Shankly really did make the joke, but not in this sentence. On Granada Television on 20 May 1981 he told it as an anecdote — “Somebody said that football’s a matter of life and death to you. I said, ‘Listen, it’s more important than that’” — and Oxford Essential Quotations cites an earlier printed version reading “much more serious than that” in the Guardian of 24 December 1973. The popular wording, with “Some people believe” and “much, much more important,” matches neither; and the gag itself was already in American newspapers credited to UCLA coach Red Sanders.
“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that” Bill Shankly said it differently: "Somebody said that football's a matter of life and death to you. I said, 'Listen, it's more important than that.'" — Granada Television interview with Shelley Rohde, 20 May 1981. An earlier printed version, "much more serious than that," is cited to the Guardian of 24 December 1973 in Oxford Essential Quotations. The popular "Some people believe… much, much more important than that" wording matches neither, and the joke was already in American papers credited to UCLA coach Red Sanders. Via Quotle.info
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In context
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Provenance
What Shankly actually said, and when
Documented in
Granada Television interview with Shelley Rohde
Broadcast
Wednesday 20 May 1981
Earlier in print
The Guardian, 24 December 1973 (as cited by Oxford Essential Quotations, with “much more serious than that”)
Speaker
Bill Shankly, Liverpool manager 1959–1974
Yeah, I regret it very much. … Somebody said that football’s a matter of life and death to you. I said, “Listen, it’s more important than that.”
Granada Television · 20 May 1981
Shankly’s reply after saying he had put his “heart and soul” into football “to the extent that [his] family suffered,” when Shelley Rohde asked whether he regretted that devotion (Wikipedia ↗).
Wikiquote’s sourced section gives the wording as “Someone said to me ‘To you football is a matter of life or death!’ and I said ‘Listen, it’s more important than that’,” citing an interview on a Granada Television chat-show hosted by Shelley Rohde on Wednesday 20 May 1981 (Wikiquote ↗).
A different wording appears in print earlier: Oxford Essential Quotations (5th ed., ed. Susan Ratcliffe) gives “Some people think football is a matter of life and death…I can assure them it is much more serious than that,” citing the Guardian of 24 December 1973 — while he was still Liverpool manager (Oxford Reference ↗).
Barry Popik traces the joke to UCLA coach Red Sanders, with print citations crediting Sanders from at least 1966 — the Chicago Tribune of 19 November 1966 has him saying “this game is not a matter of life or death. It’s more important than that” (Barry Popik ↗).
The polished version that circulates today is printed on Liverpool FC’s own site with no source given (liverpoolfc.com ↗), and Wikipedia notes the line is frequently paraphrased (Wikipedia ↗).
Both documented sources are modern and firmly in copyright: a 1981 Granada Television broadcast and a Guardian report of 24 December 1973. The popular wording quoted at the top of this page has no identified source at all, so no public-domain status can be claimed for it either — treat the excerpt as a short quotation from copyrighted material.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
How the sentence got its shape
Nobody is inventing a Shankly quote out of nothing here — he told this joke, repeatedly, and it is genuinely his signature line. What has drifted is the wording, and what has been forgotten is that he was returning a remark somebody else made to him, in a gag that was already doing the rounds in American sport.
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The exact wordingBill Shankly Paraphrase
The circulating sentence — often extended with “I am very disappointed with that attitude” — is the version Liverpool FC’s own site prints, with no source attached (liverpoolfc.com ↗). It matches neither documented version: not Wikiquote’s sourced 1981 wording, nor the Guardian wording OUP cites, which ends “much more serious than that” (Oxford Essential Quotations ↗).
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Who first cracked the jokeHenry Russell “Red” Sanders Earlier in print
Barry Popik credits the saying to the UCLA coach Red Sanders (1905–1958), who supposedly aimed it at rival USC in 1949, and records citations crediting Sanders in print from at least 1966 — adding that Shankly’s recorded uses of the saying are much later than 1966 (Barry Popik ↗).
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Another name it has been pinned onDuffy Daugherty Also credited
Popik logs the Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations (2006) filing a national-championship version — “When you’re playing for the national championship, it’s not a matter of life and death. It’s more important than that” — under the Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty, marked “attributed” (Barry Popik ↗).
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A later user of the same gagLee Rose Later user, not a false credit
Nobody has pinned the football line on him: Sports Illustrated of 19 September 1977 quotes the basketball coach Lee Rose making his own version of the joke, in his own voice — “I would like to deny the statement that I think basketball is a matter of life and death. I feel it’s much more important than that” — which shows how far the gag had travelled by the late 1970s (Barry Popik ↗).
✓Shankly’s documented line is “Somebody said that football’s a matter of life and death to you. I said, ‘Listen, it’s more important than that’” — Granada Television, 20 May 1981 (Wikipedia ↗). The polished “much, much more important” sentence is a later tidy-up of a joke he was already passing along.
Context
It was an answer about regret, not a boast
The sentence is quoted as swagger — a manager planting a flag for football over everything else. The exchange it comes from is the opposite in tone. Wikipedia’s account of the 20 May 1981 Granada interview has Shankly saying he put his “heart and soul” into football “to the extent that [his] family suffered”; when Shelley Rohde asked whether he regretted that, he answered “Yeah, I regret it very much” and then told the life-and-death story (Wikipedia ↗).
The other thing the popular version hides is that Shankly was relaying a line, not coining one. In his telling, somebody else says football is a matter of life and death to him; his contribution is the comeback. Barry Popik’s research shows the same comeback circulating in American sportswriting years earlier, credited to a college coach (Barry Popik ↗).
He said it while answering a question about what he regretted.
The American ancestry of the joke
Popik’s earliest transcriptions are both from 1966: the Los Angeles Times of 5 November 1966 recalls “an old Red Sanders line” — “It’s not a matter of life or death…It’s more important” — and the Chicago Tribune of 19 November 1966 has Sanders saying “this game is not a matter of life or death. It’s more important than that” (Barry Popik ↗).
The joke kept travelling. Sports Illustrated of 19 September 1977 quotes basketball coach Lee Rose saying he would like to deny that he thinks basketball is a matter of life and death: “I feel it’s much more important than that.” The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations (2006) files a version under Duffy Daugherty, marked “attributed” (Barry Popik ↗).
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
1913–1981 · Scottish footballer and manager of Liverpool, 1959–1974
Shankly played for Carlisle United and Preston North End, then managed Carlisle, Grimsby Town, Workington and Huddersfield Town before taking charge of Liverpool in 1959, where he stayed until 1974. He was relentlessly quotable, and the quotability is part of the problem: his most famous line is, as Wikipedia puts it, frequently paraphrased, which is how a wry aside on a chat show hardened into a slogan he never quite uttered. He died on 29 September 1981, months after giving the interview the line is usually traced to.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Cite this page
Bill Shankly, interviewed by Shelley Rohde, Granada Television, 20 May 1981. An earlier printed version — “Some people think football is a matter of life and death…I can assure them it is much more serious than that” — is cited to the Guardian, 24 December 1973, in Susan Ratcliffe, ed., Oxford Essential Quotations, 5th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that’?” Last verified 18 Aug 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/some-people-believe-football-is-a-matter-of-life-and-death/