Billy Twentyman interview transcript
Carlisle to Liverpool - early life
"I was actually born in Carlisle. Now what then happened, after I was born in Carlisle Infirmary, was Bill Shankly had rung my father up and he'd said that Norman Lowe, who was the Chief Scout of Liverpool FC at the time, had been offered a job in America. So Bill had offered the job to my dad, and my dad came back to Liverpool, that was in 1967, as Chief Scout at Liverpool FC.
From my dad's playing days in Liverpool in the 50s, they'd been living in Huyton and Roby, but this time round they were given a club house in Maghull. I was very close to my mother because my father was up in Scotland a lot on scouting missions. So basically, I was really close to my mum.
My dad was a farmer's son. He was quite a quiet type of individual and coming to Liverpool I think he knew how proud Liverpool people were. He was one of those individuals who didn't go in ranting and raving. My mother was the one who give out the hidings in the household. My father would threaten you but he'd never actually do anything. The biggest policy in life was honesty with my dad, and they were the morals and values that he taught me, and I will put on to my lads, y'know. Just be honest in life and you can't ask for much more really.
I took a lot for granted as a boy, y'know. I went to Anfield quite regular. It was very much an open house then. I think Liverpool changed later on, once Crown paints had taken over from Hitachi and they'd re-done the whole players lounge, and I think that was when it basically became a big business.
But getting back to my early days, you'd take a lot for granted. I mean I remember, getting back to 1977, you'd come home from school and we'd have the European Cup in the house and my dad would have the UEFA Cup in his boot. I remember the FA Cup, they changed the base on the FA Cup, and the new base was in the back of my Dad's Cortina. So basically you'd take it all in your stride.
I mean later on when you'd speak to Bill Shankly on the phone, you'd go to Anfield, y'know, and you'd meet Bob Paisley. You'd be lucky enough to have your photograph taken, it would gradually grow on you, type of thing.
I think Arthur Reilly looked after the ground, he'd always make you a cup of tea and my dad would go and get a bag of seed for his lawn. My dad kept a good garden at home. My dad had all the techniques that he was introduced to with the fellas who were in charge of the pitch. There was some lovely people at the club.
my dad's little red book
My father's job basically was Chief Scout, so what my dad would do was he'd be in charge. He'd have a lot of guys in certain sorts of parts of the country and he'd be well connected in like what they'd call, 'hot beds of soccer'. So for example when they signed Steve Nichol, the guy who put my dad on to Steve Nichol was John Stein, a lot of people know him as Jock Stein. He was the manager of the Scottish team at the time, he would like, y'know, ring my dad up and they'd talk football. My dad's decision would be more or less finally his, obviously the final decision would be the boss like, but y'know, my dad would follow it up.
But I've got a book there at home which consists of all the signings that came to Liverpool. It's quite sort of ridiculous to look at really, in a way. You've got categories of columns of players, the likes of 'J Toshack, 19', and the comments would say like 'good in the air, will watch again, could do a job for us' y'know. Phil Neal, Northampton Town, 35,000 pounds I think they paid for him. Probably one of the most decorated players that ever walked at Anfield, y'know. So it was amazing like to read. A lot of players that didn't come 'til later, like, Terry MacDermott is in there, from when he was at Bury.
But I always asked my dad 'who would be probably your best signing?' He'd say 'it'd either be Ian Rush or Phil Neal', he'd have thought. Getting back to running the job like a business, y'know, it's getting in the first team that sort of matters and for the money and what he did, I would presumably say it might be Phil Neal. Ian Rush was a bit of a risk because he was 18. He was 350,000 pounds I think they paid for him at the time, which was a lot of money, but he done the business, y'know.
One of the biggest upsets of his time y'know, was when Kevin Beatty didn't develop and he ended up going to Ipswich Town. He come from the same city as my dad, Carlisle United, the following week he'd signed for Ipswich and my dad had gone to meet him at Lime Street and he wasn't there. But he was very, 'ever so ever so', my father like. He never mentioned a word to any of us in the household when he was looking at a player. Everything was very, very secretive. But he had a hand in a lot of players that came to the club and he done a lot of guys a lot of favours and got nothing for it. At the end of the day he done the job for the love of the game and, y'know, he got a wage obviously. At the end of the day, getting a result regarding getting them in the first team, y'know that's what counted to him."
big influences
"My wife was a great influence in my life, y'know, I mean where I am now to this day. I definitely would have took a different pattern, if it wasn't for the girl who I'm living with now, my wife who I've known for 20 odd years. I think like a lot of women, talk like quite a bit of sense, y'know. I think behind any sort of great sort of individual or a man with a certain sort of 'aspect of a front' as they say, there's always somebody behind them, y'know. She's been a tremendous sort of like catalyst in my life, y'know.
She's always been in hairdressing, that's all she's ever wanted to do was cut hair, so I've learnt a great deal from her. So I was lucky in the fact that I could learn a technique off my wife with the 'women's way', which is basically 'club cutting' and another way which I learnt off a guy who I met, a guy called Gerard McAleavey. He was the son of a guy called Richie McAleavey, who was arguably probably one of Liverpool's finest barbers they've ever had, y'know. I mean, I'm talking about barbering, I'm talking about the full spectrum y'know. I'm talking about somebody who could give you a shave, easily make a wig and obviously give you a good hair cut.
So I was basically took under the wing of Richie McAleavey's son, who was this guy called Gerard McAleavey, who's godfather to both my boys. A great guy, with a lot of ability, similar to my father, a quiet type of individual. But a lot of ability, a great guy in himself, y'know, indebted to him in fact. I mean you meet people in life and you know you could never ever repay these fellas. You don't have to be with them all the time, every beck and call, but just to keep in touch with them, you know it's a marvellous thing.
I mean, just a quick little example of what I mean by that is. I remember my father died, there was a few people that weren't there at the funeral, and I was disappointed. Not the fact that obviously, y'know, I can understand people are away out the country etcetera, but not to be able to drop my mother a line, or to send a card. These are one of the things that I said to these people, that I got taught all the values in life from my father and similar off this guy Gerard McAleavey, where, y'know, you'd never burn your bridges basically."
a favour for a friend
"As I said earlier, I'm indebted to Gerard. He rung me one day and he said to me 'couldn't do us a favour could you?' I said 'yes, sure I could Gerard, y'know, you name it and I'll do the best I could' y'know. He said 'well look', he said, 'one of my clients has let me down', and this client obviously wore a toupee. 'I'm due to do a 'live' open air debate on Radio Merseyside and I've got nobody to sort of take his position y'know'. He said 'would you be up for it?' and I said 'well yeh, yeh, I'll be up for it like' but I didn't really understand too much what he was intending and at the time my hair was in a sad state of affairs to say the least really.
We'd got in his wig room and he'd made my hair look more than bouffant and he said 'that's it, that's perfect' he said, and off we went to Paradise Street, where Radio Merseyside was. Now Gerard said to me 'just listen and learn' type of thing, 'and if you've got to say anything, make sure that it sounds good.'
So we started at six o'clock and it was an hour live debate and I hadn't said anything up until about a quarter to seven, and Gerard McAleavey had said a couple of things. The next thing I started to panic a bit and I just lifted my hand. But I'd lifted my hand and no sooner wanted to put it down because I didn't really have much of an idea what I was going to say. Anyway, I got the nod off the girl, the girl said 'right we're over to Will who's one of Gerard McAleavey's customers, what would you like to say?'.
So it was my chance to sort of promote Gerard's shop. I basically said, 'since I left school', I said, 'I haven't really kept in touch with anybody', I said. 'But I got a link with Friends Reunited and they'd organised a school reunion' and I said 'I'd gone out this particular night into this pub and I'd noticed a lot of people hadn't sort of like aged as much as I had and I had a terrible receding hairline. A short time after the night out I'd sort of become a bit of a recluse and it wasn't until I'd met Gerard McAleavey at Crowning Glory at 92, I think it is, Rice Lane, Walton, that he sort of you know gave me like, he sort of relived my youth. He fitted me with a hair system', I said, 'I've got a hair system on this evening I don't know whether you can tell.' Basically I just said, y'know 'Crowning Glory I wouldn't know what to do without them!'
Anyway they sort of ran out of time and the girl summed it up and said 'for all you people out there with receding hairline' she said 'it's not a bald patch it's a solar panel for a sex symbol' and everybody just collapsed and that was the end of it. Gerard McAleavey stood up and he shook my hand, and it was the first time in his life he was stuck for words."
Liverpool today
"I travelled a lot years ago, and it's a great education travelling, and you can learn an awful lot. I think like, Liverpool itself its come on a lot in the last sort of like seven or eight years, y'know. The gents grooming aspect is getting better, but I think we're really a good few years behind the likes of Manhattan and Milan. Places where, y'know, guys will have a manicure very much as much as other guys will have other things here, y'know. It's like a common thing there, but, y'know, we're getting there now. I mean we're doing the manicures and pedicures and the massage and things, it is getting better.
I think Liverpool, as I said earlier, there are a lot of proud people in Liverpool, y'know. Talking about the fashion aspect, there was a percentage given out recently, y'know, in comparison with what they spend in Liverpool is similar to say maybe Milan, which I can well understand. I mean Liverpool people they know exactly what they want that's for sure. I think at present, y'know, they've got a chance to prove themselves because there's a little bit of a north and south divide and I think they can close that.
The only thing I fear is, y'know, recently in the press it was mentioned about the festival site. I just hope that work that we're doing now is going to be long-term for the city and I think once this '08 comes and goes and they focus on London with the Olympics, we don't sort of get forgotten about. A bit like the Millennium, I think we learnt a lot from that you, y'know. It was like a thing we were always looking forward to, and it came and went."
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