An interview on a Granada Television chat-show, hosted by Shelley Rohde on Wednesday 20th of May 1981, produced arguably Shankly's most famous (and most often misquoted) quote – "Someone said to me 'To you football is a matter of life or death!' and I said 'Listen, it's more important than that'." But on the official Liverpoolfc.tv website, it states that the official quote is "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." It is likely that Shankly paraphrased a quote attributed in the 1950s to Henry Russell Sanders, an American football college coach, although his was referring to a rival – "Beating 'SC is not a matter..."

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