Ronnie Moran: The last of Bill Shankly's original Bootroom Boys

A ROOM in Ronnie Moran's comfortable Crosby bungalow offers a collection of reminders from a 49-year Liverpool career that saw him progress from teenage apprentice to assistant manager.Adorning the walls are a variety of pictures, from famous league championship and European Cup wins, to a snapshot of Moran shaking hands with Prince Charles.He uses it as a television room, somewhere to watch the football when his wife of 52 years, Joyce, needs a well-earned break from the second love of his life.The room doubles up as a spare bedroom where the grandchildren sleep when they stay over. The kids refer to it simply as 'The Boot Room'.It is an apt title for a place where Moran spends much of his time.'That's the grandchildren,' he says proudly, pointing to a photograph on a small table beneath a print of another triumphant night at Anfield. 'The eldest one, she's got a daughter too, our great- grandaughter. She's three now, a real handful.'At 75, Moran is the last surviving member of Liverpool's original Boot Room Boys.Asked by Bill Shankly to take charge of the youth team when his playing days at Anfield were up, Moran was a permanent fixture in the room beneath the Main Stand.It is the stuff of legend in football circles, an idea says Moran, that was conceived by Shankly and embraced by his trusted lieutenants, Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan.'Initially Joe and Bob had all their kit in a room that was right down towards the Anfield Road end.'They started that off as the first Boot Room I suppose. It wasn't an official boot room but that's where the idea came from. It was full of old kit and you had to knock at the door to get in there. It wasn't a big room but you'd sometimes get about 20 to 30 people in there.'It was a place where people could go and have a good natter. I was in there a lot from when I hung up my boots and started working with the kids.'Fellas like Reuben Bennett and Tom Saunders would come in occasionally but the original Boot Room was mainly the three of us; Joe, Bob and myself, plus whoever would come in after games.'After Shankly through to Roy Evans it was pretty much a pre-requisite for the Liverpool manager to have learned his trade under the traditions of the Boot Room. It was perceived as the nerve centre of the club where the so-called Liverpool Way was formulated by those privy to the mysterious goings on that took place within its four walls.Moran remembers it as a much simpler place, however.

Source: Liverpool_Echo