I’ve just seen Harry, said Bill Shankly. Old Harry Catterick, lads. In the corridor. By, he’s a miserable man is Harry. He’s always miserable is Harry. But he’s not only miserable today. Today he’s tired, too. Exhausted. Knackered. And shattered. And he’s not the only one. They are all tired. All exhausted, all knackered. The whole team shattered. And do you know why, lads? Do you know why they are all so tired? So exhausted, knackered and shattered?
In the dressing room, on the benches. In their kits and in their boots. The players of Liverpool Football Club looked at Bill Shankly. And the players of Liverpool Football Club shook their heads.
Bill Shankly smiled again. And Bill Shankly tapped the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall of the dressing room –
Because of this, said Bill Shankly. This, lads …
In the dressing room, on the benches. In their kits and in their boots. The players of Liverpool Football Club stared up at the piece of paper pinned to the dressing-room wall. The piece of paper, a map of Europe. A map of Europe with one big thick red line drawn across it. One big thick red line drawn from Liverpool to Milan.
Bill Shankly put his finger on the piece of paper. On the map of Europe. Bill Shankly moved his finger along the red line from Liverpool to Milan. And then Bill Shankly moved his finger back along the red line from Milan back to Liverpool –
Do you know how far it is, asked Bill Shankly. How far it is from Liverpool to Milan, lads?
In the dressing room, on the benches. In their kits and in their boots. The players of Liverpool Football Club stared at the piece of paper pinned to the dressing-room wall. Again. The players of Liverpool Football Club shook their heads.
Well, I’ll tell you, said Bill Shankly. I’ll tell you, lads. It’s eight hundred miles. As the crow flies. From Liverpool to Milan. And it’s eight hundred miles back again. As the crow flies. That’s one thousand, six hundred miles, lads. So that’s how far Everton Football Club have travelled this past week. One thousand, six hundred miles! And I’ll tell you this, lads. I’ll tell you this. When you’ve been beaten. When you’ve been knocked out of the European Cup. That will feel more than one thousand, six hundred miles, lads. That will feel more like ten thousand miles, lads. One million miles! And you know what, lads? You know what old Harry had them doing? The minute they got back from Milan. After they had been beaten. After they had been knocked out the European Cup. After they had travelled one thousand, six hundred miles. You know what old Harry had them all doing? The very next day? The day after they got back from Milan in Italy?
In the dressing room, on the benches. In their kits and in their boots. The players of Liverpool Football Club stared up at Bill Shankly. And the players of Liverpool Football Club shook their heads.
Well, I’ll tell you, said Bill Shankly again. I’ll tell you, lads. Because I know. Because I could see them. From my house, from my window. I could see what Harry had them doing. And you won’t believe it, boys. You just won’t believe it. The day after they got back. The day after they were beaten by Internazionale of Milan. The day after they were knocked out of the European Cup. The day after they had travelled one thousand, six hundred miles. Harry had them doing a commando course. A commando course, boys! Up at Bellefield. Running the legs off them. But I know why, lads. I know why Harry did it. Because he knows how fit you all are. How hard you all train. And so he was worried was Harry. And so he’s trying to keep up with our training. But he can’t, boys. They can’t. And Harry’s delusional if he thinks they can. The man is simply delusional. Even on a good day. And this was not a good day. This was the day after they got back from Milan. The day after they had been beaten by Internazionale of Milan. They day after they had been knocked out of the European Cup. The day after they had travelled one thousand, six hundred miles. A very bad day. But I could see them, boys. From my house, from my window. I could see them. And I tell you, boys. I tell you. They were exhausted. They were knackered. And they were shattered. They couldn’t keep up. They were dropping like flies. Left, right and centre. Dropping like flies they were, boys. The lot of them. So they are already finished, boys. They are already beaten. Before the whistle’s even been blown, before they’ve even kicked a ball. So all you have to do today, boys. All you have to do today is finish the job. Finish the job, boys. And put them out of their misery. For Chrissakes, lads. You’ll be doing them a favour. So for the love of God, boys. Please put them out of their misery, lads. Out of their bloody misery …
Two minutes before half-time, Ian Callaghan scored. Three minutes after half-time, Callaghan scored again. Roy Vernon scored for Everton Football Club. But it didn’t count, it didn’t matter. Liverpool Football Club had beaten Everton Football Club two — one. At home, at Anfield. Bill Shankly burst into the dressing room. The home dressing room. And Bill Shankly danced from player to player. Bill Shankly patted their backs, Bill Shankly shook their hands. All of their backs, all of their hands. And then Bill Shankly stood in the centre of the dressing room. And Bill Shankly grinned –
Do you know what you have achieved today, boys? What you have done today? You have not only beaten Everton Football Club. You have beaten the Champions. You have beaten the Champions of England, boys. And so now you can have nothing to fear. Nothing to fear for the rest of the season, boys. Because you have beaten the Champions of England. The best team in this land. And so if you can beat them, boys. If you can beat the Champions of England. Then you can beat any team. Any team in the land, boys. And every team! You can beat every team in the land. I know you can. Because today you have shown me you can. And so today I know you can be the Champions. I know we can be the Champions of England, boys!
14. AFTER THE PASSION, BEFORE THE PASSION
In the office, at the desk. On the last Monday in October, 1963. Bill opened up the newspaper again. And Bill looked down at the League table again. The League table as it stood on Monday 28 October, 1963. This month, Liverpool Football Club had played three matches at home, at Anfield. And Liverpool Football Club had beaten Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and West Bromwich Albion. Liverpool Football Club had played one match away, away from Anfield. And Liverpool Football Club had beaten Ipswich Town. This season, Liverpool Football Club had played fourteen matches. That Monday, Liverpool Football Club had nineteen points. That Monday, Liverpool Football Club were third in the First Division. On goal average, with nineteen points. Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United all had nineteen points, too. Sheffield United had twenty-one points. Sheffield United were top of the First Division. Sheffield United were the sixth team to be top of the First Division this season. In the office, at the desk. Bill opened one of the drawers. Bill took out the pair of scissors and the pot of glue. Bill cut out the League table from the newspaper. Bill stuck the League table for Monday 28 October, 1963, into his book. His book of names, his book of notes. And in the office, at the desk. Now Bill took out his diary. His diary of dates, his diary of fixtures. Bill turned the pages of his diary. The pages of dates to come, the pages of fixtures to come. The twenty-eight fixtures to come, the twenty-eight opportunities to come. The twenty-eight opportunities to win, the twenty-eight opportunities to be the Champions –