The Boot Room
Encyclopedia
The Liverpool Boot Room was a room at Anfield
, home of Liverpool F.C.
, during the 1960s - early 1990s where the coaching staff would sit, drink whisky and discuss the team, tactics and ways of defeating the next opposing side.
In January 2011 after taking the reins of Liverpool for the second time as manager, Kenny Dalglish
announced his intent to bring the Boot Room back.
also changed into a coaches' meeting room. It was an informal and a relaxing atmosphere that paid dividends for Liverpool who were rebuilding at the time. The original members of the boot room staff were Shankly, Reuben Bennett
, Bob Paisley
and Joe Fagan
. Bennett was the only one of the original quartet who did not manage the club at some point during his career. It was, though, Bennett who remained at Anfield the longest of the four.
Paisley knew Liverpool traditions, having been a player, becoming a physiotherapist and then a coach. He also knew what the Liverpool faithful expected from their side. Fagan was quiet but very astute and a favourite of Shankly's, who tried in vain to sign him as a player whilst he was the manager of Grimsby Town
. Reuben Bennett
was a friend of Shankly's as well as a work colleague, he knew the man and his family and used to be a decent player in his own right. After Shankly left in 1974, the boot room tradition was carried on by succeeding managers Paisley, Fagan and Kenny Dalglish
during the most illustrious era of the club's history.
The Boot Room was also used for the training of future Liverpool managers (graduates). It became 'the Liverpool way' to promote from within so that the wheels would carry on turning smoothly in the event of a manager resigning or, as it used to be at Anfield, retiring. Paisley, Fagan and Ronnie Moran
, who stepped in as caretaker manager on several occasions, were all trained, without them realising it, in the Boot Room.
Although managers Dalglish and Graeme Souness
were not "educated" in the Boot Room, they realised the values that it brought and kept it during their tenures. It produced yet another manager in Roy Evans
when Souness left the club. Evans took over at the helm after a long education that began under Shankly, and although the club did not win half as much under Souness and Evans, they kept the Boot Room running producing coaches like Sammy Lee
and aiding established coaches such as Doug Livermore
.
With the advent of the "modern" game Gérard Houllier
closed the door on the Boot Room for the final time but kept up the tradition of bringing in Liverpool people, by hiring former Red's skipper and coach Phil Thompson
who also took over the running of the club when Houllier had to enter hospital to have an operation on his heart.
Former manager in charge Rafael Benítez
also knows about the value of the Boot Room, and although he did not establish a room of his own, he reintroduced a lot of the values and ideas, albeit with a more modern approach. The Boot Room legacy has been resurrected again with the appointment of old boy and former coach Sammy Lee
as assistant manager in May 2008, who played under Bob Paisley
in the glory days of the 1980s.
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
, home of Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, during the 1960s - early 1990s where the coaching staff would sit, drink whisky and discuss the team, tactics and ways of defeating the next opposing side.
In January 2011 after taking the reins of Liverpool for the second time as manager, Kenny Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...
announced his intent to bring the Boot Room back.
Details
It was actually a room that stored the squad's football boots that Bill ShanklyBill Shankly
William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
also changed into a coaches' meeting room. It was an informal and a relaxing atmosphere that paid dividends for Liverpool who were rebuilding at the time. The original members of the boot room staff were Shankly, Reuben Bennett
Reuben Bennett
Reuben Bennett from Aberdeen was a Scottish professional association footballer for Queen of the South, Dundee F.C. and Elgin City. He was then manager at Ayr United and a founder member of the Boot Room coaching staff at Liverpool F.C.-Player:In Bennett's playing days he was a goalkeeper with...
, Bob Paisley
Bob Paisley
Robert "Bob" Paisley OBE was an English football half back turned manager. His association with Liverpool was to span nearly half a century including his contribution to the club, first as a player, then as a physiotherapist and coach, and finally as manager.In nine years as manager between 1974...
and Joe Fagan
Joe Fagan
Joe Fagan was an English football manager best known for being manager of Liverpool F.C. from 1983 to 1985.- Career:Joe Fagan's playing career was largely spent at Manchester City for whom he signed in 1938...
. Bennett was the only one of the original quartet who did not manage the club at some point during his career. It was, though, Bennett who remained at Anfield the longest of the four.
Paisley knew Liverpool traditions, having been a player, becoming a physiotherapist and then a coach. He also knew what the Liverpool faithful expected from their side. Fagan was quiet but very astute and a favourite of Shankly's, who tried in vain to sign him as a player whilst he was the manager of Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
. Reuben Bennett
Reuben Bennett
Reuben Bennett from Aberdeen was a Scottish professional association footballer for Queen of the South, Dundee F.C. and Elgin City. He was then manager at Ayr United and a founder member of the Boot Room coaching staff at Liverpool F.C.-Player:In Bennett's playing days he was a goalkeeper with...
was a friend of Shankly's as well as a work colleague, he knew the man and his family and used to be a decent player in his own right. After Shankly left in 1974, the boot room tradition was carried on by succeeding managers Paisley, Fagan and Kenny Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...
during the most illustrious era of the club's history.
The Boot Room was also used for the training of future Liverpool managers (graduates). It became 'the Liverpool way' to promote from within so that the wheels would carry on turning smoothly in the event of a manager resigning or, as it used to be at Anfield, retiring. Paisley, Fagan and Ronnie Moran
Ronnie Moran
Ronnie Moran is a former Liverpool captain and coach, who has twice served as caretaker manager...
, who stepped in as caretaker manager on several occasions, were all trained, without them realising it, in the Boot Room.
Although managers Dalglish and Graeme Souness
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur,...
were not "educated" in the Boot Room, they realised the values that it brought and kept it during their tenures. It produced yet another manager in Roy Evans
Roy Evans
Roy Evans CBE was a Liverpool football player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.-Career:...
when Souness left the club. Evans took over at the helm after a long education that began under Shankly, and although the club did not win half as much under Souness and Evans, they kept the Boot Room running producing coaches like Sammy Lee
Sammy Lee (footballer)
Samuel "Sammy" Lee is an English football coach and former player. He played most of his career for hometown club Liverpool during the 1970s and 1980s as a midfielder, and also represented England fourteen times....
and aiding established coaches such as Doug Livermore
Doug Livermore
Douglas Ernest Livermore is a former professional footballer and manager.-Playing career:Livermore began his career with Liverpool where he came through the youth system to eventually sign professional forms on the 1 November 1965 as an 18 year old...
.
With the advent of the "modern" game Gérard Houllier
Gérard Houllier
Gérard Houllier, OBE , is a French football manager, who was last manager of Premier League club Aston Villa. He stepped down on 1 June 2011, following hospitalisation over heart problems towards the end of the 2010-2011 season....
closed the door on the Boot Room for the final time but kept up the tradition of bringing in Liverpool people, by hiring former Red's skipper and coach Phil Thompson
Phil Thompson
Philip Bernard Thompson is a retired English footballer, who played as a defender for Liverpool team of the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, he also represented the England national football team on 42 occasions...
who also took over the running of the club when Houllier had to enter hospital to have an operation on his heart.
Former manager in charge Rafael Benítez
Rafael Benítez
Rafael "Rafa" Benítez Maudes is a football manager, and former player. He is currently unemployed, after leaving as manager of Internazionale in December 2010....
also knows about the value of the Boot Room, and although he did not establish a room of his own, he reintroduced a lot of the values and ideas, albeit with a more modern approach. The Boot Room legacy has been resurrected again with the appointment of old boy and former coach Sammy Lee
Sammy Lee (footballer)
Samuel "Sammy" Lee is an English football coach and former player. He played most of his career for hometown club Liverpool during the 1970s and 1980s as a midfielder, and also represented England fourteen times....
as assistant manager in May 2008, who played under Bob Paisley
Bob Paisley
Robert "Bob" Paisley OBE was an English football half back turned manager. His association with Liverpool was to span nearly half a century including his contribution to the club, first as a player, then as a physiotherapist and coach, and finally as manager.In nine years as manager between 1974...
in the glory days of the 1980s.
Bill Shankly
- Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
Champions 1961-62 - First DivisionFootball League First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
Champions 1963-64, 1965–66, 1972–73 - First Division runners-up 1968-69, 1973–74
- Charity Shield winners 1964, 1965
- Charity Shield runners-up 1971
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
winners 1965, 1974 - FA Cup runners-up 1971
- European Cup Winners Cup runners-up 1965/66
- UEFA CupUEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
winners 1972/73
Bob Paisley
- Charity Shield 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1982
- First Division champions 1975-76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–1980, 1981–82, 1982–83
- First Division runners-up 1974-75, 1977–78
- FA Cup runners-up 1976-77
- League Cup winners 1980-81, 1981–82, 1982–83
- Football League CupFootball League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
runners-up 1977-78 - Manager of the Year 1975-76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83
- European CupUEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
winners 1976-77, 1977–78, 1980–81 - European Super CupEuropean Super CupThe UEFA Super Cup is an annual football game between the reigning champions of the two cup competitions organized by UEFA: the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League...
winners 1976-77, 1977–78 - UEFA Cup winners 1975-76
- World Club Championship runners-up 1981
Joe Fagan
- Charity Shield runners-up 1984
- First Division winners 1983-84
- First Division runners-up 1984-85
- League Cup winners 1983-84
- European Cup winners 1983-84
- European Cup runners-up 1984-85
- European Super Cup runners-up 1985
- World Club Championship runners-up 1984
Kenny Dalglish
- First Division winners 1985-86, 1987–88, 1989-90 (player/manager)
- First Division runners-up 1986-87, 1988–89
- FA Cup 1986, 1989 (player/manager)
- FA Cup runners-up 1988
- Manager of the Year 1986, 1988, 1990
- Charity Shield 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990
- Screen Sport Super Cup 1986 (player/manager)