Category Archives: Features

FWA Q&A: Neil Moxley

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NEIL MOXLEY of the Daily Mail on failing to tell Karren Brady where to go…a punch-up over Norah Jones…and champagne with Peter Reid

Your first ever newspaper?
Solihull Times. I had match reports printed before then. I still have the clipping from the Daily Star report, Birmingham City 2 Hartlepool 1 from c. 1990 written under the watchful eye of John Curtis, from the Press Association, bless him. John is now 55 years old and dyes his hair. I hope I get that far.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
Through college, I did loads of jobs, mainly involving bar-work. I was a sleeping partner in a printing firm. The recession has done for that, though.

What was your finest achievement playing football?
Playing alongside Coventry City’s Steve Sedgley for Birmingham County’s Under-18s side. I wasn’t bad, I could run all day. (Twenty-five years ago)

Most memorable match covered?
Despite my Midlands’ experience, probably the Sunderland v Charlton play-off final in 1998. It had everything.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Me, horribly hungover, wearing an Aston Villa strip, standing in a field in the middle of Sweden, c. 1996. A press game in which I was anchoring (!) a midfield which boasted Trevor Brooking, (ex-England, brilliant) Nigel Kennedy, (internationally-acclaimed violinist, utterly useless) and a Villa fan called Trevor. (decent, man-mountain) myself and the Birmingham Mail’s Birmingham City correspondent Colin Tattum had stupidly been involved in a mass brawl during a Sunday League match with Trevor’s team four days previously. Unknown to me, he’s a Villa fan. Then he turns up in a dressing-room in Helsingborg. Honestly, he was a huge bloke. I saw him and thought: “Here we go….” Only in football…

Best stadium?
Alliance Arena just pips the Emirates – because you can park there.

…and the worst?
Springfield Park, Wigan. Flea-pit. I fell over on the grass bank in the away end once. Not happy. It was a match in December. I went home covered in mud.

Your best-ever scoop.
Not for me to say, but….I liked the one about Derby’s players being asked to give evidence about George Burley’s drinking habits as the power-brokers attempted to lever him out of Pride Park. I know it was a good one as Neil Custis from the Sun still congratulates me on it.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Not filing first time at the Aston Villa v Birmingham City derby match in March 2003 because I couldn’t get a line. The office took wire copy. Never mind, there was only a head-butt, two sending-offs, a career-threatening injury and all hell breaking loose at Villa Park.

Biggest mistake?
Not telling Karren Brady just where to go on the numerous occasions she phoned me to tell me how much money she was going to take off me for a variety of stories she didn’t like. She never did.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Mr Tumble, Justin Fletcher off CBeebies. My brother thinks that’s hilarious.

Most media friendly manager?
Steve Bruce was always helpful, although very capable of dishing out the odd tongue-lashing. But Peter Reid remains brilliant. He spotted me and a group of pals in the Tall Trees in Yarm once and sent over two bottles of bubbly. That went down well. Then he spotted me in Yarm 85 with my girlfriend at the time, and sent over a bottle of wine. Then….well, you get the picture. Honestly, I spent two wonderful seasons watching Sunderland half-cut. As did Reidy, to be fair….

Best-ever player?
Trevor Francis. Gary Rowett, then of Leicester, stopped for a chat at Belvoir Drive one day. He sent his regards to TF who was managing Birmingham at the time with the words: ‘Tell him he’s still the best finisher at the club.” Francis was about 50 years old at the time. Apart from that, Christophe Dugarry. His performance in a game against Southampton in 2003 still sends shivers down the spine. As Gordon Strachan pointed out afterwards, he operated on another planet to anyone else that day.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
I really liked Manchester United’s double-winning team of 1994. It had a wonderful balance. And AC Milan’s vintage of the same year would have given Barcelona of today a decent game.

Best pre-match grub?
If I wasn’t driving home, Manchester City. I’ll say Chelsea for the food. Outstanding. Arsenal again beaten into third with Villa a close fourth.

Best meal had on your travels?
One overlooking Lake Zurich with Janine Self, (then of the Sun) David Moore, (Mirror) and John Wragg. (Express) I have no idea of the name of the restaurant.

…and the worst?
A delightful meal in Brittany with Villa which was ruined by two unnamed journalists almost coming to blows over the relative merits of Norah Jones. I kid ye not.

Best hotel stayed in?
I think it was the Palace of the Golden Horses in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. It was helped by the fact that Chelsea, Newcastle and Birmingham all stayed there for the Asia Cup.

…and the worst?
Hotel number two in Lovech, Bulgaria. Villa commandeered hotel number one. Richard Gibson, from the Press Association, almost got himself beaten up for attempting to drink a bottle of water the hotel staff said he couldn’t have.

Favourite football writer?
I’ll leave the Sunday Supplement crew alone. The ones I like, I’ve told to their faces. I’ve more time for the scufflers who provide the pontificators with their platforms. But then, I would say that, wouldn’t I?

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Martin Tyler. Consistently strikes the right tone. Sorry, I don’t like live football on radio. I appreciate the benefit of immediacy, but I still think the game is essentially a visual spectacle.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
You are media managers. We will write about your club, like it or not. Why not shape the news how you want it, instead of keeping us at arms’ length? It’s madness.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
Australia v England, SCG, Boxing Day. Done Rangers v Celtic thanks to Alex McLeish and former Rangers’ chief executive Martin Bain.

Last book read?
‘Up Pohnpei’ by Paul Watson. An attempt by to find the real soul of football. Genuine idea, neatly written. Enjoyable.

Favourite current TV programme?
I’ve got a bizarre fascination with ‘Wheeler Dealers’ at the moment. Other than that, ‘Homeland’ by a country mile.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
Everton legend Dixie Dean’s autograph. He signed a Football Writers’ menu for my father in 1976. It’s framed on my wall. A collector said it was the only one he’d ever seen and offered me £750. Assuming I don’t fall on hard times and I need the cash, I’d like to leave it to the club if it’s the only one about. Failing that, I also have a programme from one of Randolph Turpin’s last fights on home soil before he fought Sugar Ray Robinson. The Leamington Spa boy up against Jan de Bruin at the Coventry Butts Arena in 1951 two months before he won the world title against Robinson in London. Really pleased to have that in my possession. Turpin’s is a great – but very sad – story.

Advice to any would-be football writer?
I read Rob Shepherd’s advice [which was ‘go into television’] and he’s beaten me to the punchline. Otherwise contacts, contacts, contacts. Finding people to talk honestly about what’s really going on behind-the-scenes is worth its’ weight in gold.

I would have loved to referee El Clásico – Graham Poll

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By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

Nothing, we are told, can ever be guaranteed in football but it can be said with absolute confidence that the next el clásico matchup of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid on Saturday will see the good, the bad and the ugly of what Pele called the beautiful game. Boring it will not be. Maybe, just maybe it will be 0-0 but football writers covering the game will not be struggling to fill their allocated wordage or searching for an angle, not with a game involving most of the 10 best players in the world and the two most high profile coaches are involved.

There have been many great rivalries in football over the years but surely nothing beats the current series between Barca and Real. For excitement, drama, theatre, the quality of the football and the inevitable raw edge that goes with Mourinho v Guardiola, these games are unmissable for any football lover.

Saturday’s el clásico has not so much been pencilled in Graham Poll’s television calendar – “it’s been inked in,” said the former FIFA referee who, like a worldwide TV audience, is counting the days to Saturday’s 11th instalment of the Special One against the Cultured One.

During his two seasons in charge of Real, Mourinho has faced Guardiola’s Barcelona 10 times. Mourinho has won only one clásico – last season’s Copa del Rey final. In the 10 matches so far Barca have scored 21 goals to Real’s 11. Real lead 7-2 on red cards and 47-29 on cautions. Perhaps surprisingly Pepe, who many see as the snarling face of Mourinho’s Madrid, has been sent-off only once, collecting six yellow cards.

Alberto Undiano Mallenco, 39, a part-time sociologist, will referee his sixth clásico in the Nou Camp but this time there will be no pre-match pressure on the official from Mourinho who has decided to hold no more press conferences this season apart from Champions League ties where UEFA regulations stipulate a coach’s appearance.

Poll admitted he would have loved to have taken charge of el clásico even though the referee is on a hiding to nothing. He believes Undiano Mallenco must ignore the hype and the likelihood of being blamed by the losing side for their defeat as he prepares for what is arguably the biggest domestic game in world football.

“You cannot think that way,” said Poll who writes regularly on refereeing in the Daily Mail. “You cannot enter a cauldron like the Nou Camp thinking ‘I know I’ll upset someone.’ As the referee, what you know is that you will make a mistake. You hope it is not pivotal with people arguing the game went that way because of the referee.”

Controversy goes hand-in-hand with el clásico, more so since Mourinho – Why Always Mou? – became involved.

“You go out to do your best, to be as fair as you can be and perhaps most important of all remain calm, not becoming drawn into the el clásico atmosphere. In all probability something will happen, a big decision will have to be made and you have to ensure you are calm and dignified. If you are and anything becomes controversial then it will because of Mourinho’s or Guardiola’s actions, not yours.”

Poll refereed his first game at the Nou Camp in 2003, a Champions League quarter-final second leg between Barca and Juventus which the Italian club won after extra-time. It also proved to be his last game in the Catalan capital though reasons for this are never given.

He said: “I used to referee between eight and 10 Champions League games a season, mainly in Spain, Italy and Germany. To only go to one of the major teams once is very unusual.”

Like just about every referee, Poll had his run-ins with Mourinho who recently hinted at a conspiracy theory that means Real Madrid and Chelsea will not reach the Champions League final. The Portuguese said: “I don’t think it will be Real v Chelsea. It could be Bayern or Barcelona, I just don’t think it will be Real Madrid v Chelsea and you know why.”

Poll said: “I don’t think he really believes that. It’s what he puts across as part of his mind games. This way he thinks people will want to be seen not to be getting at him and might favour him. It’s all about reverse psychology.

“When he was new on the scene maybe this sort of thing had an effect. Mourinho was looked upon as a high profile media figure who was very influential but because of all the shenanigans that have surrounded him he is no longer seen in the same way. For someone who has been so successful, winning trophies in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain the level of dislike and distrust of the man is incredible.

“People may not always like the way Sir Alex Ferguson does certain things but there is always a respect for his record and rightly so because it’s fantastic. Mourinho’s won titles and Champions Leagues across four countries, his record is phenomenal but he does not command the respect that should go with such achievements.”

Undiano Mallenco will lead out the teams in the Nou Camp and Poll calls his appointment “a massive honour.” He said: “I refereed a lot of big games but if I were still active I’d love the challenge of el clásico. People might say ‘you must be mad, why would you put yourself through that?’ It’s because this is the biggest of games. You know there will be incidents and controversy but you have to be confident, maybe arrogant enough to believe people won’t be talking about you at the end of the match unless they say ‘he handled it well.’”

While criticised for not punishing Wayne Rooney for using abusive language – looking back Poll accepts he should have done more than just warn the England international – the Tring official won praise for the way he handled the potentially explosive Barclays Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester United in February 2005. Poll awarded numerous free-kicks in the opening 10 minutes to ensure tackles did not start flying in. Though Mikael Silvestre was sent-off for butting Freddie Ljungberg in the 69th minute and six players were cautioned, the game passed off without serious incident or controversy as United won 4-2.

Poll said: “The reason I closed the Arsenal/United game down early on was because it came in the wake of the Pizzagate game at Old Trafford, there was clearly a hangover from that because of the way Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira behaved in the tunnel at Highbury. Therefore the game needed tight management.

“If I were in charge at the Nou Camp that would be my game plan to start with but having said that you must be prepared to change this. For instance, if Barcelona have possession for the first two or three minutes and stroke the ball around as they can then there would be nothing to close down.”

There is every chance of that being the case because in the Guardiola v Mourinho clásicos Barca have enjoyed an average of 65 per cent possession.

Real go into Saturday’s game with a four point lead over Barcelona, both clubs having won on Saturday night. After the match at the Nou Camp there will be four more Primera Liga games remaining so if Barca are to have any hope of retaining their Spanish title they must beat Real. For personal bragging rights Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are neck-and-neck for the coveted pichichi trophy awarded to the league’s top goalscorer – both have 41 goals so far.

The stakes are always high when Spain’s heavyweights clash but this is not so much a clásico but a superclásico.

My Week: Nick Szczepanik

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NICK SZCZEPANIK on playing with Pele…fish on the field…and trying to be banned by a club (and failing)

Monday April 2
The Guardian asked me for a 700-word obituary of Giorgio Chinaglia, the former Lazio and New York Cosmos goalscorer, for their website. Before long, I was asking if I could go up to 1,000 words – with reasonable optimism as, let’s face it, you’re in trouble if a website tells you they’re short of space – after delving into Chinaglia’s fascinating character and career. He went from Tuscany to the USA via Swansea and Lazio, and ended up playing with Pele. Or, as he put it with characteristic modesty, Pele played with him.

He was arguably the first European star to move to the US at the height of his powers rather than when past his best, and he had the arrogance and self-belief to succeed anywhere. I remembered that I’d once seen him play and, being a sad statto who never throws anything away, even managed to dig out the programme: California Surf v New York Cosmos at the Anaheim Stadium, May 1980. The Cosmos won 4-1 without breaking sweat, if I remember correctly, and the teamsheet makes it clear why – alongside Chinaglia in their team were Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Neeskens, while the Surf were a collection of former Crystal Palace and Charlton reserves.

Needless to say, the Chinaglia piece had to be turned round quickly, but I’m also usually working at a more leisurely pace on some obits in advance so that they’re ready to go when the subject sees the grim reaper holding up his number on the touchline. In football terms, that means older or retired managers and ex-players. I read an uncredited obituary of Sir Bobby Robson that seemed familiar and eventually realised that it was because I’d written most of it, back in the 1990s.

What makes the process easier and more interesting these days is the availability of video of a subject on YouTube, either in action or being interviewed. Somewhere out there in cyberspace I found a clip of Bert Williams MBE, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers and England goalkeeper, delivering an anecdote about a man and his son approaching him in the street a few years ago, when he was well into his 70s. The man said: “Look son, it’s Bert Williams, goalie for the Wolves.” The son looked him up and down and replied: “No wonder they’re bottom of the league.”

The daughter of a distinguished former manager is the friend of a friend, and I needed some information about her dad for a stock obit, so I called her up. I thought I was being very subtle, explaining that I was doing ‘a profile’ of him, but she caught on immediately. “An obituary, is it?” she said. She was fine about it. As she said at the time, it’s better to get it right while a relative is still alive and kicking than open the paper after their death and find that an obituary contains factual errors.

Being young and fit doesn’t make you invulnerable, of course, as the cases of Fabrice Muamba and, tragically, Gary Speed, have shown. Nobody saw Speed’s death coming, but obituaries are sometimes prepared of current athletes when they experience health scares. The majority of them will probably recover fully and outlive me by many years, but although I won’t get to see the obit in print, at least the money is paid up front. I began working on one of those last week – the story of a 31-year-old international with a major foreign club who is in hospital for the second time in a year.

Tuesday April 3
Man cannot live by football alone, especially if he’s freelance. As some people know, I’m a fan of some American sports, and the baseball season got under way in earnest on Wednesday when my team, the Miami Marlins, hosted the World Series champion St Louis Cardinals in the first regular season game in their new ballpark (UK English in future – Ed).

A paper was interested in the story, but the angle they liked was not the team’s name change (from Florida to Miami), their new uniforms (no longer an elegant teal, silver and black but a hideous blend of orange, lemon and blue) or their acquisitions of shortstop Jose Reyes, pitchers Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell and colourful manager Ozzie Guillen. No, it was the two 20-foot-long fish tanks behind home plate in the new $515m stadium. Animal rights protesters are worried that the hundred or so tropical fish will be disturbed by vibrations from a cheering capacity crowd (not previously much of a danger at Marlins home games) reacting to the team hitting a home run (ditto).

A 97mph fastball is no problem, according to the manufacturers, who have tested the tanks to destruction, but that didn’t stop a player revealing that the pros’ concern, as ever, is more with optimum field conditions than animal welfare After a pre-season friendly, Nick Swisher of the visiting New York Yankees said: “If those things broke, it would be the worst thing ever. Can you imagine all those fish on the field?”

Wed Apr 4
A friend from Spain, a blogger and broadcaster, was in town for a few days’ holiday so I took him along to Gus Poyet’s press conference ahead of Brighton’s Good Friday trip to Burnley. He’s also been a good source of knowledge of football in Madrid as well as a help if I need some translation from Marca or ABC that’s more accurate than my somewhat basic Spanish. He wanted a few words about Vicente, Brighton’s ex-Valencia playmaker, for a radio piece, and I was sure it would be okay.

Gus and Paul Camillin, the press officer, were as helpful as always and the tea and bacon rolls were as welcome as ever first thing in the morning. Brighton have followed the trend of early-morning press calls set originally, I think, by Iain Dowie at Crystal Palace, although few clubs have gone to his extreme of beginning at 8am. These are fine for local journos, but can be inconvenient for those coming from farther afield.

A few years ago Gordon Strachan held a Southampton pre-FA Cup semi-final presser at 9am at their training ground on the edge of the New Forest. That was bad enough for me, meaning as it did a 6am start so that I could negotiate the 20-plus roundabouts along the A27, one of the worst roads in England, but even worse for colleagues who lived north of London. And if anyone wonders why Norwich stories in the dailies are few and far between, their 9am sessions at the far end of the A11 could be something to do with it.

Thursday Apr 5
I’ll be spending part of this year’s close season guest-editing a free magazine called Sussex Sport while regular editor Mike Donovan finishes off a couple of books. On Thursday we had a meeting at the design studio where everything is put together, discussing feature ideas for the pre-Olympics edition and the August issue.

At this level, editing seems to involve writing a lot of stuff yourself rather than commissioning copy from various minions, and before long I seemed to have agreed to interview Hastings-born Gareth Barry ahead of the European Championship, Brighton fan Norman [Fatboy Slim] Cook in advance of his summer gigs at the club’s Amex Stadium, and one of the Olympic torch carriers who will be pounding the streets of Worthing carrying a burning metal brassiere. Sorry, brazier.

After that the ideas took on an Alan Partridgesque air. Not exactly monkey tennis, but I may have suggested interviewing a statue of Steve Ovett in case we couldn’t get the man himself. Ovett statue “no comment” on Seb Coe’s handling of the Olympics – Sussex Sport exclusive!

The August issue might be more problematical. Golf course reviews are a regular feature of the magazine, but I confess to having little interest in an activity that requires the wearing of alarmingly-patterned trousers. I tentatively offered the Brighton seafront Crazy Golf, or Roedean pitch and putt – chiefly for its 19th hole, the Roedean cafe, which does a very fine toms on toast, with clifftop views of the English Channel thrown in for nothing.

Friday Apr 6
Reading v Leeds – with refreshments in the Madejski Stadium press room supplied by Waitrose, the club’s shirt sponsor. I wonder if they do requests? There are quite few of their products I’d quite like to try without paying some of the highest prices on the high street, so maybe if I phone ahead next time I’m working there, the club can arrange to have some tortigli with spicy pork ragu waiting alongside the pasties. That said, the goat’s cheese and roasted tomato pasta salad on Friday went down a treat.

Reading had to work hard to win despite the fact that Leeds played all but 13 minutes of the game with ten men – and it could have been nine, with Danny Pugh lucky to stay on after two extremely robust challenges. Afterwards Neil Warnock came in and made the extraordinary suggestion that Leeds would have to make Elland Road as intimidating as the MadStad. Well, of course: supporters, players and officials visiting Reading tremble at the very thought of that bearpit by the M4, going in terror of rampaging Royals fans baying for blood. I thought about requesting an escort of security guards to get me back safely to my car, which I fully expected to find a burnt-out shell up on piles of bricks. I think the point he was trying to make was that Reading players put pressure on referees, which, coming from a Leeds manager, will cause older readers of this site to ponder a redefinition of the concept of irony.

Colin, as he’s known, may not be the most popular manager with all of his his peers, but most of us like him because his press conferences are usually better than the matches. However, I had an uncomfortable moment with him at the Indy sports desk Christmas lunch in 2010, when we were on the same quiz team. “Competitive” doesn’t really do him justice, and although we won, I got a question wrong that put our victory in the balance. The look he gave me suggested that I’d come pretty close to doing laps of the QPR training ground the next morning.

Saturday April 7
It felt weird not to be at a game on a Saturday, but the movement of fixtures to other days left only two games in the Barclays Premier League and Championship in the south. It was actually quite a pleasant change to miss a Southampton v Portsmouth game. I must have seen every battle between the Scummers and Skates since Portsmouth reached the Barclays Premier League in 2003, and I’ve already made my feelings about the A27 abundantly clear.

Even from a distance of 64 miles – I know exactly how far it is because I’ve written it on so many expenses forms – I learned that Southampton had refused a press pass request from Neil Allen, the chief football writer of The News in Portsmouth, although his colleagues Jordan Cross and Steve Wilson were allowed in. I heard that the reason given was that the press box was full – something I don’t think I’ve ever seen at St Mary’s.

Neil tweeted about it, and was met with a storm of abuse from Saints fans, which was uncalled-for. Like any good football writer on a local paper, Neil has a close working relationship with the club he covers, but he’s not a Portsmouth fan, and has been banned by the club on more than one occasion. As he tweeted, it’s the first time he’s been banned by an away club. But since the Daily Echo, the Southampton local paper, has been banned from St Mary’s and the Saints’ training ground for many months, perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised.

Confession time: I once tried to get banned by a club that I felt I’d covered more than enough, and began a match report with an intro that was honest and accurate but which I was sure would get up the nose of its famously touchy chairman. I opened the paper the next day to find that, to my horror, the intro had been re-written. Apparently the sub-editor had thought he was doing me a favour and keeping me out of trouble. Thanks for nothing …

Sport’s approach to press relations in the UK can be a strange one. I told some American friends about the arcane dispute that led writers from national papers to be refused press facilities at grounds in the first week of this season and they were incredulous. Apart from the rights and wrongs of any situation, why, they wondered, would any business turn away all that free publicity?

Sunday April 8
An unusually relaxing start to a Sunday with no Monday report to write. Brighton v Reading on Tuesday is my next assignment. Two different papers asked me to cover it. First come, first served and I’m working for the Independent. I’m selfishly hoping that one, if not both, of these teams are promoted to increase the quota of southern clubs in the Barclays Premier League, and that QPR can somehow cling onto their status – although decisions such as the penalty and red card in their defeat by Manchester United won’t help.

Whatever Fergie says, that was an Old Trafford decision, but even on lesser stages than the Library of Dreams, it’s true that, as the pundits say, all the breaks go against you when you’re struggling. That was brought home to me on Sunday morning during my weekly attempt to play the beautiful game rather than write about it. Despite my team’s scintillating performance, we lost to a cruel deflection and a bad decision. And a defensive lapse. And another cruel deflection. And then some poor marking. But generally we were robbed.

Nick Szczepanik

Follow me on Twitter @NickSzczepanik

Club Ban Paper…So Paper Ban Club

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The unusual story of how AFC Bournemouth banned the Bournemouth Echo who responded tit-for-tat

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

Cherries: Bradbury labels players ‘immature’ – Bournemouth Echo, March 12

The Bournemouth Echo is surely the only newspaper to be banned by a club for accurately reporting what the manager said.

It is a very English habit for football writers and media organisations to be given the red card for writing something critical, clubs not believing newspapers should be impartial but should in fact be cheerleaders. Incredibly, clubs frequently ban papers for printing the truth which is exactly what the Echo did, reporting a quote from Lee Bradbury, the AFC Bournemouth manager.

The Cherries’ response? To tell the Echo: you’re banned. The Echo’s response? No, YOU’RE banned.

Supporters often ask journalists to explain how you can be banned for writing what a club official has said but we cannot. It is, sadly, the way some clubs think they should behave.

Local papers have a more sensitive line to tread than the nationals but their coverage tends to reflect what supporters are saying and after a string of defeats it is difficult to report that everything is fine and the team have no problems.

After AFC Bournemouth’s 3-0 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough, Bradbury was unhappy with the side’s performance and called the team “immature.” Not unsurprisingly the quote was used in the intro of Ian Wadley’s match report on March 12.

After a sixth defeat in eight games, Bradbury was sacked on March 25. But five days previously the Echo, already not permitted to attend Bradbury’s press conferences, were banned by the club who were told just four hours before the kick-off against Brentford that the paper’s reporters and photographers were no longer welcome at Seward Stadium.

Echo sports editor Neil Meldrum told footballwriters.co.uk: “The headline was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back. We can be quite opinionated in some of the things we do. That was probably the main reason why they fell out with us. They perceived a lot of our coverage as negative but after five or six straight defeats, especially when the club spent £1.5 million on new players in January, it’s hard to pull many positives out of that. If you do that and expect zero criticism you are on another planet.

“If the fans were happy-go-lucky after such a run of results we may have taken a similar line but the supporters were up in arms about the defeats after the money that had been spent. “

The Echo’s response to the ban was to ban Bournemouth from the paper. Since March 20 there has not be a single mention of the Cherries in the Echo – not even their results. In effect AFC Bournemouth do not exist in the Bournemouth Echo.

The paper’s relationship with Bradbury had become strained. According to the Echo he had “taken it upon himself to make life increasingly difficult for our reporters.” Bradbury even phoned a reporter to complain about the “immature” headline even though he used the word in a press conference.

Meldrum suspects a combination of Bradbury and a club executive and not Eddie Mitchell who, since becoming chairman in 2009, had had a few runs-ins with the paper, is behind the ban.

The Echo called Mitchell “a man who approaches his own customers aggressively on the pitch, interferes in the home dressing room and swears on national radio…he felt our coverage of his much-publicised misdemeanours had been unfair and negative”. Mitchell has, the Echo said, tried to tell them which headlines to write and which stories to cover. However, he was told “in no uncertain terms” that he did not edit the newspaper and no chairman of any football club has the right to dictate to a newspaper.

AFC Bournemouth have been the subject of more than 700 back page lead stories in the Echo since Mitchell took over, the equivalent of £840,000 in the paper’s advertising rates.

The decision of editor Toby Granville to fight a ban with a ban has been welcomed by members of the FWA who have made their backing known on Twitter. While supporters rightly do not care if reporters have to occasionally put up with poor press facilities and become experts on what it is like to stand in a car park in the pouring rain waiting for a player to hopefully speak, it is a huge decision for a local paper to pull the plug on their club. Some might argue there is a duty to report the club even if press facilities are withdrawn.

Of the role reversal Meldrum said: “There is now zero coverage of Bournemouth in the paper. We realise to some extent we are letting readers down but I am sure they would rather us be an independent voice than some kind of PR vehicle for the club. Initially a few held us to account but generally supporters have said they believe the club made the wrong decision.”

Meldrum now has to plan his sports pages without coverage of the Cherries but it is not as difficult as may first appear. He said: “Obviously AFC Bournemouth not being in the paper is a big hole to fill. They were our bread and butter. But we have the biggest speedway club in the country who attract crowds not dissimilar to Bournemouth. We have a lot of local people involved in the Olympics, we have a vibrant non-league scene plus cricket so there’s lots going on.”

The hope is that there is an outbreak of common sense but that must come from the football club.

Meldrum said: “The club have said they are keen to find a resolution but we haven’t heard from them. The last time we heard from them was when we were banned.” The Echo will not contact the club – “they banned us so if they want to lift it we would welcome that but it’s up to them. If someone has issued you with a ban you consider unreasonable it’s not up to us to go crawling to them, begging to get back in. If they want to open talks we’d be delighted.”

FWA Q&A: Mark Ogden

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The Daily Telegraph’s MARK OGDEN on broken flower pots…being a Happy Monday…and spending £300 on average wine…

Your first ever newspaper?
I did a week of work experience at the Rochdale Observer, writing about broken flower pots and a few rioting Wrexham fans, then started off at the Weekly News and Sunday Post.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
I did try to re-launch my failed football career with a few games for Rochdale reserves, but they only paid £5 travelling expenses, so it wasn’t really worth it. The one thing it made me realise, though, was how hard footballers train and how there is pretty much zero enjoyment in the sport as a profession. You are flogged every morning for two hours on the training ground and then some halfwit manager rants and raves about the odd stray pass. The next time a player walks past in the mixed zone, just think about the bollocking he might just have had in front of his team-mates for
something or nothing.

What was your finest achievement playing football?
Playing with, and against, Paul Scholes as a kid was about as good as it got. I’m sure his memories of me finishing off his passes still out-rank all he has ever achieved at Manchester United….

Most memorable match covered?
For drama, controversy and the rare sense of actually feeling as though you had just witnessed a deception that would rumble on for days and weeks, I’d go for the World Cup play-off between France and the Republic of Ireland in Paris in Nov 2009, when Thierry Henry’s handball ended Irish hopes of a place in South Africa. Henry’s carefully-manufactured good guy image went out of the window that night, but the reaction of France coach Raymond Domenech and his massively smug press officer after the game almost caused a riot among the Irish journalists. There were 20,000 Irish fans in Paris that night, but there wasn’t a hint of trouble, despite the way their team had lost, which is probably the only reason we were able to flag down a taxi at 2am outside the stadium. The trains, obviously, had stopped running before the end of extra-time.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
The guy who nicked my laptop bag — laptop still in it — outside a bar in Cape Town during the World Cup. Strictly speaking, not football, but he left me without a laptop for the World Cup quarter-final between Germany and Argentina, so thanks for that.

Best stadium?
I love the Allianz Arena, even though the wifi doesn’t work in the press box and the last two visits have ended with Carlos Tevez refusing to warm-up for Man City and Wayne Rooney’s suffering the ankle injury that pretty much ruined his World Cup. Old Trafford and Anfield on big European nights take some beating too.

…and the worst?
The Lokomotivi Stadium in Tbilisi takes some beating, especially in March when it is absolutely freezing. Went there with Republic of Ireland in 2003 and we arrived to see an old guy with broken glasses and a soldering iron, attempting to connect the phone lines. They obviously didn’t work. Kevin Kilbane was hit by a knife thrown from the crowd that day, so it wasn’t exactly uneventful.

Your best ever scoop?
Not really one for me to answer, but I still get people coming up to me about the tale of two scarf-wearing cockerels being arrested and placed in the cells at Ewood Park last season. It was a protest against Venky’s. Not sure if the birds lived to see another day…

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Endured an absolute nightmare at Ibrox when Rangers played United in last season’s Champions League group stage. Wifi didn’t work and 3G was also useless. It was as though some kind of blocking signal had been imposed on the surrounding area because it affected everybody. Had to use copy that night, which never happens. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear as though I’ll be needing to go to Ibrox again in the near future…

Biggest mistake?
Thinking that Twitter was a worthwhile exercise.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Usually Bez from the Happy Mondays, even when I am not carrying my maracas.

Most media friendly manager?
Roberto Martinez at Wigan is a good guy with a sound grasp of media requirements and demands. Lower down the leagues, it is easy to nominate the likes of Brian Horton, Gary Megson or Phil Brown, but the Barclays Premier League is a different environment altogether and Martinez handles it really well.

Best ever player?
Diego Maradona, but I retain a soft spot for Marco van Basten.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
I’m not going to nominate teams I never saw, such as Brazil 1970 for obvious reasons, so I’ll go for the current Spain team. Club wise, I still think the AC Milan team of Gullit, Van Basten and
Rijkaard would have given Barcelona a run for their money, so I’ll go for them.

Best pre-match grub?
Bayern Munich

Best meal had on your travels?
Shared a great meal of ribs and steak with Neil Custis, Chris Wheeler and Jeremy Cross at Ditka’s in Chicago last summer. Had some great meals in South Africa, but this one was just shaded it.

…and the worst?
We were recommended ‘the best Chinese restaurant’ in Macau during the 2007 Man Utd tour of Asia, so went along expecting exactly that. If you like your chicken full of bones and gristle, then this was the place. Also, did an average bottle of wine which one person (no names) ordered three times. Before realising it was a £100 a bottle…

Best hotel stayed in?
Probably the Radisson in Philadelphia. Great location, great bar, great city. The Marriott in Bucharest was surprisingly good

…and the worst?
Although The Maxwell in Seattle had no bar, restaurant or food (try putting up with that for seven nights..) it would be harsh to rank it below those that I have stayed at in Tirana and Bydgoszcz. But just for sheer dreariness, the hotel (forgotten the name) we used in Aalborg on a Champions League trip wins every time.

Favourite football writer?
Don’t really have a favourite, and I’m not going down the road of bigging up everybody at the Telegraph, but if the likes of Paul Joyce, Neil Moxley or Simon Mullock write something, then I don’t need to be told that it will be right.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
I still think Clive Tyldesley gets it right more often than most on the big occasions, while John Murray and Ian Dennis are the best on Five Live, even if they don’t shout about it.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs
and football writers what would it be? Just feed us properly and we will love you for evermore.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquaio, somewhere in Las Vegas.

Last book read?
Apart from reading The Gruffalo every night for the last two years, I’ve been trying to finish off Barry McGuigan’s autobiography. The last book I finished was Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick, about North Korea. I have something of an OCD interest in North Korea after a trip to the de-militarized zone in 2009. Also read This is Paradise by Hyok Kang (which Rory Smith still hasn‘t given back to me). I really need to get out more.

Favourite current TV programme?
Been having withdrawal symptoms since Boardwalk Empire finished, so it’s mainly boxed sets — The West Wing usually.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
Don’t really keep stuff. I tend to give programmes to my boy’s school or dump them in the recycling bin.

Advice to any would-be football writer?
Don’t enter the profession with ideas about writing lovely pieces about football without working at it first. And don’t buy into the snobbery about tabloids not being good enough for you. After almost ten years freelancing, you learn that the guys on desks like the Sun are ultra-sharp and professional and anything but flyer-merchants. It would be good for all aspiring football journalists to work for a tabloid for at least six months in order to realise what the job is really about.

The FWA Interview: Ian Ridley

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Ian RidleyYOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR NERVE WHEN FANS TELL YOU TO SACK THE MANAGER says Ian Ridley

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

IT IS tempting to say that the chairman stormed in the newspaper office, sought out the person responsible for the outrage against his club and gave the poor hack the hairdryer treatment, albeit the non-league variety.

But it would be top-spin of a kind not even England’s cricketers have experienced in recent months. And Ian Ridley doesn’t do storms.

The award-winning football writer and author is chairman of St Albans City who play in the Southern League Premier Division, his two jobs giving him an insight into the sport from both sides of the divide few have experienced. A long-serving member of the Football Writers’ Association, Ridley knows the value of local newspaper coverage to a non-league club.

The Herts Advertiser is where Keith Perry, the former Daily Telegraph sports editor, and Niall Sloane who took over as ITV head of sport three years ago, cut their journalistic teeth. “It used to be a big paper,” said Ridley. “But it’s now a freesheet and two weeks ago they made their St Albans reporter redundant.

“I had to have some stern words with the group’s sports editor because they weren’t covering us properly. No other organisation in St Albans attracts crowds of nearly 500 and they weren’t bothering to send a reporter along.”

It was another victory for St Albans as Ridley’s persuasive tones saw coverage totalling a page and a half the following week.

Wearing his FWA hat, Ridley, who celebrates one year with the Saints in June, writes press releases for the club’s web site – “quite often they appear word-for-word in the local paper.” The secret, Ridley revealed, is not to write them as club statements “but as a news story…then you are more likely to get them in.”

Ridley receives no payment for his role at St Albans while he took no salary for being chairman of his beloved Weymouth until his departure in 2004.

His involvement comes from his deep-lying affection for football which stretches beyond the usual fan’s love affair with the beautiful game.

Ridley said: “I was chairman for 18 months in 2003 and 2004. The club were in a mess and I wanted to do something about it. Steve Claridge came in as manager but then a guy [Martyn Harrison] with a lot of money took over and it was downhill for the club. In 18 months the debts were £3 million which for a non-league club is amazing. He pulled the plug and since then Weymouth have been on a downward spiral.

“I returned in 2009 to help but illness prevented me from staying more than six months.”

Restored to full health, Ridley was asked to perform a Red Adair role with the Saints, the club having suffered relegation from the Conference South last season. To add to their troubles, they were also handed a £10,000 penalty for financial indiscretions. Having lived in the area for over 30 years Ridley had a natural affinity with St Albans – “a lovely little club with a good history.”

“Lawrence Levy and John McGowan who bought the club last May, came to me and said that people around the town had told them I knew about football and had experience of being a chairman…could I help them?”

It was an offer Ridley could not refuse. “I’m more a director of football. I work closely with the manager, David Howell, who was Barry Fry’s assistant at Birmingham City. What he can do is to bring us players at the right price.

“It’s taking up a lot of my time at the moment as the season reaches a a climax. My job has been to try to send out a competitive team on the pitch, to raise gates which have increased by 25 per cent and to bring in more commercial deals.

“Since Christmas we have the best record in the division and we are seven points shy of the play-offs at the moment but we can get back in there if we beat Weymouth at home.

“There’s a real buzz about the job. When the team wins it is a terrific feeling and the supporters are very appreciative. Someone said to me when you are in football you want to be out of it and when you are out of it you wish you were involved. It gets under your skin, especially at non-league level where you tend to know everyone.”

Ridley believes the problems involved in running a club are, in principle, the same at this level as the Barclays Premier League, only the scale of things differs.

He said: “There are politics at every football club. The same things go on at all levels. People within clubs have their own agendas and the job of chairman is to hold all these factions together.”

Ridley is not quite in the Roman Abramovich class when it comes to dressing-room visits but admits to twice going to see the team in what is traditionally a no-go area for chairmen.

He said: “Before the first match of the season I went to welcome the new players to the club. I also went in the dressing-room the game after we’d lost an FA Cup tie – with the manager’s blessing I hasten to add. I didn‘t scream or shout, they thought they were going to be given a bollocking but they didn’t get one, I just asked them what we could do to get them to perform better and how they could play to their potential which they have in the second-half of the season.”

Being a chairman has helped Ridley the writer while his journalistic career been enhanced by his experience on the other side of the fence. “There is a crossover,” he said. “Herbert Chapman was a journalist, you know.

“I find what helps me as chairman is that I have a feel for what fans want. Having covered the game it gives me a way of handling situations that are not going to damage the club having seen what other clubs do wrong because their PR is poor.

“I try to organise at least three fans’ forums each season where supporters can air any grievances. You can head off a lot of criticism if you front up. As much as anything it has changed the way I look at the game. It’s helped me as a columnist because I now know what goes on inside football clubs and in many respects the only difference between pro clubs and non-league clubs is the number of zeros on the cheque.”

Having written about clubs under pressure to change manager, Ridley also knows what it is like to be given such advice by supporters earlier this season when Saints were struggling for consistency.

He said: “When we lost three or four games in a row it was a bit grim to hear fans tell you to sack the manager. It was a question of holding our nerve at that point because there was no point in ditching him [Howell] after half a season. It can be depressing when you aren’t being paid for it…I’ve become worse as I’ve got older. I used to think ‘I’ll just sit there in the directors box and be calm.’ It’s like Wenger, the older he’s got the more intense and frustrated he’s become. So am I.”

Ian Ridley There's A Golden Sky
Ian Ridley’s latest book, ‘There’s A Golden Sky – How 20 years of the Premier League has changed football forever’ – is published by Bloomsbury.

My Week: Dan Johnson

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Dan Johnson Premier LeagueDan Johnson, Premier League Director of Communications on a ‘spy’ at a Premier League meeting…banning journalists…and an Arsenal/Spurs groundshare

Part of the continued appeal of working in football and the media is the varied nature of the issues and never quite knowing what each day is going to bring. It keeps life interesting, challenging and makes sure you’re always on your toes. I have been at the Premier League for 11 years now and plenty of things have changed, but that buzz you get from wondering quite what the day will bring has remained constant.

Tuesday 27th March

First thing a meeting with premierleague.com in-house editorial team to discuss some up-coming activities and campaigns – principally our 20 Seasons Awards launch and our involvement in the government’s ‘Great’ campaign and our ‘takeover’ of their Facebook site in mid-April. These are two exciting, and very different initiatives that require a lot of planning and demonstrate the differing elements that the Premier League encompasses.

The 20 Seasons Awards are a celebration of the football – players, managers, goals, matches – that is fundamentally what the Premier League has to be all about. The challenge is how to best time and communicate all of this at a pretty hectic point in the season. Digital channels like Twitter and Facebook can both help and hinder – once something is communicated it’s everywhere – and we have to be mindful of the needs of our rightsholders and the print media if we want to engage as many fans as possible across all platforms.

The ‘Great’ campaign is both a communications and public affairs activity – No. 10 are keen to showcase the best of Britain in the year of the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, so it’s a good thing to be asked to get involved in.

Next to Manchester for the General Assembly of the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) – a chance on the train to catch-up with cuts, Twitter and papers for the upcoming Premier League Shareholders’ meeting on Friday.

The EPFL General Assembly itself is an interesting mix – updates on its activity including a controversial MoU with UEFA meaning that the European leagues accept they can’t schedule matches when Champions League or Europa League games are scheduled. The Premier League has refused to sign – we would never seek to go head-to-head with European games, but sometimes it’s unavoidable.

UEFA and FIFA representatives present on Financial Fair Play and the Transfer Monitoring System respectively. There is some good work coming out of both organisations at operational level – we don’t always disagree..!

The evening is spent watching Chelsea’s impressive victory over Benfica in the equally impressive Manchester Town Hall – it’s an official EPFL dinner, but the match is on in the background. At half-time the EPFL’s CSR programme, in partnership with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Football v Hunger receives backing from a European Commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva, and the former Spurs and German international, Stefan Freund. He speaks well – though can’t resist a few mild Euro 96 references. Reminds me that we need to do more to engage with our former stars and get them involved.

Wednesday 28th March

An early start with the 6.35am train back to London with a full deck of newspapers and Twitter on my iPad. Still prefer the real thing – gives you a greater sense of the context and importance of the story seeing how it’s been set out in the paper, though Twitter opens your eyes to how journalists interact with each other and links to some pretty insightful and thoughtful blogs.

Plenty of stories of interest – particularly the FA’s search for a Technical Director, something the Premier League welcomes – though a message goes through to the website to do the story straight and ignore the speculation that the papers can indulge in. Good steers though I’m sure they are…

Jon Woodgate gives legs to the theme that the Premier League has dropped in quality. Always hard to counter these types of story especially when our clubs haven’t performed to their recent high-standard in Europe. The Premier League model has delivered European success and I’m sure it will again – football comes in cycles – and I know our top clubs will be working all the harder to produce teams capable of challenging in Europe in the coming seasons. Oh – and Chelsea might still go on and do something special.

The afternoon is given over to interviewing for premierleague.com editorial positions. The current state and morale of the newspaper industry has produced some quality, and surprising, candidates.

Milan v Barca provides the evening’s entertainment – an enthralling encounter marked out by top defending by Milan and a dodgy pitch.

Thursday 29th March

A big news day, and a sure sign the title-race is hotting up, with a BBC Patrick Vieira interview sparking off headlines and recriminations in equal measure. Most of the media has taken the BBC lead that Vieira’s comments are critical of Manchester United and the favourable penalty decision they received against Fulham. City and Vieira are of the view that they have been heavily spun and the context of the interview was Patrick’s role as a Football v Hunger ambassador – as such they take decision to ban the BBC’s Dan Roan.

I exchange messages with Vicky Kloss, Manchester City’s Chief Communications Officer, who explains the decision and stresses that it wasn’t taken lightly and in no way impacts on the club’s overall relationship with the BBC. I am generally not in favour of banning journalists, like most clubs, including City. I would always rather have the debate, but I can empathise with clubs who sometimes feel it is the only sanction that gets a reaction.

A bit of fire-fighting of our own is required after Nick Hawkins, the Crown Prosecution Service’s lead on football and sports prosecutions, suggests that racist and abusive chanting should be met by clubs having to play behind closed doors or getting docked points. Our view is that criminal behaviour should be prosecuted by the statutory authorities and that football clubs are doing a huge amount to educate and deal with any instances of abuse with high standards of stewarding, CCTV and excellent operational relationships with the police. It would be interesting to see how many reported instances of abuse were taken forward by the CPS I muse to several journalists..

Friday 30th March

Unusual for the Premier League to hold a Shareholders’ Meeting – the 20 member clubs – on a Friday – they are normally on Thursdays – but the fixture schedule doesn’t just affect the matches..!

I know many journalists who would love to get inside one of these meetings and some who manage to get things out of them without even being there. Coincidently, a certain well known sports news diarist was spotted in the hotel foyer…

As you might expect there is little detail I can go into. The time was primarily devoted to broadcast and commercial updates as we reach that point in our three-year commercial term where we start to think about heading out to market with our domestic and international TV rights-packages as well as sponsorship and licensing deals. Fortunately we are going to be doing this off the back of another compelling season of football.

One topic I can report on is around youth development and the adoption of a mandatory games programme for Academy and Reserve football as part of the adoption of the Elite Player Performance Plan. After an informed and intelligent discussion the clubs accept the Executive’s position which will see the Reserve League replaced with a Professinal Development League – primarily under 21s. The rationale behind this is to create a bridge from the Academy to the First Team which will see more and better home-grown players making it. The clubs have been particulary engaged on the development of the EPPP – I think this is because they realise the importance of making sure that a successful Academy structure is at the heart of sustaining the game going forward.

Saturday 31st March

I am on duty, so grab the papers early and type up a full review (around domestic responsibilities) for the Chief Executive, the rest of the Senior Management Team and Press Office.

Match previews and the football generally dominates, as it should do, particularly at this point in the season, with the exception of the sad news about Stylian Petrov’s diagnosis with acute leukaemia. It is always shocking to see these fit, young men affected this way, particularly off the back of Fabrice Muamba’s cardiac arrest. It is heartening to see the picture he Tweeted of himself sitting up in bed and smiling, which also gets good coverage. These types of incidents do show the positive side of the game with acts of kindness and solidarity for both Fabrice and Stan across the league and through-out the football world.

There is no live televised Premier League football for a change, so Sky’s ever excellent Soccer Saturday augmented by Twitter gets me through the afternoon’s matches. Some cracking games and plenty of the drama and upsets that seem to have set the tone for the season. Plaudits for the action on Twitter and some breathless descriptions from Merson, Le Tissier and Thompson means I am particularly looking forward to Match of the Day.

Shortly after full-time I start to get some calls about a coin throwing incident at the QPR v Arsenal match. After checking with the Professional Game Match Officials General Manager – refs chief in English – Mike Riley, I guide that the assistant is uninjured and that the incident will be going in the referee’s report to the FA. It is the governing body that deals with on and off field discipline.

Sunday 1st April

Same drill on the papers, with Manchester City v Sunderland taking the lead in most – the comeback, the nature of the match and what it says about their title hopes seem to be the main themes. But there is plenty of space for the rest of the League too. We are fortunate to have the plurality of media that produces some excellent sports journalism – be it match reports, story-getting or comment.

One April Fool’s story nearly gets past me and makes it the press review. A fine effort by the Star on Sunday about an Arsenal-Spurs ground-share while White Hart Lane is redeveloped – it was the insistence on a giant cockerel outside the Emirates entrance that gave it away…

The phone is pretty quiet, as it tends to be when there is plenty of football on. I settle down to two very decent Premier League matches – top quality football in front of full-houses. Just how it should be.

Next week will be different if nothing else…

FWA Q&A: Guillem Balague

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Guillem BalagueSky Sports’ Spanish football expert and Espanyol fan Guillem Balague on drinking 120-year-old brandy, a frozen Scottish breakfast and an on-air attempted mugging.

Your first ever newspaper?
It was Diari de Barcelona, a Catalan newspaper. I think it’s the oldest newspaper in Spain.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
I used to deliver bread at 4am. I also worked as a barman in a pub in Liverpool.

What was your finest achievement playing football?
I was chosen as the second best goalkeeper in the league I played in as a kid. I was 12 at the time. Perhaps the achievement was slightly tainted as the best goalkeeper was also from our team. Sadly he wasn’t Iker Casillas!

Most memorable match covered?
It has to be the Champions League final in Istanbul when Liverpool beat AC Milan. I wrote a book about it. It was an incredible game to cover as a journalist. For me it was also emotional as I had a lot of friends involved… Rafa Benitez, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso and Josemi.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
When Iker Casillas lifted the World Cup in 2010. I never thought it would happen after so many years of promising so much but underachieving. I spoke to Peter Shilton recently and he said that in his day Spain were a mentally weak team. Now we are talking about a side on a different level to the rest.

Best stadium?
For noise and atmosphere when I’ve been there, Anfield. The new stadium of Espanyol, my Spanish club – Estadi Cornellà-Prat – is lovely.

…and the worst?
Real Mallorca’s Iberostar has hardly any atmosphere, neither does Real Sociedad’s Anoeta. Both have athletic tracks which kills the atmosphere. No matter how many people are there the noise disappears.

Your best ever scoop?
I broke the story of Cristiano Ronaldo going to Real Madrid. Not sure if this is a scoop but I am proud that Sir Alex Ferguson has agreed to write a foreword for the book on Pep Guardiola I am writing.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
This is loosely connected to new technology… I was in a Soho street doing a live interview for Spanish radio, a show called El Larguero which has 1.3 million listeners. I was chatting to the presenter and the chairman of Real Madrid. I was on the phone referring to notes that were in my computer when two guys tried to snatch my laptop. I ran away from them and was almost out of breath still on air. I didn’t want to explain what was going on.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Gabriele Marcotti. He’s been confused many times with me. It’s being foreigners I guess.

Most media friendly manager?
Many… Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Rafa Benitez – people don’t know what he is really like – Jose Mourinho… quite a few.

Best ever player?
It has to be Iván de la Peña who played for Espanyol from 2002 to 2011. He was also with Barcelona but played with much more heart for Espanyol.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
At international level what Spain are doing is unbelievable. I’ve seen performances from them which are out of this world. At club level this Barcelona team is different class as much for how they do it as what they are doing… they will be talked about for many years to come.

Best pre-match grub?
Has to be Arsenal, for sure.

Best meal had on your travels?
After Barcelona’s 6-2 victory in El Clásico at the Santiago Bernabeu in May 2009 I went to Asavores in Madrid with an agent friend of mine. We were treated to fantastic meats and fish, ending up with a 120-year-old brandy.

…and the worst?
A frozen breakfast in Glasgow. Yes, frozen. And no, it wasn’t defrosted. It was, I think, a fish with breadcrumbs and it was rock hard. I wondered if it was some kind of Scottish speciality but no, it was frozen.

Favourite football writer?
Gabriele Marcotti, no doubt.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Because I work with them most days on Sky Sports’ Spanish football coverage I know how good Rob Palmer, Gerry Armstrong, Kevin Keating and Terry Gibson are. They are so committed and love the job they do. I would also mention Adrian Durham who presents talkSPORT’s Drivetime show. He is very intelligent and I like what he’s doing.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Open training sessions once a week with a mixed zone for the media. The more friendly you become with players the more difficult it can be to criticise them. It would help the press to get to know and understand players more. I did a Soccerex panel with Gary Neville last month and he was speaking along those lines.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The NBA finals.

Last book read?
I read the Spanish version. I think the English title is What The Internet Does To Our Minds by Nicholas Carr. It outlines how the internet is making us more superficial as a race.

Favourite current TV programme?
I am revisiting the Wire closely followed by the Walking Dead.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I have a seat from the old Wembley which is on a wall in my home. Also a thermos flask which Espanyol gave me.

Twitter username: @guillembalague

My Week: Dan Tolhurst

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PICTURE: Dan Tolhurst and Arsène Wenger at a pre-match media conference.

Dan Tolhurst. Communications Manager, Arsenal, on a major decision about CBeebies…problems with a chunky monkey…and a happy boss

I’m proud to say that I’ve been Communications Manager/Press Officer at Arsenal for nearly 14 years. I joined Arsenal just after the Double’season of 1997/98. Since then, a lot has changed in football and at Arsenal, including a new training ground and a new stadium, but thankfully all the while with just one manager.

Monday 19th March
We were all rocked by the events at White Hart Lane on Saturday evening. Fabrice Muamba joined us at Arsenal as a schoolboy and came through the youth ranks under Liam Brady at Hale End and London Colney, before becoming a professional in 2005. A lovely lad and as a press officer, an absolute pleasure to work with. Full respect and credit to everyone at Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur – they have been impeccable in their handling of the situation. On Sunday morning, we gave our fans the opportunity to send in their messages of support to Fabrice. We received over 20,000 messages in the first 24 hours. Says a lot to how much the boy means to everyone at Arsenal.

Monday morning started with the usual commute from Kent to Emirates Stadium. The journey in always gives me the chance to take a view of the morning’s newspapers and track that Twitter time line. Got into the office and put a call in to the training ground to arrange messages of support for Fabrice from Arsène Wenger and Liam Brady. Both called back within minutes and quotes posted on our website.

Early flurry of calls from the journalists on the Arsenal beat regarding the media reports in Germany about Lukas Podolski. Cologne media reporting the deal will be announced today, so UK journalists needed to check the facts. No signing, but most of the day spent relaying our position and giving the information out

Tuesday 20th March
Newspapers, online Blogs and Twitter safely navigated with no major Arsenal issues, so I get down to some planning. Pre-season tour plans are already moving. We’ve already confirmed matches in Beijing (against Manchester City on 27th July) and in Hong Kong (against local side Kitchee FC on 29th July), so we spent some time discussing tour events, media access and engaging supporters when we’re out there in the summer.

Following the Fabrice Muamba incident, media debate is focussing on the heart screening of players. We liaised with our medical team, in order to determine our position on heart screening – which is that we give all our players a cardiac screening once a season and our facilities and staff at London Colney and at Emirates Stadium are more than adequate.

OK, so this bit isn’t going to please the FWA members. We’ve got a match tomorrow at Everton, but we haven’t had a press conference. This doesn’t happen often, and is purely down to schedules. However, Arsène gave a brief interview to Arsenal.com, which we distributed to UK newspapers and held back on a 10.30pm embargo.

Also, finalised our stat pack and club information ahead of the match at Everton on Wednesday night. Our stat pack (for those anoraks amongst you) will always consist of Arsenal’s all-time stats and breakdown of player information. We know you guys have Soccerbase and Wikipedia these days, but you can’t always rely on them. For me, it’s such an important part of a press officer’s role – know your facts, make yourself available and be ready at any point to help and assist journalists and broadcasters.

Wednesday 21st March
It’s matchday. After all these years, I still find myself ‘in the zone’ on matchdays, which I know is not a bad thing at all. Today, it’s Goodison Park.

Quick stop at the office before heading up to Liverpool on the train. Usually travel to away matches on the train. With the journey from Euston to Lime Street being direct and just over two hours, it’s fairly straightforward. Together with the Arsenal media team, we jump on the 3.07pm and we’re at Goodison Park in good time before kick-off. On arrival, meet up with my counterparts at Everton to gauge the media presence at the match. It’s fairly quiet from a TV perspective, as they are all in Manchester to cover Man City v Chelsea. However, it will still be busy after the match, with BBC, Sky Sports, radio and written media present in numbers.

Behind the scenes, Everton are a great club to work with. Very friendly and cooperative and the stadium always reminds me a little bit of Highbury. Narrow players’ tunnel and terraces close to the pitch.

The match goes well from an Arsenal point of view, an early goal from Thomas Vermaelen securing a valuable three points. Post-match, Arsène and the players were understandably in good spirits. Vermaelen, Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny stopped for media interviews, together with AW, who was delighted with his team’s performance.

Thursday 22nd March
The school run and not much sleep was made better after last night’s result. Drop the children at school and nursery. Sounds like I’ve got a coach-load of children, but just the three. For the majority of time, football has no part to play in my home life, which is a good thing. This morning, my major diplomatic decision was to decide which TV channel would be accompanying breakfast – CBeebies or the Disney Channel.

After the school run, get home and digest the morning’s media, which makes good reading the morning after a victory. Get to the office and finalise our activities of support for Fabrice Muamba at Saturday’s home match against Aston Villa. We’ve produced a giant banner for the supporters to show as the teams come out. We’ve also prepared a PA announcement from both clubs to be read before kick-off. A section of Saturday’s Matchday Programme will also be devoted to Fabrice.

Have a good update and review with our Head of Education and Welfare regarding our media training programme for our younger players – now known as Scholars (YTS players to the older readers). We set up a number of sessions each season with our first and second year scholars, using journalists and broadcasters, in order to educate and train the young players, focussing on the role of the media in football and also to engage them in some practical sessions in mock interviews.

Friday 23rd March
Press conference day. Preview for our home match against Aston Villa is 12.30pm today at our training ground. As well as player media interviews, Arsène has his press conference and the usual session with UK newspapers – Friday for Saturday. A relaxed Arsène gives an update on Jack Wilshere’s recovery, telling journalists for Saturday that he’s hopeful Jack will be back playing in around five weeks.

Get back to the stadium and finish off preparing for tomorrow’s match. Press Box is nearly full for the match.

Saturday 24th March

Home matchday. Get to the stadium at about 10am. Check that the media areas are ready for action.

There are about seven of us from the club who work in the media areas on a matchday. We have a team meeting about three hours before kick-off, then we are open for business.

Quite a few journalists arrive early to watch the Chelsea v Spurs match, so our catering staff are ready to roll. However, there is a problem. We are very proud of our ice cream selection available in the media lounge on a matchday, but we have a serious problem. I’m approached by a journalist (who will remain nameless) who asks whether we have any chunky monkey ice creams left. Unfortunately we don’t and my day will now remain unfulfilled. It is a known fact to our regulars that Arsenal’s media facilities go hand-in-hand with the availability of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. The chunky monkey news is a severe blow.

Anyway, back to the serious stuff. The Arsenal and Aston Villa fans join together and show magnificent support for Fabrice Muamba before the match. Also before kick off, we announce that a 29-year-old man has been arrested by the Met Police on suspicion of a Racially Aggravated Public Order offence, following the recent match against Newcastle United. Great that Arsenal and Met Police have acted quickly and strongly on this matter.

On the pitch, we continue our good run of form with a 3-0 win. Goals from Gibbs, Walcott and Arteta. Post-match is enjoyable, with the boss and a number of players talking to the media.

Winning makes the job of a press officer so much easier.

Hope you’ve enjoyed.

The FWA Interview: Oliver Holt

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SPORTS WRITING HAS NEVER BEEN SO GOOD says Oliver Holt

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

OLIVER HOLT believes the standard of British sports writing is higher than it has ever been.

The Daily Mirror writer recently won the Sports Journalists’ Association Sports Columnist of the Year award which, for once, left Holt almost speechless.

He said: “It really took me by surprise. I looked at the list of candidates – Martin Samuel (Daily Mail), Jim Lawton (Independent), Patrick Collins (Mail on Sunday), Simon Barnes and Mike Atherton (the Times). Every single one was a writer I looked up to. I was genuinely pleased to just be on the list. It was a wonderful feeling to win the award even though you must be aware that they are subjective things.

“I believe British sports journalism is of an incredibly high standard, better than it’s ever been. There are some outstanding writers who don’t even make the shortlist. I think Sam Wallace (Independent) is a brilliant journalist, one of my favourites. The fact that Sam wasn’t among the finalists shows how deep the writing talent runs.

“There are a number of excellent young journalists coming through…Laura Williamson, Sami Mokbel and Alex Kay (all Daily Mail), Ann Gripper at our paper, Rory Smith (the Times) plus Jonathan Liew (Daily Telegraph) who won the Ian Wooldridge trophy for Young Sports Writer.

“It’s a very competitive business and being given the opportunity to be a columnist is not easy, more so now with the industry under pressure. I think those people I’ve mentioned can do it because they are good enough.”

Holt grew up reading the fine prose of the late Donald Saunders who covered football and boxing for the Daily Telegraph for more than three decades.

He said: “When I lived at home my parents bought the Telegraph so I always read Donald Saunders. When I was older I liked Hugh McIlvanney and Jim Lawton. In many ways Jim is still my writing hero.’

Holt cut his journalistic teeth on the Liverpool Echo and Daily Post as a news reporter before joining the Times in 1993 as motor racing correspondent. “Instead of going to Birkenhead to an old people’s home, my first trip for the Times was to South Africa for the South African Grand Prix. Then to Surfers Paradise for Nigel Mansell’s first Indy race. I felt I’d arrived at that point.”

Apart from the more exotic locations and weather the contrast in covering F1 in the 1990’s and English football in 2012 is worlds apart.

Holt said: “In those days F1 was almost like a small family. There were five British drivers when I started – Martin Brundle, Mark Blundell, Johnny Herbert, Damon Hill and Derek Warwick. They were all easy to get on with while journalists such as Stan Piecha (Sun), Bob McKenzie (Daily Express) and Ray Matts (Daily Mail) became mentors of mine. I learned an awful lot from them.”

After a spell as the Times’ chief football writer, in 2000 Holt began covering more sports, attending the Sydney Olympics and was given his first chance as a columnist when he joined the Daily Mirror in 2002.

While a huge fan of football, inevitably his main port of call now, motor racing and tennis (the latter watching and playing), Holt’s favourite sport to cover is boxing. He said: “The intensity of the fight and the bravery of the people who get in the ring make boxing a wonderful sport to report. Also, many boxers tend to be very articulate and courteous. They are fantastic people to talk to.”

The change of style from writing for the Times to the Daily Mirror was helped by Holt’s time in journalism school and his early career on Merseyside where he paid tribute to Bob Burns – “the news editor at the Echo and a first-class journalist.”

Holt said: “I grew up writing tabloid style and though I was a little apprehensive about the switch, the Mirror have always been brilliant with me. I can pretty well write my column how I want to.”

He starts planning his Wednesday page as soon as soon as the previous one has been finalised. He said: “The column is always in my mind so if I see or hear something that could be used I make a note immediately. Ninety per cent of the time I go to the sports desk with ideas of what I’m going to do but I always talk things through with them.”

Holt has never stepped away from controversy which in many ways is the lifeblood of a columnist and has often written positively about sportsmen whose public image is less than popular – “I’m not unique in this respect by any stretch of the imagination.”

Like all top columnists Holt has the ability to make readers reconsider their own views on certain subjects. However, the person who probably had the biggest effect on Holt the journalist remains an icon in his sport.

“I’ve only interviewed Jonny Wilkinson once. I was incredibly impressed by him, I admire everything about him as a player in terms of his dedication and his approach to his sport. His openness was refreshing and he is someone I admire a huge amount.

“I also loved listening to Bernard Hopkins [the American boxer who defended his world middleweight title a record 20 times]. He was a fantastic talker.

“Every sports writer has people they like and I’m no different. In football it’s quite a long list…Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Gary and Phil Neville, Craig Bellamy, Kieron Dyer, John Terry, Frank Lampard…”

Football writers are inevitably accused of bias – in fact they tend to be more critical of any team they support – but Holt has no particular allegiance to any of the Barclays Premier League big guns.

“I grew up supporting Stockport County. My dad’s from Stockport and we lived five miles away. We used to watch Stockport on a Friday night while on Saturday I went to Manchester United or City. When I was a little older I used to follow Stockport at some away games, plus United and City, too. It was a mix of the three but Stockport were my team.”

It was a good weekend for Stockport who beat Bath City 4-0 on Saturday.