In their house in Huddersfield. In their kitchen at the table. Bill ate and Bill talked. Firing out his words, wolfing down his tea. Bill ate and Bill talked. But Ness said nothing, Ness ate nothing. Ness put down her knife and her fork on her plate. And Ness got up from the table.
Bill frowned. And Bill said, You’ve not finished your tea, love.
Ness picked up the plate and walked over to the bin. Ness pushed the meat and the vegetables off the plate and into the bin.
Bill shook his head. And Bill said, What a waste.
Ness walked over to the sink. Ness put the plug in the sink. Ness turned on the taps. Ness put her plate, her knife and her fork on top of the pans in the sink. Ness squeezed washing-up liquid into the sink. Ness turned off the taps. Ness picked up the scrubbing brush. Ness began to wash the plate and the pans. The knife and the fork.
Where is Liverpool, Daddy, asked one of their daughters.
Bill smiled. And Bill said, It’s by the seaside, love.
Ness stopped washing the plate and the pans. The knife and the fork. Ness looked up from the sink. Ness stared out into the dark
garden. And Ness said, We’re settled here. We’ve got a nice house. We’ve got good friends. The girls like their schools. They’re happy here. I’m happy here. I don’t want to leave, love.
Bill said, I know, love. I know.
…
In his car, at the wheel. Driving down this road, driving up that road. Bill saw a telephone box on a corner up ahead. And Bill braked. Suddenly. Bill pulled over. Bill got out of his car. And Bill went into the phone box. Bill took out a piece of paper from the pocket of his coat. Bill dialled the telephone number on the piece of paper. Bill listened to the phone ring. Bill heard a voice answer. Bill dropped two coins into the phone. And Bill said, Mr Williams? This is Bill Shankly.
Good evening, Mr Shankly. What can I do for you?
Bill said, I’ve been thinking about your offer.
I’m very glad to hear that, said Tom Williams. So what have you been thinking, Mr Shankly?
Bill said, I’m interested. But I have a number of conditions.
Go on, Mr Shankly.
Well, I have to have total control of the playing and the coaching staff. I have to decide on the training methods and the playing style. I have to select the team without any interference from you or the directors. And if I feel we need new players, then you and the directors must make the money available for me to buy the players I want. And I also want a salary of £2,500. And so if you cannot accommodate all these conditions, then I’m afraid I’m not interested.
May I ask what Huddersfield are paying you, Mr Shankly?
Bill said, £2,000 a year.
Then I think we can accommodate all your conditions, said Tom Williams. I am sure we can, Mr Shankly.
Bill said, Then I accept your offer.
Thank you, said Tom Williams. Then we’ll be in touch again. Goodnight, Mr Shankly. Goodnight.
…
In their house in Huddersfield, their home in Huddersfield. In the night and in the silence. In his chair. Bill put down the newspaper. And in the night and in the silence. Bill closed his eyes. Liverpool Football Club had come to Leeds Road, Huddersfield. In the twentieth
minute, Les Massie had scored. And Huddersfield Town had won. Liverpool Football Club had lost. Huddersfield Town were sixth in the Second Division. Liverpool Football Club were tenth in the Second Division. But no one was happy. Ten days before, Phil Taylor had announced his resignation as manager of Liverpool Football Club. Bill remembered his words. The words Bill had read in the newspaper. Bill could not forget his words. Phil Taylor had said, In my opinion, the club has enjoyed reasonable success. My three years have resulted in a third and two fourth-place positions. However, the strain of it all has proved too much for me. And so, great as my love is for Liverpool Football Club, I have decided to resign. I made promotion my goal. I set my heart on it. I strove for it with all my energy. But such striving was not enough. Now the time has come to hand over to someone else.
In the night and in the silence. In his chair. Bill opened his eyes again. The grapevine was alive with rumours. Rumours that Liverpool Football Club wanted Bill Shankly to be their new manager. Rumours Liverpool Football Club had denied. In his chair. Bill picked up the newspaper again. Mr Lawson Martindale, one of the senior directors of Liverpool Football Club, had said, Any names mentioned in connection with the vacancy are only conjecture. There is no certainty about the matter. Nor can there be until we have examined all the applications. We particularly desire secrecy. And we are hopeful that we shall have many first-class men seeking the job. But we do not wish to cause them, or their clubs, any embarrassment.
…
In the ground at Leeds Road, before the door to the Huddersfield Town boardroom. Bill touched his tie, Bill straightened his tie. And then Bill knocked on the door to the boardroom.
Come, said a voice from behind the door.
Bill opened the door. Slowly. Bill stepped into the boardroom.
Sit, said Stephen Lister, the chairman of Huddersfield Town.
Bill walked to a chair at the end of a long table. Bill sat down in the chair. Bill looked up the long table at Stephen Lister and the directors of Huddersfield Town Football Club. Bill coughed. And then Bill said, This will be my last weekly report. I have received an offer from Liverpool Football Club. And I have decided to accept their offer.
Stephen Lister and the other directors did not speak.
Bill coughed again. And then Bill said, I realise that this may come as something of a shock to you all. But I have decided to go because I would like to take up the challenge of managing a big club in a big city. And Liverpool Football Club is a big club in a big city.
The chairman and the directors still said nothing.
Bill coughed. And then Bill said, But I want you to know I have taken this decision very reluctantly. I have enjoyed my time in Huddersfield. And the club has always been very good to me.
Stephen Lister and the directors looked at each other. They patted their bellies, they stroked their chins. They began to mutter, they began to whisper. This name and that name.
I wonder if Harry Catterick would be interested in coming here, said Hayden Battye. A decent chap, I hear …
Bill laughed. Bill shook his head. And Bill said, Harry Catterick? But Wednesday are a much bigger club than this.
I think the very least you could do, said Stephen Lister, is to give us one month’s notice, Shankly. You will continue in your duties until the end of the month, until the end of December.
Bill said, Fine. If that is what you want.
Close the door on your way out.
…
In the corridor, outside his office at Leeds Road. Bill saw Eddie Brennan, the assistant club secretary of Huddersfield Town. And Bill said, I’ve got something to tell you, Eddie. Something to tell you. I’m leaving, Eddie. I’ve been offered the Liverpool job and I’ve accepted it. So I’m leaving, Eddie. I’m off, I’m off. And I can’t wait, Eddie. I can’t wait. A big club, Eddie. A massive club. So much potential, Eddie. So much potential. You’ve been there, Eddie. You know. That crowd, Eddie. That city. What a crowd, Eddie! What a city! And they’re going to back me, Eddie. The board. They’re going to back me all the way, Eddie. Give me all the money I need. Not like here, Eddie. Not like this place. Never be anything, Eddie. This place. No potential, Eddie. No ambition. No money, Eddie. Nothing. Same with Carlisle, same with Grimsby. Same with Workington, same as here. Not like Liverpool, Eddie. What a club! What a city, Eddie! All that potential, all that ambition. I tell you, Eddie. I’ve been waiting my
whole life for this. My whole life, Eddie. For a chance like this. It’s the chance of a lifetime, Eddie. The bloody chance of a lifetime. And I can’t wait, Eddie. I just can’t wait. So what do you think, Eddie?
We’ll miss you, said Eddie Brennan. I know that, Bill.
Bill said, And I’ll miss you, Eddie. I will. But you’ve got to go where the work is, Eddie. Where you are wanted. Where you will be appreciated, Eddie. Appreciated and supported.
I supported you, said Eddie Brennan. And I appreciated you.
Bill nodded. And Bill said, I know that, Eddie. I know that. And I appreciated you, Eddie. I did. And I do, Eddie. I really do.
And I believed you, too, said Eddie Brennan.
…
In the boardroom at Leeds Road, at the long table. Bill and Stephen Lister sat down before the local press –
Isn’t it true you’ve simply had a bellyful, asked the reporter from the
Huddersfield Examiner
. A bellyful of walking a financial tightrope, Bill? Of trying for promotion while balancing the books? Isn’t that the reason you’re off to Liverpool, Bill? Because you’ve had a bellyful of Huddersfield Town?
Bill shook his head. And Bill said, No. It’s going to be a wrench to say goodbye. My wife and family have made more friends in Huddersfield than in any other town we’ve ever lived in before.
It was certainly a bolt from the blue, said Stephen Lister. It was the very last thing we were expecting. But Mr Shankly put his position before the board and, after expressing our regret at the prospect of losing his services, we have agreed that Mr Shankly shall join Liverpool Football Club. Mr Shankly has no contract with Huddersfield Town, but he considers it only fair to the club that he should stay at Leeds Road for a month in order to give us the opportunity of making a new appointment before he leaves us. Liverpool are getting a good man. Thank you.
…
In the boardroom at Leeds Road, before the chairman. Bill touched his tie. And Bill said, You wanted to see me, Mr Lister?
There is no point you hanging around here like a spare part, said Stephen Lister. Not now everyone knows you’re going. If you wish to go to Liverpool now, then you can go. We’ll not stand in your
way, Shankly. We’ll not hold you to your month’s notice.
Bill held out his hand. And Bill said, Thank you, Mr Lister.
Close the door on your way out, Shankly.
…
In another boardroom, at another long table. Bill and Tom Williams sat down before the local press. And Horace Yates, from the
Liverpool Daily Post,
and Leslie Edwards, from the
Liverpool Echo,
opened their notebooks, took out their pens and waited –
Gentlemen, said Tom Williams. The board of Liverpool Football Club would like to announce that all applications for the position of manager have been considered. Of the small number who came up to the requirements, the board decided to ascertain the services of Mr William Shankly, of Huddersfield Town FC, and have offered the management to him.
Bill nodded. Bill smiled. And then Bill said, I am very pleased and proud to have been chosen as manager of Liverpool Football Club. Liverpool is a club of great potential. I have known Mr Williams a long time and I have always considered him to be one of football’s gentlemen. He has been at Liverpool Football Club since the club began. He is devoted to Liverpool Football Club. And I am confident that we will be able to work well together. It is my opinion that Liverpool have a crowd of followers which ranks with the greatest in the game. They deserve success and I hope in my small way to be able to do something towards helping them achieve it. But I make no promises except that, from the moment I take over, I shall put everything I have into the job I so willingly undertake. This appointment is a challenge for me. I rank it similar to that confronting Joe Mercer when he left Sheffield United for Aston Villa. Or when Alan Brown left Burnley to go to Sunderland. These clubs, like Liverpool, are amongst the top-grade teams in the football land. So when the challenge was made to me, I simply could not refuse to accept it. There is a job to be done. Perhaps a big job. But with the cooperation of Mr Williams, the directors and staff, I feel certain we shall see the task through together. I am not a lazy man. I like to get down to it and set the example which I want following from the top of the club to the bottom. I make few promises. But one of them is that, in everything I do, I hope there will be patent common sense attached
to it. Common sense and hard work. Together, hard work and common sense bring success. That is what I believe. In football and in life.
How would Mr Shankly reflect on his time as manager of Huddersfield Town, asked Horace Yates, from the
Liverpool Daily Post.
Would he say he had been a success at Huddersfield?
Bill nodded again. And Bill said, Yes, I would. When I took over at Huddersfield three years ago, I had only a team of boys to go to work on. Indeed, they are still boys, most of them. I would not be human if I were not pleased with the way in which players like Law, McHale, Massie and Wilson have advanced under my direction. I guided them from their junior beginnings to League football. My signings have been Ray Wood of Manchester United, who I consider to be the best goalkeeper in the Second Division, and Derek Hawksworth. I don’t think either of them have let me down. I believe I am leaving Huddersfield Town in a better, stronger position than when I took over three years ago and so I consider that to be a success. That I have been a success at Huddersfield. And I hope they would agree.
But the burning ambition of every Liverpool supporter, said Leslie Edwards, from the
Liverpool Echo
, is to see this football club restored to the First Division. How do you feel about that?
Bill nodded. And Bill said, Nobody realises more than I do what a tough job that is likely to be. But I have gained a lot of experience of Second Division football and so I know the difficulties. But I think we can do it. In fact, I know we can do it.
…
In their house in Huddersfield, in the bedroom. Bill waited for the dawn, Bill waited for the light. And Bill got out of bed. Bill shaved, Bill washed. Bill put on his suit, Bill put on his tie. And Bill went downstairs. Bill ate breakfast with Ness and their daughters. Bill kissed them goodbye. Bill went out of the house, Bill got into his car. And Bill drove across the Pennines. Past Manchester –