Product Description

There have been football books which have told their tale through the partisan heart of a besotted fan, and those that have dissected their subject through the scientific mind of an objective writer. But rarely does one fuse the blind passion of a lifelong supporter with the cold eye of an award-winning journalist in the way 43 Years With The Same Bird does.

That bird is the Liver Bird, and on the surface this book is a pitch-side view of the entire modern era of Britain's most successful football club. It is Brian Reade's take on the extraordinary stories behind the 48 trophies he has seen Liverpool lift since watching them en route to their first ever FA Cup win in 1965, right through to the Champions League defeat in Athens in 2007. It takes in all of the big nights that propelled the club to five European Cups, three UEFA Cups, twelve titles, countless domestic cup triumphs, bitter failures, the tragic disasters in Sheffield and Brussels, as well as the barren years of the late 60s and the 90s.

But the book goes far deeper than that. It's about how football allowed a father who was separated from his son to forge a precious bond. How a football club can make a city that is dying on its knees keep believing in itself. How you should never, as a professional, get too close to your heroes. How being part of a disaster at a football match (Hillsborough) can leave you a mental wreck, unwilling to carry on, but how witnessing a miracle on a football pitch (Istanbul) makes you realise that no matter how low you sink, you should never give in.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1766 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
'You'd be hard pressed to find any better laugh-out-load writing this year.' --Scotland on Sunday

About the Author

Brian Reade is an award-winning journalist who has two columns, one of them about sport, in the Mirror. In 2000 he was named Columnist of The Year at The British Press Gazette Awards, and in 2003 was named Sports Columnist of The Year in the Sports Journalism Awards.

Customer Reviews

Superb!!!
This is by far the best book about Liverpool FC that I have ever read. Brian Reade's passion (no, make that obsession) is matched only by his economical, yet extremely powerful way with words. It is frequently 'laugh-out-loud', but is also heartbreaking to the point of actual tears (with good reason too)... If you support Liverpool therefore, or even if you don't, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

The ultimate fans' book
I agree with the other reviewer, Brian Reade writes a compelling book with the rollercoaster of emotions that following Liverpool over decades bring with it. He doesn't shy away from unpleasant truths (blame over Heysel) and neither is he willing to lay down and accept anything less than the real truth over Hillsborough.
This book will make you laugh and it will make you cry. More than anything it will make you proud to be a Scouser. Our inability to be prodded, poked or pigeon-holed and our ability to always see the bright side and the black humour in some awful situations.
Congratulations to Reade on writing a football book which is nothing like some of the saccharine sweet sycophantic scribblings of some of his journalistic contemporaries.
Highly recommended to any football fan or student of late 20th Century social history.

Liverpool love!
I really enjoyed this book. I have read it twice already. Brian Reade is so good at conveying his passion for LFC he could even turn a bluenose red! He takes you through his journey as a Liverpudlian from childhood to present, following the Redmens highs and lows. If you love football and Liverpool you will love this book. It is both heartbreakingly sad (Hillsborough), uplifting(Istanbul) and funny. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.