The family of legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly say they would call for his statue at Anfield to be taken down if the club goes ahead with plans to join the European Super League project.

Shankly’s grandson Chris Carline who runs a hotel in the city that bears the famous name is a season ticket holder at Anfield.

He told Sky News he was disgusted at the ESL’s “closed shop” proposal where clubs could not be relegated or promoted.

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Between 1959 and 1974 his grandfather built the foundations of Liverpool’s most successful era and created a unique winning culture at Anfield.

Shankly famously talked about the importance of playing for the people of the city – Super League representatives have described local supporters as “legacy fans”.

“It flies in the face of everything my grandfather stood for,” Mr Carline told Sky News.

“You can’t have a statue that says ‘he made the people happy’ when this is the direct opposite of all that.”

Mr Carline added: “I don’t begrudge FSG (LFC owners Fenway Sports Group) making money – they’ve worked hard and have made this club insanely successful but this is just on another level of greed.”

The Bill Shankly statue is in one of the most prominent locations at Anfield behind the famous Kop stand – on match days in normal times thousands of fans have their pictures taken next to it.

Mr Carline added: “It’s not the (current) manager or the players who are to blame for this, it’s the owners and we all have to fight this decision.”

The family say they intend to speak to the club soon about the future of the statue.

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