First Spirit of Shankly Cup held at The Barony Campus

Before the pandemic representatives from the Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool FC Supporter’s Union, had approached the Council hoping to organise a Cup competition to celebrate the life of the great Bill Shankly. The Council was very keen to be involved and worked closely with the Spirit of Shankly to make the tournament a reality.

U13 teams from Crosshouse Boys Club, Cumnock Juniors, Stewarton Annick and Townhead Thistle pulled on their boots to represent East Ayrshire, while Liverpool was represented by Dynamo Childwall, Kingsthorne Warriors, Parkview Colts and South Liverpool.

The tournament was Champions league style with two sections of four teams playing three games each. Once the section games were completed, the top four teams from both sections competed for the Shankly Cup and the third and fourth in each section competed for the Shankly shield.

After two very competitive semi-finals Dynamo Childwall and Kingsthorne made the Shankly Cup Final and Crosshouse and Stewarton made the Shankly Shield Final.

Both finals were played with great spirit and the winners were:

Shankly Cup winners – Kingsthorne

Shankly Shield winners – Stewarton Annick

Depute Provost Claire Leitch, who was joined at the tournament by local elected members, Cllrs Jim McMahon, Neill Watts, Alyson Simmons and June Kyle plus Bill Shankly’s niece Barbara Alexander, said: “I was delighted to attend the inaugural Spirit of Shankly tournament at The Barony Campus and to meet friends old and new from Liverpool. The Spirit of Shankly has worked closely with the Council before recognising the achievements and life of the great Bill Shankly.

“Bill Shankly was born in the small village of Glenbuck, near to Muirkirk, and became one of our greatest and most inspirational football managers, achieving success with Liverpool FC. We have erected a monument in his honour within Glenbuck but like so many things, the pandemic meant we had to put plans for a football tournament on hold.

“It was incredibly special for everyone to be together again and pay tribute to such a great man. The connection between Liverpool and East Ayrshire will always be strong and now there are friendships and connections between a whole new generation. Bill Shankly lives on through his family, the high regard that football fans hold him in and through the next generation playing in a tournament in his name. I hope this competition is the first of many!”

Stephen Monaghan from the Spirit of Shankly said: “Shankly’s legacy has created an unbreakable bond between communities in East Ayrshire and in Liverpool. His values are as important today, as they were 60 years ago and this tournament is an amazing tribute to him.

“All the teams played with passion and commitment and Kingsthorne and Stewarton Annick were both worthy winners. I would like to thank East Ayrshire Council and Cumnock Juniors Community Enterprise for working with us to make the tournament such a success and I hope that this can become an annual event.”