Author Archives: FWA News Editor

SWANSEA HAVE ALREADY SPOKEN ABOUT LAUDRUP’S SUCCESSOR

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CHRIS WATHAN of the Western Mail says that planning ahead has been a significant part of the Capital One Cup finalists’ success

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

SOME CLUBS have found it difficult going on impossible to appoint – and keep – the right manager. Swansea City have made the task seem so easy you wonder why others have such problems.

Chris Wathan of the Western Mail has covered the rise and rise of Swansea, from the time they needed to beat Hull City in the final match of 2002/03 to avoid relegation to the Conference to the Capital One Cup final where they will play Bradford City on February 24; the prize for the winners is qualification for the Europa League.

Brian Flynn was the manager when Swansea defeated Hull 4-2 to retain their Football League status. Since then there has been a succession of managers who have each taken the club forward, yet Wathan believes the change of ownership in 2002 was the catalyst for enabling the Swans to proceed and prosper. Wathan said: “If I had to pinpoint a moment that changed Swansea’s fortunes it would be when the club was taken over.”

A group of local businessmen bought out the Australian, Tony Petty, with the Swansea Supporters’ Trust owning 20 per cent of the club. “That model still exists today,” said Wathan. ”Along with keeping their League status, that was a key point. It keeps a connection between the city and the club.”

Since then, Swansea have had five managers – Kenny Jackett, Roberto Martinez, Paulo Sousa, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Laudrup – with chairman Huw Jenkins rewarded for giving them an opportunity to step up.

Wathan said: “Swansea’s philosophy has been – why are clubs so obsessed with giving managers second chances? Why not give them a first chance? Jackett was a number two at Watford and Queens Park Rangers, Swansea was his first senior job and he brought a lot of professionalism to the club. Martinez had never been a manager before and the hand of Roberto is still evident now.

“Paulo Sousa had been in charge at QPR for only six months and although there were criticisms of the job he did, the side still managed the club’s
highest league position for 27 years and came very close to the Championship play-offs. Rodgers had done well at Watford, but was sacked by Reading…it was a gamble but only in the context of knowing which way the board wanted to take the club forward.”

Laudrup was on the market for nine months after he quit Real Mallorca on a point of principle after his assistant Erik Larsen, who now works with him at Swansea, was sacked. Having managed Brondby, Getafe, Spartak Moscow and Mallorca, the Dane was given his chance by Jenkins in the Barclays Premier League.

Wathan said: “They do things with a common-sense approach, a sort of succession planning. They almost know what they want before things reach a crisis point. They had already researched Laudrup and had him lined up before Rodgers left for Liverpool. The process had started and I’ve no doubt they have already thought about what will happen when Laudrup eventually moves on.”

The former Denmark international is doing an exceptional job, Swansea proving that entertaining football can also be successful. “Swansea, being the size of a club that they are, know they cannot rely on a manager being there forever. That’s not being negative or defeatist, it’s a realistic approach which means they can move on easier than those who bury their heads in the sand. “

Wathan said Swansea are “absolutely fantastic” to work with, a sentiment echoed by football writers from English national newspapers who have covered the club this season. “They always say how accommodating the club are and a lot of that comes from the fact many of the players and staff have been there from League Two. They’ve always been open, helpful and friendly to deal with and we all know how difficult it can be at various clubs.”

The press facilities at the Liberty Stadium are first class unlike, Wathan said, their previous home Vetch Field “where you had to lean out of the window to see who was taking a corner.”

To help establish close relationships with the media, there has been a Christmas seven-a-side game between the press and staff. “We have a meal and few drinks afterwards. For one reason or another we haven’t had a game with Michael yet and he’s been teasing us, saying we are running scared and that he’s going to nutmeg everyone.”

Laudrup, one of the few players to have played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, was one of the finest forwards of his generation, winning 104 caps for Denmark in the Eighties and Nineties. “I’ve absolutely no doubt he’ll do what he promised,” said Wathan.
“The games are fun and a good bonding exercise. When Martinez was manager, there was a goalkeeping coach called Iñaki Bergara who, among others, played for Real Sociedad so to score past him was nice. Paulo Sousa, who went to three major finals with Portugal as an attacking midfielder, also played in goal against us, claiming a groin injury.
“That didn’t stop him, on one occasion, becoming rush-goalie, taking everyone on before rounding the keeper to score.
“This sort of thing illustrates the good relationship that has been maintained between the club and the media. Swansea are very much a community club…I did a interview with goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel who has played in Germany and Austria and he said how much he liked the family club atmosphere at Swansea.”

The coming days will be Wathan’s busiest period of the season as the countdown to the Capital One Cup final begins, with supplements, features and back-page leads to take care of. “The Western Mail is a national paper so what we’ll do is not quite to the extent of the South Wales Evening Post which is mainly a Swansea paper, but we’ll certainly have a field day with the final.”

Next season, Swansea are set to be joined by Cardiff City in the Barclays Premier League for the first time. It is a rivalry that could politely be described as intense and Wathan said: “From a journalist’s point of view the Welsh patch is a fantastic one. It would be tremendous for newspapers to have two clubs in the top division even if Swansea fans may be split about this. Some would love to see the clubs playing each other in the Barclays Premier League as it’s never happened before while others prefer Cardiff to be just below them, but it’s hard to see it staying this way because of the way they are playing.”

In March 1978 John Toshack, 28, became the youngest manager in the Football League and under him Swansea rose from the old Fourth Division to the First Division in four years. The team of Dai Davies, Robbie and Leighton James and Alan Curtis finished sixth in their first season in Division One and Wathan said: “I did an article a couple of weeks back speculating that the current team was their greatest of all-time. Toshack’s team played some great football and even led the division for a while, but the way Swansea have done it now…the way they are playing and winning admirers everywhere…this is probably a better achievement. “If they manage a first major trophy in their centenary season it will be difficult to argue against them.”

 

FWA Q&A: TIM RICH

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TIM RICH of The Independent on heroin and incest…interviewing the wrong Kanoute…and a fabulous lunch in the occupied territories

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
I once ran a campsite in France and once worked, very inefficiently, filling bottles of shampoo at a factory where all work stopped for 10 minutes to listen to Simon Bates’ Our Tune.

Most memorable match?
It would be hard to look past the ridiculous Boys Own Story that was the 2005 European Cup final. The singing of You’ll Never Walk Alone at half time when AC Milan were 3-0 up is always mentioned, but equally there were some Liverpool fans who went over to the press box urging us to “give the team hell” for the humiliation they had put them through. I hope they didn’t leave; it was a long way back from the Ataturk to Istanbul.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
It would have to be Zinedine Zidane’s volley to win the 2002 European Cup final – the first I covered – for Real Madrid.

Best stadium?
The sight of St James’ Park on the Newcastle skyline seldom fails to move me, but as a working environment, the Allianz Arena in Munich is hard to beat. As a setting, the one in Braga that is built into the side of a quarry.

…and the worst?
The most disappointing is the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, where Andorra played a couple of dreadful internationals against England. Soulless and, when we were there, soppingly wet.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
I prefer the old tech disasters. I used to cover cricket for the Sunderland Echo who employed a fabulous copytaker and one who was not fabulous and (a major disadvantage for copytaking) a bit deaf. Lines like “with the wicked playing increasingly badly” used to litter my copy.

Biggest mistake?
Describing John Bercow, the current speaker of the House of Commons, as someone who supported the legalisation of heroin and incest when he was chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students. He didn’t, it was one of his predecessors – an error that cost the Southend Evening Echo £20,000 in libel damages.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
No, but during the Africa Cup of Nations in 2004, I carried out an extensive interview in French with Frederic Kanoute only to realise midway through that I was talking to his brother. I became suspicious when his memories of Tottenham were becoming ever more vague.

Most media friendly manager?
Probably Sir Alex Ferguson on the grounds that almost everything he says is a potential back-page lead. Arsene Wenger is the same but is rather more accessible. However, nobody gave press conferences as theatrically as Sir Bobby Robson.

Best ever player?
Steven Gerrard – the antidote to all the cynicism that surrounds modern football.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
For sheer romance the Brazil of 1982, which Alan Hansen says is the best side he has ever faced. The Barcelona side that destroyed Manchester United in two European Cup finals was sensational.

Best pre-match grub?
Manchester City – better than many restaurants.

Best meal had on your travels?
Eight years ago, a little club called Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin became the first Arab team from the Israeli occupied territories to qualify for the UEFA Cup and drew Newcastle in the first round. Three of us, Colin Young from the Daily Mail and Gary Oliver from the Shields Gazette, travelled north from Tel Aviv and were treated to a tour of the ground and a fabulous lunch by the directors. When Manchester United went to Nantes, the city gave the Manchester United press corps a civic banquet, preceded by a football match. Manchester United were prodded into responding and for the return fixture sent the French journalists to Harry Ramsden’s.

…and the worst?
The most bizarre is the combination of cheesecake and chips served up at Old Trafford during the half-time interval.

Best hotel stayed in?
The size and sumptuousness of the suite at the Renaissance in Bangkok during Chelsea’s pre-season tour under Andre Villas-Boas can still raise a smile. I have no idea why it was allocated to me, but they sent out search parties to retrieve my mobile phone when I lost it.

…and the worst?
For the 2007 European Cup final in Athens, Liverpool’s official media hotel was a motel in the hills far away from the Greek capital that overlooked an abattoir. It had no wifi, very little mobile phone reception and an empty swimming pool.

Favourite football writer?
I grew up admiring the late Frank Keating and can still quote verbatim passages from Matthew Engel’s cricket reports in the Guardian. These days the standard is extraordinarily high. Neil Ashton’s account of Roberto di Matteo’s sacking in the Daily Mail read like a novel. I like the way Martin Blackburn works at the sharp edge of football for the Sun without ever losing his integrity. As a combination of a news reporter and a writer there are not many better than Ian Herbert at the Independent, while unless he does something very stupid – which is possible – Rory Smith of the Times will become a real star of our industry.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
John Arlott used to say “I is another”. He never referred to himself in broadcasts and John Murray on Radio Five has the combination of voice, wit and lack of ego that marks him out in that tradition. Martin Tyler and Clive Tyldesley are commentators who understand the value of silence in the way that Richie Benaud and Brian Moore did.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Probably to remind the young men in our industry that not every conversation with a footballer needs to be printed or published on a website.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
An Ashes series in Australia. Bobby Robson always said that when he retired that is where he would go. Sadly, he never did.

Last book read?
Hilary Mantel’s account of the French Revolution: “A Place of Greater Safety”.

Favourite current TV programme?
Stephen Poliakoff’s jazz drama, “Dancing on the Edge” and Coronation Street.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
My only piece of football memorabilia are small framed posters from every French city that staged a match in the 1998 World Cup and in the middle is a ticket for the final.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Find yourself a niche, like Jonathan Wilson has done with tactics and Eastern European football. Learn a language and stand up for yourself. There is only one journalist I have ever heard call Alex Ferguson a liar to his face and he has done it more than once. Neil Custis of the Sun is still alive and still thriving.

FWA Q&A: TONY HUDD

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TONY HUDD on a phantom goal…being mistaken for a murder suspect…and being kept awake by the gold medal winner of horizontal jogging…

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
No. After cutting my journalistic teeth at a sports agency, I was taken on by the Worthing Herald. On  completing my indentures, I moved to the sports desk. Among the clubs I covered was Lancing whose player-manager was Mike Smith, a teacher at Brighton Grammar School. He later managed the Wales national team and Hull City. He taught me so much about the game. I owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.

Most memorable match?
Wembley, May 25, 1988. Charlton beat Sunderland 7-6 on penalties in the Division 1 play-off final. If ever a football match squeezed emotions dry on an afternoon of unparalleled drama.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Gillingham beating Halifax 2-0 in a winner-takes-all match to stay in the Football League in May, 1993. Halifax were subsequently relegated. Pressure is one of the most abused words in the dictionary. That was pressure like I had never experienced.  The match was dripping in tension because had Gillingham lost, Kent would have been without a League club.

Best stadium?
Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid.

…and the worst?
Kenilworth Road home of Luton Town. No self-respecting journalist can do his, or her, job properly when you cannot see one of the goals. Should Luton return to the Football League, the FWA will be knocking on the League’s door requesting significant improvements.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
After writing 1,500 beautifully crafted words on a certain football manager, I pressed the wrong button and lost the lot. Confess that I lost my rag. A colleague who laughed at my misfortune was promptly spread eagled across a desk while others had to restrain me as I attempted to smash other computers. I was disciplined but thankfully kept my job.

Biggest mistake?
In a match report, I included a goal that had been disallowed. Inexcusable I know, but in mitigation I know of many colleagues who have done the same.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Chillingly yes. A murder suspect. In my youth I was camping on a site in Edinburgh where a girl had been found murdered in a tent. All around were an artist’s  impression  of the suspect who was my double. I went to see the police and after being questioned for several hours, friends provided a solid alibi, so I was released. I had long hair, a beard and a moustache at the time. These were removed within minutes  following a trip to a local barber.

Most media friendly manager?
Tony Pulis when he was at Gillingham.  Thursday training days were a dream with Tony offering whichever player you wanted to interview while he always available. The guy is different class and it was a privilege working with him. You just knew he was destined for the top.

Best ever player?
Zinedine Zidane. I was fortunate enough to watch him during his formative years with Cannes and Bordeaux. Whenever I’ve watched him I studied him rather than the game because, for me, he was the complete footballer.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
Tony Pulis’s Gillingham class of 1999. Beautifully balanced. Barcelona from  Cruyff and Guardiola through to the current era. They always move me to the edge of my seat.

Best pre-match grub?
Manchester City.

Best meal had on your travels?
The fish and chip shop immediately outside Grimsby Town’s Blundell Park. Once saw Lennie Lawrence in there. He was Grimsby’s manager at the time. He told me the only reason he took the job was because the local fish and chips were so good. Seriously though, they have to be the best on planet earth.

…and the worst?
I’ve never liked the sandwiches at West Ham. Whoever makes them must have a peculiar sense of taste.

Best hotel stayed in?
The Emperador on Madrid’s Gran Via. Not far from the Bernabeu but far enough. Lovely rooftop swimming pool.

…and the worst?
I was booked into a seedy hotel in the Midlands which was the bolt hole of a certain television hostess who was in the room next door with her boyfriend. The lady’s lungs are phenomenal. She was up all night – and so was I. If “you know what” was ever introduced as an Olympic sport her stamina alone would win her the gold.

Favourite football writer?
The great Patrick Collins.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
The late Brian Moore. I wrote his column and got to know him and his family. He was another I learned from with is insistence on “preparation, preparation, preparation.” Nowadays I like Peter Drury.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
That at the start of each season, representatives of both sides have meaningful dialogue at which the writers could emphasise that we are not a “necessary evil” and resent being treated as such.  We are simply trying to do our job which is becoming harder every season.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The Masters at Augusta.

Last book read?
“Another Way of Winning,”Guillem Balague’s splendid profile of Pep Guardiola.

Favourite current TV programme?
“The Sopranos.”I’m hopelessly addicted, watching repeats of the repeats.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
A picture of me holding the World Cup. It was taken in 1998 during a press junket to France. I travelled in the company of Celtic legend Billy McNeill. We were taken to a press reception in the restaurant halfway up the Eiffel Tower. I was asked if I would like to hold the World Cup ? Would I! I think I’m right in saying these days only winners are permitted to hold the trophy.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Barely a week passes without a perfectly good football writer (national and regional) being shown the door for no other reason than cost. If you’re coming into the business be prepared to multi-task and work all hours that God sends. And even that might not be enough.

Tony Hudd spent  36 years working as the Kent Messenger Group’s chief football writer, covering Gillingham and then Charlton plus England internationals. He now co-presents BBC Radio Kent’s Saturday afternoon sports show and is a member of the FWA’s national committee.

DAVID MEEK EXPLAINS HOW FERGUSON TURNED ‘VILLAIN’ RONALDO INTO A UNITED HERO (and why Cristiano is better than Messi)

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By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

GEORGE BEST remains the number one player in David Meek’s personal Manchester United hall of fame, followed by Eric Cantona. Yet despite having been at Old Trafford for only two years when he wrote the book Manchester United’s Perfect 10, Cristiano Ronaldo – controversially – made the cut.

The Real Madrid striker faces his former club in the Champions League at the Bernabeu on February 13 before making his first return to Old Trafford on March 5. Meek’s selection of Ronaldo received criticism at the time, but the football writer who covered United for the Manchester Evening News from 1958 to 1995 said: “I knew I was taking a bit of a flyer because all the other players were not only of great quality, they helped the club to success over a period of time. I chose Ronaldo because he had such an exceptional talent, was so exciting and made such an early impact that I felt I had to include him.” Meek added with a laugh: “What brilliant judgment that was.”

Ronaldo went on help United win three Barclays Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups, one Champions League and one Club World Cup plus being chosen as the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year twice. Best’s collection of silverware – two First Division winners’ medals and one European Cup – does not reflect his incredible talent but he quit United at 27, an age when a player is usually at his peak. Meek said: “Best was unique…I made Cantona second for the impact he had at United. He was the catalyst for the first championship in 26 years.”

Meek, a life member of the FWA, is confident Ronaldo will receive a warm reception when Real come to Old Trafford though this is mainly due to the persuasive powers of Sir Alex Ferguson who talked the Portugal international into staying for one more season. He said: “Cristiano will get a good reception because he was well managed and advised by Sir Alex. After five years there were rumours flying around about Real Madrid. I think it was mostly his agent getting busy, but Sir Alex told Cristiano ‘if you go now you’ll leave as a villain in the eyes of the fans because they’ll feel you’re letting them down and going too soon. Give it another year and you’ll leave a hero. Not only will you have contributed to something in that year, you’ll have shown a regard for Manchester United that will reflect well on you.’

“It was very shrewd of Sir Alex. You might say he was being selfish and keeping a great player for another year, but his advice was correct and Cristiano is held in high esteem by United fans.”

It took United’s first Portuguese player a while to win the supporters – and manager – over following his £12.24 million transfer from Sporting Lisbon in 2003. Meek said: “He had a rough beginning in the sense the crowd became impatient with him while the media called him a one trick pony and criticised him for being a diver. It was suggested he’d soon be rumbled and cut down to size in the Premier League. He wasn’t an instant success, but by the second year Sir Alex and his coaches had worked on him, telling him not to go down too easily.

“When I first saw him I never thought he would reach the heights he has, but a year or so later it was obvious he was going to go a long way.”

An ongoing problem for Ronaldo is being born in the same era as Lionel Messi, the Barcelona maestro always seeming to pip his rival for the major individual honours and scoring records. If Ronaldo grabs a hat-trick, Messi will score four, but Meek puts the Real player ahead of the Argentina international. He said: “I know I’m biased, but if I had to cast a vote in the head-to-head…while appreciating the tremendous artistry and effectiveness of Messi I would vote for Ronaldo because he’s carrying the Real Madrid team these days and still playing exceptionally well.

“Messi is surrounded by wonderful players such as Andres Iniesta and Xavi. If you’re even half a player you can play a little bit with people like that around you. Ronaldo has to do it more on his own, just as Cantona carried United for a while until the David Beckham era of youngsters matured. Cantona would score the goal in 1-0 wins.”

Having helped Ronaldo become a world star, Ferguson must now devise a plan to minimise the impact of the £80 million superstar. Meek said: “Sir Alex has never really gone in for man-marking. I think he will prefer cover-marking. Assuming Ronaldo plays from the left wing, in young Rafael United have a very quick Brazilian full-back who will feel he can cope with Ronaldo as well as anyone can. Whoever plays on the wing will have to drop pack and support Rafa while when Ronaldo starts roaming he’ll be picked up by the nearest man. If Sir Alex puts a player on him it would pull the United team structure apart. United are more positive than that, they prefer to impose themselves on opponents.”

For Meek, Manchester United v Real Madrid remains the ultimate European matchup. “They may be playing in the shadow of Barcelona, but United v Real excites me more than United v Barcelona. It’s a matter of history. I remember after the Munich Air Crash and it was Real Madrid who offered to play United in a friendly just to keep United in touch with European football. UEFA gave United a sympathy invitation into the European Cup, but the English authorities blocked this.

“As I understand it, the invitation was made by Real president Santiago Bernabeu to Sir Matt Busby. The game went ahead and I remember Real were awarded a penalty which they didn’t feel was justified. Alfredo di Stefano put the ball down for the penalty and deliberately kicked it over the bar. My respect for Real lingers on.”

For many, the most memorable match between the clubs was the 1967/68 European Cup semi-final second leg in Madrid when Bill Foulkes scored the winner. While Foulkes was one of the most reliable defenders United have had, in a career spanning 688 matches he scored just nine goals.

Meek said: “I asked Bill what he was doing upfield and even he doesn’t know. He just felt something drew him forward. Bill told me when Best stole away down the wing, looked across and saw who it was arriving in the Real penalty area he said to himself ‘he’ll never pass the ball to me.’” But Best did and Foulkes scored with a right foot shot to send United to the final where they defeated Benfica.

Maybe it will be Rio Ferdinand’s turn to grab an unlikely headline with his seventh goal for United in 11 years, but the Barclays Premier League leaders go into the two Champions League ties in better form than Real, who are in turmoil on and off the pitch. “United will be quietly confident they can give Real a surprise,” said Meek, who continues to collaborate with Sir Alex for the manager’s programme notes which he has done since the Scot took charge at Old Trafford.

“I enjoy doing this because he always has something to say. It’s 1,000 words now and a bit more than welcoming the directors, manager, players and fans of the visiting team. I take it as a compliment that extracts from his column are lifted as quotes by the national press. I regard that as the barometer as whether they are interesting or not.”

A TRUE PROFESSIONAL WITH A PASSION FOR HIS CRAFT (who never changed his accent)

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By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

Sir Alex Ferguson was one of many who paid tribute to Malcolm Brodie MBE, a life member of the Football Writers’ Association, whose funeral was held at Cregagh Presbyterian Church in Belfast yesterday.

The former sports editor of the Belfast Telegraph covered a record 14 World Cup finals and did not miss a Northern Ireland match – home or away – from 1946 to 2009.

Originally from Scotland, Brodie was evacuated during the Second World War from Glasgow to Portadown, Co Armagh, where he began his career in journalism.

Sir Alex said: “Malcolm was a great friend and always good value in terms of his opinion. He was straight talking and one thing I always admired about him, he never changed his accent, which is very difficult living in a place like Belfast.”

Former Northern Ireland internationals Harry Gregg and Pat Jennings were among the mourners.

Gregg, who called Brodie “The Godfather,” said: “Without being disrespectful to the modern sports journalist, Malcolm was the last one of those great trusted reporters. A true professional with a real passion for his craft. I’ll always be grateful for knowing Malcolm the human being.

“He was six years older than me and would have taken a close interest in my career since I was a Coleraine lad breaking through into the Northern Ireland schoolboy side around 1947/48. He had an unbelievable memory and friends right across the world. There was no subject Malcolm could not talk about. I was really glad I got to know Malcolm and spend time with him because he was simply a great human being.”

Jennings won 119 caps for Northern Ireland and Brodie covered every one. He said: “There was nobody who could touch him for what he did in soccer in Northern Ireland. When I was a kid I used to read what Malcolm was writing about in the Belfast Telegraph. As players we always wanted to read what he was writing because we all respected him so much.”

Billy Bingham, a player at the 1958 World Cup finals and the manager in the Eighties, claimed Brodie was like one of the team. He said: “Malcolm was always very supportive to me when I was a player and when I was a manager. When you are a manager you always need all the support you can get from good people and thankfully Malcolm provided it. We went through some rocky times before the good times came with the World Cups in 1982 and 1986 and I’ll always be grateful for the support myself and the team received from Malcolm.

“He was a man that the Northern Ireland public listened to. The 1982 and 1986 World Cups were fantastic experiences and it was great to have Malcolm there with us. He was just like one of the team. He really was. That’s how I saw it and the players would say the same. I remember him being so happy that the Northern Ireland team had qualified for the 1982 finals because it was the first time we did it since 1958 and of course he had covered that.”

Jim Gracey, the Belfast Telegraph sports editor said: “He was sharp, incisive, fiercely competitive, unerringly accurate and his credibility was beyond question.”

Brodie is survived by his widow Margaret and three sons Ian, Stephen and Kenneth.

FWA Q&A: Neil Harman

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NEIL HARMAN on chatting with Sir Matt…Contemplation Point…and wonderful Fox pies

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
If you count marking up the newspapers for delivery as a 14-year-old in Leigh-on-Sea and then doing shifts before and after school behind the counter in the same local newsagents, I suppose that’s my only other profession. I left school at 16 and joining the Evening Echo, based in Basildon as a junior sports reporter and from there it has been journalism all the way.

Most memorable match?
Undoubtedly, Liverpool 4, Newcastle United 3 at Anfield on April 3, 1996 Absolutely the most remarkable match, full of adventure whose climax, the stunner by Stan Collymore, who wheeled away towards the Kop, was symptomatic of the match as a whole, a one-touch, two-touch passing move of the rarest quality.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
My conversation with Sir Matt Busby at Billy McNeill’s home in Manchester in 1990. I’d been invited to Billy’s 50th birthday and was second to arrive. Billy introduced me to Sir Matt and we had 15 minutes seated on the sofa together talking football before the room started filling up. I was a little awestruck and managed to keep the conversation going. He said ‘nice to talk to you Neil’ when it was over.

Best stadium?
For atmosphere, intimacy, the closeness of the press box to the pitch, the people and the thrill, it has to be Anfield. A real football stadium. It never disappointed.

…and the worst?
It’s probably the Southendian in me, but I loathed Layer Road, Colchester.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Actually, I survived all right (even sheltering under my desk in Izmir, Turkey in 1991, trying to keep the couplers attached to the to ends of the phone so that my Tandy would operate) but sitting next to Steve Curry of the Express in the back row of the press box at Elland Road after the famous Kevin Keegan outburst in 1996 took some beating. It was a night of high emotion, we were all re-writing quickly and Martin Lipton, now the Mirror chief football writer and then of the Press Association, raced up to the box, tripped over Steve’s electricity cables, which were dragged out of the socket and all of his words disappeared from the screen just as he was about to press ‘Send’. It is safe to say that Mr Curry was not a happy bunny. If memory serves me write he had to ad-lib (I hope younger journalists know what that means).

Biggest mistake?
Thinking that I could keep doing the job the way I had always believed it should be done when a certain regime took over at the Daily Mail in the late 1990s – and hoping that some of my colleagues on the paper at that time would stand up for what was right, rather than what was expedient. I left.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
I was a 17-year-old junior reporter attending a primary school in Billericay to write a story on Mervyn Day, the former West Ham and Orient goalkeeper meeting the kids and when I arrived before he did, most of them thought I was him.

Most media friendly manager?
Ron Atkinson

Best ever player?
My parents used to be season ticket holders at Upton Park and when they took me along, I idolised Bobby Moore. Getting to know him was one of the greatest satisfactions of my life.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
Real Madrid of the early 1960s and the Brazilians who won the 1970 World Cup.

Best pre-match grub?
It was all much of a muchness in my day, but I do recall that Bill Fox, when he was Blackburn chairman, allowed the press into the boardroom before matches at the old Ewood Park and their pies were bloody wonderful.

Best meal had on your travels?
During the 1992 European Championship in Sweden; Colin Gibson of the Daily Telegraph, Steve Curry of the Express, Harry Harris of the Mirror, and I stayed at a hotel in the middle of nowhere away from the rest of the England media throng, which had its own lake and we ate the fish they caught from it every night. Stunning cuisine. They had a wooden boat which we used to take in turns to row to the middle of the lake in the evening. We called it Contemplation Point.

…and the worst?
One motorway greasy spoon is hard to differentiate from another, but I’ve had my fair share of those on late, late match nights

Best hotel stayed in?
I loved the Stenungsbaden Yacht Club just outside Gothenburg, for the aforementioned 1992 Europeans (another Gibson triumph). It happened to be the same hotel that the Danish team was in before the final and we made great friends with their manager, Richard Moller-Nielsen, much to the chagrin of the Denmark press corps.

…and the worst?
The hotel wasn’t the worst but sharing with Alan Thompson of the Express on a Cup-Winners’ Cup trip with Bangor City to Madrid in 1985 was an unforgettably awful experience. He sat up most of the night smoking Capstan Full Strength and sipping brandy. I didn’t get a wink of sleep. I loved Tommo though, what a character.

Favourite football writer?
Across the years, Geoffrey Green of The Times, Alan Hoby of the Sunday Express, Jeff Powell (the best match reporter of all) Jeff Farmer and Peter Johnson of the Daily Mail, David Lacey and Daniel Taylor on the Guardian.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Difficult to pick one, I loved the velvety tones of Peter Jones and Bryon Butler on BBC Radio and Mike Ingham continues that tradition; David Coleman and John Motson on the television. So many voices today sound exactly the same to me.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
I don’t cover that much football these days, but it strikes me that a loosening of the PR strings is what is required. We could mix and mingle with the players in my day and I know that’s tough with the 24-hour Sky Sports News types to cater for, but only when the press and the players develop a sense of trust and mutual appreciation can the real stories be told. Otherwise, it’s simply PR dross.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The Masters in Augusta.

Last book read?
The Seven Deadly Sins, My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by David Walsh of the Sunday Times on the doping in cycling. A page turner. Brilliant work by a brilliant writer.

Favourite current TV programme?
I’m a bit of an old sentimentalist. I love Call The Midwife

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I have a menu from the Anglo-American Sporting Club which must have been circa 1970-71, signed by Bobby Moore, Alan Mullery, Terry Venables and Colin Bell among others. A treasure for a 13 year old kid.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Try to remain true to yourself, write with honesty, have an opinion, forge relationships, maintain your enthusiasm even in the most trying or circumstances. Never let the bastards grind you down.

Neil Harman was the Daily Mail chief football writer from 1990-97 and also wrote on football in the Mail’s Manchester office in the early 80s having started on the Southend Evening Echo and moving to the Birmingham Evening Mail. He was the Mail’s tennis correspondent from 1986-90 and has been in the same position at the Sunday Telegraph and at The Times, since 2002.

I DON’T LIKE CRITICS, OH NO

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28

Don’t you walk thru my words
You got to show some respect*

By JIM WHITE

IF EVER I am feeling a little too pleased with myself, whenever I think that I might have the answer, on the occasions I smugly reckon I have hit the nail right on the head, I have a simple method of pricking my own pomposity: I check out the comments under any piece I have written on the internet. Then I realise that I am, in fact, a worthless illiterate moron with an agenda bigger than Clarence Seedorf’s rear end who should never be employed writing about football again. The other day, beneath a piece I was reasonably pleased with, the first comment was succinct in its analysis: “another ten minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Why anyone pays this jerk for his opinions is one of the great mysteries of life.” And that was one of the more positive comments.

I can at least take comfort that I’m not the only one. Even the most distinguished of our trade are routinely beasted in the comments section. Martin Samuel, Paul Hayward, Patrick Collins: all of them are apparently idiots. I was recently enjoying a piece by Richard Williams which was so brilliantly argued and beautifully composed it should have been immediately placed at the centre of the curriculum of any university journalism course. And the first comment? “Another load of manure from the world’s most boring man. The sooner he retires the better.”

It is everywhere this vituperation. Broadsheet and tabloid, liberal and conservative outlet, every football writer is routinely soaked in vitriol. John Cross wrote a piece on the Mirror website a couple of weeks back saying that he understood Southampton’s owner Nicola Cortese was on the brink of sacking Nigel Adkins and was going to appoint Mauricio Pochettino in his stead. The first three comments under the item were instructive:

“What an absolute piece of garbage story,” read the first.

The second was: “The Mirror understands how to make up stories to make us laugh. Saints fans understand the Mirror is changing hands and that Nicola Cortese is to be appointed consultant to the new board who are about to clean out and clean up the rag. I wonder which story has any truth?”

While the third patrolled new frontiers of literacy to inform us that: “whoever wrot this is a f**k wit haha”.

The truth is whoever wrote this is a first class journalist with first class sources who had provided readers with a first class story. As was evidenced by the turn of events of the very next day.

But the commentators were not interested in such niceties as the truth or accuracy of Cross’s story. All they wanted to do was soak him in verbal ordure. And this is a rough summary of what any football journalist can expect the moment they venture into print these days. Or indeed on to the airwaves.

As Stan Collymore has long been aware. He was obliged recently to defend himself from sneerers on Twitter who had attacked him for being an ex-pro who didn’t go to university. What does he know about journalism? In his very cogently argued riposte, he pointed out how much hard-working pundits like him and Gary Neville bring to our understanding of the game. You wonder, though, whether any of those attacking him would have bothered to listen. They were probably too busy trolling Henry Winter for being a non ex-pro who did go to university. What does a snooty chap like him know about the working man’s game?

Of course, we have long known that Twitter and the comments section of any newspaper website are these days simply an extension of care in the community. They are the province of the goggle-eyed, providing an instant electronic reservoir of green ink for the socially unreliable.

The football section, however, does seem consistently to be the most hate-filled and ugly. And that, given what can be found under any item by Julie Burchill, is saying something. Football writing, it seems, has come to be regarded as an extension of the game, and football writers reckoned to be legitimate targets for the same kind of raw, personalised haranguing to which footballers are now routinely subject. It makes me wonder, perusing what passes for debate in the comments section: has there ever been a time like it?

*With apologies to 10CC’s Dreadlock Holiday