Dave Simpson is a Guardian journalist who writes mainly on music. His first book, The Fallen, was a monumental quest to track down everyone who had ever played in Mark E Smith's legendary band.

Living in Yorkshire, he has supported Leeds since the early 1970s, which has brought about a small amount of pleasure and a great amount of pain. He also wrote for the LeedsLeedsLeeds magazine which documented United's rise and mostly fall from 1998 to 2011.