just outside the promotion places. Surely the new manager would go on a spending spree during his first summer. But no, he made only three low-key signings. Kevin Lewis arrived from Sheffield United, Gordon Milne from Preston and local boy Alf Arrowsmith from Ashton (all three were to play significant parts in the immediate future). We wanted stars but that was not Shankly's way. In effect he spent what was left in his first season at Anfield and the whole of his first full season taking stock of the players he had inherited. Roger Hunt had established himself in the side by the time that Shankly arrived but Gerry Byrne, later to be in England's World Cup squad in 1966, and Tommy Lawrence had hardly had a game. Both were to become cornerstones in the drive for promotion. 

The 1960/61 season was no more successful than before. Third place was the best we could manage. Had we got the right man? The question was to be answered most emphatically the following season. Two signings made all the difference. Ian St John, a Scottish international, was bought from Motherwell for £37,500 just before the end of the 1960/61 season (and promptly became a hero by scoring a hat-trick against Everton at Goodison Park in the Liverpool Senior Cup Final) and Ron Yeats arrived from Dundee United for £22,000 during the summer.  At last we were up and running. It was astonishing to see players who we had previously thought of as average journeymen move onto a higher level largely through the example set by the two signings and the new training regime which Shankly had introduced. The template had been set. Eight players appeared in 40 or more league games (42 games in the season) and of the 17 who appeared during the season Molyneux, Arrowsmith and Wheeler totalled 6 appearances between them, so he used only more or less 14 players. 

The season got off to a fantastic start. After 11 games we had won 10 and drawn the other and conceded only 4 goals in the process. Roger Hunt was proving to be a striker who might one day play for England and St John was outstanding. Standing only 5ft 8” he was extremely small for a striker but he had a remarkable ability in the air and was capable of outjumping defenders who were 6” and taller than him. At the back Yeats seemed to be impassable. It should be remembered that this was before the advent of the flat back four that was subsequently introduced with great success by Alf Ramsey. The centre half was protected by his two full backs and, when the going got tough, by a defensive wing half. Yeats was simply magnificent. A huge man (by the standards of the time) he was supreme in the air and a devastating tackler. He often headed the ball from inside his own penalty area beyond the halfway line. The first hiccup arrived, as it often did in our second division days, against Middlesborough at Ayresome Park and there were to be 4 more defeats, all away from home, before the turn of the year. These days the press would be writing you off after 5 defeats but the reds picked up the momentum after Christmas and the bandwagon rolled on.

The FA Cup brought its share of drama in the middle of the promotion race. Chelsea were beaten in the 3rd round after a nail biter (4-3) and we then got the better of Oldham away thanks to two late goals from St John. I remember that game extremely well as Boundary Park (in fact the whole of the North West) was almost fog-bound and, although the game was never in danger of being called off, I recall a nightmare trip back along the East Lancs Road with visibility no more than 20 yards in places. The 5th round saw us drawn against Preston North End, Shanks' old club, and the first game at Anfield ended scoreless. In those days, of course, cup ties were played to a finish and so, after the draw at Deepdale, a second replay had to take place at a neutral ground. Old Trafford was the venue on another bitterly cold night and the game was decided by a goal from a player who was to become a Liverpool player shortly afterwards. Peter Thompson, Preston's left winger, picked up the ball out on the touchline just inside our half and loped forward before cutting in and hitting a speculative shot from all of 30 yards which sailed over the head of our diminutive goalkeeper Bert Slaer. We were out of the Cup and Slater never played for Liverpool again! Another horrendous journey back resulted in me getting home at about 1.00am the following morning. From Manchester!  

In some ways it was probably a good thing to have been eliminated from the Cup as all resources could then be applied to the main objective of promotion. After we had beaten Chelsea 4-3 in the 3rd round we played Norwich City the following week and won 5-4 so we had scored an impressive 9 goals in 2 consecutive games but, ominously, we had conceded 7. Shankly realised that this was not good enough and over the next few weeks he experimented with his full backs.  John Molyneux, who had been a reliable right back for several years was the one who paid the price for the avalanche of goals that had interrupted what had been an almost unstoppable march to glory. Dick White, a long standing team-mate of Molyneux was tried at right back but, having played all of his career at centre half, it was no surprise that he was unable to plug the gap and after a couple of games Shankly converted Gerry Byrne from the left side to the right and reintroduced Ronnie Moran who had been at the club for 10 years (and who was to remain on the staff for another 34 years) at left back. In those days team line-ups were always quoted in the formation of the day: Goalkeeper  Right Full-back, Left Full-back Right-half, Centre-half, Left-half: and for the remainder of that season the line-up at the back was: Slater, Byrne, Moran, Milne, Yeats, and Leishman except that, as mentioned earlier, Bert Slater (at 5ft 8” surely the smallest goalkeeper ever to represent Liverpool) was jettisoned after the Cup defeat against Preston and replaced by Jim Furnell.

Solidarity had returned and, although clean sheets were in short supply, no more than one goal was conceded in any game bar one until promotion had been achieved. The fact that promotion was confirmed by victory over Southampton at Anfield with 5 games still to play illustrates how dominant we were that season. Two first half goals from Kevin Lewis sealed the win and it was ironic that Lewis should score the vital goals as he was only playing because Ian St John, who had been sensational in his first season at Anfield, was suspended. The team did a lap of honour after the final whistle, the first time that it had happened in my experience of attending Anfield since 1948. In those days when a player was suspended he was not allowed to even attend the ground during his suspension and we were all mortified that St John was unable to enjoy the fruits of his prodigious performances during the season. Or at least we were until, who should join the team on the lap of honour but the Saint! 

At a distance of 44 years the thing that sticks in my memory more than anything about the lap of honour was that the pitch was an absolute quagmire and St John wore a very expensive looking pair of shoes which must have been ruined. I suspect that he was probably able to afford to buy a new pair!  A home game against Stoke City took place the following Monday evening at which the Second Division Trophy was presented. I had never seen Liverpool pick up anything and I set off for Anfield that night with huge anticipation. We were half way through the tunnel when the fuel pump on my mate’s Mini packed up and we had to be towed out at enormous expense so I never did see the presentation. I only had to wait 2 years and the prize was an even greater one but that is a story for another day. (John Martin 

Liverpool F.C.  1961/62

Manager: Bill Shankly

Captain: Ron Yeats

Top Scorer: Roger Hunt (42, all comps)

Most Appearances: Alan A’Court, Gerry Byrne,

Jimmy Melia, Gordon Milne (47, all comps)

League Position: 1st (Second Division)

FA Cup: Fifth round

Total games: 47

Games won: 29

Games drawn: 10

Games lost: 8

Clean sheets – league: 12

Clean sheets – overall: 14

Total goals: 105 

19.08.1961 FL A Bristol Rovers 2-0

23.08.1961 FL H Sunderland 3-0

26.08.1961 FL H Leeds United 5-0

30.08.1961 FL A Sunderland 4-1

02.09.1961 FL A Norwich City 2-1

09.09.1961 FL H Scunthorpe United 2-1

16.09.1961 FL A Brighton & Hove Albion 0-0

20.09.1961 FL A Newcastle United 2-1

23.09.1961 FL H Bury 5-0

30.09.1961 FL A Charlton Athletic 4-0

04.10.1961 FL H Newcastle United 2-0

07.10.1961 FL A Middlesbrough 0-2

14.10.1961 FL H Walsall 6-1

18.10.1961 FCC A Everton 2-2

21.10.1961 FL A Derby County 0-2

23.10.1961 LaC H Chester 4-0

28.10.1961 FL H Leyton Orient 3-3

04.11.1961 FL A Preston North End 3-1

11.11.1961 FL H Luton Town 1-1

18.11.1961 FL A Huddersfield Town 2-1

25.11.1961 FL H Swansea Town 5-0

02.12.1961 FL A Southampton 0-2

09.12.1961 FL A Plymouth Argyle 2-1

16.12.1961 FL H Bristol Rovers 2-0

23.12.1961 FL A Leeds United 0-1

26.12.1961 FL A Rotherham United 0-1

06.01.1962 FAC H Chelsea 4-3

13.01.1962 FL H Norwich City 5-4

20.01.1962 FL A Scunthorpe United 1-1

27.01.1962 FAC A Oldham Athletic 2-1

03.02.1962 FL H Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1

10.02.1962 FL A Bury 3-0

17.02.1962 FAC H Preston North End 0-0

20.02.1962 FAC A Preston North End 0-0

24.02.1962 FL H Middlesbrough 5-1

26.02.1962 FAC N Preston North End 0-1

03.03.1962 FL A Walsall 1-1

10.03.1962 FL H Derby County 4-1

17.03.1962 FL A Leyton Orient 2-2

24.03.1962 FL H Preston North End 4-1

28.03.1962 FL H Rotherham United 4-1

31.03.1962 FL A Luton Town 0-1

07.04.1962 FL H Huddersfield Town 1-1

17.04.1962 LaC H Rochdale 0-0

21.04.1962 FL H Southampton 2-0

23.04.1962 FL H Stoke City 2-1

24.04.1962 FL A Stoke City 0-0

25.04.1962 CL A Everton Reserves 1-3

28.04.1962 FL A Plymouth Argyle 3-2

30.04.1962 FL H Charlton Athletic 2-1

04.05.1962 FL A Swansea Town 2-4

07.05.1962 LaC A Rochdale 3-1

08.05.1962 LiC * A Everton 1-0

09.05.1962 LaC A Manchester United 5-2

11.05.1962 LaC A Burnley 1-2