David Peace - Red or Dead

Did you get my letter, asked the voice on the other end of the line, the voice with a thick Birmingham accent. The letter I sent to you? The one I sent to you weeks ago now. Weeks ago …

What letter was that, sir?

For tickets. For the final. From Birmingham.

In Jimmy’s office, down Jimmy’s phone. Bill shouted, From Birmingham? Birmingham? I’ve got hundreds of friends, hundreds of relatives, all asking me for tickets, sir. But not one of them is getting a ticket. Not one of them. The tickets we’ve got are going to the Kop. To the boys on the Kop. To the boys who have supported us, week in and week out. That’s where our tickets are going, sir. To the Kop. To the boys on the Spion Kop. The Liverpool boys.

But I was born in Liverpool …

Then you should have stayed here! You should never have moved to Birmingham. You should never have left Liverpool, sir.

And Bill put down the phone. The telephones still ringing. Bill looked at Jimmy. The telephones ringing. The circles under the eyes of Jimmy McInnes. The telephones ringing. The black and dark circles. The telephones ringing. And Bill smiled. The telephones ringing. And Bill said, I see you’re still the most popular man at Anfield, Jimmy. Still the most popular man at Liverpool Football Club …

No, I’m not, said Jimmy McInnes. I’m definitely the most unpopular man at Liverpool Football Club, Bill.

Bill smiled again. The telephones ringing. And Bill said, No, Jimmy. No. I know you try to make as many people happy as you can, Jimmy. I know you try. I know you do …

Yes, said Jimmy McInnes. I try, Bill. I really do try. But I can’t.

Bill picked up a phone on the desk. Bill put down the phone again. But the telephone started ringing again. And Bill said, But at least you try, Jimmy. At least you try to make the people happy.

…

In the studio, the BBC studio. On the radio, on Desert Island Discs . Because Liverpool Football Club had reached the final of the FA Cup, because Liverpool Football Club would play Leeds United in the final. Roy Plomley asked Bill which eight records he would take with him if Bill was cast away on a desert island. And Bill chose My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose , sung by Kenneth McKellar. Bill chose When the Saints Go Marching In , sung by Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong. Bill chose The Last Rose of Summer , sung by Sydney MacEwan and Robinson Cleaver. Bill chose Danny Boy , sung by Jim Reeves. Bill chose Étude in E major, Op. 10/3 , composed by Frédéric Chopin, played by Claudio Arrau. Bill chose Because You’re Mine , sung by Mario Lanza. Bill chose The English Rose , sung by Webster Booth. And finally, Bill chose You’ll Never Walk Alone , sung by Gerry and the Pacemakers. Then Roy Plomley asked Bill which book he would take with him if Bill was cast away on a desert island. And Bill chose Life of Robert Burns , by John Stuart Blackie. And then Roy Plomley asked Bill what luxury item he would take with him if Bill was cast away on a desert island. Bill smiled, Bill laughed –

And Bill said, A football.

…

On the bus, the Liverpool bus. On their way, up Wembley Way. With a bus behind them, an empty bus behind them. Just in case. Nothing left to chance. No shocks and no surprises. Everything planned, everything prepared. On their bus, their Liverpool bus. On their way, up Wembley Way. At the front of their bus, in his seat. Bill looked out through the window. Into a sea of red, into a world of red. Red scarves and red flags, red banners and red songs. Everywhere Bill looked, everywhere Bill turned. Bill saw red –

A Red Sea and a Red World.

And on the bus, the Liverpool bus. On their way, up Wembley Way. Bill stood up at the front, Bill turned up the radio. Bill on the radio, Bill on Desert Island Discs . And Bill shouted down the bus, Can you hear these songs, boys? These are all great songs. Great Scottish songs, boys. Great Liverpool songs –

Great red songs, boys …

In their dressing room, their Wembley dressing room. Bill saw the players of Liverpool Football Club smiling, listening to the songs of Frankie Vaughan. And Bill heard the players of Liverpool Football Club laughing, listening to the jokes of Jimmy Tarbuck. The players smiling, the players laughing. The players relaxed, the players ready. Ready for the game, ready for the final. The game now minutes away, the final now moments away. Bill walked into the centre of their dressing room, their Wembley dressing room. But Bill did not close the door, the dressing-room door. Bill stood with his back to the door, the open door. And Bill looked from player to player. From Tommy Lawrence to Chris Lawler. From Chris to Gerry Byrne. From Gerry to Geoff Strong. From Geoff to Ronnie Yeats. From Ronnie to Willie Stevenson. From Willie to Ian Callaghan. From Cally to Roger Hunt. From Roger to Ian St John. From the Saint to Tommy Smith. From Tommy to Peter Thompson. And Bill pointed out of the dressing room, the Liverpool dressing room, across the corridor, the Wembley corridor, to the other dressing room, the Leeds dressing room. And Bill said, Look, boys. Look! They have had their door shut for the past hour. And listen, boys. Listen! They are silent in there. Silent as the grave. Because they are frightened, boys. Frightened of this occasion. Frightened of this opportunity. But look at you, boys. Look at all of you. You are bouncing. You are smiling. Because you are enjoying this occasion. You are relishing this opportunity. Because this is what you were born to do. This is what you’ve worked your whole lives for. The opportunity to win the Cup. The opportunity to make history. And to make the supporters of Liverpool Football Club happy. So enjoy it, boys. Enjoy it! Because this will be the greatest day of your lives …

And then in their dressing room, their Wembley dressing room. Bill heard the buzzer, the Wembley buzzer. And Bill led the players of Liverpool Football Club down the tunnel, the Wembley tunnel, out onto the pitch, the Wembley pitch, and out into a sea of red, a world of red. LI–VER-POOL. A sea so deafening, a world so bright that the whole of London, the whole of England heard that sea and saw that world. LI–VER-POOL. On their radios and on their televisions. LI–VER-POOL. People might have read about the supporters of Liverpool Football Club, but today, on their televisions, live on their televisions, in black and white, now people saw the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. LI–VER-POOL. Their scarves and their flags, their banners and their songs. LI–VER-POOL. Now people saw the supporters of Liverpool Football Club and now people heard the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. LI–VER-POOL. This sea of red, this world of red. LI–VER-POOL. In black and white. LI–VER-POOL. And Bill knew people would never forget Liverpool Football Club. LI–VER-POOL. Their sea of red, their world of red. LI–VER-POOL. Not black, not white. LI–VER-POOL. But red, all in red. Their LI–VER-POOL, their LI–VER-POOL, their LI–VER-POOL …

In red, all in red. On the first of May –

On the bench, the Wembley bench. Bill looked out at the pitch, the Wembley pitch. Its damp turf, its holding turf. And Bill watched Gerry Byrne go into a challenge with Bobby Collins. Bobby Collins went over the top on Gerry Byrne. Gerry Byrne fell on the pitch, Gerry Byrne lay on the turf. And on their bench, their Wembley bench. Bill turned to Bob. Bob jumped up from his seat, Bob picked up his bag. And Bob ran onto the pitch, across the turf. Bob knelt down beside Gerry Byrne. On the pitch, on the turf. In agony, in pain. Gerry Byrne pointed to his ankle. Bob put his hand on the ankle of Gerry Byrne. Bob felt the ankle bones of Gerry Byrne. Bob opened up his bag, Bob took out a can. And Bob sprayed the ankle of Gerry Byrne with ice. Then Bob helped Gerry Byrne to his feet. In agony and in pain. Bob heard the shoulder bones of Gerry Byrne grind. In agony and in pain. Bob sprayed the right shoulder of Gerry Byrne with ice. And then Bob patted Gerry Byrne on his cheek. In agony and in pain. Gerry Byrne nodded. And Bob ran back across the turf, back off the pitch. Bob sat back down on the bench beside Bill. And Bill turned to Bob –