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An Epic Swindle: 44 Months With a Pair of Cowboys [Paperback]

Brian Reade
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)

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Paperback, 28 April 2011 --  
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Book Description

28 April 2011

AN EPIC SWINDLE is the inside story of how Liverpool FC came within hours of being re-possessed by the banks after the shambolic 44-month reign of American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. It is the tale of a civil war that dragged Britain's most successful football club to its knees, through the High Court and almost into administration.

Players Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher tell of their anger at the broken promises, as well as their pain at watching loyal fans in open revolt. Manager, chief executive, board members, leading fans and journalists reveal the turmoil at a revered sporting institution run by two men at war with each other, who trampled Liverpool's cherished traditions into the gutter.

No story sums up the naked greed at the heart of modern football quite like Hicks' and Gillett's attempt to turn a buck at Liverpool. No-one has had as much access to the truth, or tells it with as much passion, wit and insight as Brian Reade. AN EPIC SWINDLE is the riveting story of how close one of the great football clubs came to financial implosion.



Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Quercus (28 April 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0857385992
  • ISBN-13: 978-0857385994
  • Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 2.5 x 23.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 64,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

'The riveting inside story of how Liverpool FC was dragged to its knees' Daily Mirror.

From the Back Cover

An Epic Swindle is the inside story of how Liverpool FC came within hours of being repossessed by the banks after the shambolic 44-month reign of American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. It is the tale of a civil war that dragged Britain's most successful football club to its knees, through the High Court and almost into administration. Players Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher tell of their anger at the broken promises, as well as their pain at watching loyal fans in open revolt. Manager, chief executive, board members, leading fans and journalists reveal the turmoil at a revered sporting institution run by two men at war with each other, who trampled Liverpool's cherished traditions into the gutter. No story sums up the naked greed at the heart of modern football quite like Hicks' and Gillett's attempt to turn a buck at Liverpool. No-one has had as much access to the truth, or tells it with as much passion, wit and insight as Brian Reade. An Epic Swindle is the riveting story of how close one of the great football clubs came to financial implosion.


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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A subject deserving of a more serious approach 3 April 2012
Format:Paperback
Unashamedly written by a fan - who happens to be a journalist - but written in a populist style to appeal to the fan base.

Nothing wrong with a journalist being a fan but the book is full of generalisations - about businesses, Americans , Bankers etc. Does the author seriously think the RBS should have suspended the interest payments that were crippling the club when they have a duty to their shareholders (the British working people!) Does every fan believe it is the owner's duty to inject funds into a club if the Managerial/Executive team cannot manage expenditure properly.

David Moore's letter comes across as a considered and compassionate piece of writing but the author derides him throughout the book and having sold a major company myself to American buyers I know there is only so much you can ever find out when doing checks into the buyers credibility. We did the checks and had no problems because the buyers kept their word but if they had been lieing we could have done nothing once they were the owners.

Too many of the observations in the book would carry more weight and not be devalued if they were based on researched fact rather than banal generalisations designed to apeal to the masses on subjects about which the author clearly knows very little - how many corporate tranactions has he been involved in? Big clubs like Man Utd and Liverpool feel they have an automatic right to success and lord it over small clubs and are happy to do this with Corporate money but then start bleating when it all goes wrong. if you sup with the devil or choose to live by the sword then you have to be prepared to take the consequences.

The writer is no fool.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Wickham
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Some of what you will read is absolutely unbelievable - more like some American gung ho John Wayne movie. I have supported Liverpool for 45 years - and got so much out of it, along with my family, some whom are no longer with us, like most Liverpool fans it's a family thing - I still cannot explain how I felt during the last 18 months of the H&G reign - but I know that I rarely looked forward to Liverpool playing - and in fact tuned out of football all together during the Hodgson reign, even though I felt very sorry for him - as he was out of his depth. This book explains to me why I felt like that, very therapuetic. When Benitez was struggling - I would defy anyone to be able to put up with what he had to and do thier job properly - during the time I never wanted to accuse or believe some of the rumours - and was glad I didn't because this explains it all. When you are reading it you think yes I remember that - or I didn't know that happened. It is well written and could only have been written by a Liverpool fan - if it hadn't we would be suspicious of anyone saying anything negative about our club. It came across that the club had problems well before H&G. Although I hated Torres for leaving, reading this - you can understand it - (although his best form for 18 months had been the three games playing for Dalglish) too many broken promises. As for Benitez he hasn't finished with us yet - he also made mistakes - but was placed between a rock and a hard place - Thank you Brian Reade - I am looking forward to next season already - and reading Brian's 1st book which I have just download on my Kindle. 44 Years With The Same Bird: A Liverpudlian Love Affair
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars What's that NOISE...? 11 May 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
PHEW!! How close was that? This is car crash reading for Liverpool Football Club fans. No matter how much you don't want to look, you can't help but stare in amazement. Its obvious that as football is becoming a billionaires playground, David Moores feels he can no longer keep up. For LFC to progress he has to sell his beloved Football Club- OUR beloved Football Club. What I didn't realise was how far behind we already were in terms of bringing the club into the 21st century...

As the book points out, David Moores and ALL the other shareholders backed G&H to buy the club, and so off down the slippery slope of leveraged buyouts we plummeted; taking all our dignity and so called 'Liverpool way' with us...

Brian Reade's book charts the lows, the more lows and even more lows of these 2 profit driven, greedy american liars who had no respect for our tradition at all. The atmosphere behind the scenes must have been depressing! Slowly but surely Rafa is dragged into the fight and takes on his employers, but eventually he was spending more time doing that than 'focusing on managing and training his team.'

No one comes out of this with reputation intact; except for the fans who became organised and made sure the 'noise' was heard wherever G&H crawled with their begging bowl. They didn't understand what the club meant to us, the power the fans ACTUALLY had and how DETERMINED we were to be rid of them before they permanently damaged an iconic footballing instituition...oh, and Martin Broughton who would not be bullied by a Texan who thought he could ride roughshod over RBS and call the shots when all he had were blanks.

At the end of the book (and the storm...) there is a bright light at the end of a very dark and miserable tunnel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
A few of my fellow supporters at the caldicot lfc branch told me about this book, Ana xxx ing how close we come to the end

Must read
Published 1 month ago by Must read
4.0 out of 5 stars Good & interesting factual read, a must for LFC fans
Being an LFC fan, I enjoyed this book. It was very factual, and the author is clearly a passionate read. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Matt Ram
5.0 out of 5 stars An epic swindle
Another great book from brian reade, ok we know he's a red. But this is a book which should serve as a warning to all football fans . Read more
Published 3 months ago by Stewart Conway
4.0 out of 5 stars Epic Swindle
Required reading for any Liverpool fan. A real insight as to what really went on and why. You realise that football is not really about the fans, the game, the players, it's about... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr Derek Parker
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
I understood the story, but didn't fully appreciate the contents! I definitely do now!
Brian Reade = Genius at Work
Published 3 months ago by Alan French
4.0 out of 5 stars Those damn Americans!
Brian Reade has written an insight, powerful account of a time that any Liverpool supporter will be desperate to forget. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. Paul Kewley
4.0 out of 5 stars For football fans
If you like football, especially Liverpool Football Club you will enjoy this book. Written by a Liverpool fan who is a journalist this book is a real eye opener.
Published 4 months ago by Hazel
5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting insight!
A really enjoyable read, interesting and witty, makes me feel.lucky as a Liverpool fan, things could have gotten a lot worse under the ownership of these two clowns!
Published 5 months ago by James Bostock
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Insight
Only part way through this book but it is well written and provides great insight into what was 'An Epic Swindle' for Liverpool fans all over. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. G. Sindhar
4.0 out of 5 stars An epic read...
A fascinating account of what was going on behind the scenes at the Club during one of the most turbulent times in the history of Liverpool F.C. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Fatmanstratman
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