"Funny as well as insightful" Jamie Carragher, LFC   "A brilliant read. Funny, poignant, opinionated" Tony Barrett, The Times   "An essential purchase for all LFC fans" Chris Bascombe, Daily Telegraph

 

Read extracts from 'The King's Last Stand' Extract 1 Extract 2 Extract 3

 

'The King's Last Stand' by Dave Usher charts The Reds' first full season back under the management of the legendary Kenny Dalglish. Written largely contemporaneously and collecting Usher's infamous football round ups and insightful match reports, this account follows the ups and downs of The King's return to the club that defined him and displays all the wit and perceptive analysis that categorises Dave's work.

From the optimism of pre-season, through the ever-diminishing hopes of an increasingly disappointing campaign to the final decision by FSG to dispense with Dalglish's services, this book covers every Red-related moment of the 2011/2012 season, including a particularly thought-provoking - as well as coruscating - chapter on the Suarez/Evra debacle. "The King's Last Stand" is the definitive account of the Return of the King to his spiritual home and as such will be appreciated by both Reds and other football fans alike.

 

What they say about 'The King's Last Stand'

 

"I've been reading Dave's work in 'The Liverpool Way' fanzine since the treble season in 2001. He writes with passion, honesty and humour and doesn't take himself too seriously. This book displays all of these qualities that have made the fanzine such an interesting read for so many years. Funny and insightful."

Jamie Carragher, Liverpool FC

"Few writers capture the unique humour, sense of hope and relenting frustration felt by Liverpool supporters quite like Dave Usher. His is an authoritative voice on all matters Red, a point of contact for anyone who wants to truly understand the soul of this great club."

Sachin Nakrani, The Guardian

"A brilliant read. Funny, poignant, opinionated and honest, this is the story of Kenny Dalglish's dramatic final season as Liverpool manager as told by a writer at the top of his game. A must read for any Liverpool fan."

Tony Barrett, The Times

"There are two Liverpool writers outside of the mainstream Press whose wit, insight and genuine independence continues to make them enlightening and entertaining reading. Alongside the pioneering Steve Kelly of 'Through The Wind and Rain', Dave Usher of 'The Liverpool Way' has been expertly capturing the mood at Anfield for over decade. That's why this book, just like the fanzine itself, is an essential purchase for all Liverpool supporters."

Chris Bascombe, Daily Telegraph

"Dave Usher's hilarious no-holds-barred account of Liverpool's cup-winning season is essential reading for all Reds fans. Brilliant stuff."

Ben Thornley, Daily Post

 

"IN all the millions of words expended on football, surprisingly few convey how it truly feels to make an emotional investment in your team, to understand how that commitment really does make it YOUR team. Nick Hornby was the first to offer that insight, but from a sanitised, middle-class perspective. Now Dave Usher has arrived with his searching examination of what it is like to live and breathe Liverpool Football Club in one of the most dramatic seasons in the club's turbulent recent history. This is an entertaining read, funny and furious, enlightening and energetic. Most of all though, it is a brutally honest account of a year that will go down in the history of this great club, from a man who is perhaps the best writer to emerge from the city in the last decade. Forget Hornby and his Islington wine bar perspective, this is the book true football fans should read."

David Maddock, Daily Mirror

"The match reports on 'The Liverpool Way' website are something I always look forward to. Dave Usher not only lives and breathes Liverpool FC, but added to his obvious knowledge of the Reds from Anfield is an eye for detail, understanding of the game and sense of humour. A mix of quality and wit, and with no censorship, it makes for captivating reading. For the fan, by a fan that has the ability to put the view of the terraces into words. A must read for any Red."

Torbjorn Flatin, The Kopite

"From the lows of endless home draws to the relief of a Wembley Cup final win. From hating players who put their first names on the back of the shirt to declaring a never ending love of Steve Kean. From the weekly frustration of not knowing Norwich City's goalscorer to the weekly frustration of there not being a Liverpool goalscorer. Unlike Liverpool's forward line Dave Usher doesn't miss a thing in this highly entertaining, gripping and most of all funny account of the rollercoaster ride that was the 2011/2012 season."

Pete Schulz, TV2 Sport, Denmark

 

The King's Last Stand is available in paperback (£10), digital (£6) and is also available in kindle format on Amazon (£6).

To order your copy from our online store, click here.

For all enquiries contact dave@liverpoolway.co.uk