David Peace - Red or Dead

Liddell.

Bill laughed again. And Bill said, Billy Liddell is thirty-eight years old. Thirty-eight years old!

But he has been a fantastic servant to this club, said another of the directors of Liverpool Football Club. A great player.

Bill said, I know Billy Liddell was a great player. He had a powerful shot with either foot. He could head the ball like the blast from a gun. He was as hard as granite. And he was fast. But not any more. Not now. Not these days. Not today!

Maybe he just needs more games, said another director.

Bill shook his head. And Bill said, More games? Billy Liddell has played over five hundred games for Liverpool Football Club. The man needs a testimonial. Not more bloody League games.

Mr Shankly, said Tom Williams. Mr Shankly, please. All we are saying is perhaps we already have the players we need. Perhaps you should look again at the players we have.

At Billy Liddell? Thirty-eight-year-old bloody Billy Liddell?

Perhaps not Billy Liddell, said Tom Williams. But what about Harrower or Morrissey? They have not played this season…

Bill looked up the long table at the chairman and the directors of Liverpool Football Club. And Bill said, So now you’re telling me who to select? Who to pick? Is that it?

No, said Tom Williams. We are not telling you who to pick, who to select. We are simply asking you to look again at the players we have, to think again…

Bill got up from the chair at the end of the long table. Bill looked from director to director. And Bill said, Fine then. I’ll think again, I will think again. I promise you that, gentlemen.

…

In his car. Bill cursed. It had been the same at Carlisle. On the road to Manchester. Bill cursed again. The same at Grimsby, the same at Workington. In the car park at Old Trafford. Bill cursed again. The same at Huddersfield. And in the office at Old Trafford. Bill cursed and Bill said, It’s always the same. Fight and argue. That is all I ever do. It’s always the same. And I’ve had enough, Matt. I’m going to quit, I’m going to resign. I swear to you, Matt.

Matt Busby stopped stirring his tea. He put the teaspoon down in the saucer. He looked up from his cup. And Matt Busby smiled –

You’re not a quitter, Bill. You’re not going to resign…

I am, Matt. I am. I’ve had enough, Matt. Enough.

Matt Busby picked up his cup. He took a sip of tea. He put the cup back down in the saucer. And Matt Busby looked at Bill –

So you’ve another job to go to then, Bill? Something else lined up, have you? Lined up just waiting for you, Bill?

No, Matt. No. But I don’t care, Matt. I don’t care any more.

Matt Busby took another sip of tea. He put the cup down again. He looked at Bill again. And Matt Busby sighed –

But then what about Nessie and the girls, Bill? You can’t just quit, you can’t just walk away. Think of your family, Bill…

But I don’t care, Matt. I really don’t care.

Matt Busby shook his head –

If you had another job to go to, if you had a better opportunity, then that would be one thing, and then things would be different. But you haven’t, Bill. You haven’t. You’ve nothing, Bill. Nothing. And I honestly don’t think you’ll find anything better than this, a better opportunity than this one you have now, Bill. I really don’t think so. I really don’t, Bill. And I also don’t think you want to be sat at home all day now, do you? Under Nessie’s feet all day, Bill. Now that wouldn’t be for you, would it? That wouldn’t be for you at all, Bill.

I don’t care, Matt. I really don’t care.

But you do care, Bill. I know you care. I know you do, Bill.

Bill shook his head. And Bill said, But you don’t know what it’s like, Matt. You don’t know what it’s like. It’s hard enough trying to win the battles on the pitch, Matt. You know that. But then I’ve got all these constant bloody battles off the pitch, Matt. Just trying to make them realise what it is we’re working for…

But I do know, Bill. I do know. And you know I know. And you also know it’s always hard work. You knew that when you took the job, Bill. That it would be a hard job. That it’s always a hard job. Always. It was the same for me. And it’s still the same for me. It’s still hard work, Bill. Always hard work.

I know that, Matt. I do know that. But at Grimsby, at Huddersfield, I knew the limitations. And so I knew I had taken them as far as I could. I knew I’d reached the limits of their ambitions. And so I knew that it was pointless to stay on. But I thought it would be different at Liverpool. I thought there would be more ambition. More ambition and more potential. Ambition and potential to succeed.

And there is, Bill. There is. You were right.

Bill shook his head again. And Bill said, But I tell them we need a goalkeeper. And they say the one we have got is good enough. But what they really mean is, he’s good enough to keep them in the top half of the Second Division. In the top half of the Second Division, with gates of just over twenty thousand. That’s all they want. Top half of the Second Division. With gates over twenty thousand. That’s good enough for them, Matt. That’s all they want.

But it’s not good enough for you, said Matt Busby. It’s not what you want, Bill. I know that, I know that. And that’s also why I know you should not quit, Bill. Why I know you should not walk away now. Because Liverpool do have the potential. And no other club has that same potential. But only you have the ambition. No other manager has that same ambition. And so if you stick with it, things are bound to break for you, Bill. They are bound to break. I promise you, Bill. But not if you quit. Not if you walk away now, Bill. Before you have hardly begun, before you have hardly started.

On Saturday 3 September, 1960, Liverpool Football Club beat Brighton and Hove Albion with two goals from Jimmy Harrower. Four days later, Liverpool Football Club drew two-all with Luton Town. Then Liverpool Football Club lost one — nil at Ipswich Town and two — one at Luton Town. Liverpool Football Club had played eight games this season. But Liverpool Football Club had won just twice this season. Liverpool Football Club had only six points from a possible sixteen. Liverpool Football Club were seventeenth in the Second Division. Liverpool Football Club were going backwards, Liverpool Football Club were falling. And their gates were falling, too. Forty-three thousand and forty-one folk had come to Anfield for the first game of the season. Thirty-seven thousand, six hundred and four folk for the next home match. The match Liverpool Football Club had lost one — nil to Southampton Football Club. Only twenty-seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-nine folk had come to Anfield for the game against Luton Town. In the pubs and in the clubs of Liverpool, folk began to question Bill Shankly. Folk began to ask if Bill Shankly was the right man to manage Liverpool Football Club. Folk began to ask what exactly were Bill Shankly’s qualifications for the job. What had Bill Shankly ever done? What had Bill Shankly ever won?

…

After the game at Kenilworth Road, the defeat to Luton Town. After Liverpool Football Club had come back home, home to Anfield. Bob Paisley had gone into the ground, Bob Paisley had gone under the stands. Among the piles of dirty boots, on an upturned beer crate. Bob Paisley took out his copy of the Sporting Life , Bob Paisley looked down at his copy of the Sporting Life . And then Bob Paisley heard footsteps in the corridor. Fast steps, heavy steps. Bob Paisley looked up from his copy of the Sporting Life . Bob Paisley saw Bill Shankly. In the doorway to the boot room. And Bob Paisley said, Hello, Boss.