David Peace - Red or Dead

And on their bus, their Liverpool bus. On their way, up Wembley Way. Bill stood up at the front. Bill put on a cassette tape. Bill turned up the volume. So everyone on their bus, their Liverpool bus, could hear the cassette tape. The cassette tape of Bill on the radio. On Desert Island Discs , six years before. And Bill stood in the centre of the bus. In the middle of the aisle. And Bill said, Just listen to these songs, boys. These are all great songs. Great, great Scottish songs, boys. And great, great Liverpool songs …

And on their bus, their Liverpool bus. The players of Liverpool Football Club listened. The young players of Liverpool Football Club listened to the songs on the tape. And the players of Liverpool Football Club smiled. The young players of Liverpool Football Club smiled at Bill Shankly. As Bill stood in the centre of the bus. In the middle of the aisle. His lips moving and his arms moving. And when the cassette tape came to the last song, Bill turned up the volume as high as it would go. So everyone on their bus, their Liverpool bus, could hear the last song on the cassette tape. So everyone outside their bus, out on Wembley Way, could hear this last song. And Bill sang along to this last song on the cassette tape. And the players of Liverpool Football Club sang along to this last song on the cassette tape. The young players and the old players. Bill waving his arms, Bill shouting, Come on, boys. Come on! I can’t hear you, boys. I can’t hear you! And the players of Liverpool Football Club raised their voices. In chorus, as one. All the players of Liverpool Football Club singing –

You’ll never walk alone …

In their dressing room, their Wembley dressing room. Bill looked from player to player. From Ray Clemence to Chris Lawler. From Chris to Alec Lindsay. From Alec to Tommy Smith. From Tommy to Larry Lloyd. From Larry to Emlyn Hughes. From Emlyn to Ian Callaghan. From Cally to Alun Evans. From Alun to Steve Heighway. From Steve to John Toshack. From John to Brian Hall. And from Brian to Peter Thompson. Peter in the number-twelve shirt. And Bill smiled. And then Bill said, Six years ago, Tommy and Chris and Cally and Peter were sat here in this dressing room, waiting to play in the Cup Final. For the first time. And I’ve sat in here twice myself as a player, waiting to play in the Cup Final. And so those of us who’ve been here before, who’ve sat in here before, waiting to play in the final, we know what it’s like the first time you sit in here, waiting to play in the final. And we know it’s the worst part. The waiting. It’s hell. We know. But we also know it’s worth it. The waiting. This hell. Because once you get out there, boys. Onto that pitch, onto that turf. It’s heaven, boys. It’s paradise. It’s everything you’ve ever dreamt of, boys. Everything you’ve worked for. This is it, boys. The chance to win the Cup. The opportunity to make history, boys. And to make the supporters of Liverpool Football Club happy. So enjoy it, boys. Enjoy it. Because you’re going to experience heaven on earth, boys. You are going to know paradise on earth. So let’s get going, boys …

And in their dressing room, their Wembley dressing room. The buzzer sounded, the Wembley buzzer. And Bill led the players of Liverpool Football Club down the tunnel, the Wembley tunnel, onto the pitch, the Wembley pitch, and out into a sea of red, a world of red. LI–VER-POOL. The sea so deafening, the world so loud that the whole of London, the whole of England, heard that sea again, saw that world again. LI–VER-POOL. On their radios and on their televisions. Their colour televisions. LI–VER-POOL. People heard the supporters of Liverpool Football Club and people saw the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. LI–VER-POOL. Their scarves and their flags, their banners and their songs. LI–VER-POOL. Their red scarves and their red flags, their red banners and their red songs. LI–VER-POOL. Their sea of red, their world of red. LI–VER-POOL. And Bill knew people would always remember the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. LI–VER-POOL. Their sea of red, their world of red. LI–VER-POOL. Always remember. LI–VER-POOL, LI–VER-POOL, LI–VER-POOL.

On the bench, the Wembley bench. Bill looked out at the pitch, the Wembley pitch. The players of Liverpool Football Club wearing all red, the players of Arsenal Football Club wearing yellow and blue. But on the bench, the Wembley bench. His jacket already stuck to his shirt. His shirt already stuck to his vest. His vest already stuck to his skin. Bill felt the heat. The punishing Wembley heat. And Bill knew that pitch, that Wembley pitch, would be a sapping pitch, a sapping Wembley pitch. But in the first half, Bill watched Liverpool Football Club attack. And Wilson save. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Bill watched Arsenal Football Club counter-attack. And Ray Clemence save. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Attack and counter-attack, counter-attack and attack. Back and forth, forth and back. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. In the second half, Arsenal Football Club attacked again. And Clemence saved from Kennedy. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Liverpool Football Club counter-attacked. And Wilson saved from John Toshack. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. In the sixty-fourth minute, Kelly replaced Storey for Arsenal Football Club. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. In the sixty-seventh minute, Bill replaced Alun Evans with Peter Thompson. And in the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Liverpool Football Club attacked again. And McLintock cleared the ball. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Arsenal Football Club counter-attacked. And Clemence saved from Kennedy. And George Graham hit the bar. And Alec Lindsay cleared off the goal line. The Liverpool goal line. But in the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Liverpool Football Club attacked. And Wilson saved from Steve Heighway. And Wilson saved from Thompson. And Wilson saved from Brian Hall. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. After ninety minutes, the referee blew his whistle for extra time. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. In the first period of extra time, Emlyn Hughes passed to Thompson. Thompson passed to Heighway. Heighway accelerated down the left, Heighway raced down the left. Heighway came in from the left, Heighway came to the edge of the penalty area. And Heighway shot and Heighway scored. And in the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Liverpool Football Club were beating Arsenal Football Club one — nil in the first period of extra time in the final of the FA Cup. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Two minutes later, Wilson saved from Toshack. But in the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. In the one hundred and first minute of extra time, Radford kicked the ball over his own head. Back into the penalty area, the Liverpool penalty area. The ball loose, loose among the bodies. The bodies and the feet. And the feet of Kelly found the ball. The loose ball over the line. Into the net and into a goal. And in the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Liverpool Football Club were drawing one-all with Arsenal Football Club. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Two minutes later, Clemence saved from Kelly. And Clemence saved from Radford. In the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. In the seventh minute of the second period of extra time, in the one hundred and eleventh minute of the final of the FA Cup, Radford passed to Charlie George. George on the edge of the penalty area, the Liverpool penalty area. And George shot and George scored. And George fell to the ground, the Wembley ground. On his back, his arms outstretched. And in the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. Arsenal Football Club were beating Liverpool Football Club two — one in the second period of extra time. And in the heat, the punishing Wembley heat, on the pitch, the sapping Wembley pitch. In the one hundred and twentieth minute of the final of the FA Cup, the referee blew his whistle. And Arsenal Football Club had won the FA Cup. Arsenal Football Club had done the Double. They had won the League and they had won the Cup.