In the corridor. The Wembley corridor. The gentlemen of the press saw Bill Shankly. Bill Shankly with his raincoat across one arm. Bill Shankly with his eye on his watch. And the gentlemen of the press asked Bill Shankly for his thoughts. They asked Bill Shankly if he thought Liverpool Football Club could win the European Cup again. If Liverpool Football Club could do what no other British team had done before. If Liverpool Football Club could retain the European Cup. If Bob Paisley could do what no other British manager had ever done before. And win the European Cup again, retain the European Cup.
Well, I hope so, said Bill Shankly. And I think so. But it won’t be easy. Make no mistake. It won’t be easy. Not without Tommy Smith. And possibly with no Steve Heighway. It’ll be no easy matter. And I mean, this Bruges side beat Juventus in the semi-finals. Let’s not forget that. We can’t forget that. This Bruges team knocked out Juventus. Because to be honest with you. To be very honest with you. I think Juventus are the best side in Europe. Juventus are fit, very fit. And they are alive and they are urgent. Good minds, balanced and hard. By Christ, they are hard. Giving nothing away. Nothing. And the discipline of Italian clubs keeps them in phenomenal condition. And so I mean, the best team in Europe are not even in the bloody final. And so I can tell you one thing. If this Bruges side could beat Juventus. If this Bruges team could knock out Juventus. Then by Christ, Bruges must be a good team. They must be a very good team!
And the gentlemen of the press nodded. The gentlemen of the press thanked Bill Shankly for his thoughts. They thanked him for his time. And Bill Shankly looked down at his watch again. In the corridor. The Wembley corridor. Bill Shankly turned. And Bill Shankly walked down the corridor towards the dressing room. The Liverpool dressing room. In the corridor. The Wembley corridor. Bill Shankly stood before the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. And Bill Shankly looked at the door. Bill Shankly stared at the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. And Bill Shankly heard the voices on the other side of the door. Bill Shankly listened to the voices on the other side of the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. And Bill Shankly did not recognise these voices. These different voices. And in the corridor. The Wembley corridor. Bill Shankly turned away from the door. The Liverpool dressing-room door. And Bill Shankly walked away. Down the corridor, the Wembley corridor.
In his seat in the stands at Wembley Stadium. The man sat next to Bill Shankly nodded. And the man said, You’re right, Bill. You’re right. But you still believe we can do it, Bill? We can still win?
And in his seat in the stands. On the edge of his seat in the stands at Wembley Stadium. Bill Shankly looked down at the pitch. The Wembley pitch. And Bill Shankly stared down at the players. The players of Liverpool Football Club. Ray Clemence. Phil Thompson. Emlyn Hughes. Ray Kennedy. Ian Callaghan and Steve Heighway. The old and the new. Phil Neal. Alan Hansen. Jimmy Case. Terry McDermott. Graeme Souness. Kenny Dalglish. David Fairclough. Joey Jones. Steve Ogrizovic and Colin Irwin. The players of Liverpool Football Club coming out of the tunnel. The players of Liverpool Football Club walking out into the stadium. To another deafening roar, to another glorious reception. And on the night of the final. The European Cup Final. On the edge of his seat in the stands at Wembley Stadium. Bill Shankly looked around the ground. At the sea of red, at the walls of red. And Bill Shankly smiled again –
Of course we can, said Bill Shankly. And of course we will. Because no one should ever underestimate the players of Liverpool Football Club. And no one should ever underestimate the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. So I’m certain we will win. I’m sure we will win. In fact, I think there is no way on earth we can lose …
No way on earth.
In his seat in the stands at Wembley Stadium. In the sixty-fourth minute, Bill Shankly watched Steve Heighway replace Jimmy Case. On the edge of his seat in the stands at Wembley Stadium. In the sixty-fifth minute, Bill Shankly watched Heighway pass to Terry McDermott. McDermott pass to Kenny Dalglish. Dalglish back over his head to Graeme Souness. Souness back to Kenny Dalglish on the right of the Bruges penalty area. On his feet in the stands at Wembley Stadium. Bill Shankly watched Birger Jensen come out of his goal towards Dalglish. Dalglish lifting the ball over Jensen. Into the net and into a goal. Dalglish jumping over the advertising boards. Dalglish running to the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. His arms aloft, his fingers outstretched. In celebration –
And in triumph.
On his feet in the stands. Bill Shankly looked at his watch. But Bill Shankly did not sit back down in his seat in the stands at Wembley Stadium. Bill Shankly turned. And Bill Shankly began to make his way out of the stadium. And one supporter spotted Bill Shankly. And the supporter said, Is that really you, Bill? Is it really you, Bill?
Aye, said Bill Shankly. It’s me, son. It’s me.
But where are you going then, Bill? Where are you off? The game is not finished, Bill. The match is not over. You’re surely not going, Bill? You’re surely not leaving us …
Aye, said Bill Shankly. I have my train to catch, son. My train back to Liverpool. My train back home. But I know we have won, son. I know we have won. And so I’ll still be here in spirit, son. In spirit.
And Bill Shankly thanked the supporter of Liverpool Football Club. Bill Shankly wished him a good night. But he asked him to take care. And to have a safe journey home. A safe journey back to Liverpool. And Bill Shankly shook his hand. And Bill Shankly patted his back. And then Bill Shankly said goodbye to this supporter of Liverpool Football Club. And Bill Shankly walked out of Wembley Stadium. Bill Shankly searched for a taxicab. Bill Shankly spotted a taxicab. And Bill Shankly took the cab back to Euston Station.
In his seat on the train. The train back to Liverpool. The empty train back to Liverpool. Bill Shankly thought about the things he was missing. The victory and the celebrations. The party and the speeches. All the things he was missing. His home and his wife. His home he was missing, his wife he was missing. And Bill Shankly smiled.
76. COME LIKE SHADOWS, SO DEPART
In the house, in their hallway. Bill picked up the paper from the table in the hall. Bill looked at the photographs of the celebrations. Bill looked at the pictures of the parade. The faces of the players of Liverpool Football Club. Smiling, smiling. The faces of the supporters of Liverpool Football Club. And Bill smiled. In the front room, in his chair. Bill turned to the inside pages of the paper. Bill read the interview with the manager of Football Club Bruges. Ernst Happel had said, It was a weak final. It is no excuse but we were handicapped by lots of injuries. I would have liked to have been more offensive. But our injuries were against us. And I was disappointed with Liverpool Football Club. Because we played them two years ago. And tonight they were just a shadow of that team. They were just a shadow. And Bill shook his head. Bill closed the paper. Bill put down the paper. Bill got up from his chair. Bill walked over to the writing desk. Bill sat down at the writing desk. Bill opened the top drawer of the writing desk. Bill took out a card and an envelope from the top drawer of the desk. Bill opened the card. Bill picked up a pen. A red pen. And Bill wrote inside the card, Well done, Bob. I’m very pleased for you. Liverpool have proved once and for all we are the real champions. The best team in Britain and the best team in Europe. Congratulations, Bill. Bill put down the pen. The red pen. Bill picked up the card. Bill put the card inside the envelope. Bill held the envelope up to his mouth. Bill licked the two edges of the envelope. Bill sealed the envelope. Bill put down the envelope on the writing desk. Bill picked up the pen again. The red pen. And Bill wrote on the front of the envelope, To Bob. Bill picked up the envelope again. Bill got up from the chair at the writing desk. Bill walked out of the front room. Bill walked up the stairs. In the house, in their bedroom. Bill changed into his shirt. His tangerine shirt. Bill walked over to the dressing table. Bill opened the top drawer. Bill took out his cufflinks. His gold cufflinks. Bill closed the drawer. Bill did up the cuffs of his shirt. His tangerine shirt. Bill walked over to the wardrobe. Bill opened the doors. Bill took out his suit. His freshly cleaned grey herringbone suit. Bill left the wardrobe doors open. Bill walked over to the bed. Bill laid out the suit on top of the bed covers. Bill took the trousers from the coat hanger. Bill put on the trousers of his suit. His freshly cleaned grey herringbone suit. Bill went back to the dressing table. Bill opened the second drawer of the dressing table. Bill took out a tie. His red Liverpool Football Club tie. Bill closed the drawer. Bill walked back to the wardrobe. The doors still open. Bill stood before the mirror on the back of one of the doors. Bill put on the tie. His red Liverpool Football Club tie. Bill went back over to the bed. Bill picked up the jacket from the bed. Bill took the jacket from the coat hanger. Bill put on the jacket of his suit. His freshly cleaned grey herringbone suit. Bill walked back over to the dressing table. Bill opened the top drawer of the dressing table again. Bill took out one white handkerchief and one red pocket square. Bill closed the drawer. Bill put the white handkerchief in his left trouser pocket. Bill laid the red pocket square on the top of the dressing table. It looked like a red diamond. Bill brought the bottom point of the red pocket square up to the top point. It looked like a red triangle. Bill brought the left corner of the triangle to the right corner and then the right corner to the left corner. It looked like a long red rectangle with a point at the top. Bill folded the bottom almost towards the top. Bill walked over to the mirror on the back of the wardrobe door. Bill stood before the mirror. Bill placed the red pocket square in the breast pocket of his grey jacket. Bill looked in the mirror. Bill adjusted the pocket square until just enough of the point was coming out of the pocket. The red point out of the grey pocket. Bill stepped back. In the house, in their bedroom. Bill looked at himself in the mirror. And Bill smiled. Bill closed the wardrobe doors. Bill walked back over to the dressing table. Bill opened the top drawer of the dressing table again. Bill took out a badge. His Liverpool Football Club badge. Bill closed the drawer. Bill attached the Liverpool Football Club badge to the lapel of his suit. His freshly cleaned grey herringbone suit. Bill picked up the envelope from the top of the dressing table. And Bill walked out of the bedroom. Bill walked back down the stairs. Bill walked into the kitchen. And Bill saw Ness at the sink. The kitchen sink. Ness peeling the potatoes. The potatoes for their lunch. And Bill said, I’m just going to nip down to the ground for a bit, love. To drop this card in for Bob.