For the latest edition of My Liverpool Life, we caught up with Gordon Wallace and George Scott who were players under Bill Shankly in the early 1960s.
Wallace played 22 times for Liverpool, scoring six goals for the club. Meanwhile, Scott did not play in the senior competition, but played several seasons as a reserve player in the no-substitute era.
They have some fascinating stories to tell about their time playing for the Reds, so we asked them about their lives as Liverpool players and fans.
I started supporting Liverpool because…
SCOTT: I came to Anfield as a 15-year-old boy and was immediately captivated by the magic of Bill Shankly, and have been since.
WALLACE: Likewise, before coming to Liverpool, Liverpool was never in my imagination to come here. And since I retired, I have continued to support them. I still go to the games regularly.
How did it feel to sign your first contract with the Reds?
WALLACE: Absolutely over the moon because at the end of the season you’re wondering. You see, you don’t know until the end of the season if you’re going to stay.
SCOTT: I guess you knew in your heart that somehow you were probably going to be signed because of your record on the C team, the B team, the A team, but you could never rely on it. You saw people running out of his Shankly office crying.
When you signed that two-year contract, you were on your way as a professional.
What does Liverpool FC mean to you?
SCOTT: Liverpool has been a big part of my life and my family’s life. Besides my family, I think that’s probably the biggest common denominator of my life, because we watched Liverpool for 64 years.
We’ve seen great days, we’ve seen great players, we’ve seen great opportunities – more than any other fan anywhere in the country I can imagine.
I can’t think of many fans who have seen a club go through the things we’ve seen this club go through, tragedy and glory.
WALLACE: Also, they gave me my first job in my life so it’s a part of me, something I’ll never forget and I was very lucky to have a bit of success with them.
That means a lot.
If you could relive the game from the stands, which one would it be?
WALLACE: It was Barcelona. Losing 3-0, I’ve never seen an atmosphere like that. We were there and it was just amazing.
The atmosphere at half-time, when you go down to have a cup of tea or something, the singing. I tell you what, there were hundreds of people jumping up and down. We hadn’t scored four goals then, but you saw it was fantastic.
SCOTT: It’s really hard for me to answer that, because there were so many, there were three or four of them.
Istanbul, I was there with my son – Istanbul was amazing; Saint Etienne in 1977 when David Fairclough scored that goal; Inter Milan, European Cup semi-final 1965; the FA Cup final in 1965, when we won the cup for the first time.
But I would probably agree with Gordon, it was the most incredible result in a 3-0 defeat against the great Barcelona.
You lose one goal and you lose. If I could see Robbo pushing Messi, that picture of Messi in the middle of the field alone, I would agree to that.
What was your favorite season at Liverpool?
SCOTT: 1964 League Championship, the first time they won the Premier League under Shankly. We were there.
WALLACE: I was lucky, I only played one game that season when they won the championship and that was towards the end. I remember it was at Burnley and we won 3-0 and I came on for Sir Roger Hunt – he was knocking a bit.
Scenes outside, I don’t know how many thousands of Liverpool fans were locked out!
SCOTT: That season I was selected as the 12th man, it was almost the bag carrier. If someone gets hurt, you’re there.
Which 3 people from Liverpool’s history would you invite to dinner?
SCOTT: I would definitely say Kenny Dalglish.
WALLACE: I would have Bill Shankly and Kenny Dalglish because I thought Kenny was something so special. Some of the things he did on the football field were just, you know.
Probably one of the best players, we’ve had a lot. Those two for sure.
SCOTT: I’d say Dalglish and Shankly definitely and if you’re bringing in Shankly, I’ll put in Klopp.
I have never met Jurgen Klopp, I wish I had. The ambition remains to just greet him and thank him for what he has done. He is a big fan of Shankly, he has a picture of him in his office.
WALLACE: Probably Klopp. Klopp, Shankly and Dalglish.
* Thanks to Gordon Wallace and George Scott for sharing their ‘Liverpool Lives’, you can hear more from them here.
You can buy George Scott’s book, The Lost Shankly Boy, here.
