Category Archives: FWA Q&A

FWA Q&A: Gavin Hamilton

Posted on by
1

GAVIN HAMILTON on sending a cheque back to Gavin Hamilton…dinner with Cristiano Ronaldo…and a honeymoon nightmare in South Korea

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
I worked elsewhere in newspapers and magazines before switching to football. I also worked in a library (Camberwell not Highbury) where the main job was stopping people nicking the books (and that was just the staff).

Most memorable match?
My office complain that I only attend games if sliverware is being handed over. Not strictly true but I’m lucky enough to have been to almost every major final, domestic and European, since the mid-1990s. If I had to pick one game, it would be the 1999 European Cup Final in Barcelona.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Alan Pardew’s header at Villa Park, Palace-Liverpool FA Cup semi-final, April 1990. Hopeless Al became Super Al in an instant.

Best stadium?
I love the walk from Lotto metro station in Milan to the San Siro at night. The stadium emerges from nowhere, lit up like a giant spaceship.

…and the worst?
Every stadium is special to somebody, it’s what makes the game unique. But I don’t miss Plough Lane.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Nothing career-threatening, usually to do with my lack of ability to connect to wi-fi.

Biggest mistake?
Nothing I can admit to in public.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Only the cricketer Gavin Hamilton. I once got a cheque for £500 from The Sun for a column on the Cricket World Cup, which was nice. I was working elsewhere at News International at the time and I actually sent the cheque back, thinking it would help my career. It didn’t, but I hope he got his money eventually.

Most media friendly manager?
One of the first managers I had dealings with was [Crystal Palace’s] Alan Smith, who used to give out his players’ home phone numbers. It’s been downhill since then, though I’ve always found Roy Hodgson very agreeable. In Europe, the Dutch managers – Van Gaal, Rijkaard, Hiddink – have been great value. It’s partly a language thing – Dutch-English makes people sound more interesting than they probably are.

Best ever player?
In my lifetime, Maradona, though Messi is pushing him closer every season. Imagine if Maradona had played in the Champions League every year… I also loved Van Basten, such an elegant striker. Those old enough to have seen him play swear Di Stefano is the greatest.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
The Barcelona side that won the European Cup at Wembley two years ago was sensational. Brilliant individuals but a wonderful team ethic as well. Again it’s hard to compare different eras, but Brazil 1970 would give Spain 2010 a run for their money.

Best pre-match grub?
Arsenal shade it over Chelsea. It’s the Ben and Jerry’s.

Best meal had on your travels?
A seafood extravaganza in Madeira with my colleagues from A Bola when we interviewed Cristiano Ronaldo. We were presenting him with the ESM Golden Shoe and he insisted on receiving the award in Funchal, his home town. Not only was he away from the watchful eye of Man United, so we got a great interview, but we also had a slap-up meal afterwards.

…and the worst?
Fortunately nothing poisonous but there have been plenty of rough burgers, late night at train stations.

Best hotel stayed in?
I have the English vote in UEFA’s Best Player in Europe award, when UEFA put us up in the very lovely Meridien Beach hotel in Monaco. But, generally, at FIFA and UEFA events, I get to spend a lot of time in the lobbies of top hotels, watching how the other half lives.

…and the worst?
On Jeju Island for the 2002 World Cup. The Koreans had the bright idea of hosting matches there to promote the island as a “honeymoon paradise”. But I pity any marriage that spent its first night at this place. There was no mattress, just a wooden bed frame and a plastic sheet, and everything reeked of disinfectant, it was like sleeping in a pub toilet.

Favourite football writer?
Brian Glanville is still an inspiration, for remaining so enthusiastic after all these years and for his ability to swear so eloquently in so many different languages. I’m always amazed at the hours put in by the daily correspondents, Henry Winter and others.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
John Murray is a fantastic commentator, informative and emotional without imposing his own opinions on a match. Martin Tyler and Clive Tyldesley are rightly top of the TV tree. I’ve been impressed with Sam Matterface for talkSPORT.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
If clubs made a different player available for interview after training every day, they would soon see the benefits. Unfortunately, Barclays Premier League clubs smell money even where it doesn’t exist. Launching their own magazines and TV stations has made them think they can control the media when actually the opposite is true.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
I’d like to try the Cricket World Cup, I’ve got an idea for a column.

Last book read?
Capital by John Lanchester, a terrific state-of-the-nation novel. Most of the best football books of recent times seemed to have been written by Jonathan Wilson although Dave Conn’s book on Man City was brilliant.

Favourite current TV programme?
Curb Your Enthusiasm. There’s a bit of Larry David in everybody.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
Nothing much though I’ve kept the teamsheets from the 1998 World Cup Final, with and without Ronaldo in the starting Xl.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Learn a language, it will always give you something extra, and if you can spend some time in another country, it will give you a different perspective. Embrace change, half the jobs we’ll be doing in 10 years’ time don’t exist yet because the technology hasn’t been developed.

Gavin Hamilton is Editor, World Soccer.

FWA Q&A: Rex Gowar

Posted on by
1

REX GOWAR on Maradona being called fatty…a dodgy Tiger in Seoul…and missing out on Messi

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
Paint shop manager, teacher, photographer. I was almost 30 when I started my media writing career at the Buenos Aires Herald, Argentina’s English language newspaper.

Most memorable match?
Two, the 1978 and 1986 World Cup finals. I watched the first from “la popular”, the higher banks of terraces behind the goals, in this case the one where Kempes scored both his goals, Naninga headed the Dutch equaliser and Rensenbrink hit the post. Victory ended years of Argentine agony watching big rivals Brazil and Uruguay lift world titles and the need to give substance to a belief of superiority.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
The match when a teenage Maradona put four goals past Boca Juniors Hugo Gatti playing for Argentinos Juniors days after being called a fatty by the goalkeeper. That and other moments of Maradona magic before his first big money move to Boca Juniors. He was to the modest Argentinos side in the late 70s what he became for Napoli and Argentina in the mid-80s.

Best stadium?
River Plate. Apart from being the stadium where I saw my first matches (and bias because they are my team), I have great memories of “shooting” matches there and at many other Buenos Aires grounds in my earlier career as a sports photographer.

…and the worst?
Platense in the Honduran city of Puerto Cortes when on a fact-finding trip three months before the 2010 World Cup finals though I can’t complain about the atmosphere. Good thing I didn’t need to file anything from there.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Luckily nothing major.

Biggest mistake?
Not interviewing a teenage Messi in Geneva in 2005 when Argentina played England and he was suspended. I didn’t have an appointment but I’m sure I could have talked to him when he’d finished with another journalist in an empty lounge at the team’s hotel if I had had the sense to wait around.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Depends what you mean by mistaken. I was at a match at the small Atlanta ground, during the 1978 World Cup, between European and South American media but featuring lots of golden oldies — Di Stefano, Kopa, the Charlton brothers and Ian St John in the European side, Sivori, Artime, Onega for the South Americans and someone in the stands shouted “Tarantini” as I emerged from the tunnel in that exalted company… I regret not taking up the offer to fill a gap they had at full back for the Europeans but I had a bad knee that was sure to give way again at Onega’s first swerve past me.

Most media friendly manager?
Carlos Bilardo… and I recall Bobby Robson being very approachable in Montevideo during England’s 1984 tour of South America.

Best ever player?
Maradona.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
That I’ve seen live, Ronaldinho’s Barcelona team with a young Messi, the Independiente side which in 1985 won the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup and Brazil at the 1982 World Cup.

Best pre-match grub?
At a rugby match, laid on by the organisers at the Heineken Cup final in Bordeaux between Brive and Bath in 1997, a French feast.
Best meal had on your travels?
A barbeque at Conmebol president Nicolas Leoz’s ranch outside Asuncion on occasion of a South American Football Confederation general assembly.

…and the worst?
Korean fast food at the Tomorrow Tiger in Seoul during the 1988 Olympic Games. We were two Reuters journalists writing for the Spanish Language Service until all hours of the night and this was the only place we found open… night after night.

Best hotel stayed in?
The Aloft in Abu Dhabi for the 2010 Club World Cup, great buffet breakfast and superb pool.

…and the worst?
A flea pit with sheets for walls between rooms in some remote part of the south of France while covering the Tour de France in 1997. The contrast could not have been greater when the next night we stayed at a chateau with its own wine label and ate like dukes. Don’t remember the names of either of them.

Favourite football writer?
In England, I’ve always liked reading David Lacey of football and Rob Kitson on rugby, in Argentina Ezequiel Fernandez Moores who writes a weekly column in La Nacion.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Martin Tyler, who I’ve known since the 1978 World Cup when we compared university notes and found he played as striker for East Anglia U against me in goal for Essex U in Norwich. I forget the score but have to concede it might have been 2-1 to them.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
It’s a pipe dream in modern football but let us arrange to speak to players when we want without having to go through a press officer who rarely answers the phone.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
I’ve been lucky to get to top games in a wide variety of sports but none of the major American sports so of these I’d go for a NFL Super Bowl.

Last book read?
A biography of Juan Sebastian Veron in Spanish called “El Lado V” and I am now reading Jonathan Wilson’s The Outsider on goalkeepers.

Favourite current TV programme?
French police drama Spiral.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
A tape recording of an interview with a 19-year-old Maradona in 1980 before he travelled with Menotti’s Argentina to Europe to play England at Wembley. I did it for Shoot magazine but it was never published because of a printers’ strike in the UK. Talk about exclusive!

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
None that has not already been given in this column by people far better qualified to give such advice.

REX GOWAR is a Buenos Aires-based Reuters sports correspondent for Latin America.

Next week the Q&A’s world tour ends with World Soccer editor Gavin Hamilton.

FWA Q&A: MARK GLEESON

Posted on by
1

MARK GLEESON on a free Camel in the press box…a rat-infested room in Brazzaville…and some Hot Chilli Peppers in the bar

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?

I started my journalistic career covering the courts, schools fetes and the ladies society’s tea parties but thankfully that did not last long. I got a chance to cover football very early on in my career, first as a substitute and quickly thereafter full-time.

Most memorable match?

Growing up in apartheid South Africa and the international sports boycott, it was always the subject of furious conjecture as to how our teams or individual sports people would do on the world stage. For many years I wrote frequently about how a possible national team might shape up, who might play and how it might fare. So the night South Africa’s first ever national team played its first international, against Cameroon in Durban in July 1992, was exciting, emotive and strangely surreal. It was not a great game and played in the rain with a soft penalty to give South Africa a fortuitous home win. But it was a game of such significance, marking the start of a whole new era. Football in the country has not looked back since.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?

Maradona’s mazy run against England at the Azteca Stadium at the 1986 World Cup and his semi-final effort against Belgium days later. I was at the stadium for both games, having been sent to the World Cup in Mexico by my Johannesburg newspaper as a green-horned 22-year-old. I remember just as keenly the Camel girls who dished out free cigarettes in the press box and the pizza they brought in at half time.

Best stadium?

After decades of covering African football, traveling from one rickety stadium to the next with little or no facilities, the venues built in my own country for the 2010 World Cup still take my breath away. The stadium in my home town Cape Town looks, from far, like a giant bath tub while I have not missed many major matches game at Soccer City in Johannesburg since it was first opened in 1988. But the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban is really special, iconic almost.

…and the worst?

Across Africa there are many, a lot unsuitable for the game. But they also have a quixotic charm. And in many places, it is all they have. In Blantyre, Lilongwe for example, there has been teargas fired off by trigger-happy police every time I’ve been there, a nasty experience. People storm the gates, causing a suffocating crush that invariably always causes injury. But they never seem to solve the problem.

Your personal new-tech disaster?

Fortunately I have a decent understanding of laptops, wi-fi etc. But I have a habit of losing written notes, invariably long interview where I have not used a recording device.

Biggest mistake?

Many, but I prefer to push them to the recesses of my brain and move on …

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?

Gary Bailey. Often. It’s because we both do a lot of local TV in South Africa and while many people have seen me on screen they don’t know my name and so blurt out the first football name they know and in South Africa it is invariably Gary Bailey.

Most media friendly manager?

Delia Fischer at FIFA does a brilliant job. She was embedded in SA before the 2010 World Cup and is now doing the same for Brazil.

Best ever player?

I’ve unfortunately never seen him live but to live through the career of Lionel Messi I think will prove a special honour of those of us who sit back on the couch late on Sundays to take in a Barcelona game on the telly. Not sure there will be another like him for generations to come

Best ever teams (club and international)?

The current generation of Barcelona and the Germans for their incredible consistency. I’d like to mention Cameroon of 1990 too because they did much to elevate the profile of African football, even if they kicked everyone off the park.

Best pre-match grub?

At Cape Town’s Athlone Stadium, they do a cold crumbed chicken that melts in the mouth. I had a wager once to try the cane rats on skewers, which they served outside stadiums in Malawi, but despite plenty bravado could not bring myself to try it.

Best meal had on your travels?

On my way to a 1998 World Cup game in Paris, I had a lamb kebab at a little hole in wall off the Champs Elyse. I went back almost every day after that.

…and the worst?

The local Reuters correspondent in Mali threw a welcome party at his house for the reporting, photographic and TV teams that went to cover the 2002 African Nations Cup. It was a oily peanut stew with fish, including a head in it. We ate so as not to offend to our host but were all sick for days after.

Best hotel stayed in?

During both the 2005 Confederation Cup and 2006 World Cup, I stayed at a hotel on the banks of the Rhine, not far from Cologne’s cathedral and railway station. Opulent luxury, sumptuous food and a regular diet of rock bands like U2 and Hot Chilli Peppers to hang out with in the bar.

…and the worst?

I went with the South African club Jomo Cosmos to Kinshasa to cover an African Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final tie in 1993. There were no direct flights so we flew to Brazzaville on the other side of the Congo river, to take the ferry across. An incredible journey. But we got to the harbour after closing time and had to spend a night at a hotel/lodge/bordello next to the crossing point. The rooms were rat-infested so the entire night was spent in the bar [The best excuse I’ve heard yet – Ed].

Favourite football writer?

My favourite journalist for his style and use of the language is Robert Kitson, but unfortunately he is wasted on the oval ball game. I enjoy Jonathan Wilson’s enterprise and Simon Kuper’s views on the game. I was a big Frank Keating fan as a young journalist but in those days the Fleet Street papers were over a week late in landing in the office.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?

Peter Drury. I’m not sure whom he works for the UK but he commentates a lot of the English premier matches we see in Africa. He is always thoroughly prepared, not only with interesting information but with clever descriptions and phrases. His voice does get a little falsetto when excited but he is class.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?

Access to players. It is not as bad in Africa as it is in Britain but more and more doorkeepers are being engaged to keep reporters away from talking to the real actors of the game.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?

A cricket test at Lord’s between South Africa and England and the Super Bowl.

Last book read?

A book on the history of settlement in the Caribbean, an area I intend to travel once my kids are out of the house. The last sports book I read was the autobiography of Springbok rugby captain John Smith and the last football book was Once in a Lifetime: The Incredible Story of the New York Cosmos by Gavin Newsham.

Favourite current TV programme?

I rarely do current TV but a night in with a box set of the Sopranos, Wired or Mad Men is a rare treat. I’m behind on the last two. I always make as point of watching Telefoot, the Sunday morning French programme which always does such clever and interesting inserts.

Your most prized football memorabilia?

I have the captain’s pendants that were handed to South Africa’s soccer teams by Portugal, the Netherlands, Bolton Wanderers, Dundee etc. from the 1920s to 1950s. I rescued the archive of the old Football Association of South Africa before it got tossed out and have since passed onto a university archive.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?

It’s a privilege to cover soccer, a daily joy. Football reporters frequently moaning about their plight, meals, travel etc. get my back up. The best thing I ever did as a young reporter was go to the daily training sessions of the clubs I was assigned to cover. I suppose that’s not possible in Britain anymore but it is still the best source of stories and, more importantly, relationship building.

Mark Gleeson covers African soccer for Reuters, World Soccer and many other titles worldwide; he also works for the South African television channel SuperSport and is a partner in a domestic sports news agency, all from the shadow of Cape Town’s Table Mountain.

FWA Q&A: MARCEL VAN DER KRAAN

Posted on by
1

MARCEL van der KRAAN on watching Jesus in football boots…being mistaken for Lance Armstrong…and paying for toilet paper in Belarus

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
When I was 17 and still at college, I had my own little business in polishing cars. I was making more money than my dad. People would bring their car and pick it up at night. The boss of a major company asked if I could polish his wife’s car. He insisted that I would pick it up at his house in the country on a Saturday morning at 7 am. There was one slight problem, I had no driving licence. He said that it didn’t matter. I could drive, couldn’t I? So I did. Unfortunately it had been snowing and people were skating on ice in Holland, as it had been minus-10 for a week. Not used to skiddy roads, on the way to my little business I skidded, hit a tree at 50 miles an hour on the side of a river, the car went through the air and landed upside down on the frozen river. It went straight through the ice, sunk and until this day I still don’t know how I got out. I walked back through the fields and told the guy I had given the car a good wash, but it might be time for his wife to buy a new car because the engine was not running so well any more. He laughed, thank God. He wasn’t short of money and his wife had a new car a few before lunch. Farmers got the car out and police were never involved. Good job, not only did I not have driving license, it was not my car and I was not insured.

Most memorable match?
Holland v England (2-0) in De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam, the 1994 World Cup qualifier where England were knocked out for the finals in the United States and Graham Taylor saw his reign coming to an end. This was such a bizarre match. I still don’t know how Ronald Koeman managed to stay on the pitch. He could [should – Ed] have been sent-off for fouling David Platt. Instead he scored for Holland. But I also remember this match for the crazy press conference 24 hours earlier. I have seen some verbal fights between managers and reporters, but all my Dutch colleagues fell off their chairs when they attended the major confrontation between Graham Taylor and the English press in the Novotel. I still have to laugh now, when I think about Taylor shouting at Rob Shepherd: “Come on, Rob, don’t be silly! What is up with you English lot of the press?’’

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
George Best playing in that same stadium in 1976 in a World Cup qualifier. He ran the show against a team with Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens, Wim Jansen, Arie Haan etc. That same Dutch team went on to play in the 1978 World Cup final in Argentina, but they were held to a draw (2-2) in Rotterdam that night. I was a young kid, at the match with my dad, and all I can remember is watching George Best for 90 minutes. It was like watching Jesus in football boots. Absolute magic.

Best stadium?
I hate to say this as Dutchman, but it has to be the Allianz Arena of Bayern Munich. A prime example of the modern football arena. At last year’s European Championship the newly-built Warsaw national stadium was almost as impressive. Not all football reporters visited that stadium during the Euro’s but I was there for Poland v Russia and it gave me shivers down my back. Incredible atmosphere. I have been all over the world in football stadiums for 32 years now, but this stadium is brilliant.

…and the worst?
In that same European Championship the stadium of Kiev for the final. Everyone needed binoculars to see the players.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Leaving my phone with 1,200 contacts in football in a Glasgow taxi. And no back up on the computer. I still blame Keith Jackson (Daily Record) for that. He took me to that Glasgow pub five hours earlier…

Biggest mistake?
Accepting a lift from Paul Smith (Match magazine at the time) in Rome during the World Cup in 1990. He had hired a nice car and during the first 10 minutes, trying to get out of the city of Rome, he shouted at every Italian man and woman that they did not understand the rules of traffic. It did not quite occur to him that their way of driving around the Collosseum was slightly different from the English on the left side of the road. We ploughed into a car on the next cross road and we never did get to Italian training camp that day. We have laughed about that many times since.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Yes, Lance Armstrong. Until they heard my strange, English Leicester accent. Then they realised I was not American. I have been married to Kathy from Leicester and used to live round the corner to Gary Lineker in the early eighties.

Most media friendly manager?
In Holland Ronald Koeman (Feyenoord) and Frank de Boer (Ajax). They are both a breath of fresh air. Open and honest all the time. They don’t duck any questions and are always available for the media. In Britain it has to be Terry Yorath. I had never met him, went to meet him in Wales when Holland were going to play his team. We spent hours talking about the game. These days a manager does not give you that much time when he does not know you.’’

Best ever player?
Johan Cruyff. I have loved every match I have seen of him in my life.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
The Holland team that played total football in 1974 and lost the World Cup final against West Germany. At club level the AC Milan team with Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Ancelotti etc. in 1987.

Best pre-match grub?
Arsenal. I can’t believe the food they supply there for journalists. It’s similar for most Barclays Premier League clubs. In Holland all we get is a sausage roll and a cookie with a cup of tea. English clubs seem to spoil reporters with food, but access to players is really, really hard. In Holland it is the other way round. The food is terrible, but the working conditions at games are terrific. We can talk to every player and manager. It might be a good idea to spend less money on all these hot dinners in the Barclays Premier League and supply a few more players in the mixed zone.

Best meal had on your travels?
In a Pizzeria in Napoli at the 1990 World Cup finals, but only because of the conversation with two other Dutch journo’s and Paul Smith again. It was so hilarious, I wet myself that night. This Dutch TV commentator was talking about having to dig through the snow in Calgary. He had been to the Winter Olympics earlier. As we had just spent two weeks in Cagliari with England and Ireland on Sardinia, where Jack Charlton pronounced the city all the time as Calgary, Paul got funny with the Dutch commentator. He said: “Are you taking the mickey? Snow in Calgary? It was 100 Fahrenheit there. ‘’ The Dutch guy then went mental too. It took five minutes before they realised they were talking about two entirely different cities.

…and the worst?
A BBQ with Holland in Brazil. The meat had been on display outside in the garden of the hotel for hours. I would not touch it. The players did and so did many Dutch journalists as they would, with it being free. Everyone spent the next 48 hours on toilets and in bathrooms. The players had to be substituted on the pitch for having the runs in the game the next day.

Best hotel stayed in?
Sopwell House! There is not a more comfortable and real English hotel which breathes football than this place in St. Albans. Arsenal chief scout Steve Rowley recommended it many years ago for the sausages at breakfast. I love staying there.

…and the worst?
Some awful hotel in Belarus. I slept in my clothes, on top of the bed. But I remember it more because I had to pay for toilet paper.

Favourite football writer?
Jonathan Northcroft of The Sunday Times. Wish I had the space he has for his interviews, but he does fill it with great stories.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Mark Pougatch. Just so multi-talented.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers in England what would it be?
I would invite press officers [of English clubs] to attend one Dutch league match with the mixed zone structure afterwards we enjoy in Holland.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The World Championship naked women water skiing.

Last book read?
Tony Adams’ autobiography Addicted. I read it years ago and have just read it again. Can’t think of a former footballer who has developed into such a great person as Tony. Can’t think of a player these days with so much character in the game either. A natural leader, honest, fantastic professional and Arsenal should have him on board in any kind of technical role.

Favourite current TV programme?
The Voice on the BBC. I love music, and in my opinion Britain produces more good singers than any other country in the world. Well, the history of pop music proves that, doesn’t it?

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I give everything away that I receive from players or managers to kids and friends. I love writing about football, I absolutely love my job, but I don’t care about material things or fans’ stuff.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Don’t be a fan of anyone because you’ll just be disappointed when you know what happens behind the scenes in football. More than 90 per cent of people in the game are driven by money. Players, managers, agents. That is my only bitterness about the job.

Marcel van der Kraan writes for De Telegraaf in Holland. He is a regular contributor to talkSPORT.

Next week’s Q&A visits MARK GLEESON in Cape Town who talks about [Arsene Wenger look away now] eating rats.

FWA Q&A: MICHAEL CHURCH

Posted on by
1

MICHAEL CHURCH on the silence of Melbourne…golden showers in Jakarta…and a Chinese fan who cycled 2,000 kms to meet “him”

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?

Yes, I worked as a lifeguard at my local swimming pool for much longer than I care to admit or remember during my teenage years back in my home town of Larne, in Northern Ireland. The sights seen back in those days still haunt me. Baywatch it most certainly was not.

Most memorable match?

There are a couple that stick out for very different reasons. The first, for many of the right reasons, is Australia v Iran at the MCG in Melbourne when the Iranians came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 and qualify for the 1998 World Cup. The silence that descended on the MCG was eerie and witnessing the look on Terry Venables’ face in the post-match press conference was worth the trip Down Under in itself. Perhaps the best thing about attending that game is that I still have the opportunity to quieten down our Aussie friends by bringing it up on a regular basis. Those scars run very deep. The second was a match in a tournament called the Tiger Cup in Vietnam in 1998 when Thailand and Indonesia faced off in a group match that both were desperate to lose due to the ill-thought out scheduling and rules of the tournament. The game finished 3-2 to Thailand and the sight of the teams defending each other’s penalty areas was just odd, but not as bizarre as witnessing the gusto with which the Indonesians celebrated scoring the winning goal for Thailand. A very odd – and depressing – evening indeed.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s winner at the Camp Nou on May 26, 1999. I was fortunate enough to be at the game and refuse, to this day, to watch anything other than the goals on TV as I want it to remain in my mind’s eye exactly how I experienced it. But that goal will live with me forever and I’d happily put it on a continuous loop.

Best stadium?

The Allianz Arena in Munich’s a personal favourite when it comes to facilities etc. while the atmosphere at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran is only matched by that at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. Both stadiums are crumbling dumps but when they’re full – with crowds in the region of 90,000 – there are few more intimidating or exciting places to watch football on the planet. Always best to keep your head down midway through the second-half in Jakarta as urine-filled bottles have been known to start raining down from the top tier by that stage…

…and the worst?

Nothing – not even Jakarta’s golden showers – surpasses The Showgrounds in Newry. Watching – if you could, given the amount of condensation on the windows – from a cold, wet, draughty press box with a long drive home to follow made it worse than unpleasant. After almost two decades of travelling around varying venues in Asia, nothing has yet come close. A character-building experience.

Your personal new-tech disaster?

Those usually centre around wifi and the inability to get access to a network as deadline approaches thanks to the photographers using up all the bandwidth. Have to admit, nothing major comes to mind on this. Perhaps I’ve been fortunate up until now.

Biggest mistake?

Where to start? Getting the score wrong in a game because I was in a soundproofed press box (depressing enough in itself) and couldn’t hear when the referee blew the whistle to rule out a goal is right up there.The comments made in the press conference put everything into context and sent a very cold shiver down my spine. Fortunately, the guys uploading the story onto the website I was working for were slow to put the story online and a catastrophe was averted.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?

Many moons ago in deepest darkest China I was walking through the lobby of the hotel I was staying in, which was the same hotel hosting the players from the Chinese champions of the time, Dalian Wanda. I was very quickly accosted by a Dalian fan who, it turned out, had cycled something like 2,000 kms to meet the players and support the team in that day’s match. For some reason, he thought I was one of the club’s Swedish imports and asked me to sign his shirt. I protested for a bit, telling him I wasn’t anyone famous until it became clear he wasn’t going to take no for answer. So, sheepishly, I signed the shirt only for someone to then tell the fan – finally – that I wasn’t who he thought I was. It’s fair to say he was none too chuffed.

Most media friendly manager?

When you’re away from the goldfish bowl of European football, it definitely gets easier to deal with managers. Philippe Troussier was fantastic during his days as Japan national team boss – couldn’t have been more helpful – and Bobby Houghton is an absolute gentleman, one of the nicest guys you could meet in any walk of life. But there are others, too. Bora Milutinovic is a gem. The sadly departed Tomislav Ivic was one of the most genuine people I ever had the pleasure to deal with and Milan Macala, who has worked across the Middle East, is a joy to work with. Former Notts County goalkeeper Raddy Avramovic is another, as is Jalal Talebi, who took Iran to the 1998 World Cup. I could go on as most managers I’ve dealt with have been helpful, which is what makes working in Asia so rewarding.

Best ever player?

I think it’s only fair to stick to the players I’ve seen in the flesh rather than waxing lyrical about highlight reels of George Best or Diego Maradona. Globally, the power and pace of the original Ronaldo always mesmerized me – pre-knee injuries he was an awe-inspiring sight when he was in full flow. It wasn’t hard to see why defenders feared him so much. The fact, too, that he managed to so successfully reinvent himself after his knee operations is a genuine sign of greatness. From an Asian perspective, the best player I’ve seen is Shinji Ono (Japan), who should have gone on to be a household name across the global game, but had an injury in his early 20’s that stopped him from fulfilling his true potential. Hidetoshi Nakata’s application and determination to succeed marked him out as well, especially at a time when he was breaking down barriers by going to Europe. Chinese striker Hao Haidong would have been a success in Europe, too, had the authorities allowed him to move when he was at his peak.

Best ever teams (club and international)?

Again, think it’s only right I stick with the teams I’ve seen in person and regularly via work. The best club side were the Jubilo Iwata team that won the Asian Club Championship in 1999, beating Esteghlal from Iran in the final with an all-Japanese starting line-up. National team is also Japanese, the one that Philippe Troussier took to success at the Asian Cup in Lebanon in 2000 – they were a fine side, although the current Japan team is of similar quality.

Best pre-match grub?

You guys in Europe are spoilt on this front. Pre-match food in Asia – if you’re lucky – is a cold bento box in Japan, but otherwise it’s whatever you pick up yourself at the local 7-11 around the corner from the stadium. The only events I’ve been to where that wasn’t the case were the Asian Cup in the UAE in 1996 and the most recent Asian Cup in Qatar in 2011. The food on offer there was great, I think. Or maybe I thought it was great because of the usual dearth of eating options at Asian venues.

Best meal had on your travels?

Hmmm, not sure as there’s so much great food in Asia. Although, funnily enough, the one that sticks in my mind isn’t Asian cuisine. There’s a very famous Brazilian churrasco restaurant in Tokyo I was taken to many years ago called Barbacoa – a venue beloved by Brazilians and the signed plates on the walls bearing the signatures of Zico, Ayrton Senna and the like proving the point – where the food is sensational. A bit pricey, but worth every penny.

…and the worst?

The chicken satay I had in Chiangmai in northern Thailand from a roadside vendor certainly made its presence known for longer and in a more colourful fashion than I appreciated.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?

The Tour de France. I’ve been following it since I was a kid, but haven’t been yet. Despite all the scandals and nonsense over the last two decades, it still holds an immense amount of fascination for me – would love to follow on my bike for a few weeks, but am wary of becoming a lycra-groupie.

Last book read?

Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh. A brilliant read, but a damning indictment on many within our profession. Also Boomerang by Michael Lewis. Having read that off the back of The Big Short, it has encouraged me to keep what little money I have under the mattress and out of the hands of anyone in the banking industry.

Favourite current TV programme?

Breaking Bad – brilliant concept, superbly put together with just enough humour among the grimness to stop you from descending into depression.

Your most prized football memorabilia?

I used to be a bit of sad git when it came to this, picking up all sorts on my travels: a Jubilo Iwata shirt signed by Dunga is a definite highlight or a ball signed by Pele. But nothing beats my ticket for the 1999 UEFA Champions League final signed by Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer. Still the greatest night of my life.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?

Keep an open mind and look beyond the obvious to try to build a career – the world of football does not begin and end at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge or even Camp Nou. Football is one of the only truly global sports and the opportunities to learn so much about other countries and societies through the people you meet in the game are limitless. The standard won’t always be the best, but the access to players and managers and the fascinating stories that lie behind many of those involved will always make it worthwhile.

Michael Church has covered football across Asia for close to two decades, moving to the region in 1995 and has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. He was the Press Association’s Head of Sport for Asia for four years and writes for the South China Morning Post and World Soccer as well as serving as Managing Editor of AFC Quarterly, the Asian Football Confederation’s official magazine.

The Q&A’s world tour continues next week with leading Dutch football writer Marcel van der Kraan.

FWA Q&A: Tim Vickery

Posted on by
1

TIM VICKERY on his dislike of walking in Venezuela…disrespecting Kaka’s voice…and Alfredo the great…

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
Take your pick – paper boy, menswear shop assisant, labourer, comedy writer, box office assistant, theatre manager, English teacher.

Most memorable match?
Think I’ll go with the 1992 European Cup final, Barcelona v Sampdoria at Wembley. London turned into the Mediterranean for a few days, and a wonderfully enthralling game got a historic result in the last minute. I lapped it up.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Pele and Bobby Moore together after the 1970 World Cup match between England and Brazil – a fantastic match in which these great players performed to full capacity, winning the respect of each other and friendship in the process.

Best stadium…and worst?
South America is full of stadiums where you’re breathing the air of the history of the game – the Centenario in Montevideo and La Bonbonera in Buenos Aires are personal favourites (not least because you can walk to both from the centre of town).  But there’s a new one (2007) which for me could fit into the category of best and worst – the Metropolitano in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. It was built for the 2007 Copa América, and it was bizarre to see a compact, English model stadium in relatively small town Venezuela. Very impressive – except that it was nowhere near ready when it opened for the Copa – it was a building site, full of empty lift shafts, though it looked great on TV. My big complaint about it, though, is that it’s so far out of town – a pet hate of mine, especially when there are no mass transport options.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
I know my limitations. Stick to pen and paper, mate. Biggest disaster was when I forgot to take a pen.

Biggest mistake?
Too many to mention but a couple stand out. My first piece for World Soccer magazine was a profile of a Brazilian goalkeeper with German ancestry.  I foolishly commented that this was the perfect combination, some Teutonic steel to balance out the local flair. I should have known that Brazil’s defensive record is and always has been, way superior to Germany’s. Lesson – take no myth for granted.

Or a few months back on Brazilian TV. Kaká had just been recalled to the national team even though he was not getting a game for Real Madrid. I couldn’t resist the easy quip, saying that the only explanation for his comeback was that he has been singing the national anthem very well. It was a lack of respect to a quality player, who proved me wrong when he slotted successfully into the side.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Charlton Heston (when he was still alive). I recommended a good optician.

Most media friendly manager?
In Brazil they tend to be very media friendly.

Best ever player?
Pele, Maradona, Messi – genius in all of them.  But hard to believe that anyone has been as influential as Alfredo Di Stéfano.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
Barcelona of recent years (they have brought back the little player) and Brazil of 1958 – without the media of 70 but far better man for man.

Best pre-match grub?
Doesn’t happen over here. We don’t get fed.

Best meal had on your travels?
A good old Ruby Murray every time I come back home.

…and the worst?
Can’t remember what it was in Colombia that had me up all night vomiting.

Best hotel stayed in?
Any time, anywhere – providing someone else is paying.

…and the worst?
A place in Cali, Colombia that I checked into, paid for a night up front, had a little nap and then noticed did not have running water.  Needless to say, I was paying for the place myself.

Favourite football writer?
Hughie Mac.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Peter Jones/Brian Moore.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Let me in whenever I want – don’t need anything else – just want to watch the game and come to my own conclusions.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The Ashes in Oz.

Last book read?
Thatcher’s Britain by Richard Vinen.

Favourite current TV programme?
Discovered Law and Order SVU during the last Copa América. Got hooked. Think I’ve shaken it now.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
Copy of the autobiography of the late and undoubtedly great Zizinho, signed to me.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Don’t expect wealth or security, and always remember that your subject is more important than yourself.

Tim Vickery has lived in Brazil since 1994. A regular contributor to World Soccer and Sports Illustrated, he can be heard on 5Live and talkSPORT. Twitter: @Tim_Vickery

Next week: The Q&A world tour continues in Asia with Michael Church.

FWA Q&A: KEVIN BAXTER

Posted on by
1

KEVIN BAXTER of the Los Angeles Times on why Manchester is the culinary capital of the world…the wonderful Doghouse…and the importance of learning a second language

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?

As for covering the sport, I came very late to football – and even later to a deep appreciation of it. For more than 20 years I primarily covered baseball and only became involved in football because my newspaper needed a Spanish speaker to follow the Mexico team through its preparations for the 2010 World Cup. I followed the team through Europe then to South Africa. And I’ve been hooked ever since.

Most memorable match?

Still a relatively small sample size. But given the stakes, I would guess I’d have to narrow it down to three from the last World Cup. The U.S. victory over Algeria, which advanced the team out of group play, was memorbable mainly because of Landon Donovan’s goal in stoppage time. Then there was the final between Spain and the Netherlands that went to overtime. But if I had to pick just one – and this might be a game that many have already forgotten – the quarter-final in Johannesburg between Ghana and Uruguay. It was incredible. It the was game with the Luis Suarez handball when he saved a certain game-winning goal, was red carded and when Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty kick, the game went to overtime and ultimately a shootout, which Uruguay won. The result also prevented Ghana, in the first World Cup to be held in Africa, from becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals. A memorable game for many reasons.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?

I could spend the better part of a week answering this question. And we could probably have a great debate on it. So many incredible performances by so many great players. And let’s not forget the women’s game. There are some memorable moments and some fantastic athletes there as well. So as not to be predictable and cliché, I will pick a moment I witnessed – and have not forgotten – yet one many world football fans are probably not aware of. I’ll go with Giovani Dos Santos’ physics-defying goal for Mexico against U.S. keeper Tim Howard in the 2011 Gold Cup final. It was the clinching goal in a 4-2 win and Dos Santos’ skills defy description. He left-footed the ball into a spot so small…do yourself a favor and Google it.

Best stadium?

I’ll use the same excuse as before..limited sample size. But Old Trafford has to be on the list for the history. I liked Ethiad a lot (a picture I took there this winter is the screen saver on my cell phone). Some of the new stadiums in Mexico, such as Chivas’ in Guadalajara, are nice. So are the newer Major League Soccer stadiums which are soccer-specific, though they are much smaller than the big facilities in Europe. After seeing the men’s and women’s 2012 Olympic finals, which both drew more than 80,000 rabid fans, I’ll go with Wembley as the best stadium I’ve been to.

…and the worst?

I have to distinguish between big, historic stadiums and smaller, less well known ones. The stadium in Tijuana, Mexico, for example needs a lot of work. But among the large, world-class, World Cup-type facilities I would have to say the Azteca in Mexico City is the worst I’ve been to.

Biggest mistake?

Not becoming passionate about the game earlier.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?

Thankfully for the other person, no.

Most media friendly manager?

By and large, I believe American coaches are more media friendly — largely because they are still trying to grow the sport here. So I’ll pick two Americans – Bruce Arena of the L.A. Galaxy and late of U.S. national team and Dominic Kinnear of the Houston Dynamo – and a Swede, Pia Sundhage, former coach of the U.S. women’s team

Best ever player?

I know this will anger the oldtimers, but anyone who says Lionel Messi is NOT the best player ever isn’t paying attention. He is simply outstanding. He is putting up numbers that will never be approached again

Best ever teams (club and international)?

If you are talking about history and not a finite time frame, it would have to be the Brazil national team. As for club teams, my wife, a diehard Manchester United fan, will object but I’ll take Real Madrid and its nine European Cup/Champions League titles

Best pre-match grub?

Wembley. Before a friendly between England and Mexico, May 2010

Best meal had on your travels?

Akbar’s in Manchester. Nothing has come close.

…and the worst?

The media food at any of the Olympic venus at London 2012. Sorry, London. Had a great time. The volunteers were unbelievable. But the food? Not so much.

Best hotel stayed in?

Marriott on La Reforma in Mexico City

…and the worst?

I’ll keep the name to myself. But know who you are, you Durban South African hotel.

Favourite football writer?

I’ll stick with judging my comrades in the States and go with Steve Goff of the Washington Post.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?

Andres Canto (Spanish) of Telemundo, one of NBC Universal’s networks.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?

More access to the players. That’s not really been a problem in the States and as a result we’ve been able to present a human side to our players that has helped draw fans to the game. Access to players is limited in Europe and largely non-existent in Latin America. As a result I think players come across as one-dimensional football robots. It is also a big reason there’s so much rumor-mongering and gossip. If you can’t ask the player a question and get a decent answer, some writers tend to make up the answers themselves

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?

I have to say I’ve been fortunate to cover just about everything anyone could dream of. Two Olympics, Pan American Games, a World Cup. Is there anything else out there? [Cricket? – Ed].

Last book read?

This will make no sense to anyone outside the U.S. but it was Ozzie’s School of Management: Lessons from the Dugout, the Clubhouse, and the Doghouse About U.S. baseball manager Ozzie Guillen.

Favourite current TV programme?

Family Guy.

Your most prized football memorabilia?

A Manchester City jersey (my wife picks my Manchester United shirt).

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?

Learn the game, of course but additionally learn a foreign language. This is a real problem for most U.S. writers who know only English. Unlike in Europe, few Americans speak multiple languages. And then you run into footballers like former Chelsea and Tottenham keeper Carlo Cudicini, who has learned four languages primarily because of football. Or Jürgen Klinsmann and Pia Sundhage who both speak several and you begin to realize language is the key to truly understanding the culture that produces the different styles of football in Latin America, Italy, Spain, Germany and the UK.

NEXT WEEK: The Q&A’s world tour continues and catches up with Tim Vickery in Brazil.

FWA Q&A: Sid Lowe

Posted on by
Reply

The Q&A section is on a world tour, talking to football writers in different countries. This week: Spain.

SID LOWE on fascism in Barnsley…the Reina in Spain that caused him a lot of pain…and a romantic getaway for one eating cake

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
Yeah. When I was younger, I coached on kids’ sports camps during summer holidays. Like just about every Englishman who’s ever set foot in Spain, I’ve taught English. And I spent two years lecturing and giving seminars in Southern European Fascism at Barnsley College, as part of a University of Sheffield degree. Oh, and teaching some beginners’ Spanish there, too. And ‘facilitating’, which as far as I can make out meant sitting there in the library trying not to fall asleep.  Just in case anyone wanted any help. Like: “Can I borrow your pen?”

Most memorable match?
If you asked me tomorrow, I’d probably give a different answer and the day after a different one again … I honestly don’t know. Different games grab you for different reasons. I was at the 4-3 between Spain and Yugoslavia at Euro 2000. The Alfonsooooooooo-unbelievable one. The 1986 FA Cup final was incredible and all the more so because I was only 10.  Sadly, when you become a writer, you don’t entirely want a brilliant game, or at least not a dramatic one: lots of late goals kill you. But then afterwards you look back and think: wow. As incredible performances, perhaps Barcelona’s 5-0 win against Real Madrid and Spain’s 4-0 against Italy in Kiev. That 4-3 Liverpool-Newcastle, the first one, stands out of course but I wasn’t actually there. And Barcelona’s 6-2 at the Bernabéu, which was so unexpected. Madrid’s 4-3 over Espanyol was mental too, just bonkers.  And that 3-2 over Getafe when Pepe lost his head.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
It’s been done already: “Matt LeTissier: Unbelievable.” A whole collection of them. Genius.

Best stadium?
Again, it depends on what you’re gauging it by. There’s nowhere in Spain quite like San Mamés.

…and the worst?
Getafe’s stadium is near-ish to my house, which is probably its only advantage, although it’s also a great place to watch football in terms of just how good the press position is. And yet … and yet, it’s got little character, no history and few (but very loyal) fans. They call it the Coliseum, which is like calling my Skoda the Batmobile.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Yeah, thanks for that. I’d just about managed to overcome the pain. I lost a handful of interviews on a digital recorder. They were for my Madrid-Barca book and, well, they were pretty big names. Hours of work and people I was not convinced I could get back to. I phoned up my agent and ranted at him “F this f-ing book, I’m not f-ing writing it any more.” Actually, I did manage to get back to a couple of them, with my tail between my legs.

Biggest mistake?
Erm, don’t know. Must have made loads of them. I once wrote a match report in which Ronaldo had scored four. Just before I hit send, the person sitting next to me noted what a good goal someone else had scored (I forget who) … “You mean it wasn’t Ronaldo?!” I got lucky. A mate of mine once filed a match report with the wrong final score. He wondered why the manager was so upbeat afterwards despite having lost. It was because he’d won.  I turned up for an interview once thinking I was getting Pepe Reina and it was Claudio Reyna. Luckily I noticed before I went in … and in the end didn’t do it anyway.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Not anyone good.

Most media friendly manager?
I’m probably not the right person to answer that because within the labyrinthine dynamics of political relationships etc in Spain, there will be many who are good, bad and indifferent and I won’t even know about it. There have been players, for example, that other journalists have really slagged off but who have been consistently good to me. From personal experience: Vicente del Bosque is very, very nice indeed but that is not always an advantage in media terms. Writing this book, some people have been astonishingly generous with their time.  Michael Laudrup, Radi Antic, Míchel (ex-Sevilla now Olympiacos), Ángel Cappa (various teams in Argentina), for example. I have always enjoyed listening to Pep Guardiola, who is fascinating; Mourinho was interesting at first but has retreated almost entirely (understandably, I suppose). Javier Aguirre is entertaining and very engaging. And I loved talking to Unai Emery (Sevilla), who is a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. But there’s no one quite to compare to Juanma Lillo (ex-Almería).

Best ever player?
Because of my age no one will ever have the impact on me that Maradona did at the 86 World Cup. And the first year I lived in Spain was 1996, when Ronaldo was at Barcelona: I had never seen anything like it. Unreal. If he had kept doing that, maybe him. Right now, it’s hard to resist saying Messi. I think Maradona, still.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
This Spain team has to be right up there. I’m too young to say much about Brazil. At club level, again, historically I can’t make too much of a claim. Madrid in the 1950s, perhaps, although that was a different era and domestically they were not quite as dominant as their European success suggests. The recent Barcelona side make a pretty good case.

Best pre-match grub?
Aye, right. Spanish clubs don’t do food. It was one hell of an eye opener when I did my first games at Chelsea and Arsenal. No wonder you all turn up early for games. I was sitting at the Emirates eating a bloody ice cream, for Christ’s sake. Brilliant. And the wifi worked … ask any journalist and they’ll tell you the same thing: that’s what really matters.

Best meal had on your travels?
Beware of a menu that says “Fish: according to market price”. Found that out in Mallorca once, on a player’s recommendation. Ouch. Bugger me, it was good though. And the best paella restaurant is in Vila-Real. Pity it’s always shut.

…and the worst?
I’ve had countless dire meals. Games finish well after midnight, you end up in town, desperate for anything. Taxi drivers’ cafes, day-old sandwiches, cheese at the bar, a packet of crisps and some olives. You reach the point where go somewhere and someone says the next day: “what was it like?” … “open”.

Best hotel stayed in?
I went to an event in Munich once with Ronaldo (the original one) and he was so late that the whole event – which brilliantly included playing briefly on the Allianz Arena pitch – got put back and in the end our flights were cancelled and we had to stay. I got put on a 6am flight (or similar) the next morning. God, I was bitter.  The best hotel room I have ever stayed in, an amazing comfy bed, and I must have been in it for all of two hours.  Mind you, the best … well, not the best because the hotel is actually a bit rubbish, but …. It was in Barcelona when I accidentally booked the ‘pack romántico’.  Bottle of champagne, chocolate cake and petals on the bed in the shape of a heart. I got back after the clásico – alone, late – and ate the cake watching the repeat on telly. It wasn’t very good. I shudder to think that people might genuinely book that place for a romantic getaway.

…and the worst?
Again, there must be loads of bad ones. But ultimately, if you’re there briefly it doesn’t really matter. There were some horror stories about the Ukraine this summer, although I more or less got away with it … except the night when I didn’t have one and had to sleep on a mate’s sofa.  And even then the comedy value made it worth it.

Favourite football writer?
Are you trying to get me in trouble … ? Whoever you don’t say is going to moan. As Bielsa once said: the problem with picking a number one is that rather than a eulogy of him it looks like a criticism of the number two and that’s not the case. Graham Hunter and Pete Jenson. I always enjoy Roberto Palomar (Marca), even when I don’t agree. Juanma Trueba (AS), too. And while I feel like David Gistau (freelance) has got into a rut recently, I think he’s a genius.  Lu Martin (El País) and Santi Giménez (AS). Scott Murray (Guardian sports editor) always makes me laugh. Ian Macintosh (ESPN) as well. Jonathan Wilson knows everything. And Sean Ingle has recently started writing a column in the Guardian, which is, I think, a great addition. Barney Ronay has great vision and expression. I tweet a lot of articles that grab me – there are some brilliant people about.  I’m bound to have left some real geniuses out [No doubt they would agree – Ed].

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Wow. You are, aren’t you? Ok, Miguel-Ángel Roman on GolT in Spain. Gary Neville has been a revelation. And I really like Terry Gibson. Ah, and Graeme Sounness. When I have done Five Live it has been a real pleasure. Mark Pougatch is great.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Normalisation. And access. There isn’t necessarily a need for mutual suspicion (although at times I understand that they feel that way.) Also differentiate: not all clubs and players are the same … and not all journalists are either.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
I went to the Olympics in Athens and that was very special. Wrestling especially. Watching Luke Milligan at Wimbledon was great and watching my brother at Wembley once, playing basketball, was the business. I’d love to see an NBA finals or the Super Bowl.

Last book read?
Actual book? You mean, not football or history? Leaving the Atocha Station, which I read recently. It’s the first time I have read literature (well, it’s almost poetry) for a long time. I tend to read non-fiction more.

Favourite current TV programme?
I am a fan of Revista de la Liga, which is far better on Spanish football than most things in Spain. I don’t get much time for much else, sadly. But, and I realise this is the clichéd stock answer, but The Wire. If there’s a chance to watch something briefly, I’ll always choose comedy.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I’ve got quite a bit. I’m a bit of a history/football but: match day posters, old stickers, that sort of thing. But … for many reasons, my Petr Dubovsky* shirt, which was bought in an auction in Oviedo recently and given to me. I actually cried when I found out.

*A Slovak footballer who played for Slovan Bratislava, Real; Madrid and Real Oviedo in the 90s.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Don’t. Only joking. Erm, I suppose to be aware that you’ll get knocked back a lot, to know that it won’t be easy. “Paid for watching football” is rubbish: it is, like anything else, a job. It’s amazing how much you enjoy a game when you’re NOT working. But, that said, let’s not go down the miserable, cynical route: it’s a great job, fascinating and different. Enjoy it.  And ask people questions whenever you get the chance. Don’t seek a certain answer; ask a question. If you’re interested, your readers may be too.

*You can read Sid Lowe in The Guardian and The Observer plus SI.com; he is also a regular contributor to talkSPORT and Five Live. Twitter: @sidlowe

NEXT WEEK: Kevin Baxter (Los Angeles Times)

FWA Q&A: PAUL JIGGINS

Posted on by
3

PAUL JIGGINS of The Sun on the greatest gift from his dad…minky whale and reindeer in Reykjavik…and Dyson with death in Baltimore

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
Yep. Supermarket shelf-stacker, early morning office cleaner and trainee asphalter. I then joined The Sun as a messenger before going on to write, take photos for and eventually edit the company’s staff newspaper and newsmagazine. I later spent a year (six months of that on gardening leave) as officer of communications for the NHS in North London before John Wardle and Ian Whittell saved me from insanity by hiring me to cover football. Did I mention that while taking pics for NI’s staff paper, I moonlighted as a wedding photographer? Most nerve-racking job ever. I gave it up after accidentally standing in a piece of dog turd while taking pics of a happy couple. As they and all their guests laughed, I flicked my foot to get the mess off my shoe and could only watch in horror as it flew through the air, hitting the stunned bride’s mother on the lapel, leaving what can only be described as a blemish on her outfit and a stain on my character.

Most memorable match?
I’m getting to the age where they have all merged into one. It’s certainly not any match in the Champions League, the most overhyped and boring competition in the world, summed up by its blooming annoying operatic theme tune.

I would have to say Millwall 2 Norwich 3, Sunday January 22, 1989 (and I didn’t even have to check date). It was Millwall’s first season in the top flight and first ever game live on TV. Despite being a season ticket holder alongside me, my dad opted to watch the game from the comfort of his favourite armchair because he had never watched his beloved Lions on telly before and wanted to experience what it felt like. Millwall fought back from 2-0 down to make it 2-2 and absolutely battered the Canaries before Robert Fleck’s spectacular late scissor kick won the game for the visitors. Straight after the game I went to watch Big Country in concert at the Hammersmith Odeon. When I got home later that night, mum was still up and she disclosed that dad was so proud of the way Millwall had played that she had caught him wiping away tears from his eyes. An image and match made all the poignant by the fact that it was one of the last matches he ever witnessed as a few months later he died leaving me the greatest gift a son could ask for, a love of football.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Jamie Moralee’s goal for Millwall at West Ham after just 35 seconds in March 1993 in front of me and 6,499 fellow delirious fans sardined on Upton Park’s South Bank terrace.

Best stadium?
The original Den, but as it is now a housing estate, I’ll have to go for the Emirates, which sleeps even more.

…and the worst?
Selhurst Park. It’s at least three hours from everywhere, even Croydon, and they make that turnstile for journalists smaller every season.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Once sent a text that was rather uncomplimentary about a player I’d just interviewed to…er, the player I’d just interviewed. To my eternal shame and cowardice I even tried to claim at first that he shared the same name as a mate of mine and it was all a mix-up. He wasn’t happy. But he was crap anyway.

Biggest mistake?
Not jumping ship from the security of corporate communications to try my hand at football reporting on a full-time basis sooner. Also turning down a request from a cabbie mate a few years ago to help him out with some Press and PR for the new taxi iPhone app he was co-launching. He said he would pay me in shares, but I did not think I could commit the time. So I had to decline. The bad news is, he has now given up work having recently received £17 million investment to syndicate the app to other major cities around the world. The good news is, though, he has given me all of his old blankos! Shrewd, eh?

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
In my younger and slimmer years it was Paul Scholes. Three days after he scored for England against Tunisia at France 98 I went to Royal Ascot and was mobbed by punters who was convinced I was him, even though he was locked down in the squad’s hotel. These days it’s Basel boss Heiko Vogel. When his Swiss outfit played Manchester United in the Champions League I started getting loads of texts from mates and colleagues saying I was on the telly. I tuned in and have to admit I was surprised by how handsome he was. I said to my wife: “He’s even got the same coat as me.” To which she replied: “Yeah…but it looks better on him.”

Most media friendly manager?
Steve Evans. Ordered his Crawley players to come in at 7am so we could take a team pic of them in their Sun-sponsored shirts before their FA Cup tie at Manchester United. He even charmed Steven Howard.

Best ever player?
Dave Cusack. My all-time Millwall hero now occasional drinking partner. They say you should never meet your heroes and my liver would vouch for that. Would be a multi-millionaire if he played today. Legend.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
Millwall 1984/85 and England 1990. With a bit more care, thought and luck, both could have conquered the world.

Best pre-match grub?
Arsenal takes some beating but Tottenham are getting there.

Best meal had on your travels?
A six-course tapas extravaganza in Reykjavik while covering the England Under-21’s in 2011, which included, puffin, minky whale, lobster, reindeer and lamb. And all for under £20.

…and the worst?
On the same trip I was not the only one to be left somewhat disappointed by the mixed grill at the only eatery in Drammen, Norway, that was still open at 8pm on a Sunday night. For starters, the grill must have been given the night off as there was not a pork chop or piece of steak in sight. Instead it was a selection of cold meats (more of a mixed chill, you might say) so delicately arranged on a saucer of a plate that not one of the ingredients was touching another and all for the princely sum of £60. The waiter should have worn a stocking over his head.

Best hotel stayed in?
The Hotel Villa Nabila in Reggiolo, Carlo Ancelotti’s home town in Italy. Stayed there when I went to do a backgrounder on him following his appointment at Chelsea. The restaurant had two Michelin stars.

…and the worst?
The Holiday Inn North Baltimore. A few of us were due to stay there for three nights during Tottenham’s tour of States last summer. What they did not tell us, though, was that it was 70 miles north of Baltimore and after an 100-dollar-plus taxi ride from airport, we checked in to find dozens of teenagers in hoodies hanging around in the corridors on each floor.

There were so many kids outside my door that getting into my room was like walking into my local off-licence, except I wasn’t offered a handful of change to buy one of them 10 B&H and a bottle of Thunderbirds. After I spent the first night sleeping with one eye open and a chair behind the door, I checked out the following morning after breakfast was evacuated due to reports that a guest had pulled a gun on a maid as she tried to clean his room. She was Dyson with death indeed.

Favourite football writer?
Whoever pens the on-screen info bar and breaking news ticker on Sky Sports News. Straight to the point with a lovely turn of phrase. I mean, why write “We have seen the story in a newspaper” when “Sky sources say…” reads so much better?

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
There will only ever be one Brian Moore. Every time I hear his commentary on a game I am nine again. As for radio, Sam Matterface reminds me of the Jonathan Pearce I spent most of my teenage years sitting in my bedroom listening to on Capital Gold. But my real radio hero is Danny Baker who, along with Danny Kelly, not only made me want to become a journalist, but made me believe I could become one, despite my accent and football team.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
All match reports to include ‘mixed zone reports’ chronicling the behaviour of players afterwards. It might give fans an idea of how rude some of their highly-paid ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ heroes really are. What kind of industry is it when a teenage div in a huge pair of headphones believes he is well within his rights to completely ignore a polite request from a professional journalist 20 years his senior just because he is fortunate enough to be able to run fast or kick a ball hard? Only in this industry is this kind of behaviour tolerated. Could you imagine an apprentice labourer behaving like that on a building site?

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The Monaco GP from the deck of a nearby expensive yacht.

Last book read?
Family by Michael Calvin. A beautifully written book about some beautiful people.

Favourite current TV programme?
The Big Bang Theory.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
Two 2004 FA Cup Final programmes. They are in my pants drawer [Too much information – Ed]. I bought two in case I lose one. Programmes that is, not pants [Far too much information – Ed]. Have never read them fully but every so often I take them out to make sure Millwall actually got there and it wasn’t a dream. Shame the players never turned up.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Stay away you bastards, we don’t need any more competition, jobs are scarce as it is.

FWA Q&A: ANDY DILLON

Posted on by
Reply

ANDY DILLON of The Sun on being Vince Champagne…his fear of Harry’s open car window…and a naked sauna with an unknown female…

Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
I worked on a building site labouring as a teenager but got sacked after having a fight with the foreman. Construction’s loss is football’s gain I like to think. I have also had various jobs including filing the insides of the telescopic legs of fold up fishing chairs to make them fit and buttering bread at the Student Union while at University. I also made cash as a DJ back in the day when I lived in Bristol in the early 90s – playing under the name of ‘Vince Champagne’ with my pal ‘Dave The Rave’. All would probably pay more than journalism now I suspect.

Most memorable match?
Possibly Birmingham v West Ham, Carling Cup semi-final second leg two years ago. A fiesty old night at St Andrews when a mate popped downstairs for a number two just minutes into the game. He emerged from the traps just as a group of West Ham ruffians were brought into the away end by West Midlands’ finest. My innocent pal was corralle along with them and missed the entire first half of the match being held under the stands by the police. Great night but a rubbish game tho. West Ham were 12 minutes from Wembley and threw it all away – what a surprise.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Paolo Di Canio sticking it past Fabian Barthez in West Ham’s incredible FA Cup win at Manchester United some years back. It had everything about my club in a nutshell. And Di Canio’s facial expression to the TV cameras is immortal.

Best stadium?
Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion. 80,000 capacity in a tight, square, English style arena. Watched Germany v Poland there in the World Cup in 2006. Wow! Every English club should play in a ground like this.

And the worst?
No such thing as a bad football ground. I love them all – they are mesmerising.

Biggest mistake?
Moving to Surrey a year ago from Wimbledon. Even though I lived next to Plough Lane, which is now a housing estate, and an industrial estate I now miss the things I once hated about that place. I grew up in the suburbs and am now back to square one. I want my SW postcode back.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Where do we start? My colleague and kind of friend Charlie Wyett has calculated that my own newspaper has mis-spelt my byline 17 times. Dillion, Dillom, the list goes on. I’ve been referred to as Alan by one of The Sun’s own columnists, one manager thought I was called Anthony and recently a Barclays Premier League chairman thought I worked for the marketing department of Men & Motors magazine. Charismatic I ain’t.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
I Phone. I can play games, take pictures, listen to music and get emails from News International at two in the morning, but I can’t make a phone call on it [it’s an iPhone Alan, I mean Andy – Ed]

Most media friendly manager?
Harry Redknapp – and as his ghost writer at The Sun how I love seeing him leaning out of that car window telling Sky Sports all the stuff I had hoped to save for his weekly column. Top man though. Great love for football and always armed with a few anecdotes or jokes to keep the game in its rightful perspective as entertainment. Unless he’s just lost, of course.

Best ever player?
Frank Lampard. Amazing contribution to football and when have you ever seen him lose his rag? Phil Parkes is up there too, tho.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
Club: Barcelona in any of the recent seasons. (boring I know)
International: Brazil in the early 1980s. Maybe it’s my fuzzy memory but those guys didn’t even seem to need to run. Cool tops, too.

Best pre-match grub?
Chelsea. The choice is amazing. At least that’s what I’m told because I never go there.

Best meal had on your travels?
Not a big foodie. Will try anything but it’s a fuel stop for me. Nothing more.

And the worst?
As above. Don’t really bother with the taste. Down it goes.

Best hotel stayed in?
The Bio Hotel in Stanglwirt in Austria where the Klitschko brothers train. It’s The Sound of Music in real life. Everything is made of wood – including the telephones. The swimming pool has an outdoor lagoon where you can jump out and roll in the snow. I had a naked sauna with a complete stranger (female) and the girls at check in are breathtaking: As one colleague whispered to me on arrival: “Wow, if Carlsberg made reception desks…”

And the worst?
Can’t remember the name but it was in Armenia. I was covering Wales and this place had a tarpaulin for a roof. Everything was cold, damp and miserable. Just like Wales in fact.

Favourite football writer?
Des Kelly. His columns bounce along and his humour appeals to me greatly. He can treat serious subjects with a light touch to remind us that football is not a matter of life and death all the time.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
I guess it would be Brian Moore – only in that his voice takes me back to Sunday lunchtimes as a kid when I first started taking notice of football and the Big Match would also show highlights from lower league matches.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Stop press officers sitting in on one-to-one interviews with players.
I’ve not seen a negative sit down yet. Chill.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
A night with BBC news reader Susanna Reid? Does that count? [Not really but we’ll make an exception for you Anthony, I mean Andy – Ed]

Last book read?
Am currently reading Bond classic: ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. Nothing like the film at all. I love all William Boyd’s novels.

Favourite current TV programme?
Have I Got News For You. Magical. I love satire.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
A picture of my then four-year-old son George standing on Wembley Way last summer in a West Ham jester’s hat before the play off final against Blackpool. All he wanted to do was meet Charlie Wyett. At least the match wasn’t a let down.

Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Become a DJ instead.