A super job for American Football writer

Posted on January 31, 2012 by FWA News Editor

Nothing left to chance

Footballers must speak to the media

Living in the spotlight

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

IMAGINE the scene: Manchester United and Manchester City players are handed booklets containing the names, photographs and details of the football writers covering the clubs. Ditto every club in the Barclays Premier League.

Yet at the start of each season the players and coaches of all 32 teams in the National Football League are told who the beat reporters following them throughout the coming season will be. Names, photos and some background.

Covering English football is a wonderful job, a paid hobby in many ways but far from easy compared with our Stateside colleagues. For players and the English press it is too often them-and-us with access to players and managers limited, at times almost censored.

Reporters who follow the NFL shake their heads in disbelief when they hear of our working conditions, not least because each day after practice they enjoy 45 minutes for media access. It is not so much a different world but a dream world for FWA members whose only chance to speak to the manager and maybe one player is usually the day before a match.

On Sunday February 5 the New England Patriots play the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI in the Lucas Oil stadium, Indianapolis. Around 5,000 reporters from 25 different countries will be in Indiana and as always, the Super Bowl media operation will be professional, slick and as error-free as possible.

David Tossell, director of public affairs (Europe) for NFL International, will be working at his 17th Super Bowl. A former Slough Observer sports editor and executive sports editor of Today before switching codes, Tossell knows the problems football reporters face here and how the NFL usually succeed in making the Super Bowl a moan-free media event.

He said: “There are two areas where the NFL are particularly good. One is if something isn’t working they will try to refine it and secondly, once they find a system works they stick to it. Outside of the advance of new technology many procedures are the same as when I joined the NFL.

“All 32 teams send their PR directors and staff to work at the Super Bowl media centre undertaking various roles. There are always more than enough people to work with the media. They would rather have someone sitting there for a while not doing anything ready to help a reporter than a press representative not being to find anybody available.”

The Super Bowl hosts are chosen three or four years in advance, after Indianapolis it is New Orleans and then New York for the first time. The bidding process is like the Olympics, the city puts together a presentation and the NFL owners make the decision.

The media operation moved into overdrive the week before the Conference Championship games played a fortnight before the Super Bowl.

Tossell said: “The guys who head up the NFL PR operation in New York met with representatives of the four remaining teams in Indianapolis to run through media requirements for the Super Bowl. Nothing is left to chance.”

Super Bowl media week begins on the Monday when the teams arrive in Indianapolis. Tossell said: “Both head coaches and four or five players must be available soon after they arrive at their hotels for a 30-minute session.”

Must be available?

“Yes,” said Tossell. “Media obligations are in their contracts.”

And if they don’t?

“They are fined. Marv Levy, head coach of the Buffalo Bills, was so busy going through game film once he forgot about a press conference. I think he was fined $50,000.”

Tuesday is media day, organised chaos with every player available for an hour in the stadium. “It’s an opportunity for everyone to speak to everyone. Over the years the media day has become an event in its own right.”

But occasionally the lunatics take over the media asylum.

“You might get a reporter dressed as a bride asking a quarterback to marry her. Each year someone from a Mexican TV station conducts his interviews through a glove puppet.”

The head coaches and selected players have to do further one-hour press conferences on subsequent days which inevitably has led to some memorable questions from reporters bereft of ideas later in the week.

When Doug Williams of the Washington Redskins became the first black quarterback to play in the Super Bowl he was asked: “Doug, how long have you been a black quarterback?”

He replied: “I’ve been black all my life and a quarterback about 20 years.”

However, John Elway of the Denver Broncos was stumped, excuse the pun, when he was asked: “If you were a tree, which tree would you be?”

The inevitable comparison with the Super Bowl is the FA Cup final but the competitiveness between English national newspapers and their desire (or demand) to have material not available to agencies makes an open house policy difficult.

Apart from USA Today there are no national newspapers in the States, most cities having just one or two papers and no fierce rivalry like the tabloids, particularly, are involved in.

Tossell said: “The first commitment the NFL requires is for teams to be in town on the Monday. I’m not sure how Sir Alex Ferguson would react if the Football Association told him United must be in London five days before the final.”

Players in the English leagues do not have the media experience and therefore not the necessary communication skills of those in the NFL, clubs preferring to keep the press at arm’s length (a long arm, too). Those who play in the NFL have a slow but effective learning curve starting at high school.

Tossell said: “A 16-year-old playing soccer in England would be virtually unknown. High school football in the States is hugely popular and the kids are media stars from the age of 16 so they grow up speaking to the press.

“At college level coverage is more intense and if they reach NFL level players are given specialised media training.

“The system in England has gone so far down a certain path I’m not sure if, realistically, it could be changed. The players wouldn’t necessarily be equipped to deal with it plus there is the competitiveness between national papers. Would they want a situation where everybody gets everything? I’m not sure.”

If the NFL remains the barometer for media access, referees would also welcome English football following the lead of grid-iron where head coaches are discouraged, if not actively banned, from speaking about match officials.

“By and large everyone sticks to it,” said Tossell. “A coach might say they were unlucky with a call but you won’t find a personal attack against an official because they know what happens to any official who makes a mistake.

“On Monday morning in the NFL TV studio every play of every game is reviewed and scrutinised. Every official’s calls will be checked and they are marked. If someone makes a couple of bad calls the league will contact him and help him eradicate any errors. The seven officials with the highest marks take charge of the Super Bowl.”

One aspect of the National Football League many would like to see introduced into English football is replaying controversial incidents. Broadly speaking, in the NFL each coach has two challenges per half. If the challenge is not upheld they are penalised with a time-out which is a significant loss. One of the coach’s assistants monitoring the game on TV in a booth will see the replay and advise the coach accordingly.

However, subjective decisions, such as a holding call or illegal blocking, cannot be challenged, only issues of fact.

Tossell said: “It’s only whether the call is wrong or not, such as a player being out of bounds, that can be challenged. There has to be incontrovertible proof the call was wrong otherwise they stay with the original decision.

“I think goal-line technology would help football because whether all of the ball has gone over all of the line is a fact. But I can see problems in stopping a game for other decisions.”

At a time when managers and players are too often in the news for the wrong reasons, the tolerance level of the NFL and the FA could hardly be more marked.

Tossell said: “The NFL is massively protective of its image and anything that could damage that is punished. Coaches bad-mouthing officials and players misbehaving on the field won’t be tolerated and are dealt with quickly. If a player is deemed guilty of an illegal hit he receives a letter the next day from the Commissioner’s office telling him he’s been fined $35,000 or whatever. There are few appeals.”

David Tossell’s latest book, about the life of Derek Dougan, will be published later this year.

My Week: Alan M_cKinlay

Posted on January 30, 2012 by FWA News Editor

Mirror assistant sports editor Alan McKinlay on ingrowing toenails, players tweeting during games and the most miserable man on earth…

SUNDAY JANUARY 22
Been looking forward to this day for ages, which kicks off with what, for once, really is a Super Sunday double bill. In fact it is so Super that it is no longer a big enough description. Today is Showdown Sunday, no less. No worries about what we will lead on the back with tomorrow morning. And thanks to Balotelli once again, we have a great story to go with with two classic matches. Off to the Savoy for the Football Writers’ Association Tribute to Gary Neville and Paul Scholes in the evening. This is the event where partners are allowed to come along, so tonight, rather than be on the Mirror table, I am going as the arm candy of my wife Julie, who works on the back bench of the People Sports Desk. Great event, and the Savoy staff are plentiful and hard-working. Haven’t seen that level of uniformed efficiency since Kim Jong-Il’s funeral.

The interview with tonight’s guests of honour a little long I thought, but that could just be because I couldn’t wait to get home to watch my beloved San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game. I did, though, enjoy Gary Neville’s response to Ben Shepherd’s suggestion that he may have followed Paul Scholes’ lead and thought about a comeback, or at least that he had perhaps retired too early. Neville said definetly not and added: “Did you see my last two games?”

MONDAY JANUARY 23
The wee small hours of Monday proved entertaining (last week’s 49ers victory over the New Orleans Saints was the beast NFL game I have seen in 30 years of watching) but ultimately disappointing as the New York Giants beat the Niners thanks to a couple of spectacularly bad plays by the reserve kick returner. I took it badly, but not as badly as my 24-year-old son, who is still in mourning a week later. At least it provided a good topic to write about later in the week, especially as the “guilty man”, Kyle Williams, became the latest sports figure to receive death threats from so-called fans. Today was due to be my gym induction, but that laughable notion was made even more so by my suddenly painful ingrown toenail rendering the putting-on of my dust-laden trainers impossible. The upside? A few more days of not having to go to the gym. The office loved it. My supportive Mirror colleagues are still laughing. Instead of starting a new fitness regime, I attend to failing parts of my body with a visit to the dentist and the chiropodist. Did you know they don’t use anaesthetic when they treat an ingrown toenail?

TUESDAY JANUARY 24
IT’S rare for a story to be greeted in the same way by the warring tribes of football followers, but our back page story “City Fine Tev £9.3m” would surely have provoked the same reaction among all our readers, namely: “Good. I hope it hurts”. Tevez’s list of excuses for his behaviour has changed more often than Manchester United’s 3rd kit. It’s gratifying to know he is not getting away with it.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 25
Craig Bellamy scores the decisive goal as Liverpool complete a remarkable turnaround from the weekend capitulation against Bolton to a vibrant victory over Manchester City. Kenny Dalglish is extraordinary. He has perfected the look of the most miserable man on earth during interviews and after defeats, and yet he looks the happiest man on earth when his team scores or wins. Final Bell is our headline as Bellamy books a Wembley showdown against his hometown team. A post-midnight on-air chat with the talkSPORT Sports Bar team of Andy Goldstein and Ray Parlour provides an enjoyable end to a busy day.

THURSDAY JANUARY 26
The Mirror is about to launch a re-design of its website, which will include a column on American sport. I should probably call it a blog as its online. Today is the deadline for the first one, before we go “live” next week. Even though I’ve always been a production journalist at the Mirror, and football is the greatest sport of all, my addiction to American sport means I’ve been lucky enough to cover 14 Super Bowls as well as a number of other US sports and interviewing the likes of Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Shaquille O’Neal and Reggie Jackson. One element of the, er, blog, will be a little section entitled Only In America, which hopefully will feature some of the whackier elements of sport across the pond. I like the first one. It was announced that during the Pro Bowl (the NFL’s All Star game in Hawaii played the week before the Super Bowl) the players will be allowed to Tweet DURING the game. Each team will have a designated tweet zone on the sidelines. Could this ever happen in the Barclays Premier League? You can certainly imagine Joey Barton being sent-off and tweeting his disapproval as he disappears up the tunnel.

FRIDAY JANUARY 27
It’s a toss-up between Mario Balotelli’s agent Mino Raiola and Carlos Tevez’s representative Kia Joorabchian as to which one has produced the most ridiculous defence of their client. But this week on Sky Sports News, Raiola out-nonsensed himself to earn him top billing on the Sport On TV column, which I enjoy doing as it offers a chance to do a bit of writing, even if it is only “ a dozen crispies” as our old sports news editor used to say.

I’m often responsible for our Mirror Football eight-page pull-out on Saturday morning, but as tonight’s live games (Watford v Spurs and Everton v Fulham) will take up pages 1, 2 and 3, the opportunity to try to come up with our customarily off-beat cover is denied me. It’ll be back next week though. My last job of the working week is a quick interview with Radio Five’s Doton Adebayo for the Up All Night programme, which is basically a run-through of what we have in the paper the following morning. Apart from the previews of the two “grudge” games (Liverpool-United and QPR-Chelsea) which all the papers lead with on the back, I particularly like the story that Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is taking the Cup so seriously this year that he is even talking about fielding a stronger team in the Cup than in the league to give his team their best chance of winning a trophy.

Maybe Danny Blanchflower’s statement that the game is really all about glory could still be true. Maybe, I start thinking, the Cup really could be on the way back.

SATURDAY JANUARY 28
The busiest day of the week for most FWA members is always a day off for me. As I can’t get a ticket to see my team QPR (offically the worst Cup team in Britain over the last 12 years) inevitably lose to Chelsea, it’s feet up in front of the TV. I am of the generation that grew up believing that the greatest thing you could ever achieve in life was scoring the winner in and FA Cup final. Not World Cup, not European Cup, the FA Cup – and I still love the competition. First QPR go out and then Newcastle, who had immediately become my “second team” in the Cup because of their self-confessed dedication to it, crash out at Brighton. So much for honesty. I discover, when my wife gets home and delivers the early edition of the People, that most of the Newcastle team, plus the manager, were on the lash in the Canaries as part of their build-up to the game. Turns out Alan Pardew is not quite as big a fan of the FA Cup as I had hoped. And they say journalists are the cynical ones.

My Week: Jim van Wijk

Posted on January 24, 2012 by FWA News Editor

Jim van Wijk on a gay Dutchman, a bad back and how a PA reporter’s work never seems to stop

MONDAY JANUARY 16
Day off, which I guess is as good a way to start the week as any. However, with a young family, you are never really, off are you? Today is Daddy Day Care, so help with the school run and then at home with my 3-year-old son, who would, you suspect, rather be at his pre-school than stuck at home – still, Bob The Builder to the rescue. Few errands, including the little man’s first haircut, a snip at £11, which at least keep me away from the latest chapter of Arsenal’s meltdown after their 3-2 defeat at Swansea. Heard George Graham on talkSPORT saying the Gooners needed Chris Samba after his transfer request at Blackburn, while Chelsea sign Gary Cahill for around just what Arsenal could have got him for in the last window. Caught some of the Wigan v Manchester City game on the radio in between Brownies drop-off and pick-up. Win when you are not playing well is the sign of champions.

TUESDAY JANUARY 17
Was back at the Docs this morning, more tests following on from a Lumber Puncture in October. Can’t say I can recommend having fluid drained from your spine. Apparently I am an enigma. Sounds painful. Still, sleep or no sleep, it’s off into Press Association HQ in Victoria for a legal refresher along with my London reporter colleagues. Not often we are all seen in the same place at once, well, maybe apart from the manager’s post-match press conference AND down the mixed zone, but that is a special art. All interesting stuff from PA’s long-serving legal eagle Mike Dodd. Qualified privilege from a press conference is indeed a wonderful thing, although don’t get me started on the minefield which is Twitter. Once managed to defame myself with an infamous “Norwich sign big-Gay Dutchman” intro, but we don’t talk about that any more. Cahill does his first interview with Chelsea TV. “It was never about the money”. It never is son, it never is.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18
Duty reporter from home today, covering all of the London clubs, oh and the eastern most outpost in the top flight, which is where the first news breaks with confirmation from Leeds that Norwich are in for captain Jonny Howson. Fee “understood” to be around £2million. Next up, hold the back page as Fulham sign 17-year-old midfielder Jack Grimmer from Aberdeen, as well as “highly rated” Danish Under-17 international Lasse Vigen Christensen from FC Midtjylland. Not content with that, there is also a new contract for evergreen Mark Schwarzer, who targets 2014 World Cup with the Socceroos. Hoover up a bit of Spurs as captain Ledley King tells talkSPORT no-one is talking up a title tilt at White Hart Lane after the euphoria of that battling draw with Wolves. Had hoped our intrepid reporter Simon Peach would pull something out of the bag from what had looked a decent job with Scott Parker at a football centre launch. Would have been nice if he could have actually spoken to the serving FWA Footballer of the Year, rather than watch from afar – along with a couple of national newspaper men and even Sky. PR and disaster spring to mind. Not finished there, though, as some JT doing the rounds, with the Chelsea skipper happy to see desire of unhappy players at warming the bench. Such is the talk of champions, right? FA Cup replays in the evening kind of pass me by, as does El Clasico. Guess there is only so much football one man can take. Watch DVD of Norwich’s UEFA Cup run. Hopefully sweet dreams.

THURSDAY JANUARY 19
Sadly the thoughts of Jeremy Goss and company did not do the job as I endure another near sleepless night. Still, maybe the boys down at LOCOG’s anti-doping lab in Harlow can come up with a concoction to help. Olympics closing fast, which means more interest for all things London 2012. Will be covering the judo and Taekwondo in the summer (used to be a bit handy myself at the old Ashi-Guruma back in the day), but weigh in with anything around the edges which may come up – and nice to cover a ‘local’ job for a change. Quick dart down the M11 and make it through the heightened security at the GlaxoSmithKline base for a briefing with Sports Minister Hugh Robertson and Professor David Cowan, or “London 2012 anti-doping chief” as he would become in my nightlead. Quick story filed off the press release, “no place to hide for drug cheats” warns Robertson – writes itself really, and then it is off with the video camera (yes, that’s right, now we are multi-tasking, white balance, focus and the lot) through into the lab. All interesting stuff, if you are into that kind of thing. BBC sports editor David Bond is certainly in his element, white lab coat and safety glasses to boot. Story gets decent coverage on national and regional news in the evening. Let’s hope the only positive to come out of the lab in Games times is 6,000 negative tests as they work around the clock to stay ahead of the those who would cheat the very foundations of the Olympic ideal.

FRIDAY JANUARY 20
Off to London Colney for Arsenal press conference with Arsene Wenger ahead of Manchester United game on the Sunday. Arrive around an hour ahead of kick-off as usual, which is later than my video colleague who rolled up at half eight after being told it was a 0930 start by the office. Plenty on the agenda as always. Wenger questioned about gap on the top four, flat bats usual transfer enquiries, some interesting views on feeder clubs, which he feels would go against the ethos of the English game. Inclined to agree with him. Oh, and of course the regular inquiry from Japanese journalists over Ryo Miyaichi. When we break off for the embargoed newspaper briefing, Wenger goes on the offensive over perceived injustices. Some guy in Sweden has done a study which showed if all decisions were correct Arsenal would have been second last season. Erm, okay….. Key question comes from Daily Star’s David Woods, following up from his excellent interview with chairman Peter Hill-Wood. “Would it be a disaster if Arsenal don’t finish in the top four, Arsene?” .. “For me, it would be, yes.” Thank you very much. It’s not over there, though, as on to the “Sundays” section, which again must be held back until agreed slot, which this time is late on Saturday night. Wojciech Szczesny is on the agenda, how was the confident young Pole after shipping eight against United at Old Trafford in August, and a bit about Theo, who had a “bit of a dip over Christmas”. Still worth a new 80K a week deal, though, heh? Bash out Wenger rally cry and bit on feeder leagues, not forgetting team news, then it is back around the M25 just ahead of the Friday afternoon rush. Mrs vW is having a well deserved night off, out at bingo, never know, she might get lucky, so juggle kids and dinner (not literally) before the laptop comes out again to finish off embargoed copy and dig around for some additional material for “early” Saturday slot to run before main piece on Szczesny. Found some Robin van Persie tucked away on website, which will do just nicely, or so I thought…

SATURDAY JANUARY 21
Awake from yet another night of broken sleep – was never this bad when Logan was still feeding – and it is an early start to my home town for the small matter of Norwich v Chelsea. E-mail from the desk alert me to RvP interview in The Sun, which kind of scuppers my plans as covering much of the same ground. Thankfully Arsenal Player save the day again with some Szczesny on Wojciech, which can be padded out with the manager defending his (non)transfer policy which did not get much airtime with everything else from yesterday’s briefing. Listen in while munching a steak & kidney pie in Carrow Road press room (not quite Delia Smith, but tasty nevertheless), and then also bash out the embargoed piece before kick off, as well as page one of five in running copy. “Chelsea striker Fernando Torres was handed another chance to break his goal drought with a start against Norwich at Carrow Road.” 90 minutes later, it was always going to be “Fernando Torres fired another blank as battling Norwich held Chelsea to a goalless draw at Carrow Road.” Even through yellow-tinted glasses, this has been some season by Paul Lambert’s squad. Another solid display, okay against an out-of-sorts Chelsea, but nevertheless things look on course for survival. Hope that’s not the kiss of death. Post-match is usual scramble for manager and follow-up quotes. The old second tape recorder comes into it’s own, as I “pick up” Lambert’s Sundays briefing, while making sure am there when AVB speaks to the Monday papers. Copy again strictly embargoed until Sunday night. But by now, it is all part of the game. No Chelsea players were made available ahead of their sunshine break in Spain, so grab a few words with Norwich defender Zak Whitbread. 6ft 3ins Texan born – and raised in Liverpool. Says it all really. Then it is on with the “live” quotes, as AVB rues over what could well be a costly missed opportunity, or indeed a good point depending on what happens on Super Sunday. Back up the A140 and, for a change, I am home in time for tea with the family, and a rare bit of Saturday night tele before the old girl is fired up again and it’s on with the “follow-ups”… no fewer than two for each club, one with resourceful “leftovers” to make sure PA customers have something ahead of the embargoed copy, which will run later on Sunday evening. Lambert hailing how far Canaries have climbed since he took over at bottom of League One, and AVB on efficiency deficiencies will keep things ticking over nicely, before Norwich keeper John Ruddy gives his take on a wonder save and possibly changing his wedding plans if he does get an England call-up this summer and some strong words from AVB about how fans should lay off Anton Ferdinand in next weekend’s FA Cup tie with QPR. More on that sure to come you feel. All done just in time for MOTD, if I can stay awake.

SUNDAY JANUARY 22
FWA Gala Tribute Evening to honour Gary Neville and Paul Scholes is upon us again. Lots to organise at home ahead of departure with wife for our annual night away, so once rabbit is cleaned out, laundry done, cupboards stocked up & everything sorted for kids usual hectic Monday morning, we set off for what turns out to be a relaxed slow drive into central London. Arrive in time to catch some of Arsenal v Man Utd with none other than esteemed FWA colleague Chris Davies in hotel bar, which goes kind of how I expected – apart from RvP missing a sitter. At least the final result meant our guests of honour who arrive in a decent mood, if a little late. Help out pre-dinner at Savoy, making sure our video man is in place, who provides footage for the association’s new-look website & also gets some copy out on the PA wires (been there, done that!) Finally get a chance to relax, catching up on much-needed quality time with the wife & some old friends – one of whom had just flew back from China, with no dinner suit & had to ‘borrow’ my shoes, which were a size too small. (he is a Norwich fan, so guess understandable). Food was excellent as usual (wonder if the crab was shipped in from Cromer – and if not, why not?) From an organisational point of view evening goes well, with touching tribute from Sir Alex Ferguson & Ben Shepherd hosting Q&A, which the missus said ‘dragged on a bit with all that talking about football’, but guess you can’t have everything – especially at £13 for a vodka & coke. Cheers.

FWA Q&A: Alex Montgomery

Posted on January 23, 2012 by FWA News Editor

ALEX MONTGOMERY on ladies panties, what really makes an exclusive, dark days in the Sun and a snake in South Korea

Your first ever newspaper?
The Sunday Post. My work was split between the Post and Weekly News. It was a great training ground made greater by one exceptional journalist, John Dron, then sports editor of the Post. Any career I have had would not have seen the light of day without his mentoring. John died recently and my regret is not being able to attend his funeral.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
My schooling was a disaster which ended with me being shown the door as a 15-year-old. I have more in common with Kelvin MacKenzie than he would suspect; the count is one O-level apiece. My first job was in a Glasgow shipping office. From there I moved to a clothing manufacturer in the east end of Glasgow. The speciality was producing ladies panties so I became a panty makers assistant on £5 a week. I had to stand on a platform doing nothing more technical than cutting material in front of a group of local ladies on sewing machines. I lasted six weeks but still carry the scars. From there I made up for lost learning time, then into journalism.

What was your finest achievement playing football?
There was no fine achievement. I was next to useless. My centre of gravity, my backside, was too far from the ground. That’s my excuse.

Most memorable match covered?
It was series of matches involving Brazil, Argentina and Italy in Barcelona during the World Cup Finals of 1982. Other matches which live long in the memory: England’s European Championship 4-1 victory in Belgrade against Yugoslavia (Nov 1987). It was special because it was so comprehensive when we had gathered to record the end of Bobby Robson as national manager; England’s brilliant performance in beating Holland 4-1 at Wembley in the 1996 European Championship, another uplifting result. I have never been able to understand why it was dismissed by many of my colleagues as a victory gifted to Terry Venables’s England simply because the Dutch were rowing amongst themselves. Aren’t they always?

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Marco van Basten’s truly amazing volleyed strike from what looked an impossible angle in Holland’s European Championship Final win against the USSR in Munich 1988.

Best stadium?
For me it was Ibrox in the Fifties and Sixties when they packed them in and the atmosphere for big European nights was breathtaking.

…and the worst?
The one where you never have a phone line that works. Benfica’s Estadio da Luz in the old days before mobile phones and dongles was hit and miss for calls. You would pick up a phone, hear nothing, dial your London number, hear nothing, wait, ask for copy, hear nothing, wait, read or ad lib your match report, slowly, finish, say goodbye and hope someone was on the other end. There were occasions when it worked, miraculously.

Your best ever scoop?
So-called exclusive stories are satisfying. Specialist writer/reporters are expected to produce them but if you come up with three in a year it will be three more than most. And even when you find one it is not unknown for desks to hide them, presumably because they do not believe the info. One such was my Gazza for Lazio tip off. The Sun sports desk managed to turn that into Gazza turning down an offer to play for another Serie A club. I then wrote that Gazza’s people had a meeting at Heathrow with Lazio’s representatives. That was thrown away inside. The story was eventually confirmed officially – after Gazza’s then agents had lawyers write to my desk claiming it was untrue — and it was only then the desk asked me to write it as a back page lead. Exclusives drop out of the sky from time to time so you just enjoy them when your hard work makes you lucky.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
I was sent to the Mexico World Cup finals in 1986 with one of Fleet Street’s first Tandy copy-sending machines. I wasn’t taught how to work it and it came without instructions. I first used it as a word processor for a 60 paragraph pre-World Cup piece from Colorado Springs where Bobby Robson had set up England’s pre-WC camp. I was about to file by the usual method of reading it over to a copy taker in London when the American AT and T operator who was dealing with my call heard me mention the name Tandy. When I informed her that I could not work the machine she suggested I asked their specialist Tandy operator for help. The process of transmitting through muffs attached to the phone piece was explained to me. Lesson over, she was going to contact London and get back with a direct line. I was to be ready. Simple. The call came through, I did what I was told, my screen went blank and the copy was lost for ever. It was a great loss only to me. I had to write it again. A nightmare.

Biggest mistake?
We all make them but I cannot think of one that changed my life. I worked with a couple of nasty individuals near the end of my days on the Sun and I should have dealt with them better than I did. I gave them far too much respect. I should have met up with them in a place without recording devices and CCTV cameras, and convinced them of the consequences should they continue with their negative approach. Something along these lines.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
No.

Most media friendly manager?
The ones who talk to you. There are lots of good ones out there so it is a question of getting to know them. You have your favourites who can be reached at any time. They become friends, perhaps great friends. There are others you can nod to and who’ll nod back. And a few, the untrustworthy ones, who will say I am the one not to be trusted.

Best ever player?
Alfredo di Stefano. He mesmerised me with his elegance for Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup Final against Eintracht Frankfurt. I stood with my dad on the huge Hampden terraces and like so many that memorable night I believed we had come to support the Germans who had destroyed Rangers in the semi-final. By the end we stood applauding Real. I am not sure the best-ever tag applies even to Alfredo. One of the best for sure but I have been so fortunate to have watched the greats on their good and bad days: Pele, Maradona, Garrincha, Best, Greaves, Law, Baxter, Henderson, Johnstone, Moore, Charlton, Beckenbauer, Platini. Zidane, Cruyff plus Messi and Ronaldo of the current era. All on their day unbeatable.

Best ever teams (club and international)
Real Madrid 1960. If only it was possible see them face Guardiola’s Barcelona team. My money would be on Real. International: Brazil of 1970.

Best pre-match grub?
Arsenal are highly rated by my colleagues.

Best meal had on your travels?
It was a one off when Ipswich met Saint-Etienne in what was the Uefa Cup in 1981. The press plus Ipswich directors and officials were invited to pre-match lunch at the stadium. This was a tradition of the French club. The menu had six courses produced by a chef from each of six regions. The Ipswich chairman John Cobbold was so impressed he decided something would be done for the return. The hospitality at Portman Road was magnificent even by Cobbold’s extravagant standards. Ipswich won the quarter final with a 7-2 aggregate against the soon to be crowned French champions led by Michel Platini

…and the worst?
A meal in Beijing where no-one in the restaurant spoke English and we did not have a word of Mandarin. We ordered what we thought was a selection of dishes which included a hand motion to represent fish but turned out to be misunderstood as snake.

Best hotel stayed in?
Goodwood Park Hotel, Singapore. Five star plus and where the coffee costs more than the brandy.

…and the worst?
A scary hotel somewhere in South Korea. There was a steel door opening in one of the walls in my room which was padlocked. I imagined it as a fridge in the morgue where they store the bodies.

Favourite football writer?
In my Glasgow youth Malcolm Munro made his copy so interesting. I never worked with him but it was a privilege to be on the same tours laterally as Taylor, Sanderson, Rodger, Herron and others who knew the job inside out. The men still working can look out for themselves.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Kenneth Wolstenholme.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Reduce the money Sky TV pays out to the game. It would mean less money for the players which hopefully would bring their excesses under some control, make them more pleasant to deal with.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
It would be a dream to watch live three Olympic finals – the 800 metres, 1500 metres and 5000 metres. Any of the track finals would do but these three would be my preferred events.

Last book read?
Freddy Mercury by Lesley-Ann Jones; Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Andre Agassi’s autobiography.

Favourite current TV programme?
Anything on any sport.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I have two unused tickets for the last FA Cup Final at the old Wembley and two unused tickets for England’s last international at the old Wembley.

Alex Montgomery has been a member of the FWA for 42 years. He has covered finals of 10 World Cups. Has worked for Hayters Sports Agency, the Daily Mail, the Sun, Today, the News of the World and the Mail on Sunday (freelance).

My Week: Andrew Warshaw

Posted on January 16, 2012 by FWA News Editor

ANDREW WARSHAW on Arsenal playing second fiddle to University Challenge, a frozen shoulder and Guys and Dolls

SUNDAY JANUARY 8
You know Christmas is well and truly over when the decorations are taken down but at least there is a new dog-training class for our lovable mutt Maisie who, for once, does not disgrace herself. First task of the day is buying the Mail on Sunday to check whether my Arsenal preview has got in. It has, always a warm feeling for a freelancer. Intend spending most of today resting up after driving to Norwich and back 24 hours ago having been sent to interview the parents of Oldham’s on-loan defender Tom Adeyemi following the infamous verbal abuse case at Anfield. Well, interview in theory. Unfortunately there was no-one at the inn but a peep over the fence revealed a makeshift goal and half a dozen balls. The right house then. Three hours’ doorstepping failed to result in anyone returning home so it was time for a spot of lateral thinking. Ended up writing a colour piece after a friendly neighbour painted a warm-hearted picture of the Adeyemi family – and invited me in out of the cold for several cups of coffee! This particular Sunday afternoon means only one thing for this particular FA Cup-worshipping, Spurs-supporting traditionalist: the Fourth Round draw. My stomach churns as the balls are plucked out. Phew, Watford away. Let’s not get carried away but an obviously winnable tie. Before that, watch Man City so nearly snatch a dramatic draw with 10 men against Man Utd thanks to an inspired piece of tactical nous from Mancini. Tonight I’m going to the Old Bull for my music website nlbeat.com (couldn’t resist a plug), only just set up and sadly not revenue-earning but a fun hobby. The pub, which has been turned into a veritable galaxy of memorabilia, has vinyl LPs and singles attached to every wall and concert ticket stubs, featuring all the great acts and donated by music fans, covering every inch of every bar table stretching back to the early 1960s.

MONDAY JANUARY 9
The editor of FC Business, one of my magazine clients, informs me that my piece on Portsmouth’s financial mismanagement has ruffled more than a few feathers. Well let’s face it, I am still a small creditor waiting to be paid. Most of today is taken up working on stories for Insideworldfootball.biz for which I have the grand title of Chief Football Reporter. The editor of FC Business is still speaking to me by the afternoon, thank goodness, and commissions a piece on goal-line technology, with the big decision due to made at the beginning of March. Tried my hardest to avoid Arsenal-Leeds on the box but even I have to marvel at Thierry Henry’s match winner. Only after watching University Challenge and Above Suspicion, however.

TUESDAY JANUARY 10
My role at Insideworldfootball.biz also means doubling up at times for our main site Insidethegames.biz so it’s off to Wembley to cover a press conference about the Olympic torch. While there manage to get two exclusives for the site with BOA chairman Colin Moynihan. This evening I’m joining my son at Underhill to support our second team, Barnet, in the Johnstone’s Paint trophy southern section semi-final first leg. Paolo di Canio’s Swindon are massive favourites after their exploits against Wigan but Barnet score a second-half equaliser to at least keep the tie alive with Wembley the prize. Well worth the 10 quid entrance fee.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11
Ring a few clients touting for business and check with the editor of Fifa Magazine to see when my piece on Qatar will be published. Told by the Mail on Sunday that I’ll be second man at Spurs versus Wolves on Saturday alongside Patrick Collins. Always a privilege. Couldn’t ask for a better game to report on. Speaking of Spurs, here it comes, our game in hand. It’s off to White Hart Lane, again with my son, to roar on the boys. It’s only four overground stops but the recorded information on the train hasn’t been amended and wrongly informs us we are going in the other direction and heading back the way we came. Everyone breaks into laughter. Good old Network Rail. After meeting friends for a hasty kebab a 20-minute walk from the ground, I pick up the tickets with moments to spare. Everton are typically disciplined and organised – I have enormous respect for David Moyes given the resources at his disposal – but as so often they lack penetration. The score remains at 1-0 until Benny’s thunderbolt makes sure of the points. What a night.

THURSDAY JANUARY 12
Slept appallingly maybe because of all the excitement at Spurs or maybe because my frozen shoulder starts playing up again. It’s becoming a right pain, literally and metaphorically. No golf for the past two months. Time to start forward-planning for the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine but will I go? Haven’t missed a major finals since the early 1980s but this could be the first. The Olympics will be 24/7 and I’m not getting any younger. Nothing for talkSPORT this week. Normally I’m on at least once as their football politics man but no calls so far. Still, today’s highlight is meeting Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, the newest kid on the block among the Fifa hierarchy who has invited me for a one-on-one during a private trip to London. He gives me a couple of decent lines for Insideworldfootball and another which I’m asked not to use for a few weeks. Being a theatre buff, tonight I’m off to see Guys and Dolls at the Gatehouse in Highgate, north London. It’s probably the best production I’ve ever seen of one of THE great musicals. If only I had been discovered during my long amateur dramatics career.

FRIDAY JANUARY 13
What scary moments will Friday 13th throw up? Luckily none to speak though my weekly column for my newspaper client in Doha is 24 hours late so I’d better get a move on. Just manage to get it written after walking Maisie before it’s off to Arsenal for Arsene Wenger’s lunch time press conference ahead of the game against Swansea. I’m there for the Sundays and first hear Wenger tell the dailies he is fed up always being asked about Spurs. I have to bite my lip. Finish the day quite late before I realise another week has flown past without having worked on my book. Next week it HAS to take priority.

SATURDAY JANUARY 14
Spend much of the morning preparing for Spurs-Wolves. Always try to take as much written research as I can to games. You never know. Make sure the dongle is working just in case the internet doesn’t. Given a car park pas by my neighbour who is a season ticket holder. Train is more comfortable and slightly quicker but I take advantage of the offer since by the time I need to leave there are only two trains an hour to get home. Another end to a varied week. How much have I earned? Can’t think about that yet…there’s Match of the Day to watch.

FWA Q&A: Sam Pilger

Posted on January 16, 2012 by FWA News Editor

SAM PILGER on scoring at Old Trafford, being mistaken for Ryan Giggs and causing Sir Alex Ferguson to give Roy Keane the hair-dryer treatment…

Your first ever newspaper?
Not a newspaper, but the Manchester United magazine, which, when I joined in 1996, was the country’s biggest selling sports magazine. This was a time before Sky Sports News, MUTV or even the club having a proper website, so it was the main source of news. It was a great grounding to regularly interview Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham and Roy Keane in a time when there wasn’t any interference from agents or press officers.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
Not really, other than a couple of summers spent hiding in the warehouse at Marks and Spencer. Both my parents were Fleet Street journalists, so it’s in the blood.

What was your finest achievement playing football?
Scoring at Old Trafford at the Stretford End in a journalists game. I almost cried. And winning the South London 7-a-side League title in 1996 and 2003.

Most memorable match covered?
I can’t imagine anything will ever surpass the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay. The match had been dramatic enough with David Beckham’s brilliant goal, Dennis Bergkamp’s equaliser, Roy Keane’s sending-off and Peter Schmeichel’s last minute penalty save before Ryan Giggs beat the whole Arsenal defence to win the match. An incredible night.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
That Giggs winner at Villa Park.

Best stadium?
The Maracana even though it had clearly seen better days.

…and the worst?
The sterile Stade Louis II in Monaco.

Your best ever scoop?
My interview with Roy Keane for FourFourTwo in 2001 when he revealed his frustrations with United. The Daily Mirror lifted it and splashed it across their back page as ‘The Most Explosive Interview of the Year.’ I was told Ferguson hauled him in to his office on the back of it.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
More old-tech really, as that damn ‘Voice Activated’ button on the Dictaphone has butchered interviews with Teddy Sheringham and Bryan Robson.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
As ridiculous as it sounds, I took part in a penalty shoot-out challenge against Peter Shilton on Hackney Marshes several years ago, and I overheard someone say, ‘Is that Ryan Giggs?’ As I said, ridiculous. More realistically, someone once asked if I was the former Leicester and Spurs American goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Most media friendly manager?
Steve Bruce

Best ever player?
Zinedine Zidane

Best ever teams (club and international)?
The current Barcelona side and the France side of 2000.

Best pre-match grub?
During their spell in the Premier League Ipswich Town did a memorable spread at Portman Road.

Best meal had on your travels?
A fish restaurant just outside Jerez in southern Spain while covering the 2000 Blind World Cup. (Brazil won, England went out in the quarter-finals.)

…and the worst?
A lard-smothered bap outside Hillsborough.

Best hotel stayed in?
The Rio Othon Palace in Rio de Janiero where the roof-top pool gave sweeping views of Copacabana Beach and Sugar Loaf Mountain as I watched Romario doing his laps.

…and the worst?
The Dolby in Salford. It had a security fence around it.

Favourite football writer?
It is difficult to separate Paul Hayward, Oliver Holt and Patrick Collins.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
I still get goose bumps when I hear Peter Jones, he had such a wonderfully evocative voice. Keeping it old school for TV as well, I would say Barry Davies and Brian Moore.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Throw open the dressing rooms after matches. It would require an enormous and unprecedented culture change, but if the NFL and NBA can do it why can’t the Premier League? I won’t be holding my breath.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
I have been lucky enough to go to a Super Bowl, Wimbledon men’s final, a 100m Olympic final, and most Ashes series, so I would go for a deciding Game 7 in the NBA finals.

Last book read?
The End of the Party by Andrew Rawnsley

Favourite current TV programme?
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Your most prized football memorabilia?
A number 10 Argentina shirt signed by Diego Maradona to my son Louis. He’d better appreciate it when he’s older.

Manchester United’s Best XI by Sam Pilger is available now on the Amazon Kindle store.

Calvin changes family as he transfers to Millwall

Posted on January 10, 2012 by FWA News Editor

A jumbo hot-dog between Robbo’s eyes…Morison apologising to a defender…and a tweet that brought a tear to his eye

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

IT IS a widely held belief that you can change most things in your life but not the club you support. You can change your name, house, job, wife/husband, religion and nationality but your club is sacrosanct..it is forever.

Michael Calvin, a Watford fan since childhood, crossed the ultimate divide when he was writing Family – Life, Death and Football, his new book. He spent a year on the frontline with Millwall and achieved the dream of football writers and supporters by going into the heart of a club. He was at training, in the dressing room, at board meetings – in fact anywhere and everywhere.

Millwall, a club with a stigma brought about from incidents in the past, won Calvin over. He admits he lost his professional detachment during a game at Colchester. He calls it “a real us against them day”. The home club had done as much as they could to make conditions for the visitors – let’s say challenging.

Calvin said: “In was in the Aidy Boothroyd days, on Easter Monday. The dressing-room had been cut in half, the walls had been painted black and all electrical sockets had been removed.”

It takes more than that to intimidate Millwall. Calvin said: “The players pooled their batteries, put them into an iPOD charger and Dizzee Rascal was soon blaring out.

“Millwall took the lead and Colchester made it 1-1 after a goalkeeping mistake. The momentum of Paul Robinson took him into the back of the net as he tried to stop the ball going in.

“Paul found himself facing the away end and a Millwall fan behind the goal had a jumbo hot dog, about 12 inches long. He threw it like a javelin in disgust and it went through the net, hitting Paul right between the eyes, with onions and tomato ketchup and God knows what else all over his face.”

It’s funny but it isn’t.

“With 10 minutes to go Millwall scored what proved to be the winner. I was sitting next to Gary Alexander, a sub, on the bench and with a striker’s instinct he shouted ‘it’s in’ a second before the ball crossed the line. We both jumped up, and made eye contact. We knew what we were about to do was wrong, but we started hugging each other and jumping up and down like little kids.

“That was the moment Millwall got me.”

TO UNDERSTAND Millwall Football Club you first have to understand the area of south-east London where most of their fans live and where I grew up. Driving through Lewisham, Deptford or New Cross, down the Old Kent Road or Walworth Road you can find yourself stuck in a tenement time-warp, the surrounding boroughs sadly neglected in comparison to others where modernisation is concerned. Near the Den there are arches where, if you threw a couple of street urchins down, you could turn your clock back 150 years.

It was a learning curve for Calvin who said: “The club are in an area where there is a crossover between refurbished flats and deprivation.

“Millwall are an old fashioned football club with a real emotional intensity between the fans and the club. A couple of generations ago, if there was a death in the family the natural outlet for grief was the parish priest or vicar. For Millwall supporters the club has a more central part in their lives. “

A hardened journalist who has worked in more than 80 countries covering every major sporting event, Calvin is not embarrassed to admit a message from a Millwall fan brought a tear to his eye last week.

Returning on the team coach from Bristol City where Millwall had played well only to lose to a stoppage time goal, defender Alan Dunne was reading through his tweets. There was a message from a fan called Tim Dill which said: “Dunney, my dad died on New Year’s Day. Millwall all his life. I reckon he’d get a kick from an RT. ‘Safe trip, Red’ Thanks.” Of course, Dunne duly obliged.

While Calvin believes Millwall are “burdened by their outdated image” it is something the club have to live with. The book is excellent and the fly-on-the-wall insider accounts will appeal to fans of all clubs. It will, Calvin hopes, change the way outsiders look at Millwall. “If you have preconceptions about Millwall, read the book and come back to me,” he said. “It is a proper football club with the right values. Sadly people are judged by a small minority.”

Millwall’s reputation travelled ahead of them when they played West Ham United in the Carling Cup in August 2009. The policing of the game left much to be desired as did the home club’s overall control. Calvin witnessed first-hand the commotion outside Upton Park before retreating to the safety of the press box.

He said: “I sat behind a reporter who was under pressure from his news desk who had been watching some trouble on Sky News. He had to produce a piece and simply typed the words ‘Millwall’ ‘West Ham’ and ‘trouble’ into Google. The old stories came out from Cyberspace and formed the basis for his report about what was going on around him.”

Each club faced charges of failure to ensure their supporters refrained from violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour; failure to ensure their supporters refrained from racist behaviour and failure to ensure their supporters did not throw missiles, harmful or dangerous objects onto the pitch. While West Ham were found guilty, Millwall, who were not involved in any of the security talks, were cleared by the Football Association of any wrongdoing. It cost Millwall £100,000 to defend the charges.

IT TOOK Millwall manager Kenny Jackett “about 10 seconds” to agree to the book, granting Calvin an access all areas pass to the club.

He said: When I turned up on the first day Kenny told the players what was happening. Neil Harris, who was the spiritual leader of the group, came over for a chat. I felt very privileged but most of all accepted. The chairman [John Berylson] and the manager had said it was OK so the players were fine.”

Calvin became what he calls a chameleon in the dressing room, staying in the background but taking notes in a small pad. The club had no editorial control over what was written but Calvin gave the manuscript to Jackett and the players out of courtesy. Jackett’s mother told him off because he had sworn so much.

“The dialogue had to be real, it had to be honest,” said Calvin who saw the good, bad and ugly that go with the roller-coaster of emotions experienced by a football club.

He said: “You see the rage where players are at each other’s throats. You see the frustrations, the fear, the insecurity and even the awe after a really good performance.

“You also see real tenderness. I shall never forget the touching moment involving Danny Senda after he tore an Achilles tendon. He was laying face down on the physio table, the players gathered around him and Harris kissed him gently on the back of the head. It was saying ‘we’re all with you.’”

It is obvious in the book that Harris, the club’s all-time record goalscorer and a true Millwall legend, was the player who made the biggest impression on Calvin. Harris, now with Southend, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2001 and Calvin confirmed: “Yes, by a distance. He is one of the best human beings I’ve ever met. He’s street-wise, a brilliant politician in a football sense and there is a humility in the guy that goes back to coming into the pro game so late.

“What I found hugely impressive was the way he used his cancer as a source of mental strength which he shared with others, especially by undertaking counselling work with other sufferers. Vince Lombardi, the famous Green Bay Packers coach, said that the strength of a group is in its leaders. Harris comes into that category.”

Then there is Steve Morison who joined Millwall from Stevenage Borough in 2009. “At 16 he was one of a group of players told by Tottenham they did not think he would made the grade, nothing personal, sorry, don’t come back. He played for Northampton, Bishop’s Stortford and then Stevenage. Kenny signed him, for £130,000. It wasn’t an instant success story.

“I remember speaking to him after his first game at Southampton. He said ‘wow, everything happens so fast, I almost couldn’t catch my breath. I was thinking so fast I thought my head was going to explode.’

“Gradually he became more accustomed to the pace but he went through the fires of hell. He missed a goal in an FA Cup tie at Staines which beggared belief.

“On the Monday morning I was in Kenny’s office. He went through the miss on the DVD and said ‘I’ve seen some things in my time but how did that happen?’

“Kenny told Steve he was built like a brick you-know-what…he was a Millwall-type player but he wasn’t acting like one. He actually said ‘sorry’ to a defender he’d accidentally bumped into. Kenny went mad. You don’t apologise to defenders, he told Steve. You have to put yourself about not say sorry.

“Once, Steve was substituted at half-time. It was all going on around him in the dressing-room, he got undressed slowly and as the other players were going out for the second-half he just stood there in a world of his own, obviously wondering if he was good enough.

“Fair play to the guy. He came through, scored a lot of goals for Millwall who sold him for £2.8 million to Norwich where he’s been a revelation, also making his mark for Wales. He proves there is talent in the lower leagues. Kenny worked really hard with Steve on the training pitch and it paid dividends.”

HAS THE experience of living the dream made Calvin a better journalist?

“That is for others to judge. It has given me an insight that I never had into the realities of a game that we tend to judge on superficialities. I have also noticed a respect that is routinely denied to football writers these days from managers and players who have read the book.

“At the 1982 World Cup I remember travelling from the airport in the England team bus and chatting to Ray Wilkins. I was the youngest member of the Press corps and he was one of the youngest players in the squad. We spoke about our respective positions. That sort of intimacy of contact has gone now, it’s too much us versus them now.”

There can be no follow-up to Family but Calvin is writing a prequel, interviewing the 30 most popular Millwall legends including, of course, Harris plus among others Terry Hurlock, Tim Cahill, Barry Kitchener and Keith Stevens.

Watch Michael Calvin talk about Family – Life, Death and Football here…

FWA Q&A: Laura Williamson

Posted on January 9, 2012 by FWA News Editor

Laura Williamson on travelling with Hawk-Eye…dismal haircuts…Jennifer Aniston…and super Grimsby

Your first ever newspaper?
The Hull Daily Mail, as part of the Daily Mail’s graduate reporter programme. I worked in news: the court reporting I enjoyed, the council meetings less so. And as for the dreaded ‘door knocks’ – the memories still bring a shudder.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
I used to work for Hawk-Eye, the company responsible for the ball-tracking technology used in cricket and tennis. I travelled around the world setting up and running the equipment for use in live television broadcasts or official reviews. India was the most taxing place to work, the Cricket World Cup in the West Indies was the highlight and the Australian Open tennis was just exhausting. And Sir Ian Botham’s colour blindness is a slight problem when you’re trying to get him to talk about red, blue, yellow and white balls on a pitch map.

What was your finest achievement playing football?
As my Dad always says, I am a bit of a ‘headless chicken’ when it comes to playing football. Plenty of enthusiasm, pretty quick and reasonably fit, but no discipline, technical ability or finesse whatsoever. Filling in for my sister’s team (she played to county standard) was about the limit of my achievements as a footballer.

Most memorable match covered?
Fulham 4 Juventus 1.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Kevin Donovan’s goal for Grimsby Town against Northampton Town at Wembley in 1998, which took the Mariners back up to the old Division One. I had a dismal haircut and my face painted in black and white stripes, but they were certainly good times.

Best stadium?
The Bernabeu.

…and the worst?
The San Siro if you’ve got to file anything.

Your best ever scoop?
It’s not really a scoop, but breaking the awful news about Jack Collison’s dad losing his life in a motorbike accident on the way to a West Ham game was my first exclusive when I joined the Mail, so it’s one I remember.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
*Touch wood* I’ve been OK so far. There were some pretty hairy moments at Hawk-Eye, though.

Biggest mistake?
Turning someone over when it wasn’t worth it. It’s a difficult judgement to make sometimes, but I got it wrong.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
A drunk (and obviously visually impaired) Cheltenham fan said I looked like Jennifer Aniston at the weekend (although why she would be waiting for a bus outside White Hart Lane I don’t know). But it’s usually anyone with a gap in their teeth.

Most media friendly manager?
Harry Redknapp.

Best ever player?
Steven Gerrard.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
Grimsby Town 1997-98. Spain at the moment take some beating.

Best pre-match grub?
Arsenal’s always good, but the fry ups at Spurs before early kick-offs do the trick.

Best meal had on your travels?
One in Beverly Hills recently when I went for the MLS Cup final. Amazing food, although I was probably too busy looking at everyone else to fully enjoy it.

…and the worst?
Probably one of the disgusting, dry, mayonnaise-filled, overpriced club sandwiches you’re forced to eat when you get back to a hotel room after a game and you’re starving.

Best hotel stayed in?
Cinnamon Grand, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

…and the worst?
The cell-like room I ended up with in Odense, Denmark – after going on the man from the Sun’s recommendation! Fatal.

Favourite football writer?
Oliver Holt.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
John Murray on BBC Radio 5Live. Martin Tyler on Sky Sports.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Re-introduce proper mixed zones. The way you request a number of players and then end up with the third choice goalkeeper, if anyone at all, just breeds mistrust and frustration.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
A big track final at the Olympics. I can’t wait!

Last book read?
Ian Hawkey – Feet of the Chameleon.

Favourite current TV programme?
Can I have Downton Abbey as it’s only just finished?

Your most prized football memorabilia?
It all goes in my Dad’s collection, but I’ve got a signed Maradona picture on the wall at home – just to wind my boyfriend up.

My Week: Richard Tanner

Posted on January 9, 2012 by FWA News Editor

ANOTHER QUIET WEEK IN MANCHESTER

Rooney rumours…breaking embargos…and why Roscoe wants to get out more but can’t

Sunday January 1st
The week actually starts on Sunday morning as all daily sports journalists know too only well. Pick up the papers with some hesitation and Nick Harris’ excellent exclusive in the Mail on Sunday about Wayne Rooney being disciplined by Sir Alex Ferguson for his Boxing Day ‘night out’ confirms my worst fears.

Just glad I had gone easy on the booze the night before. I had an uneasy feeling it was going to be a busy day. Having covered United for 12 years, you get an instinct when something’s not right.

Ferguson’s explanation of Rooney’s absence from the squad to face Blackburn the previous day had left all of us in the Old Trafford press room unconvinced, raising more questions than answers: “Missed some training sessions, few knocks and strains, should be all right for Newcastle on Wednesday.”

At least, it wasn’t the usual “he’s got a virus.” Of course, no chance of questioning Fergie on it any further because he doesn’t do post-game pressers.

Call Ian Monk, Rooney’s press agent, but apart from confirming Rooney had been out on Boxing Day night, and insisting there is no damage to the relationship between player and manager, he says all other information must come from United. Great!

Luckily, other sources are more helpful and confirm that Rooney, Jonnny Evans and Darron Gibson were not fined for breaking any Christmas curfew but for “below-par” performances in training the following day. Thought to myself: good job us reporters don’t get punished for a hangover. Some would be penniless.

By the time I’ve written a Fergie-Rooney inside piece, a back pager, plus a match report on why Fergie must drop De Gea and play Lindegaard, the daylight has gone and I’ve even missed most of Sunderland’s surprise win over City on TV. How lucky are United? The result cancels out their shock loss to Rovers. Go out for a run (ok, a slow jog) to clear my head rather than maintaining any New Year resolution to get fit.

Monday January 2
It’s a preview day – City are playing Liverpool on Tuesday. Drive the 45 minutes to City’s training ground at Carrington on the outskirts of Manchester, it literally backs onto United’s which is very handy because both Fergie and Bobby Manc, as City fans call City’s manager, hold pressers within half an hour of each other on Fridays.

Mancini has calmed down after ripping into his players for their setback at the Stadium of Light. Says he will rotate his squad and make five or six changes, bringing back the big guns, Aguero, Silva, Clichy and Richards as he looks for a positive response. He doesn’t make great audio for TV and radio but that’s their problem. We can always make some sense of it in print.

United preview for their game at Newcastle but no press conference because Fergie doesn’t hold them in midweek unless it’s a Champions League game when he is under orders from UEFA. No chance then to push him on Rooney – but the word is he will be back.

Decide to check out his claim in Saturday’s programme that he couldn’t remember a better first half to a League season in his 25 years as United manager. Spend a couple of hours trawling through the Premier League’s website looking at the half-way tables. And Fergie is actually spot on. Well, he would have been had they beaten Blackburn. A win would have given them 48 points after 19 games. Still, 45 points isn’t shabby – they’ve only bettered it three times in 19 years.

Set off for City v Liverpool, picking up a journalist friend on the way. But the journey to the Etihad Stadium takes two hours rather than the usual one because of traffic chaos caused by
the high winds. A lorry has been blown over on the Thelwall Viaduct, M6 north has been closed and all surrounding roads clogged up with traffic.

Ever the professional, I’m more worried about missing the delicious carvery served in the City press room than the game itself. Has to be the best food in Premier League, by the way. As it turns out, arrive in plenty of time for both.

Thank God my Merseyside colleague Paul Joyce is with me for the game because Liverpool have just announced they will not appeal the Suarez ban but have had a right pop at the FA. He is handling the story, leaving me to do the game which City win relatively comfortably thanks after being given a flying start thanks to Pepe Reina’s blunder.

Not often that Craig Bellamy gets cheered by opposition fans. But City followers remember his sterling efforts during Mark Hughes’ reign and give him a good reception when he comes on, although Steve Gerrard is roundly booed.

Kenny Dalglish merits a few boos in the press conference as he try to defends Liverpool’s handling of the Suarez affair. Leave Joycey to handle Kenny while I nip into a side room where City have given us James Milner for a follow-up.

Wednesday January 4
Write the Milner piece, throwing it ahead to Sunday’s FA Cup derby battle. Decent, sensible quotes from a decent, sensible pro. Nice line that United’s pain after the 6-1 humiliation would be three times City’s pleasure.

Had to laugh when Robinho warns rebel Tevez in the Corrieire Della Sport “you can’t muck around” if you join AC Milan. Pot, kettle and black come to mind. Watch Newcastle thump United on Sky in the evening. De Gea dropped, Rooney back but to no avail. Send a stream of texts to my north east colleague Niall Hickman, who is covering the game, mentioning stats he probably didn’t want or need – first time Untied haven’t scored this season, first defeat to the Toon since September 2001, last time they lost two on the bounce etc.

Niall sends his thanks but must think I need to get out more.

Thursday January 5
No chance of getting out more because Manchester football reporting is unrelenting at the moment. Mancini has brought his press conference forward 24 hours. So down to Carrington again for 10am. At our behest, press officer Simon Heggie has to remind assorted TV, radio, agency and internet people that the dailies part of the press conference is embargoed until midnight on Friday.

Time and again this season, at both United and City, someone has broken the embargo and tweeted or leaked our stuff. Hard enough to get anything fresh as it is, without that happening.

After spending around £200m in his two years in charge, Mancini wants to spend again in January. He points to the loss of the Toure brothers to the African Cup of Nations, Gareth Barry’s suspension for the United game and several injuries. Hard not to laugh when he claims he might only be able to name 17 players for Sunday’s game. Poor lamb.

Friday January 6
Fergie, in my view anyway, is unusually low-key in his 9.30am press conference. Won’t talk about Rooney, but can’t resist a pop at Liverpool over Suarez, and in true panto season fashion warns City “we’re right behind you.”

Insists reports linking him with Frank Lampard have “no foundation” but doesn’t actually deny that United have made an enquiry.

The embargoed part of the conference for the dailies is getting shorter by the week. Broadcast and agencies are getting 10 minutes, we’re getting about three or four minutes. Collectively, we vow to tackle United on the issue.

Move round the corner to City’s training ground where nice guy Joleon Lescott is put up for the dailies to interview. Reckons Fergie’s regretting calling City the noisy neighbours and that City have now taken over from Liverpool as their biggest rivals.

That will do nicely, Joleon. Spend rest of the day tapping away.

Still playing seven-a-side football on a Friday evening – but, at 55, I’m not the oldest. My old mate John Richardson (Ricco to everyone who knows him) is still puffing away at 58. Inevitably I am known as Roscoe after the tennis player.

On way into Chester for post-match drinks when called by office about Indy front page on Rooney. Quick call to United and Ian Monk result in a statement dismissing the story, so evening not totally ruined.

Saturday January 7
Bliss, a day off. Go for a long bike ride around the Wirral peninsula to get Manchester football out of the system. Still listen to 5Live commentaries later in the day while washing the car.

Sunday January 8
Get to City to be greeted by the news that the rumours were true – Paul Scholes is coming out of retirement and is on the bench. But the week ends the way it started with Rooney scoring twice in United’s 3-2 win, re-affirming his commitment to the club and upsetting Mancini for influencing Chris Foy to send off Vincent Kompany.

If all that wasn’t enough, United are drawn away to Liverpool in the fourth round.

And the winners are?

Posted on January 4, 2012 by FWA News Editor

Who will win the major honours in 2012? Footballwriters.co.uk asked those in the know.

IAN ABRAHAMS (aka The Moose, talkSPORT)
Who will win the Barclays Premier League?
Man Utd

Who will be relegated?
Blackburn, Wigan and Swansea

Who will win the Champions League?
Real Madrid

Who will win Euro 2012?
Germany

If you had the choice who would succeed Fabio Capello?
Harry Redknapp

Young player to watch out for?
Nathan Redmond (Birmingham City)

Young manager to make an impact?
Young? Impact? Chris Powell

Your early favourite for the Footballer of the Year?
Demba Ba

Will Team GB win an Olympic Gold?
No

What is your New Year’s Resolution?
Not to upset Chris Davies every time he comes to talkSPORT Towers – maybe just every other.

DAN BLAZER (studying journalism at Anglia Ruskin University)
Who will win the Barclays Premier League?
I honestly thought this season would be too early for City but every week they prove me wrong and look more and more like title contenders. The Barclays Premier League trophy will definitely be in Manchester come May, but it will have to be a braver man than me to say whether it will be at Old Trafford or the Etihad.

Who will be relegated?
I hope QPR go down (Neil Warnock must have gone to the same PR school as Harry Redknapp, those two just love having an opinion…on everything) and I reckon Wigan and Bolton will be joining them

Who will win the Champions League?
Real Madrid. Mourinho knows how to beat Barcelona and I just hope for the sake of football that the Catalan giants don’t dominate again.

Who will win Euro 2012?
My betting slip is telling me Italy at 14/1.

If you had the choice who would succeed Fabio Capello?
Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman is suited to international football and he would definitely help bring through our youth like the Spanish and Germans have.

Young player to watch out for?
Francis Coquelin – I’ve been impressed by the young Gunner, passionate, strong and does the simple stuff well. Hope he gets his chance at the Emirates or maybe a loan move in January will benefit him.

Young manager to make an impact?
AVB – Give the guy time, he knows what he is doing. If Chelsea play their cards right they could have a manager who outstays Fergie.

Your early favourite for the Footballer of the Year?
Gareth Bale, I feel that the Spurs man is showing the form that he should have been showing last season when he received ample amounts of undeserved praise. Funny thing is, I know he won’t even be considered this year, strange game football.

Will Team GB win an Olympic Gold?
Yes definitely, I mean we’ve got to be good at one sport, surely…

What is your New Year’s Resolution?
To prove that AVB and Juan Mata are the same person (has no one else noticed the similarities?)

DANNY FULLBROOK (Daily Star)
Who will win the Barclays Premier League?
I think it will be Manchester City who will walk off with the title. By the end of the season the quality that they have in their front six will be enough to do the job. They need to show bottle now to bounce back from their recent slip-ups. Manchester United’s form will dip soon.

Who will be relegated?
Two of the relegated teams are straight forward. I see Bolton and Blackburn definitely going down especially if both teams hold on to their managers. After that it will be a lot tighter but I think Wigan will get out of it while Swansea’s away form could make them pay the ultimate price and relegation though they came good at Villa Park.

Who will win the Champions League?
For me it has always been Real Madrid. There was only so long that Jose Mourinho was going to fail at Madrid, but not any longer. Bayern Munich and Barcelona will be a real challenge and Arsenal and Chelsea will have to up their game, but Madrid are the winners

Who will win Euro 2012?
Germany have to be a great bet for Euro 2012 if you believe that Spain have seen out their cycle. That is the tough call. With the further development of young players Germany will be a lot of peoples’ favourites for the final and to win

If you had the choice who would succeed Fabio Capello?
It has to be Harry Redknapp because he has all the credentials to manage the national team. He has the experience, tactical acumen but most important at this level the man management skills to succeed which I think are vital to the job.

Young player to watch out for?
Kerim Frei at Fulham. He is an 18-year-old Switzerland international and a nippy winger. Frank Lampard said he was impressed with him when they played in the Carling Cup against each other

Your early favourite for the Footballer of the Year?
Robin Van Persie. His goalscoring exploits have been second to none but it all depends if he keeps going along the same route

Will Team GB win an Olympic Gold?
No, it will all end in a mess with Stuart Pearce in charge

What is your New Year’s Resolution?
To be fit and healthy for Euro 2012

DEAN JONES (The People)
Who will win the Barclays Premier League?
I backed Manchester United in our pre-season predictions and I’m sticking by them. Even though they’ve had a horrible spell of injuries and lost 3-2 to Blackburn, I think they have the bottle to top their neighbours and prove splashing money doesn’t guarantee titles. It’s exciting to see the blue half of Manchester put up a challenge but I expect them to hit a blip in the second half of the season and United will kick on from February to clinch the title with a few games to spare.

Who will be relegated?
Bolton and Blackburn were both promoted in 2001 and have enjoyed a great stay, but I think their time is up. They lack depth and defensively both are going to continue to leak too many goals at home. The other side I fear for is Wolves. Goals are not easy to come by and the crowd are obviously a bit edgy, which can impact heavily on players when the pressure is on. I think they’ll finish below Wigan which has to be a worry.

Who will win the Champions League?
I wanted to believe Real Madrid could realistically challenge Barcelona this season for the trophy but it’s hard to see that happening. Cesc Fabregas must be loving life since he moved back home and he’ll be happier than ever when he has his hands on Europe’s top trophy in May. His dream will be achieved in his first season.

Who will win Euro 2012?
Germany. This side have everything and are even better than they were in the World Cup two years ago – when they battered our clueless England. In qualifying the Germans showed an attacking brand of football that few nations are going to match. They are probably the only side heading to the Championship not afraid of Spain.

If you had the choice who would succeed Fabio Capello?
Roy Hodgson. I’ve had a lot of stick for this opinion but I have said it for the past two years and I’m not budging. Forget the Liverpool debacle which was unfair because King Kenny was breathing down his neck. Roy would know each of England’s opponents inside out and would find a way of beating them. I don’t think the football would be particularly attractive but at least we might challenge for a trophy. My only concern is how he would handle the Press attention.

Young player to watch out for?
Kerim Frei at Fulham. He is a prospect the club have been excited to unleash on the top-flight and has already shown he can skin world class full-backs. He will get plenty more games in the coming year as the long-term successor to Damien Duff and Simon Davies on Fulham’s flanks. It won’t be too long before the sharks are circling Craven Cottage to snap up another young star.

Young manager to make an impact?
The turnaround at Crystal Palace has been incredible over the past year and Dougie Freedman could really make a name for himself as a manager in 2012. He has the chance to make it to the Carling Cup final, and is also looking good to lead the Eagles to the play-offs. Palace are playing great football and if they can make two Wembley appearances this season their manager will quickly become one of the most highly regarded young bosses in the game.

Your early favourite for the Footballer of the Year?
It would have to be Robin van Persie at this stage. He seems to have left his injury problems in the past and Arsenal’s GPS system has helped him control when he should and should not be playing. As a result we are seeing him at his best every time he steps foot on the pitch. He’s been superb and without him Arsenal’s season would already be over.

Will Team GB win an Olympic Gold?
Is this a joke question? Of course we won’t. I would like to see plenty of Championship players included in the squad because they will have more motivation to do well. If GB is made up of a few names who failed to make England’s squad to Euro 2012, along with some of Stuart Pearce’s Under-21s and a couple of players from the other countries, we’ll bomb.

What is your New Year’s Resolution?
To watch more football from outside the Barclays Premier League. It’s difficult for me to report on stories or games from outside the top-flight too often because there is so much demand for the most high profile sides, but I’ve been to a couple of lower league and non-league matches recently and had forgotten how much more enjoyable it is to see lads playing with pure passion.

MATT LAWTON (Daily Mail)
Who will win the Barclays Premier League?
Manchester City, simply because they have a squad significantly stronger than Manchester United’s and, indeed, anyone else in the Barclays Premier League. United have some key weaknesses in certain areas and it will prove their undoing until Sir Alex Ferguson can recruit new players.

Who will be relegated?
Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton. They are in the bottom three for a reason and I don’t see any of them climbing clear when QPR will certainly be able to spend in this transfer window.

Who will win the Champions League?
Real Madrid. It seems ridiculous to bet against Barcelona but they can’t win everything every year. At least I don’t think so anyway. Between Mourinho and Ronaldo, Madrid might just have enough this season.

Who will win Euro 2012?
Germany. Much like the previous question, it seems crazy to bet against Spain. But I just have a feeling an exciting German side that impressed at the last World Cup will come good this summer, two years later.

If you had the choice who would succeed Fabio Capello?
Harry Redknapp. I’d certainly like to see an English manager succeed Capello, and right now Harry is the outstanding candidate. I think the players would respond to him and it would be exciting to go to the next World Cup in Brazil with him in charge.

Young player to watch out for?
It doesn’t sound terribly imaginative but I’m excited by the prospect of seeing Jack Wilshere at Euro 2012. With him in the same midfield as Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker I can see a genuinely decent England side emerging.

Young manager to make an impact?
Paul Lambert seems to be fast proving himself at the highest level and I suspect it won’t be long before other clubs are trying to entice him away from Norwich.

Early favourite for the Footballer of the Year?
Right now it has to be Robin Van Persie. He’s having a marvellous season and I just hope he stays clear of injury. He’s had enough bad luck already.

Will Team GB win an Olympic gold?
I doubt it and I really don’t care. I love the Olympics and I can’t wait to cover it this summer, but football, like tennis and golf, has no place at the Olympics. The Olympics should represent the pinnacle for the athletes involved. This will be an Under-23 tournament involving none of those, in GB’s case, at Euro 2012.
Nonsense.

What is your New Year’s Resolution?
To become an expert in swimming. That, after all, is what I’ll be covering at the Olympics and I’m seriously excited. It’s going to be a great year of sport.

ALISTAIR LOWER (Charlton Athletic fan, aged 11)
Who will win the Barclays Premier League?
Man City

Who will be relegated?
Blackburn, Wigan, Bolton

Who will win the Champions League?
Barcelona

Who will win Euro 2012?
Spain

If you had the choice who would succeed Fabio Capello?
Harry Redknapp, Spurs

Young player to watch out for?
Tom Cleverly, Man Utd

Young manager to make an impact in 2012?
Chris Powell, Charlton

Your early favourite for the Footballer of the Year?
Vincent Kompany, Man City

Will Team GB win an Olympic Gold?
No

What is your New Year’s Resolution?
To hope Charlton get promoted and support them in Championship

SAM WALLACE (Independent)
Who will win the Barclays Premier League?
Manchester United

Who will be relegated?
Blackburn, Wigan, Bolton

Who will win the Champions League?
Real Madrid

Who will win Euro 2012?
Germany

If you had the choice who would succeed Fabio Capello?
Harry Redknapp

Young player to watch out for?
Luke Shaw (Southampton)

Young manager to make an impact?
Michael Appleton (Portsmouth)

Your early favourite for the Footballer of the Year?
Robin Van Persie

Will Team GB win an Olympic Gold?
No

What is your New Year’s Resolution?
To listen to the safety briefing before taking any domestic flights in Ukraine.

JIM WHITE (Daily Telegraph)
Who will win the Barclays Premier League?
Manchester United. In the end, experience counts. And City have not yet had a crisis. But they will.

Who will be relegated?
A Lancashire meltdown: Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton

Who will win the Champions League?
Real Madrid. Mourinho will finally get his revenge on Barcelona in an el clasico final.

Who will win Euro 2012?
Germany. A clutch of excellent young players combined with tournament winning experience. Plus Spanish players will all be exhausted from all that diving in the Champions League final.

If you had the choice who would succeed Fabio Capello?
Tax issues not withstanding, Harry Redknapp. If HMRC intervene then Roy Hodgson.

Young player to watch out for?
Paul Pogba. One thing United need is a central midfielder. Pogba could be the answer, given a run.

Young manager to make an impact?
Marcus Law, manager of Tamworth. He’s 36 and going places. Has already accomplished a run of 67 games unbeaten in non-league football.

Early favourite for Footballer of the Year?
David Silva.

Will Team GB win an Olympic gold?
No.

Your New Year’s resolution?
Try to write a decent match report.

The authentic voice of football writing

Category Archives: Features

A super job for American Football writer

My Week: Alan M_cKinlay

My Week: Jim van Wijk

FWA Q&A: Alex Montgomery

My Week: Andrew Warshaw

FWA Q&A: Sam Pilger

Calvin changes family as he transfers to Millwall

FWA Q&A: Laura Williamson

My Week: Richard Tanner

And the winners are?

Twitter

Official Football Writers Podcast

Share This Page

Twitter

Official Football Writers Podcast