An Epic Swindle: 44 Months With a Pair of Cowboys

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. This is a tale of debts, lies, cowboys, and 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. The manager, the 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, and who trampled the notion of The Liverpool Way 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 quick buck at Liverpool, and no one has had as much access to the truth, or tells it with as much passion, wit, and insight as Brian Reade.