From December 1959, he worked with Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley and was highly successful in his coaching of the club's reserve team, being mainly responsible for the development of future star players like Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan and Tommy Smith.

The close proximity of Anfield and Goodison Park meant that football was always a significant part of his life and he developed his ability as a boy.

[3] After leaving school in 1937, Fagan signed for the St Helens-based Earlestown Bohemians club, known as the "Bohs", who played in the Liverpool County Combination.

Manager George Kay offered him a contract but Fagan, then aged seventeen, declined as he thought his first team opportunities at Liverpool would be limited.

Fagan and his City teammate Billy Walsh made their debuts for Hyde on 13 October 1939, taking part in a 2–1 victory over Stalybridge Celtic.

[8] During periods of leave in England, Fagan had managed to represent City in six regional league matches, including a local derby against Manchester United; and he had also played for Portsmouth.

Managed by Wilf Wild, City were promotion favourites, especially as they included notable pre-war players like captain Sam Barkas, goalkeeper Frank Swift and inside forward Alex Herd.

[9] Cowan was an innovator keen to make changes and one of these, on 1 January 1947 against Fulham at Maine Road, was to give Joe Fagan his official Manchester City debut more than eight years after he had joined the club.

[10] He played a key role in City's 1946–47 Second Division Championship-winning team and went on to make 121 consecutive league appearances from debut until November 1949.

[11] Tony Matthews recorded views of Fagan's "solid worth" to City in terms of his "positional judgment, strong headwork (sic) and general reliability".

He was a popular figure at Maine Road due to his strong team ethic, loyalty to the cause and an ever-ready smile, qualities that were to serve him well in his later coaching and management career.

[13] In a match in November 1947, Fagan met his future colleague Bob Paisley for the first time when they played against each other in City's 2–0 win over Liverpool at Maine Road.

[citation needed] Fagan began his coaching career at Nelson in the Lancashire Combination as player-manager, where he led the club to the 1951–52 championship in his first full season in charge.

[citation needed] Fagan moved on and made a brief return to the Football League as a player, making three appearances for Bradford Park Avenue in 1953 and then had a spell playing for Altrincham.

[citation needed] Following a recommendation by Catterick, Fagan was approached by Liverpool manager Phil Taylor about a coaching role and he accepted.

Influenced by Paisley, Fagan and Bennett, Shankly cottoned on to the importance of allowing players to cool down after training before having a bath or shower.

Paisley, as a trained physiotherapist, argued that a person needs to cool down for about 40 minutes after heavy exercise because, if they go into a bath while still sweating, their pores remain open and they are more susceptible to chills and strains.

[18] As coach of Liverpool's reserve team, Fagan helped nurture the talents of youngsters like Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan and Tommy Smith.

His first game in charge ended in defeat, at the hands of Manchester United in the FA Charity Shield, but the first silverware was received following victory over Everton in the League Cup Final replay at Maine Road.

The Championship was secured with a game to spare and then Liverpool won a penalty shoot-out against A.S. Roma in Rome to clinch the club's fourth European Cup.

Repeating the success of the 1983–84 season was always going to be difficult and Fagan signed Danish midfielder Jan Mølby, John Wark, Paul Walsh and Kevin MacDonald.

In Dalglish's autobiography, he claims that Fagan was left a haunted man for the rest of his life after witnessing the Heysel Stadium disaster.

Never one to court the limelight, Fagan stepped back into anonymity following his retirement but continued to visit both Anfield and Melwood on a regular basis and was always on hand with words of advice for his successors.

Stephen F. Kelly, in Shankly's biography, describes Fagan as "a rubber-faced character, as Liverpudlian as the Liver Bird... the psychologist, the genial scouser, full of Liverpool humour and always grinning".