Defender Julian Dicks is known for his long-term association with West Ham, a club where he made 330 appearances in all competitions, but it is often forgotten that a player regarded as one of the hardest men to ever lace a pair of football boots spent a year at Liverpool between his two spells at the Hammers. The decision to move to Anfield wasn't entirely his own and the left-back could not be blamed for wanting to test himself at one of the biggest clubs in England, but the move was unsuccessful. He recovered from a costly mistake against Everton on his debut, but after Roy Evans - someone who did not rate Dicks - replaced Graeme Souness six months after his arrival, his time on Merseyside was always going to come to a premature end. Dicks managed to earn a return to West Ham and spent the next five years establishing himself as a cult figure at Upton Park, but he won't look back at his time at Liverpool with fond memories.
A degree-educated, dart-throwing, non-smelling sports journalist based in a small Staffordshire town that has just become Floyd Mayweather's answer to the question: "What's the strangest place you have ever visited?"
