ABSTRACT

In July 1974, Bill Shankly, the charismatic manager of Liverpool FC, surprised the football world by announcing his retirement. During fifteen years in charge, Shankly revolutionised LFC, transforming a second-tier outfit into one of Europe's best teams. His impact on the city of Liverpool was equally profound. At times in the 1960s, Shankly's popularity eclipsed even that of the Beatles. His retirement, wrote one supporter, felt like ‘the end of the world’. It triggered a public outpouring of grief, well wishes, and reminiscences. Based on previously unpublished material from the Shankly Family Archive, this essay examines the history, or histories, of the correspondence sent to Bill Shankly in the summer of 1974. Using three approaches – gender history, the history of emotions, and transnational history – it highlights under-explored aspects of football's rootedness in everyday life: female fandom, male sentimentality, and the first stirrings of Liverpool's international popularity. In Bill Shankly's football republic, collective identity was rooted in civic pride, but crossed age, class, gender, and national lines.

摘要

1974 年 7 月，富有魅力的利物浦足球俱乐部经理比尔·香克利宣布退役，震惊了足球界。在执教十五年期间，香克利彻底改变了 LFC，将一支二流球队转变为欧洲最好的球队之一。他对利物浦市的影响同样深远。有时在 1960 年代，香克利的声望甚至超过了披头士乐队。一位支持者写道，他的退休感觉就像是“世界末日”。它引发了公众的悲痛、良好的祝愿和回忆。本文基于香克利家族档案馆以前未发表的资料，考察了 1974 年夏天寄给比尔香克利的信件的历史或历史。使用三种方法——性别史、情感史、和跨国历史——它突出了足球在日常生活中根深蒂固的未充分探索的方面：女性球迷、男性多愁善感以及利物浦国际知名度的第一次激荡。在比尔香克利的足球共和国，集体认同植根于公民自豪感，但跨越了年龄、阶级、性别和国界。