David Peace - Red or Dead

…

In their house in Huddersfield, in their kitchen. Bill and Ness cleared the table. Bill and Ness washed the pots. And then Ness made a cup of tea for her and Bill. Bill and Ness took their cups of tea into the other room. Bill and Ness sat down with their cups of tea. In front of the television. And Bill said, So how was your day then, love?

Mine was fine, said Ness. But how was yours?

Bill nodded. And Bill said, It went well, love. It went well. Thank you, love. They are all good men.

That’s good then, said Ness.

Bill said, Aye.

But it’s a long drive, said Ness. You must be tired, love. Bill nodded again. And Bill said, It is, love. And I am a bit tired. But it’s a good city, love. More like a Scottish city. Good people, love. Like Scottish people. I can tell, love. Like Glasgow. So I think you’d like it, love. And the girls would, too.

Yes then, said Ness. I’d like to go over, love. To have a look then. And maybe even look at some houses, love. If you have time?

Bill smiled. And Bill said, Aye. On Sunday then.

…

In Liverpool, at Anfield. Bill walked around the ground with Arthur Riley. Bill looked at the turnstiles and Bill looked at the stands. Bill looked at the seats and Bill looked at the toilets. Bill looked at the dressing rooms and Bill looked at the tunnel. And then Bill walked out onto the pitch. The Anfield pitch. Bill stood on the pitch, Bill stamped on the pitch. Once, twice. Bill shook his head. Once, twice. And Bill said, How do you water this pitch, Arthur? Where do you keep your watering equipment?

There isn’t any, said Arthur Riley. There’s no water.

Bill said, No water? So what do you do?

There’s a tap in the visitors’ dressing room, said Arthur Riley. We run a pipe from there out here.

Bill looked down at the pitch. The Anfield pitch, the Anfield grass. Frozen and bare, hard and barren. Bill shook his head again. And Bill said, You run a pipe? That’s no bloody good, is it?

I know, said Arthur Riley. But what can we do?

Bill said, We can fix it. We can buy some bloody equipment. That’s what we can do, Arthur.

I’ve been saying that for years, said Arthur Riley. But there’s no money. No money here.

Bill smiled. And Bill said, Leave that to me. I’ll get you the money, Arthur. Trust me.

I do, said Arthur Riley. You’re the Boss.

Bill smiled again. And Bill said, I am. Now let’s you and me go and have a look at the training ground. Let’s go out to Melwood.

You’re not going to like it, said Arthur Riley. You’re not going to be happy, Boss. I can tell you that for nothing.

Bill shrugged. And Bill said, How bad can it be, Arthur? It can’t be any worse than this place, can it?

…

In Liverpool, in the car. Bill and Ness drove from house to house. This house for sale and that house for sale. This house too big, that house too small. Outside the last house, back in the car. Bill shook his head. And Bill said, I’m sorry. love. That was a waste of time.

No it wasn’t, said Ness. There’s no rush, love. Better to find the right house than any old house. Better to take our time, better to wait, love. And at least we can have Christmas in Huddersfield.

Bill nodded. And Bill said, Yes. With our friends.

On their way back home, home to Huddersfield. Bill stopped the car at Melwood in West Derby. Bill and Ness got out of the car. It was cold and it was dark. There were trees and there were bushes. There were hills and there were hollows. There was an air-raid shelter and there was a cricket pitch. There was an old wooden pavilion. In the cold and in the dark. Bill and Ness stood in the middle of the training pitch. They felt the long grass and the uneven ground beneath their feet. Bill shook his head again. And Bill said, What do you think, love? Have I made a mistake in coming here? A big mistake, love?

No, you haven’t, said Ness. You want to get into the First Division. You want to win the League. You want to win the Cup. So this is your chance. The chance you have been waiting for. The chance you have been working for. Your whole life. You are not a coward. And you are not a shirker. So you will do it, love. I know you will.

In the winter, in the morning. The players of Liverpool Football Club were packed into the old wooden pavilion at the Melwood training ground in West Derby. All forty of them. They were here to meet their new manager. And they were nervous. They were worried. All forty of them. They had all heard the stories about Bill Shankly. One of them whispered, The man’s a fanatic. A bloody mad man. He’ll come in here like a fucking hurricane. We’ll all be for the chop, lads, I tell you.

Some of them nodded. And another one said, Yeah. I heard that story about him at Carlisle, when he was manager at Carlisle. And they were two down at half-time. And they come into the dressing room. And the first thing Shankly does is he grabs their captain. He grabs him by the throat and he says, Why did you kick off the way you did? And the captain says, Because I lost the toss, Boss. So Shankly says, Well, what did you call? And the captain says, Tails. And then Shankly calls him every name under the sun. Every bloody name there is. In front of the whole fucking changing room. And then Shankly says, You never call tails. Everyone knows that. You never call tails.

In the pavilion, in the corner. Bob Paisley looked up from his Sporting Life . Bob Paisley laughed. And Bob Paisley said, But the feller was right, wasn’t he? The Boss was right.

Now the players of Liverpool Football Club heard footsteps on the wooden stairs outside. Fast steps, heavy steps. And now Bill Shankly walked into the pavilion. Bill Shankly looked around the room. From player to player. All forty of them –

We’re going to start from the beginning again, said Bill Shankly. We’re going to start from scratch. And so every man here will have the chance to prove himself. Prove himself good enough to play for Liverpool Football Club. Good enough to help Liverpool Football Club get back into the First Division. Back where we belong. Because that’s all I’m interested in –

Promotion, lads!

…

On Saturday 19 December, 1959, Cardiff City came to Anfield, Liverpool. That afternoon, twenty-seven thousand, two hundred and ninety-one folk came, too. In the twelfth minute, Tapscott scored. In the thirty-fourth minute, Watkins scored. In the fifty-seventh minute, Tapscott scored again. And in the sixty-seventh minute, Bonson scored. And Liverpool Football Club lost four — nil to Cardiff City. At home, at Anfield. It was Bill Shankly’s first game as the manager of Liverpool Football Club. But Bill Shankly had not picked the team that day. Bill Shankly had refused. Bill Shankly had said, I have not seen enough. I do not know the players well enough. So I cannot pick the team.

And so the directors and the coaching staff of Liverpool Football Club had picked the team for that match.

After the whistle, the final whistle. Among the shouting and among the bawling. Before the stands, before the Kop. The shouting in the stands and the bawling on the Kop. Bill Shankly stood up. In front of the stands, in front of the Kop. Among the insults and among the jokes. Bill Shankly walked along the touchline. The Anfield touchline. Bill Shankly walked down the tunnel. The Anfield tunnel. Bill Shankly walked up the stairs. The Anfield stairs. Bill Shankly opened the dressing-room door. The home dressing-room door. Bill Shankly stood in the centre of the dressing room. The Liverpool dressing room. Before the players, the Liverpool players. Bill Shankly looked from player to player. Liverpool player to Liverpool player. From Slater to Jones, Jones to Moran, Moran to Wheeler, Wheeler to White, White to Campbell, Campbell to Morris, Morris to Hunt, Hunt to Hickson, Hickson to Melia and Melia to A’Court. And Bill Shankly smiled –