David Peace - Red or Dead

In the house or in the street. Bill shook his head. And Bill said, But you know I was offered the job at Anfield eight years before? Eight years earlier. George Kay was still the manager then. And he had been the manager for fifteen years. It was George, of course, who was the manager when Liverpool won their fifth title in 1947. And he took them to the FA Cup Final in 1950, too. The final they lost to Arsenal. And did you know George also played in the very first Cup Final to be played at Wembley Stadium? Oh yes, he was the captain of West Ham in the White Horse final. Anyway, George was not a well man. He could not go on. And so Liverpool advertised for a new manager. And I applied for the job. I mean, I was at Carlisle. And I was still very new to the job. But I was ambitious. I have always been ambitious. Not for me, but for the supporters. I mean, right from the start I tried to show the supporters that they are the people who matter. The supporters, the team and the manager are the only people who really matter. Not the directors. But at Carlisle, it was the same story. The same story as at Huddersfield later. The directors lacked the ambition. The ambition and the belief. I mean, we had a good run in the Cup at Carlisle. Eighty thousand folk had watched the two games against Arsenal. And they had got good money for Ivor Broadis, too. But the directors would not use the money from the Cup or the money from Ivor. Again, Carlisle were a selling club. Not a buying club. And so I applied for the job at Liverpool. And I was invited over to Liverpool. I was very surprised to be invited. And I remember, when I got off the train at Lime Street, I saw Andy Beattie. Andy bloody Beattie! My good friend from my Preston days, my old friend from my Scotland days. And so I knew where he was going, why he was there. And he knew where I was going, why I was there. And I remember, we both looked at each other and we both laughed. And we both said, Well, that’s two people who won’t be getting the bloody job then! But you know, I was actually asked if I would be the manager? Oh yes, they offered me the job. But right away I said, Who picks the team?

In the street or in the house. Bill shook his head again. And Bill said, And of course, in those days. Back in those days. Nobody asked directors questions. Especially not a question like that. And so they told me they picked the team. They were in charge of selecting the team. They met in a little committee on a Friday and they made their choices. They made their selections. And then they would call in the manager. And they would tell him who they had picked. They would tell him who was playing. Whether he agreed or not, whether he liked it or not. And so I said to them, I said, Then you don’t need a manager. You need a trainer. And I am not a trainer. I am a manager. And so I pick the team. I say who plays. And so you don’t want me and I don’t want you. So no thank you, gentlemen. And goodnight!

In the house or in the street. Bill laughed. And Bill said, But you see, they never forgot me. Oh no! Nobody else had asked them that question. Nobody else had spoken to them like that. Oh no. And so they always remembered me. Especially Mr Williams. He never forgot me, he always remembered me. My enthusiasm and my passion. But when they came calling, when they came calling in 1959. That was still the first question I asked, still the first thing I asked them, Who picks the team? But by then, you see. By 1959, they had changed their tune. They had learnt the hard way. Oh yes. And so they said, You do, Mr Shankly. Because you will be the manager. And so I said, Yes! Yes then, I will be the manager of Liverpool Football Club then. And so it’s true to say, very true to say, I was the first genuine manager Liverpool Football Club ever had!

In the street or in the house. Bill smiled. And Bill said, Well, that’s a good question, a very good question. What would have happened if Bill Shankly had come to Liverpool Football Club in 1951? Eight years earlier. Well, I have no doubt. No doubt at all. We would have conquered the world. The whole bloody world. I mean, I was thirty-six years old then. And I was at my best, I was in my prime. I had helped Carlisle to take sixty-two points in a season. And then later at Grimsby, we got sixty-six points from forty-two games. Because I was at my best, I was in my prime. The height of my ambition, my desire to succeed. For the people of the club, the supporters of the club. Whatever club I was at, whether it was Carlisle or Grimsby Town. Workington or Huddersfield. And so that was what I would have brought to Liverpool Football Club in 1951. And what I did bring to Liverpool in 1959. That ambition, that desire. And my passion. My passion for the game, my passion for the supporters …

In the house or in the street. Bill shook his head. And Bill said, But you know, it was a constant battle. A constant struggle. I mean, when we won the Second Division championship. When we were promoted to the First Division. The shareholders gave us all a silver cigarette box. You know, a wee little pat on the head. And I remember looking down at that silver cigarette box in my hands. And then I looked up at the shareholders. And up at the directors. And I said to them, I said, Do you think we have won something? We have won nothing! This is bloody nothing. This is only the start! Only the bloody start. Now we’re going after the real prizes. The real bloody prizes.

In the street or in the house. Bill smiled again. And Bill said, And we won the First Division. And we won the FA Cup. And we won the League again. And we went into Europe. We went after Europe. And they were wonderful days. Oh yes! Truly wonderful days. Because it was all new, you see? All new. So people didn’t expect you to win trophies all the time. And so the atmosphere was unbelievable. Bloody unbelievable. Because of the supporters. The supporters of Liverpool Football Club. They were unbelievable. They are unbelievable. Bloody unbelievable. And they inspire the team, you see? And so the team know who they are playing for, the players of Liverpool Football Club always know who they are playing for. Playing for the supporters, playing as part of a team. Because football is a team game. And so there is no room for prima donnas in a team. Because no man is more important than the team. And everyone is part of that team. Not just the players, the eleven players on the pitch. But the manager, the coach, the tea lady and the ball boys. Everybody is part of the team. They are all part of the team and so they have all got to be the best there is. The best they can be. Because they are all part of the same team. They are all the same. And I tell you this, our great team of the sixties. They were all paid the same money to a penny piece. There was no man who got more than another man. And that’s the way it has to be. That’s the way it must be. The only way …

In the house or in the street. In conversations and in interviews. The journalists nodded and the well-wishers smiled. And they said, Yes, it was twenty years ago today, Bill. Twenty years ago today.

And Bill said, I only wish I could start all over again …

But in the street or in the house. The journalists and the well-wishes thanked Bill for his thoughts and for his reminiscences. They thanked Bill for his time. And they said goodbye. Until the next time, the next anniversary. They left Bill alone. In the house or in the street. But Bill never forgot. Bill always remembered. Every hour of every day. Every day of every week. Every week of every month. Every month of every year. Every year and every season. Every season and every match. Every single match. From the first match to the last match. Bill always remembered, Bill never forgot. Bill bore these memories, Bill carried these memories. A great weight Bill bore, a piece of wood Bill carried. A piece of wood which left Bill with splinters, splinters in his back. In his shoulders and in his neck. But splinters which gave Bill faith, splinters which made Bill believe. Believe in the things that had been, once. Believe in the things that could be, again. After the resurrection, before the resurrection –