49. BUT GRIEF AN’ PAIN (YOU’RE HAVING ME ON)
On the morning of Friday 12 July, 1974. In his office, at his desk. Peter Robinson rang around the press. And Peter Robinson said, There is a press conference at Anfield at twelve fifteen today. The board have a very special announcement to make. It is really important. It’ll make front-page news. So make sure you are there. And don’t be late.
Can you give us a hint what it might be about, asked the press.
Peter Robinson said, No. Just be there.
Is it to do with Ray Kennedy?
Peter Robinson said, No. It’s nothing to do with any transfer deal. But at this stage, I can tell you no more.
At high noon, on Friday 12 July, 1974. In the lounge, the VIP lounge at Anfield. There were forty gentlemen of the press. Notebooks and microphones, television cameras and lights. The directors of Liverpool Football Club began to file in. In silent procession, in dark suits. They sat down behind the long table at the front of the lounge. Backs to the window, black against the light. They did not smile and they did not speak. In their dark suits, in a silent line. They waited. And then Bill Shankly marched in. Bill Shankly bounced in –
Hello, boys. Hello. How are you, boys? How are you all? Have you all had a good summer, boys? Good holidays? Have we got time for a quick cup of tea, May? A quick cuppa?
May nodded. And May poured Bill Shankly a cup of tea.
Thank you, May. Thank you very much, love.
Bill Shankly took a sip of his tea. And a bite from a brownbread sandwich. And then Bill Shankly wandered over to the gentlemen of the press. Head cocked and jaw out –
The World Cup was very disappointing, wasn’t it, boys? Very disappointing. If some of the stuff played in Germany had been played here at Anfield, the teams would have been hooted off the park. Hooted off the park. And I told you all before the World Cup that Yugoslavia wouldn’t be any good, didn’t I, boys? Didn’t I now? They play for fun, not for keeps. They play cards for money and then give you back your money when they beat you. They are too sweet to be wholesome. Too sweet for this world, boys …
The gentlemen of the press all nodded. And the gentlemen of the press asked, So what do you think about Don Revie being appointed as England boss, Bill?
Jesus Christ, boys. The man is only forty-seven and he’s gone into semi-retirement …
Bill Shankly stopped. Mid-sentence. Bill Shankly glanced at his watch. Ticking, ticking. Bill Shankly turned around. Bill Shankly saw the directors of Liverpool Football Club. Behind the long table, in their dark suits. Bill Shankly put down his cup of tea. His brown-bread sandwich. And Bill Shankly walked up to the long table at the front of the lounge. Bill Shankly made his way behind the backs of the chairs of the directors of Liverpool Football Club. Bill Shankly put down his hat on the window ledge. And Bill Shankly took his seat in the middle of the line of the directors of Liverpool Football Club.
One of the television crew switched on his portable sunlight. And Bill Shankly jumped back to his feet –
Hold it a minute, boys! John Wayne has not arrived yet!
The gentlemen of the press laughed. But the directors of Liverpool Football Club did not laugh. They did not even smile. In their dark suits and in their silence. They were waiting.
Bill Shankly sat back down behind the long table. Bill Shankly turned to John Smith. And Bill Shankly nodded –
And John Smith said, It is with great regret that I, as chairman of Liverpool Football Club, have to inform you that Mr Shankly has intimated that he wishes to retire from active participation in League football. And the board has, with extreme reluctance, accepted his decision. I would like at this stage to place on record the board’s great appreciation of Mr Shankly’s magnificent achievements over the period of his managership. Meanwhile, Mr Shankly has agreed to give every assistance to the club for as long as is necessary.
There were gasps from the press –
Gasps. And then silence.
Bill Shankly looked down at the table. At his hands, at his fingers. His fingers and his nails. And Bill Shankly nodded. And then Bill Shankly looked back up –
This is not a decision that was taken quickly, said Bill Shankly. It has been in my mind over the last twelve months. But I feel it is time I had a rest from the game I’ve served for forty-three years. My wife and I both felt that we wanted to have a rest and charge up my batteries again. It was the most difficult thing in the world to make a decision like this and, when I went to see the chairman to say I was retiring, it was like walking to the electric chair. I was going to be burned up, frizzled up. But when I’ve had a rest, there are plenty of things I feel I will still be able to do in football. I don’t think it is the time to talk about them now. It will be part of my hobby. Whether I can live without it, I cannot answer now. I can only wait and see …
But there is no animosity between the chairman, the directors and me. None at all. These people kept me bartering, putting propositions in my way that possibly even Paul Getty would have taken. In the end I felt guilty, as if I was committing a crime …
But I said some time ago, I would go when I got the message to go. My wife felt it was time at the end of last season. In fact, she was quite hostile when I said no. Because my attitude was when I had finished one game, I began to prepare for the next. And when I think back now, I think I missed some of the fun out of life. Perhaps I was too dedicated. The laughs were there for the players but never away from the players. I was too serious. I lived the life of a monk. And I carried it to extremes. There is a happy medium which I should have tried to find. But my home has always been a haven. I’m only really comfortable there. It’s what every man needs. There is nothing I like more than being with my grandchildren …
My wife thought at one time I wouldn’t finish with the game until the coffin came in the house. But I think I will have years now before the coffin comes. I’m not saying the game would kill you, but being a manager is often like steering a ship through a minefield. But it’s very sad for me to break away from football. And I shall continue to live on Merseyside. We won’t move from here. The Liverpool crowd have been wonderful …