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Around AnfieldThe Bob Paisley Statue
Welcome to part three of our Around Anfield series, where we look at one of two Anfield tributes to Liverpool Football Club’s quiet genius and hugely successful manager Bob Paisley…
To be the most successful manager of the most successful football club in England is quite a feat. That achievement belongs to Bob Paisley. He managed the Reds from 1974 to 1983 and led Liverpool FC to 19 major trophies, including three European Cups, as the Redmen dominated at home and abroad.
Yet Bob was so much more to Liverpool FC than a manager. Born in the north-east village of Hetton-le-Hole and signed from non-league Bishop Auckland FC in 1939, Bob had to wait until 1946 to make his playing debut for the Reds due to the outbreak of World War II.A left-half, he was part of the Liverpool FC team that won the First Division title in 1946/47 and went to make 277 appearances for the Red before retiring in 1954. Bob had studied physiotherapy and remained at Anfield as a physio and Reserve team manager. In 1957 he was promoted to first-team coach/trainer and in 1959, after Bill Shankly was appointed as LFC’s new manager, became part of the famous Anfield Boot Room in the 1960s.
Paisley was promoted again to assistant manager in 1971 and then, somewhat reluctantly, became Liverpool FC manager in 1974 and achieved the seemingly impossible by winning even more than Shankly did. But the bronze statue of Bob in Paisley Square - located opposite The Champions Wall on the corner of the Main Stand and The Kop - is from his time on Shankly’s backroom staff rather than when he was sweeping up silverware.
Commissioned and donated by Standard Chartered, the club’s main sponsor, the statue features Paisley carrying the injured Emlyn Hughes off the pitch – recreating an iconic image of the pair taken during a 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield in 1968.
Hughes had been signed from Blackpool FC a year earlier and what nobody knew at the time was that he would go on to become Liverpool FC’s most successful captain, lifting 11 pieces of silverware while wearing the armband from 1973 to 1979.
Standing at eight feet tall, the statue was created by sculptor Andy Edwards and Paisley Square was naturally the perfect place for it to be unveiled in January 2020 by former LFC chief executive Peter Moore alongside members of the Paisley family and Emlyn’s daughter Emma.
“It’s been a very moving process to be a part of and to see the statue from its original design to the physical structure we can now see here at Anfield,” said Bob’s son Graham. “We’re incredibly grateful for this tribute to dad’s life, and the whole family is really happy with the result.”
Dalglish, Ian Callaghan, Ian Rush, Phil Thompson, Phil Neal, Alan Kennedy and David Fairclough - were also in attendance as the sculpture, designed to sit at the right height to enable supporters to take their picture with it, was unveiled.
“Bob Paisley is one of the most successful English football managers of all time and led his team to greatness time and time again,” said Moore. “His contribution and commitment to Liverpool FC plays a huge part in the tremendous history of this football club, so it felt like a fitting tribute to his legacy to unveil our statue on Paisley Square at Anfield.”
Standard Chartered Bank’s Emma Sheller, global head of brand and marketing, was also delighted with the tribute to Bob. “We are honoured to commission and donate this wonderful statue to the club’s most successful manager. This tribute will ensure fans who visit Anfield gain a greater understanding of his huge achievements at the club.”
A quiet, reluctant genius, Bob Paisley wouldn’t have wanted the fuss, but he more than deserved it.
