SIMON Thornton’s labour of love will be unveiled in Bill Shankly’s second home this week.

His film, Making Shankly, tells a story that spans the football world from past to present and shows a side of the legendary football manager that is rarely seen.

It has taken a year to put together and features Glenbuck, where Shanks grew up and developed the characteristics and philosophies which made him such a success.

Both Simon’s parents are Liverpool fans — he followed suit and before long he realised that Glenbuck was just 15 minutes away from his home.

He said: “I read up on his life and drove to Glenbuck and found that it had been destroyed by opencast mining.

“Within a month I has started work on the film and I was lucky that I had people who could help, in particular Robert Gillan.

“Richard McBrearty, curator of the museum at Hampden Park and Stephen Done, his equivalent at Liverpool’s ground, Anfield, also helped.”

Over the months, everything has come to fruition and the film is being screened this week at the Liverpool International Film Festival.

Making Shankly will be shown at The Church Anfield which, despite the name, is not a place of worship but an entertainment venue.

Many of the people watching do worship in the area, including Simon and his family, although it is at the nearby football ground.

“I’m just ecstatic that the film is being screened in Liverpool,” he said.

“It’s a film that most - if not all - Liverpool fans will learn something from and hopefully enjoy. I really wanted it to get its world premiere in Liverpool, and it’s brilliant that it’s going to.

“I grew up near Glenbuck, which much of the film focuses on but both of my parents were Scousers so the story was something that I really wanted to tell.

“Not a lot of people know about what happened in Glenbuck and how much the village affected football, so to be able to tell that story has been an amazing opportunity.”

Sam Purdie sums up why so many international football players came from the Glenbuck area, including Shankly and his brothers.

“You would do anything to get out of the pit. One of my grandfathers lost both legs and the other had his spine broken. The pit wasn’t an ideal occupation for anybody,” he said.