Football has nothing to do with life and death, football is higher than life and death

You should already be familiar with this sentence.

"Some people think football is just a matter of life and death, and I am very disappointed with this attitude. I want to tell you that it is far more important than life and death."

This sentence comes from the famous quote of Liverpool legendary coach Bill Shankley, and is well-known among Liverpool fans. Shankley served as Liverpool coach from 1959 to 1974, leading the team back to the top league from England second division and winning three top league titles, two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup. On the 31st anniversary of his death in 2012, Liverpool's official website quoted this widely circulated sentence as usual. It is often seen on posters, prints, tea towels, mugs, and any souvenirs that can be printed with Liverpool logos, and is loved by fans.

But at some moments, like now, this sentence sounds a little hollow when football has to make way for more serious problems in reality.

On July 3, Liverpool player Jota died in a serious car accident at the age of 28. His sudden death put the entire club, fans and the entire football world in sorrow.

It was also at such a moment that when many media and fans quoted Shankley's words "Football is more important than life and death", they couldn't help but add a sentence "Sorry, Shankley..." before it. Because reality reminds us that football can never be equal to real life, and this attitude of "taking football above everything" is not suitable for the current era.

fans put flowers in front of the Shankley statue to commemorate Diogo Jota

However, this view is correct. If Shankley was still alive today, he would probably agree with this statement. After all, he is a firm socialist.

Today, Shankley has long become a symbol of Liverpool Club, and his statue stands outside the KOP stands at Anfield Stadium. His importance to modern Liverpool has long been deified, so many fans remember his legendary image rather than his real one. His famous quotes are also taken out and quoted at any time - whether appropriate or not.

Then, to understand why he said that famous (or similar expression), we need to go back to the years after he accidentally resigned from the position of Liverpool coach in 1974. That resignation caused a shock in Merseyside, and Shankley later went to the training ground many times, hoping to continue to help his successor, former assistant coach Bob Paisley.

But this ended up being embarrassing, especially as Paisley led Liverpool into an unprecedented glory period and became one of the most successful coaches in Europe. Shankley would not be jealous of this - at least not on the surface - but as a human being, perhaps there would be some complex emotions inside him.

Shankley has a tense relationship with Liverpool's senior management and even said that he was receiving better in his arch-rival Everton than in Liverpool. But during his time with his family, he began to reflect on why he was so obsessed with football.

And the real source of that famous saying was actually when he spoke to the host Shelley Rohde on May 20, 1981 on a TV show "Live at Two". At that time, Shankley said:

"Everything I have now comes from football and my investment in the sport. Only how much you give can you gain, I devote myself to it, and so far. It's for those who support me and let me coach. I never deceive them. I devote myself to it. I devote myself to it, and even influenced my family life." Rohde asked him, "Did you regret it?" Shankley replied: "Yes, I regret it very much. Some people say that football is about life and death to me, and I said: 'No, it's more important than that.'"

In fact, Shankley had not officially said this in the media before. John Keith, a Merseyside reporter from the Daily Express at the time, pointed out that this sentence was very personal to Shankley and should not be understood as an exaggerated declaration of the overall football.

He said: "Shankley's famous saying actually carries his usual humor to emphasize the importance of football to him. For him, football is life. He said this sentence a bit jokingly and should not be regarded as a literal truth. Shankley knows very well how to make a surprising or funny sentence just right, and he even practices this kind of thing in advance. And this sentence is exactly this situation."

Therefore, the sentence "football has nothing to do with life and death, football is higher than life and death" is actually more like the expression of Shankley's personal emotions, not the golden rule for the public to understand the status of football. It means a lot to Shankley, and to others, it may be just a famous saying.