Hollywood star Jude Law is set to play legendary Scottish football manager Bill Shankly in a major new television drama charting the transformation of Liverpool into one of the world’s biggest clubs.
The two-time Oscar-nominated actor will portray the Ayrshire-born manager in the series being written by Jack Thorne, the screenwriter behind Netflix show Adolescence.
The drama will follow Shankly’s arrival at Anfield in 1959 and his extraordinary 15-year reign, during which he took Liverpool out of the Second Division and established the foundations of the club’s subsequent dominance of English and European football.
The project was originally announced by Liverpool in 2024, but Law’s casting has now been revealed as development on the series gathers pace.
Thorne has already written the first two episodes, while Shankly’s granddaughter Karen Gill, author of The Real Bill Shankly, is involved in the project.
Production company Box To Box Films, whose credits include Formula 1: Drive to Survive, is working on the series. A24 was involved when the project was first announced, although Deadline has now reported that the studio is no longer attached.
Liverpool chairman and television producer Tom Werner is also closely involved and has suggested the ambition is to create something capable of expanding beyond Shankly’s era.
The series is expected to explore Liverpool’s transformation and the relationship between the football club, its supporters and the rapidly changing city around it.
Shankly arrived at Liverpool when the club was languishing in the Second Division and transformed its fortunes.
Under his management, Liverpool won promotion in 1962 before claiming First Division titles in 1964, 1966 and 1973.
He also led the club to its first FA Cup triumph in 1965, won the competition again in 1974 and lifted the UEFA Cup in 1973.
Shankly’s influence went far beyond trophies. His personality, socialist outlook, relationship with supporters and often-quoted observations about football helped turn him into one of the most influential managers in the history of the game.
Born in the small Ayrshire mining village of Glenbuck in 1913, Shankly grew up as one of ten children in a footballing family.
He left Scotland to join Carlisle United as a player before spending most of his playing career with Preston North End, while also representing Scotland.
After moving into management, he had spells with Carlisle, Grimsby Town, Workington and Huddersfield Town before Liverpool appointed him in December 1959.
The television drama will place his Anfield story against the backdrop of Liverpool in the 1960s, when the city was also undergoing a cultural revolution led by The Beatles and its burgeoning music scene.
Werner has suggested the concept could eventually operate in a similar fashion to The Crown, moving through different periods in Liverpool’s history if the initial Shankly series proves successful.