Bob Paisley

Bob Paisley

Personal information
Full name	Robert Paisley
Date of birth	23 January 1919(1919-01-23)
Place of birth	Hetton-le-Hole, Sunderland, England
Date of death	14 February 1996(1996-02-14) (aged 77)
Place of death	Liverpool, England
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
	Bishop Auckland
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1939–1954	Liverpool	253	(10)
Teams managed
1974–1983	Liverpool
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Robert "Bob" Paisley OBE (23 January 1919 — 14 February 1996) 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 1983, he took Liverpool to six League Titles, three European Cups, one UEFA Cup, three League Cups, five Community Shields and a UEFA Super Cup. He is often regarded as the greatest Liverpool FC manager of all time, due to his year-to-championship record.

Paisley is the only manager in history to win three European Cups.

Biography

Playing career

Born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, England, Paisley joined Liverpool from non-League Bishop Auckland F.C. in May 1939. However, as with so many of his generation, the outbreak of World War ll delayed the start of Paisley's career. He eventually made his long-overdue debut on the 5 January 1946 in Liverpool's first post-war competitive match, which was an FA Cup 3rd round, 1st leg match at Sealand Road, Chester City. Liverpool won the game 2-0. Paisley's first goal didn't come until the 1 May 1948 in a League game at Anfield, against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Paisley's 22nd-minute strike along with a Jack Balmer goal in the 80th were enough to help the Reds win 2-1.

In the first full season after the war, 1946–47, he helped Liverpool to their first league title in 24 years, making 34 appearances in the 42-match season. He remained a fixture in the side, appearing in 30+ matches in 1947/48 and 1948/49 and 28 in 1949/50, a season of both highs and lows for Paisley who scored the opening goal of a 2-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Merseyside rivals Everton only to be dropped for the Final against Arsenal, the club's first appearance at Wembley. Paisley later said that the experience stood him in good stead when it came to telling players they were not going to play in big games as he knew how they felt. Paisley became club captain the following season.

Coaching career

After retiring as a one-club man in 1954, he joined the back room staff as self-taught Physiotherapist and had a knack of being able to diagnose a player's injury just by looking at them. He later became a coach for the reserves. The arrival of Bill Shankly as manager in December 1959 transformed the fortunes of the club. Shankly utilised The Boot Room for a second purpose, a room for coaches' meetings. Paisley was one of Shankly's founder members of the boot room staff along with Joe Fagan and Reuben Bennett. Under Shankly's management Liverpool won three league titles, two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup over the next fifteen years.

Managerial career

Following an FA Cup final victory, in July 1974 Bill Shankly, unexpectedly announced his retirement. The directors of Liverpool turned to the unassuming Paisley.

His managerial record would better Shankly's: Paisley led the team for nine seasons, winning at least one trophy in eight of those. Disappointed by finishing second in his first season as manager, the team went on to win the title in 1976. This was the beginning of Liverpool's dominance of the English football. During Paisley's nine seasons in charge, Liverpool were League Champions on six occasions and finished second twice, won three League Cups (the first time that Liverpool had won the trophy), 1 UEFA Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 5 Charity Shields and, most significantly, they won the club's first 3 European Cups.

Liverpool's dominance of the era in English and European football was primarily challenged by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa under Ron Saunders and later Tony Barton. Paisley remains the only man in history to manage three European Cup-winning sides (1977, 1978 & 1981). His success was honoured with six Manager of the Year awards. Only the FA Cup eluded Paisley, although Liverpool would be runners-up in 1977 and beaten semi-finalists in 1979 and 1980. But Paisley's 3 European Cup's Record is still a record in 2011.

Retirement, illness and death

Paisley retired after the 1982-83 season after spending 44 unbroken years at the club. He was replaced by Joe Fagan, another of the Boot Room old boys.

He worked as a consultant and advisor to Kenny Dalglish for two years from his appointment as player-manager in June 1985, before being appointed as a director.

In early 1988, aged 69, he was interviewed by the Welsh Football Association with a view to coming out of managerial retirement to take charge of the Wales national football team, but the job went to Terry Yorath instead.

He continued to serve Liverpool as a director, until he retired in early 1992 due to ill health, having being diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. He died on 14 February 1996 at the age of 77, and after his death he was honoured by the club with the opening of the Paisley Gates at one of the entrances to Anfield, complementing the existing Shankly Gates.

He was buried in the churchyard of St Peter's Church in Woolton, Liverpool.

Paisley was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a manager.

On February 8, 2012, it was announced that Bob's wife Jessie had died at the age of 96 after losing a battle with a heart infection.

Quotations

• "Mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year we came second."
• "The sort of lad I'm looking for here is a kid who'll try to nutmeg Kevin Keegan in a training match... but then step aside for him in the corridor."
• "One of the things I keep reminding players is that when you're lost in a fog, you must stick together. Then you don't get lost. If there's a secret about Liverpool, that's it."
• "This is the second time I've beaten the Germans here... the first time was in 1944. I drove into Rome on a tank when the city was liberated." - Paisley after Liverpool won the European Cup in Rome in 1977.
• "I tell you something, they shot the wrong Kennedy." - Commenting on Alan Kennedy's debut as a Liverpool player.
• "If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options later."

Career statistics

Managerial Record

Team	From	To	Games	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %
Liverpool	26 August 1974	23 May 1983	535	307	132	96	57.38%

Honours

Player

Liverpool

• First Division
  • Champions: 1946–47

• FA Cup
  • Runners-up: 1950‡

‡ Bob was awarded a medal even though he didn't appear in the final.

Manager

Liverpool

• First Division
  • Champions: 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83

• European Cup
  • Winners: 1977, 1978, 1981

• UEFA Cup
  • Winners: 1976

• Football League Cup
  • Winners: 1981, 1982, 1983

• European Super Cup
  • Winners: 1977

• FA Charity Shield
  • Winners: 1974, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982
  • Shared: 1977

Individual Honours

• 1975/76 Manager of the Year award
• 1976/77 Manager of the Year award
• 1978/79 Manager of the Year award
• 1979/80 Manager of the Year award
• 1981/82 Manager of the Year award
• 1982/83 Manager of the Year award
• 2002 Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame

See also

• List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winning managers
• List of UEFA Cup winning managers

External links

• Bob Paisley website
• Liverpool FC official profile
• English Football Hall of Fame Profile
• Bob Paisley profile and related articles at LFC Online

Preceded by Hennes Weisweiler	UEFA Cup Winning Coach 1975-76	Succeeded by Giovanni Trapattoni
Preceded by Dettmar Cramer	European Cup Winning Coach 1976-77 & 1977-78	Succeeded by Brian Clough
Preceded by Brian Clough	European Cup Winning Coach 1980-81	Succeeded by Tony Barton