Red or Dead (85 page)

In the house, in their hall. The letters still came and the telephone still rang. But not the letters from clubs, not the calls from chairmen. Not these days. But in the house, in their hall. The letters from charities still came, the calls from hospitals still came. The Royal Society for the Blind on Merseyside and the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Letters Bill always wanted to answer, calls Bill always wanted to take. And in the house, in their hall. Other letters came, other calls came. Letters from local businesses asking Bill to help them win contracts, calls from local radio and television asking Bill to appear on their shows. And if he could still help, if he could still make people happy. Then Bill was still happy to help. Once or twice a week. Sometimes three, even four times a week. Bill would put on his suit again. Bill would put on his tie again. And Bill would kiss Ness goodbye again.

In the car park of Granada Television Studios in Manchester. Bill got out of the car. Bill walked across the car park. Bill walked into Granada Television Studios. Bill walked up to reception. And Bill said, Hello. My name is Bill Shankly. I am here for the
Live from Two
show. I am to be a guest on the show today …

The man on the reception desk nodded. The man on the reception desk picked up the telephone. And then the man on the reception desk asked Bill to wait for someone to come down and take him along to the studio. And Bill waited in the reception. And then Bill followed a young woman along to the studio. Along to the dressing room. And Bill sat in the dressing room at the Granada Television Studios. On his own, in the dressing room. Before the mirror, in the dressing room. In his grey suit and his white shirt. And his red and white striped tie. In the dressing room, in the mirror. Bill waited for the other guest to arrive. And then the dressing-room door opened. And Sir Harold Wilson came into the dressing room. With his two bodyguards, his protection. His special protection. And Bill got up from his chair. And Bill shook hands with Sir Harold Wilson. And Bill said, It’s good to see you, Sir Harold. It’s great to see you. How are you, Sir Harold? How are you? I was very sorry to hear you were so ill last year. And so I was very pleased to hear you would be coming on this show today. In fact, it was one of the reasons I said yes …

Thank you, said Sir Harold Wilson. Thank you very much, Bill. It is very kind of you. Very kind of you indeed, Bill. And thank you for your card, your card when I was in hospital …

Bill shook his head. And Bill said, No, no. That was nothing, the very least I could do. I was very worried …

Yes, said Sir Harold Wilson. I wasn’t sure myself if I was going to make it. If I was going to pull through. I had three operations, you know? And they were quite common ones. But they told me they had to take out half my guts to keep me alive. Half my guts, Bill.

But you are OK now? I mean, you look well enough…

Thank you, said Sir Harold Wilson again. And yes, now I am one hundred per cent. But as you know, I have decided to step down at Huyton, at the next election. I will not stand again, Bill.

Bill nodded. And Bill said, Yes, I was very sorry to hear that. And I did worry it was for health reasons. I was very concerned …

No, said Sir Harold Wilson. Not for health reasons, Bill. Not really. To be honest with you, Bill. I just feel there is no reason really to go on. I remember, within a week of meeting my wife, I told her, I told Mary, I said, I am going to marry you. I am going to become an MP. And become prime minister. And it is what I did. And I did it four times, Bill. And that is as good as any prime minister before me.

Bill nodded again. And Bill said, Yes. That is something.

Sir Harold Wilson sat down now. In the dressing room, before the mirror. His shoulders hunched now, his hair white now –

But I just feel I have done as much as I will ever do, said Sir Harold Wilson. As much as I can ever do now, Bill.

And then the dressing-room door opened again. And Shelley Rohde came into the dressing room. And Shelley Rohde shook hands with Sir Harold Wilson and with Bill. Bill liked Shelley Rohde. Bill liked her laugh. Bill liked her book on L. S. Lowry. And Bill liked the story Shelley told about L. S. Lowry. The first time Shelley went to interview Lowry. In his house. Lowry told her he had given up painting. Lowry told her he was too old. But then Shelley had looked again at the painting in the room. In his house –

The painting was still wet.

Now Shelley Rohde led Sir Harold Wilson and Bill along the corridor to the television studio. First Shelley would interview Sir
Harold. And Bill would wait in the wings. In the wings, behind the set. Bill listened to Shelley Rohde interview Sir Harold Wilson about his new book. His book on the State of Israel. His thoughts on Zionism. About his family, about his upbringing. Church and chapel. Unemployment and typhoid. Scouting and university. His career and his politics. The public image and the private man. With a slow pulse rate and with a quiet heartbeat. And then Shelley introduced James Conroy-Ward. And now James Conroy-Ward sang Admiral Porter’s song from
H.M.S. Pinafore –

Bill waiting in the wings, Bill listening in the wings. Waiting and listening, unbuttoning his jacket and buttoning his jacket until Bill heard Shelley say –

Welcome back. Now our next guest grew up in Ayrshire, one of five sons in a family of ten. Almost inevitably, at the age of fourteen, he went to work in the mines. And only when that pit closed, three years later, did he find his way from the dole into football. By the time he was twenty-five, he was not only an international but he also played for Preston North End in 1938, when they won the FA Cup Final. Now ironically, eighteen years later, he found himself manager of the club they had beaten in that final, Huddersfield Town. His subsequent triumphs with Liverpool are too numerous to mention. Suffice to say, when he retired as manager, he was offered a radio chat show which he accepted on the condition that his first guest was Sir Harold Wilson. So here now, for a return match –

Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Shankly!

Bill stepped out from the wings. Bill unbuttoned his jacket. Bill walked towards the sofa. And Bill shook hands with Shelley and with Sir Harold. Bill sat down between Shelley and Sir Harold. And Bill said, That was the reason I put the show on, because you were first …

But why did you particularly want him, asked Shelley.

Well, he’s an MP for Huyton, in Liverpool. And I was Liverpool. And he was one of the people. A socialistic background. The socialistic background like me.

Is it true though, asked Shelley, that you wouldn’t let him get a word in edgeways?

Well, I thought he was trying to steal the show. So I had to calm him down.

And Shelley laughed. And the audience laughed.

Bill smiled. And Bill said, No. It was a very interesting show.

Shelley sat forward. And Shelley looked over at Sir Harold –

I’ve often thought, Sir Harold, your support for Huddersfield Town is a little out of expediency? Or is that totally unfair?

Oh no, it’s born loyalties. You’re the same, Bill …

Bill nodded. And Bill said, Yes.

You are born that way, said Sir Harold. I still carry around with me – I won’t bore you with it – but I’ve still got the little card from a newspaper called
Chums
– which I’m sure went out of existence a long time ago – with a picture of the Huddersfield Town team in 1926. My mother would give me a bob. I went on the tram right through. A penny each way. Three pence for a pork pie. Or fish and chips. Cheap in those days. Sixpence to get in. I had to be there at ten o’clock because of the crowds …

Bill nodded. Bill smiled. And Bill said, A fearless team, Huddersfield Town then.

I could tell you every team change, said Sir Harold.

Bill nodded again. And Bill said, They won the League three successive seasons.

They did, said Sir Harold. And they were in the Cup Final, the Cup semi-final two of those seasons.

Bill nodded again. Bill smiled again. And Bill said, Yeah. And I played against them in one Cup Final. But we won’t talk about that …

But wasn’t there a famous player who you brought down to Huddersfield, asked Shelley. When you were manager there?

Well, there was a famous player who was on Huddersfield’s books, Shelley, when I went there as manager. He was fifteen year old. That was Denis Law. About eight and a half stone and very skinny.

And so what did you do with eight and a half stone’s worth of potential, asked Shelley.

Well, he was fantastic. The boy was a genius of a player. So I had to then build him up, physically.

How did you do that?

Well, we got him steak and eggs to eat …

And Shelley laughed. And the audience laughed. And Bill smiled. And Bill said, Nearly made Huddersfield Town bankrupt. The
steak was kind of expensive. And then we trained him properly. Because I had the experience of a brother of mine who overstrained his heart. Because he was training too hard when he was too young.

That was your brother, said Shelley.

Yes. My brother John. And he overstrained his heart.

All four of your brothers were footballers?

Bill nodded. And Bill said, That’s correct. All five of us were professional players. Yes.

What do you think it is about hardship, asked Shelley, that seems to push people into games, really tough games?

Well, I think it’s your upbringing. I mean, I was brought up in a mining district. And it was either the pits or football. And I think football was a little better than the pits.

But you didn’t have much alternative, did you, said Shelley. Because the two pits closed?

They did.

Now did you find that unemployment had an effect on you?

Oh, it’s the cruellest thing in the world, unemployment. You feel as if you are unwanted. I mean, this is a long time ago for me. But I can see them now. And it’s coming back now, the word redundancy. And it’s a terrible word.

It means unwanted, said Sir Harold.

Bill nodded again. And Bill said, It does. Exactly. And you could get into mischief and all kinds of things. It affects people’s minds. And I think it is possibly the cruellest thing in the world, for boys to leave school and not have a job. A terrible thing. And so I worry about the youngsters these days. I mean, I love youngsters. I can always find the time to talk to them or sign an autograph. I never turned a kid away, if I could help it. Because basically I am sorry for them. I look at them. And I think, What are you going to be when you grow up? What is your destiny? I think it is a terrible thing if a grown-up doesn’t help a youngster. Because kids can be hit terribly hard if an older person goes against them …

And many times each day, the front door rings at our home in West Derby. And standing on the doorstep will be a kid. Or a group of kids. Real Liverpool types. And they say to my wife, they say to Ness, Can I speak to Bill? It’s never Mr Shankly. Oh no. But I don’t mind
that. Oh no. My wife has hundreds of photographs of me holding the FA Cup. And I sign one of them personally for the kid and give it to him. Best wishes to Jim or Joe or Jackie, or whatever his name is.

But there is one group of kids. Four or five of them who come up to the house every day while they are on holiday. They always ask me what I am doing. And whether I can come out to play football. They’ve had their autographed photographs by now, of course. But I usually end up giving them their bus fares back to Gillmoss. I don’t know how they found out where I live. But so many of them do. And I don’t mind, I don’t mind at all. Because if I can help a kid along, then I will. They are broken-hearted if you snub them. And that I will never do. And I never have. I mean, there were always kids knocking around Anfield when I was there. They are the future Liverpool supporters, you see? They are real people to me, Shelley. Real people …

Shelley looked across at Sir Harold again –

What did you find it did to your father emotionally, Sir Harold? Because he was only forty-eight, wasn’t he?

He felt unwanted, said Sir Harold. He didn’t know if he would ever get a job again. I saw him one night, just in tears. He felt he had failed everybody.

And even mining was suffering, said Shelley. At that time …

Bill nodded. And Bill said, Oh yes. And it’s come back again.

Do you feel, either of you, asked Shelley, that suffering of that kind helps build character. I know it’s a corny old excuse for a lot of the evils that go on. But is it character building?

Bill said, Oh yes. You’ve got to fight back. If you can’t fight back, there is nothing for you.

And those who collapse under it, said Sir Harold, they are never the same again.

Bill said, No.

But it’s not my recipe or yours, Sir Harold said to Bill, for training people, is it?

Bill shook his head. And Bill said, No way. Not giving in is the thing. So you’ve got to try and fight it. I know that it is easy to talk and unemployment is a terrible thing. But you’ve got to try and fight it.

So you had no choice, said Shelley. It was either unemployment or football. But what have you got out of football all these years?

Well, everything I’ve got, everything I’ve got out of football, I owe to football. And the dedication I had and what I put into the game. You only get out of the game what you put into it, Shelley. And I put everything into it I could. And still do. For the people –

The people I was playing for and the people I was manager for. I didn’t cheat them out of anything! So I put all my heart and soul, to the extent my family suffered.

Do you regret that?

Oh yeah. Yeah. I regret it very much. Yeah. Somebody said, Football is a matter of life and death to you. I said, Listen! It’s more important than that. And that’s true.

It’s a religion, said Sir Harold.

Bill nodded. And Bill said, It is a religion. And my family suffered. They’ve been neglected.

How would you do it now, asked Shelley, if you had your time again. Would you do it the same way?

I don’t know really. If I had the same thoughts, I’d possibly do the same thing again.