Why the 1974 FA Cup Final summed up the best of Bill Shankly for Liverpool fans

Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0 in the 1974 FA Cup Final in what proved to be Bill Shankly's last game in charge and for many supporters that day summed up all his achievements at Anfield

For Liverpool fans of a certain vintage, the 1974 FA Cup was the zenith of Bill Shankly’s reign.

Everything Shankly had spent 15 years building at Anfield, came to fruition that May afternoon at Wembley as Liverpool outclassed Newcastle playing a brand of football years ahead of its time. Alan Kennedy, who would go on to score the winning goal in two European Cup Finals for Liverpool, was then a 19-year-old left-back for Newcastle and recalls: “It was 3-0, but it could have been six.”

Liverpool were utterly dominant as they tore Joe Harvey’s Newcastle apart, prompting commentator David Coleman to say: “Newcastle were stripped naked.” The two teams’ approach to the game could hardly have been more different and Newcastle arrived at their hotel on the Monday afternoon, determined to make the most of their first FA Cup Final since the glory days of Jackie Milburn in 1955.

Liverpool, by contrast, were the definition of professional and they did not arrive at their hotel near London until the Thursday. Shankly was the master of mind games long before Sir Alex Ferguson popularised them and nobbled Harvey in a live TV interview with the two managers from their hotels on the eve of the game.

Shankly supposedly thought he was off air when he said: “Look at Joe, he’s a bag of nerves. He’s already beaten.” Whether it was deliberate or not by Shanks, the damage was done in front of the watching nation.

The final was totally one sided, even though it was somehow 0-0 at half-time. Alec Lindsay had a wonderful strike wrongly disallowed for offside before Liverpool took total charge. Kevin Keegan scored twice and Steve Heighway once, prompting Coleman to declare in commentary: “Goals pay the rent and Keegan does his share.”

Phil Thompson, then just 20, snuffed out the considerable threat of Malcom Macdonald, despite SuperMac’s brash claims about what he would do to him and centre-half partner Emlyn Hughes. “Malcolm had just two efforts,” he said. “One went high over the bar and the other was 15-20 yards wide and that was his contribution.

“Myself and Emlyn were two midfielders at centre-back, playing it out from the back, Ray Clemence was a sweeper-keeper. Modern-day coaches, like Pep Guardiola, think they’ve re-invented the wheel with their approach, but we were playing that way back then. The Liverpool Way was born that season.

“I think it was our third goal, we had 35 or 36 passes, and it was one of the great team goals.” No-one, perhaps not even Shankly, knew that would be the legendary Scot’s last game as Liverpool boss and he stunned the football world when he retired two months later.

Thompson grew up idolising Shankly as a diehard Liverpool fan and said: “It was a bombshell. “I was a 60s child and Liverpool supporter. When I was coming through, Shanks was my world. If you remember his words, he said he was building Liverpool up to be a bastion of invincibility.

“I was in awe of the man so when he decided to retire, it shocked the entire football world and us as Liverpool fans.” Bob Paisley took Liverpool to even greater heights, but that May day is still treasured by Thompson and every other Liverpool fan.

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