David Peace - Red or Dead

And the gentlemen of the press nodded. The gentlemen of the press thanked Bill Shankly for his thoughts. They thanked Bill Shankly for his time. And Bill Shankly glanced down at his watch. And then Bill Shankly looked back up. The gentlemen of the press had gone. The gentlemen of the press had left. Gone to pick up their phones, left to file their reports. In the corridors of the City Ground, under the Main Stand of the City Ground. Bill Shankly now alone, alone in the shadows. Bill Shankly started pacing. In a circle, a small circle. Under the stands, in the shadows. Pacing and pacing, round and around. In a circle, a very small circle. Under the stands, in the shadows. Bill Shankly stopped pacing. Bill Shankly looked at his watch again. Bill Shankly walked towards another corridor. The corridor to the dressing rooms. The home dressing room and the away dressing room. The Liverpool dressing room. Bill Shankly walked down the corridor towards the dressing room. The Liverpool dressing room. And Bill Shankly stopped before the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. In the corridor. The corridor of the City Ground. Bill Shankly stood before the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. And Bill Shankly looked at the door. Again. Bill Shankly stared at the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. And Bill Shankly heard the voices on the other side of the door. Again. Bill Shankly listened to the voices on the other side of the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. Again. Bill Shankly did not recognise these voices, these different voices. Again. These different voices, these raised voices. And in the corridor. The corridor of the City Ground. Bill Shankly shook his head. Bill Shankly closed his eyes. What would he say? What could he say? And in the corridor. The corridor of the City Ground. Outside the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. Bill Shankly opened his eyes. Bill Shankly sighed. And again. Bill Shankly turned away from the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. Again. Bill Shankly walked away. Down the corridor, the corridor of the City Ground. Towards the door, towards the exit. Bill Shankly opened the door. The exit. And Bill Shankly saw the stairs. In the shadows. The stairs down to the car park. And Bill Shankly walked down the stairs. The steep, concrete stairs. Slowly, carefully. One hand on the rail. The cold, metal handrail. Slowly, carefully. One foot on the steps –

The steep, concrete steps. One foot, then the other. Careful of the steps, careful of his step, careful not to slip,

careful not to trip, not to trip,

and not to fall …

Bill? Bill? Is that you, called out a group of supporters at the bottom of the stairs. Supporters of Liverpool Football Club and supporters of Nottingham Forest. And the supporters came towards Bill Shankly. With their autograph books and with their football programmes. At the bottom of the stairs, in the car park. Bill Shankly touched his tie. Bill Shankly straightened his tie. And Bill Shankly smiled. He smiled at the supporters of Liverpool Football Club and he smiled at the supporters of Nottingham Forest. And Bill Shankly signed their autograph books, Bill Shankly signed their football programmes. And Bill Shankly answered their questions. The questions of the supporters of Liverpool Football Club, the questions of the supporters of Nottingham Forest –

That same question.

Of course, said Bill Shankly. Of course we can win. But it won’t be easy. Make no mistake. Not with Peter Shilton and with Kenny Burns. And with Larry Lloyd, of course. Larry knows us well, of course. He knows Anfield very well. And Larry is very big, Larry is very strong. In fact, it was Freddie Ford who recommended Larry Lloyd to me. Freddie was one of my trainers when I was at Carlisle. And I remember, Freddie called me. Freddie was at Bristol City then. And Freddie said, You have to see this boy, Bill. This boy Larry Lloyd. And so I went down to see him play. Against Everton, in the League Cup, I think. And Bristol City lost five — nil. Five — bloody — nil! But even then, in that defeat. I could tell the boy had what it takes. Because I mean, his head never dropped. His head never went down. And that’s the thing. Because I mean, you are always going to lose sometimes. You are never going to win every game. Every match. But it’s how you lose. That’s the thing. How you react when you are losing. Does your head drop? Does your head go down? Is that the kind of player, the kind of man you are? Or do you keep your head up? Do you keep competing? Keep fighting? Trying? That is what you are looking for. Fighters, triers. And without Larry Lloyd, they might have lost ten — bloody — nil! But his head never dropped, his head never went down. And so you see, I had my eye on him. And I kept my eye on him. And so when Big Ron was coming to the end of his time. When I knew Ron Yeats was not going to go on for very much longer. Then I bought Larry. And I paid fifty thousand for the boy. Just fifty thousand. And then, of course — after I left, after I packed in — Larry was sold to Coventry City. And I think they paid two hundred and forty thousand pounds for him. Two hundred and forty thousand pound! Unbelievable, bloody unbelievable! And I think that nearly bankrupted them. I mean, they overpaid. Because you always have to live within your means. You always have to cut your cloth. And then, of course, Brian heard he could get him for sixty grand. Just sixty grand. And so Brian came in for him and Brian got him. For just sixty grand. And that is stealing. Bloody stealing! But a clever signing by Brian. A clever signing and a major signing. Because he’s made a difference to this side. This Forest team. A big difference. And so we’ll have to be on our guard when you come to Anfield. Because as I say, Larry knows us well. Very well. And Larry will have a point to make. A point to prove. But it’ll be a different game, a very different game. More intense. Much more intense. And then, of course, there’s the Kop. The Kop, you see. They’ll make the difference –

They always make the difference.

In the house, in their hall. The letters still came and the telephone still rang. The letters from clubs, the calls from chairmen. Clubs with problems, chairmen with vacancies. But Bill wasn’t interested in jobs with other clubs. The problems of other clubs. Problems he had not made, problems he couldn’t solve. Far from home, away from home. In places Bill didn’t know, with people Bill didn’t know. Not now, not these days. Now, these days. Bill wanted to stay close to home, in the place he knew, with the people he knew. The people of Liverpool. The people he knew and the people he loved. The people he cared about –

And in the house, in their hall. Other letters came, other calls. Letters from charities, calls from hospitals. Local charities and local hospitals. The Royal Society for the Blind on Merseyside and the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Letters Bill wanted to answer, calls Bill wanted to take. If he could help, if he could make people happy. Then Bill was happy to help. Once or twice a week. Sometimes three, even four times a week. Bill would put on his suit, Bill would put on his tie. Bill would kiss Ness goodbye. And Bill would get in the car –

In the car park of the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Bill got out of the car. In the car park of the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Bill took out the letter from his coat pocket. And Bill read the letter again. The letter from Alf Thompson, the manager of the Lister Under-16s football team. The letter asking Bill if he would be kind enough to write a short note to a young lad called Ian Braithwaite. Ian played for the Lister Under-16s football team. But Ian had injured his spine playing for the Lister Under-16s football team. Now Ian was in the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Alf Thompson thought a short note from Bill would cheer up the young lad. Because the lad was very down, very disappointed he was going to miss the rest of the season. And he was very worried, very frightened he might never play football again. If Bill didn’t mind, if Bill had the time. In the car park of the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Bill put the letter back in his coat pocket. And Bill walked across the car park. Bill walked into the hospital. Bill walked up to reception. Bill said hello to the nurses. The nurses who knew Bill Shankly. The nurses who smiled when they saw Bill Shankly. And Bill asked if he could pop in and see a young lad called Ian Braithwaite. A young lad who had injured his spine. To cheer him up, to give him a boost. If he wasn’t in the way, not under their feet. And the nurses smiled again. The nurses nodded. And one of the nurses took Bill along to the ward to visit Ian –