Name: Shankly: Nature's Fire
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2017-10-29
Duration: 1 h 30 min
Rating: 7.2
Cast: Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Roger Hunt

I can just about remember Bill Shankly being manager of Liverpool, I can certainly recall the commotion that was caused when he announced his shock retirement from the club. Some people say he left the club too soon but considering he died in 1981, I think Shankly knew the time was right to leave.

You can spot the mark of a great man because other clubs he was associated with have something to remember him by. Preston North End a club he played for have the Bill Shankly Kop and a street named after him near the ground. Huddersfield Town have a club lounge named after him.

Bill Shankly, Matt Busby and Jock Stein were all born within a 20 miles radius. All from poor working class stock who would go on to become great managers. Their upbringing would affect their outlook in life. Since the 1980s I can only recall Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson wearing their socialism on their sleeves. Kenny Dalglish did make critical remarks about Margaret Thatcher in his autobiography.

Nowadays Premier League managers are on so much money each week, I doubt it even occurs to them that they were once destined to go done the mines or work in a cotton factory, that is if you can actually find a British manager in the first place. Sam Allardyce was prepared to be caught in a newspaper sting for doing some work on the side even though he was a highly paid England manager.

This documentary goes through Shankly's life, his early years playing football in the open fields after a shift working down the Ayrshire pit in his native Scotland. 

It was his managerial philosophy of playing quick passing football and developing young talent as a manager that attracted attention. Of course this all came to fruition with Liverpool then in the old second division. Within five years they would become First division champions and FA Cup winners for the first time. Shankly would mould a championship winning team and then as they aged rebuild it in the 1970s with the masterstroke pairing of John Toshack and Kevin Keegan.

Shankly could be a fiery character yet his door was always open to visitors in his beloved Liverpool.

The best part of the documentary was listening to the players that worked with him. Players such as Denis Law, Ian St John, Roger Hunt all sadly now looking aged when they still were young men when I was a nipper.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

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. It is also a film about a city and how one man seemed almost divinely able to give voice to, and make tangible, the hopes and dreams of a people. His connection to the fans of the City of Liverpool is something that may never be seen again. To understand who Shankly is, where he came from and the loyalty and passion he inspired, is to understand the spirit of football itself.

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Bill Shankly in Shankly: Nature's Fire (2017)

Shankly: Nature's Fire

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