Shanks for the memories

How the granddaughter of the legendary Liverpool manager is hoping to recreate the tiny Ayrshire mining cottage, where he grew up with his nine siblings, into a heritage site for all the world to visit

- PAUL ENGLISH

IT was a tiny cottage in an Ayrshire village which produced one of the world's most influential football bosses, and was razed to the ground when the mines were shut down.

But now the childhood home of the legendary Bill Shankly could be rebuilt as a place of pilgrimage for Liverpool fans.

Plans are afoot to reconstruct the cottage where Shankly lived with his nine siblings and parents as a heritage site.

The iconic manager, who elevated the Reds from being also-rans in the English second division to the giants of world football they are known as today, died in 1981, aged 68.

But his life and legacy are still celebrated by Anfield fans the world over.

Many travelling fans already visit the modest memorial in the tiny nowruined settlement of Glenbuck, where Shankly's legendary work ethic and no-nonsense approach were honed.

Emma Parry, Shankly's Liverpoolbased granddaughter, revealed work has begun on the site, where the Shankly family home once stood.

She said: "We have laid the foundations and we are hoping to build it up brick by brick because there's really nothing in Glenbuck now at all.

"It was a mining town but it was razed to the ground.