Matt Busby, Jock Stein and Bill Shankly. All sons of the Scottish coalfields south of Glasgow, each had a spell as a miner before escaping via football to their destinies with Manchester United, Celtic and Liverpool. That three such notable managers should be born within a few miles of each other in the west of Scotland’s coalfield is in itself remarkable.
The mining background of Stein, Busby and Shankly was fundamental to their successes and were statements about working- class values, an innate sense of fairness and a mutual dependence which were the foundations for their remarkable achievements.
Their stories provide an extraordinary contrast to the footballing world we know today and remind us that no amount of corporate development can obliterate the games working-class history.
