David Peace - Red or Dead

SHANK-LEE, SHANK-LEE,

SHANK-LEE …

Across the pitch, the Anfield pitch. Before the Kop, the Spion Kop. Bill Shankly lifted his arms, Bill Shankly raised his hands. To touch her, to hold her. And Bill Shankly looked up into the faces, the thousands of faces, Bill Shankly stared back into their eyes, their thousands of eyes. To cherish and to keep her. Their happy faces, their smiling eyes. To never let her go. And then before the Kop, the Spion Kop. Bill Shankly lowered his arms, Bill Shankly joined his hands. Together, together. In prayer and in thanks –

For paradise, a red paradise,

on earth, red earth,

this paradise

on earth –

First in the First Division, top of the top division. Liverpool Football Club had sixty-one points. Liverpool Football Club had played forty-two League games. Tommy Lawrence had played in all of those games. Gerry Byrne had played in all of those games. Ron Yeats had played in all of those games. Ian Callaghan had played in all of those games. Tommy Smith had played in all of those games. Ian St John had played in forty-one of those games and Willie Stevenson had played in forty-one of those games. Chris Lawler had played in forty of those games and Peter Thompson had played in forty of those games. Roger Hunt had played in thirty-seven of those games. Gordon Milne had played in twenty-eight of those games. Geoff Strong had played in twenty-two of those games. Alf Arrowsmith had played in five of those games. And Bobby Graham had played in one of those games. Liverpool Football Club had used only fourteen players in their forty-two League games. They had won seventeen games at home and they had won nine games away from home. They had drawn two games at home and they had drawn seven games away from home. They had lost two games at home and they had lost five games away from home. They had scored fifty-two goals at home and they had scored twenty-seven goals away from home. They had conceded fifteen goals at home and they had conceded nineteen goals away from home. And Liverpool Football Club were the Football League Champions. Again. Liverpool Football Club were the Champions of England. And Liverpool Football Club had not finished, their season not over,

not yet.

…

On Thursday 5 May, 1966, Liverpool Football Club came to Hampden Park, Glasgow, to play Ballspiel-Verein Borussia 1909 e.V. Dortmund in the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup. Liverpool Football Club had never reached the final of a European cup before. That night, forty-one thousand, six hundred and fifty-seven folk came, too. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of rain. Just forty-one thousand, six hundred and fifty-seven folk in a stadium that could hold over one hundred and thirty thousand folk. That night, Hampden Park was barely a third full. And of those forty-one thousand, six hundred and fifty-seven folk, twenty-five thousand were Liverpool folk. The rest were German folk, or Scottish folk. And the rest wanted Borussia Dortmund to win. The rest wanted Liverpool Football Club to lose –

Before the whistle, the first whistle. In their dressing room, their dressing room at Hampden Park. Bill Shankly looked from player to player. From Lawrence to Lawler, Lawler to Byrne, Byrne to Milne, Milne to Yeats, Yeats to Stevenson, Stevenson to Callaghan, Callaghan to Hunt, Hunt to St John, St John to Smith and from Smith to Thompson. Bill Shankly smiling, Bill Shankly laughing –

Did you hear, boys? Did you hear what happened in the night? Some of our lads, some of our supporters. They scaled the walls, the Hampden Park walls. They scaled the Hampden walls and they painted the goalposts red. They painted them red, boys. It’s taken the ground staff all day to get the red paint off. To paint them posts white again. Well, I can tell you. I can tell you, boys. They needn’t have bothered. They needn’t have wasted their energy. Because tonight you are going to paint them goals red again. Paint them red again, boys. Because I’ve seen this lot play, this German team play. And I have to say. I have to tell you, boys. This lot would be hard pushed to hold a place in our league. They would struggle. They really would struggle, boys. I mean, Northampton Town would give them a game. And Northampton Town have been relegated. But I think Northampton Town could beat this lot. I really believe that. I really do, boys. So I think you’re going to murder them. Absolutely murder them, boys. And paint them goals red again. Paint them red again! So I’ve only one word for you. One piece of advice for you tonight, boys –

ATTACK!

In the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. The players of Liverpool Football Club attacked and attacked and attacked. And in the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. The players of Borussia Dortmund defended and defended and defended. But in this night. This Glasgow night. In this rain. These sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. The players of Borussia Dortmund began to soak up the night, soak up the rain. They soaked up the attacks and they soaked up the pressure. And in the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. The players of Borussia Dortmund began to grow, they began to flower. Tilkowski. Cyliax. Redder. Kurrat. Paul. Assauer. Libuda. Schmidt. Held. Sturm. And Emmerich. In the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. Growing and flowering, faster and stronger. With economy, but with sophistication. With strength, but with finesse. And in the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. In the sixty-third minute, Sigfried Held passed to Lothar Emmerich. Lothar Emmerich lifted a pass back to Held. Over the head of Ron Yeats, behind the back of Ron Yeats. Held met the pass. And Held volleyed the pass. Into the net, into a goal. In the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. In the sixty-eighth minute, Peter Thompson ran yard after yard down the right. Peter Thompson beat man after man on the right. Peter Thompson reached the byline. The linesman raised his flag. The referee ignored the linesman. Peter Thompson crossed. Roger Hunt met the cross. Roger Hunt shot. And Roger Hunt scored. And the linesman lowered his flag. In the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. The players of Borussia Dortmund complained, the players of Borussia Dortmund protested. But the referee just shook his head. And the referee pointed to the centre spot. And in the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. The supporters of Liverpool Football Club roared. And some supporters of Liverpool Football Club ran onto the pitch, the Hampden Park pitch. And the police chased some supporters of Liverpool Football Club off the pitch. The police arrested some supporters of Liverpool Football Club. And in the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. The referee blew his whistle. For full time, for extra time. But in the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. In the one hundred and seventh minute, Sigfried Held passed to Lothar Emmerich. Emmerich passed back to Held. Tommy Lawrence came out to the edge of his penalty area, out towards Held. Held with the ball at his feet. Tommy Lawrence dived at the feet of Held. And Held shot. The ball rebounded off Tommy Lawrence. Thirty-five yards. The ball came to Reinhard Libuda. Thirty-five yards out. Libuda curved a slow, dropping shot over Tommy Lawrence. In the night. The Glasgow night. Over Tommy Lawrence, towards the unguarded goal. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. Ronnie Yeats ran, Ronnie Yeats lunged. The ball hit the post. Ronnie Yeats lurched, Ronnie Yeats dived. And the ball hit his chest. The ball and Ronnie Yeats over the line. Into the net, into a goal. And in the night. The Glasgow night. In the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. Ballspiel-Verein Borussia 1909 e.V. Dortmund beat Liverpool Football Club two — one. In the night. The Glasgow night. Ballspiel-Verein Borussia 1909 e.V. Dortmund became the first German side to win a European trophy. And in the rain. The sheets and sheets of Glasgow rain. The players of Borussia Dortmund collected the European Cup Winners’ Cup. And some supporters of Liverpool Football Club booed the German side. The players of Borussia Dortmund paraded the European Cup Winners’ Cup around Hampden Park, Glasgow. And some supporters of Liverpool Football Club threw bottles at the German side. The players of Borussia Dortmund ran a lap of honour around Hampden Park, Glasgow. And some supporters of Liverpool Football Club were arrested for breaches of the peace. Some of the supporters of Liverpool Football Club didn’t like losing. Some of the supporters of Liverpool Football Club were bad losers. Very, very bad losers –