The Damned Utd
DAVID PEACE
For Jon Riley, with love and thanks
I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage;
I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest;
It crieth out against me, therefore have I hated it.
Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her;
Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
Jeremiah, Chapter 12, Verses 7–9
The Argument II
Repetition. Repetition –
Fields of loss and fields of hate, fields of blood and fields of war –
Their sport upon the walls, their sport upon the floor.
Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee …
In her shadow time.
On our terraces, in our cages, from Purgatorio, we watch,
With our wings that cannot fly, our tongues that cannot speak:
‘Destroy her politics! Destroy her culture! Destroy her!’
But our wings are thick with tar, tongues heavy with her coin,
On our broken backs, our broken hearts, she’ll dine again tonight.
In her shadow place –
We are selfish men: Oh, Blake! Orwell! Raise us up, return to us again.
These civil wars of uncivil hearts, divided and now damned –
The old is dying and the new cannot be born –
By Elland Road, I sat down and wept; D.U.F.C.
THE DAMNED UTD
An English Fairy Story
Wednesday 31 July – Thursday 12 September 1974
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
THE FIRST RECKONING
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven
Day Twelve
Day Thirteen
Day Fourteen
Day Fifteen
Day Sixteen
Day Seventeen
Day Eighteen
THE SECOND RECKONING
Day Nineteen
Day Twenty
Day Twenty-one
Day Twenty-two
THE THIRD RECKONING
Day Twenty-three
Day Twenty-four
Day Twenty-five
THE FOURTH RECKONING
Day Twenty-six
Day Twenty-seven
Day Twenty-eight
THE FIFTH RECKONING
Day Twenty-nine
Day Thirty
Day Thirty-one
Day Thirty-two
THE SIXTH RECKONING
Day Thirty-three
Day Thirty-four
Day Thirty-five
Day Thirty-six
Day Thirty-seven
Day Thirty-eight
Day Thirty-nine
THE SEVENTH AND FINAL RECKONING
Day Forty
Day Forty-one
Day Forty-two
Day Forty-three
Day Forty-four
Sources and Acknowledgements
By the Same Author
About the Author
Copyright
THE FIRST RECKONING
First Division Final Positions, 1973–74
Home
Away Total P W D L F A W D L F A F A Pts 1 Leeds United 42 12 8 1 38 18 12 6 3 28 13 66 31 62 2 Liverpool 42 18 2 1 34 11 4 11 6 18 20 52 31 57 3 Derby County 42 13 7 1 40 16 4 7 10 12 26 52 42 48 4 Ipswich Town 42 10 7 4 38 21 8 4 9 29 37 67 58 47 5 Stoke City 42 13 6 2 39 15 2 10 9 15 27 54 42 46 6 Burnley 42 10 9 2 29 16 6 5 10 27 37 56 53 46 7 Everton 42 12 7 2 29 14 4 5 12 21 34 50 48 44 8 QPR 42 8 10 3 30 17 5 7 9 26 35 56 52 43 9 Leicester City 42 10 7 4 35 17 3 9 9 16 24 51 41 42 10 Arsenal 42 9 7 5 23 16 5 7 9 26 35 49 51 42 11 Tottenham H 42 9 4 8 26 27 5 10 6 19 23 45 50 42 12 Wolves 42 11 6 4 30 18 2 9 10 19 31 49 49 41 13 Sheffield Utd 42 7 7 7 25 22 7 5 9 19 27 44 49 40 14 Man. City 42 10 7 4 25 17 4 5 12 14 29 39 46 40 15 Newcastle Utd 42 9 6 6 28 21 4 6 11 21 27 49 48 38 16 Coventry City 42 10 5 6 25 18 4 5 12 18 36 43 54 38 17 Chelsea 42 9 4 8 36 29 3 9 9 20 31 56 60 37 18 West Ham Utd 42 7 7 7 36 32 4 8 9 19 28 55 60 37 19 Birmingham C 42 10 7 4 30 21 2 6 13 22 43 52 64 37 20 Southampton 42 8 10 3 30 20 3 4 14 17 48 47 68 36 21 Man. Utd 42 7 7 7 23 20 3 5 13 15 28 38 48 32 22 Norwich City 42 6 9 6 25 27 1 6 14 12 35 37 62 29
Bottom 3 clubs relegated.
I am a Yorkshire Man and I am a Cunning Man –
And I curse you! First with gift, then with loss –
I curse you!
Loss and then gift, gift and then loss –
Until you lose. Until you leave –
I will curse you!
Day One
I see it from the motorway. Through the windscreen. The kids in the back. Fallen off the top of Beeston Hill. Are we nearly there yet, they’re saying. Are we nearly there, Dad? In a heap up against the railway and the motorway banking. Asking me about Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles. The floodlights and the stands, all fingers and fists up from the sticks and the stones, the flesh and the bones. There it is, my eldest is telling my youngest. There it is. From the motorway. Through the windscreen –
Hateful, hateful place; spiteful, spiteful place …
Elland Road, Leeds, Leeds, Leeds.
I’ve seen it before. Been here before. Played and managed here, six or seven times in six or seven years. Always a visitor, always away –
Hateful, spiteful place, flecked in their phlegm …
But not today; Wednesday 31 July 1974 –
Arthur Seaton. Colin Smith. Arthur Machin and Joe Lampton …
Today I’m no longer a visitor. No longer away –
No more zombies, they
