Men in White Suits

Men in White Suits

Liverpool FC in the 1990s - The Players' Stories

Summary

In Men in White Suits, Simon Hughes meets some of the most colourful characters to have played for Liverpool Football Club during the 1990s.

The resulting interviews, set against the historical backdrop of both the club and the city, deliver a rich portrait of life at Anfield during a decade when on-field frustrations were symptomatic of off-the-field mismanagement and ill-discipline.

After the shock resignation of Dalglish and Graeme Souness's ill-fated reign, the Reds – under the stewardship of Roy Evans – displayed a breathtaking style led by a supremely talented young group of British players whose names featured as regularly on the front pages of the tabloids as they did on the back. The Daily Mail was the first newspaper to tag Evans’s team as the Spice Boys.

Yet despite their flaws, this was a rare group of individuals: mavericks, playboys, goal-scorers and luckless defenders. Wearing off-white Armani suits, their confident personalities were exemplified in their pre-match walk around Wembley before the 1996 FA Cup final (a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United).

In stark contrast to the media-coached, on-message interviews given by today’s top stars, the blunt, ribald and sometimes cutting recollections of the footballers featured in Men in White Suits provide a rare insight into this fascinating era in Liverpool’s long and illustrious history.

Reviews

  • The best Liverpool author around, investigating one of the most enduring questions in British club football: why Liverpool, imperious for so long, so abruptly and completely stopped winning titles from the 1990s. That is some combination. A captivating book which is essential reading for all fans of the game, whether Liverpool supporters or not.
    Ian Herbert, Chief Sportswriter, The Independent

About the author

Simon Hughes

Simon Hughes is a journalist and author. He covers Merseyside football for the Independent and has written for the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph. His book Red Machine won the Antonio Ghirelli Prize for Italian Soccer Foreign Book of the Year 2014. His other titles include Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout, Men in White Suits and Ring of Fire. He lives in Liverpool.
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