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A TRUE PROFESSIONAL WITH A PASSION FOR HIS CRAFT (who never changed his accent)
By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES
Sir Alex Ferguson was one of many who paid tribute to Malcolm Brodie MBE, a life member of the Football Writers’ Association, whose funeral was held at Cregagh Presbyterian Church in Belfast yesterday.
The former sports editor of the Belfast Telegraph covered a record 14 World Cup finals and did not miss a Northern Ireland match – home or away – from 1946 to 2009.
Originally from Scotland, Brodie was evacuated during the Second World War from Glasgow to Portadown, Co Armagh, where he began his career in journalism.
Sir Alex said: “Malcolm was a great friend and always good value in terms of his opinion. He was straight talking and one thing I always admired about him, he never changed his accent, which is very difficult living in a place like Belfast.”
Former Northern Ireland internationals Harry Gregg and Pat Jennings were among the mourners.
Gregg, who called Brodie “The Godfather,” said: “Without being disrespectful to the modern sports journalist, Malcolm was the last one of those great trusted reporters. A true professional with a real passion for his craft. I’ll always be grateful for knowing Malcolm the human being.
“He was six years older than me and would have taken a close interest in my career since I was a Coleraine lad breaking through into the Northern Ireland schoolboy side around 1947/48. He had an unbelievable memory and friends right across the world. There was no subject Malcolm could not talk about. I was really glad I got to know Malcolm and spend time with him because he was simply a great human being.”
Jennings won 119 caps for Northern Ireland and Brodie covered every one. He said: “There was nobody who could touch him for what he did in soccer in Northern Ireland. When I was a kid I used to read what Malcolm was writing about in the Belfast Telegraph. As players we always wanted to read what he was writing because we all respected him so much.”
Billy Bingham, a player at the 1958 World Cup finals and the manager in the Eighties, claimed Brodie was like one of the team. He said: “Malcolm was always very supportive to me when I was a player and when I was a manager. When you are a manager you always need all the support you can get from good people and thankfully Malcolm provided it. We went through some rocky times before the good times came with the World Cups in 1982 and 1986 and I’ll always be grateful for the support myself and the team received from Malcolm.
“He was a man that the Northern Ireland public listened to. The 1982 and 1986 World Cups were fantastic experiences and it was great to have Malcolm there with us. He was just like one of the team. He really was. That’s how I saw it and the players would say the same. I remember him being so happy that the Northern Ireland team had qualified for the 1982 finals because it was the first time we did it since 1958 and of course he had covered that.”
Jim Gracey, the Belfast Telegraph sports editor said: “He was sharp, incisive, fiercely competitive, unerringly accurate and his credibility was beyond question.”
Brodie is survived by his widow Margaret and three sons Ian, Stephen and Kenneth.
FWA Q&A: Neil Harman
NEIL HARMAN on chatting with Sir Matt…Contemplation Point…and wonderful Fox pies
Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
If you count marking up the newspapers for delivery as a 14-year-old in Leigh-on-Sea and then doing shifts before and after school behind the counter in the same local newsagents, I suppose that’s my only other profession. I left school at 16 and joining the Evening Echo, based in Basildon as a junior sports reporter and from there it has been journalism all the way.
Most memorable match?
Undoubtedly, Liverpool 4, Newcastle United 3 at Anfield on April 3, 1996 Absolutely the most remarkable match, full of adventure whose climax, the stunner by Stan Collymore, who wheeled away towards the Kop, was symptomatic of the match as a whole, a one-touch, two-touch passing move of the rarest quality.
The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
My conversation with Sir Matt Busby at Billy McNeill’s home in Manchester in 1990. I’d been invited to Billy’s 50th birthday and was second to arrive. Billy introduced me to Sir Matt and we had 15 minutes seated on the sofa together talking football before the room started filling up. I was a little awestruck and managed to keep the conversation going. He said ‘nice to talk to you Neil’ when it was over.
Best stadium?
For atmosphere, intimacy, the closeness of the press box to the pitch, the people and the thrill, it has to be Anfield. A real football stadium. It never disappointed.
…and the worst?
It’s probably the Southendian in me, but I loathed Layer Road, Colchester.
Your personal new-tech disaster?
Actually, I survived all right (even sheltering under my desk in Izmir, Turkey in 1991, trying to keep the couplers attached to the to ends of the phone so that my Tandy would operate) but sitting next to Steve Curry of the Express in the back row of the press box at Elland Road after the famous Kevin Keegan outburst in 1996 took some beating. It was a night of high emotion, we were all re-writing quickly and Martin Lipton, now the Mirror chief football writer and then of the Press Association, raced up to the box, tripped over Steve’s electricity cables, which were dragged out of the socket and all of his words disappeared from the screen just as he was about to press ‘Send’. It is safe to say that Mr Curry was not a happy bunny. If memory serves me write he had to ad-lib (I hope younger journalists know what that means).
Biggest mistake?
Thinking that I could keep doing the job the way I had always believed it should be done when a certain regime took over at the Daily Mail in the late 1990s – and hoping that some of my colleagues on the paper at that time would stand up for what was right, rather than what was expedient. I left.
Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
I was a 17-year-old junior reporter attending a primary school in Billericay to write a story on Mervyn Day, the former West Ham and Orient goalkeeper meeting the kids and when I arrived before he did, most of them thought I was him.
Most media friendly manager?
Ron Atkinson
Best ever player?
My parents used to be season ticket holders at Upton Park and when they took me along, I idolised Bobby Moore. Getting to know him was one of the greatest satisfactions of my life.
Best ever teams (club and international)?
Real Madrid of the early 1960s and the Brazilians who won the 1970 World Cup.
Best pre-match grub?
It was all much of a muchness in my day, but I do recall that Bill Fox, when he was Blackburn chairman, allowed the press into the boardroom before matches at the old Ewood Park and their pies were bloody wonderful.
Best meal had on your travels?
During the 1992 European Championship in Sweden; Colin Gibson of the Daily Telegraph, Steve Curry of the Express, Harry Harris of the Mirror, and I stayed at a hotel in the middle of nowhere away from the rest of the England media throng, which had its own lake and we ate the fish they caught from it every night. Stunning cuisine. They had a wooden boat which we used to take in turns to row to the middle of the lake in the evening. We called it Contemplation Point.
…and the worst?
One motorway greasy spoon is hard to differentiate from another, but I’ve had my fair share of those on late, late match nights
Best hotel stayed in?
I loved the Stenungsbaden Yacht Club just outside Gothenburg, for the aforementioned 1992 Europeans (another Gibson triumph). It happened to be the same hotel that the Danish team was in before the final and we made great friends with their manager, Richard Moller-Nielsen, much to the chagrin of the Denmark press corps.
…and the worst?
The hotel wasn’t the worst but sharing with Alan Thompson of the Express on a Cup-Winners’ Cup trip with Bangor City to Madrid in 1985 was an unforgettably awful experience. He sat up most of the night smoking Capstan Full Strength and sipping brandy. I didn’t get a wink of sleep. I loved Tommo though, what a character.
Favourite football writer?
Across the years, Geoffrey Green of The Times, Alan Hoby of the Sunday Express, Jeff Powell (the best match reporter of all) Jeff Farmer and Peter Johnson of the Daily Mail, David Lacey and Daniel Taylor on the Guardian.
Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Difficult to pick one, I loved the velvety tones of Peter Jones and Bryon Butler on BBC Radio and Mike Ingham continues that tradition; David Coleman and John Motson on the television. So many voices today sound exactly the same to me.
If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
I don’t cover that much football these days, but it strikes me that a loosening of the PR strings is what is required. We could mix and mingle with the players in my day and I know that’s tough with the 24-hour Sky Sports News types to cater for, but only when the press and the players develop a sense of trust and mutual appreciation can the real stories be told. Otherwise, it’s simply PR dross.
One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The Masters in Augusta.
Last book read?
The Seven Deadly Sins, My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by David Walsh of the Sunday Times on the doping in cycling. A page turner. Brilliant work by a brilliant writer.
Favourite current TV programme?
I’m a bit of an old sentimentalist. I love Call The Midwife
Your most prized football memorabilia?
I have a menu from the Anglo-American Sporting Club which must have been circa 1970-71, signed by Bobby Moore, Alan Mullery, Terry Venables and Colin Bell among others. A treasure for a 13 year old kid.
Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Try to remain true to yourself, write with honesty, have an opinion, forge relationships, maintain your enthusiasm even in the most trying or circumstances. Never let the bastards grind you down.
Neil Harman was the Daily Mail chief football writer from 1990-97 and also wrote on football in the Mail’s Manchester office in the early 80s having started on the Southend Evening Echo and moving to the Birmingham Evening Mail. He was the Mail’s tennis correspondent from 1986-90 and has been in the same position at the Sunday Telegraph and at The Times, since 2002.
I DON’T LIKE CRITICS, OH NO
Don’t you walk thru my words
You got to show some respect*
By JIM WHITE
IF EVER I am feeling a little too pleased with myself, whenever I think that I might have the answer, on the occasions I smugly reckon I have hit the nail right on the head, I have a simple method of pricking my own pomposity: I check out the comments under any piece I have written on the internet. Then I realise that I am, in fact, a worthless illiterate moron with an agenda bigger than Clarence Seedorf’s rear end who should never be employed writing about football again. The other day, beneath a piece I was reasonably pleased with, the first comment was succinct in its analysis: “another ten minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Why anyone pays this jerk for his opinions is one of the great mysteries of life.” And that was one of the more positive comments.
I can at least take comfort that I’m not the only one. Even the most distinguished of our trade are routinely beasted in the comments section. Martin Samuel, Paul Hayward, Patrick Collins: all of them are apparently idiots. I was recently enjoying a piece by Richard Williams which was so brilliantly argued and beautifully composed it should have been immediately placed at the centre of the curriculum of any university journalism course. And the first comment? “Another load of manure from the world’s most boring man. The sooner he retires the better.”
It is everywhere this vituperation. Broadsheet and tabloid, liberal and conservative outlet, every football writer is routinely soaked in vitriol. John Cross wrote a piece on the Mirror website a couple of weeks back saying that he understood Southampton’s owner Nicola Cortese was on the brink of sacking Nigel Adkins and was going to appoint Mauricio Pochettino in his stead. The first three comments under the item were instructive:
“What an absolute piece of garbage story,” read the first.
The second was: “The Mirror understands how to make up stories to make us laugh. Saints fans understand the Mirror is changing hands and that Nicola Cortese is to be appointed consultant to the new board who are about to clean out and clean up the rag. I wonder which story has any truth?”
While the third patrolled new frontiers of literacy to inform us that: “whoever wrot this is a f**k wit haha”.
The truth is whoever wrote this is a first class journalist with first class sources who had provided readers with a first class story. As was evidenced by the turn of events of the very next day.
But the commentators were not interested in such niceties as the truth or accuracy of Cross’s story. All they wanted to do was soak him in verbal ordure. And this is a rough summary of what any football journalist can expect the moment they venture into print these days. Or indeed on to the airwaves.
As Stan Collymore has long been aware. He was obliged recently to defend himself from sneerers on Twitter who had attacked him for being an ex-pro who didn’t go to university. What does he know about journalism? In his very cogently argued riposte, he pointed out how much hard-working pundits like him and Gary Neville bring to our understanding of the game. You wonder, though, whether any of those attacking him would have bothered to listen. They were probably too busy trolling Henry Winter for being a non ex-pro who did go to university. What does a snooty chap like him know about the working man’s game?
Of course, we have long known that Twitter and the comments section of any newspaper website are these days simply an extension of care in the community. They are the province of the goggle-eyed, providing an instant electronic reservoir of green ink for the socially unreliable.
The football section, however, does seem consistently to be the most hate-filled and ugly. And that, given what can be found under any item by Julie Burchill, is saying something. Football writing, it seems, has come to be regarded as an extension of the game, and football writers reckoned to be legitimate targets for the same kind of raw, personalised haranguing to which footballers are now routinely subject. It makes me wonder, perusing what passes for debate in the comments section: has there ever been a time like it?
*With apologies to 10CC’s Dreadlock Holiday
In Memoriam: Kevin Moseley
Kevin Moseley – a brilliantly gifted reporter with contacts of the highest order
By ALEX MONTGOMERY
Kevin Moseley was a brilliantly gifted sports reporter whose news column in the Seventies, Eighties and into the Nineties, was a must read for every sports desk on Fleet Street. When the early edition of the Daily Mirror dropped – in later years it was the Daily Express — more often than not there would be a scramble for the phones to check out and follow up another of his exclusives.
Kevin could spot a weakness, work on it and in time produce copy that in his prime would always entertain, inform us of something we did not know and earn him a reputation for being an outstanding news gatherer, albeit of the old school.
You don’t write about the demise of Sir Alf Ramsey as England manager (Daily Mirror) and prove to be 100 per cent correct or reveal the demons Tony Adams (Daily Express) had to confront when he was at the peak of his career as captain of Arsenal without contacts of the highest order.
Kevin had strategically placed informants. The revelations about Ramsey and Adams stick in the mind, but there were many more which, at the time, would be considered major stories. It was the consistency of his ability to sniff out tales from the world of football that put him in a wee class of his own.
It also took considerable bravery to regularly expose himself to the real possibility that football was capable of denying the undeniable when stories appear they do not like. That intense pressure takes its mental and physical toll.
Kevin could be hard-nosed, if needed, with the pompous, the liars and downright crooked we all have had to deal with, but would go out of his way to help those with holes in their boots.
He was loyal to those he respected and a nightmare to those he felt abused him and his lifestyle. He did not seek awards, though would have won them in the modern era where “scoops” are acknowledged. Appearing on television or radio did not interest him. He would congratulate the success of a rival and be first to demand a celebration which usually meant a long night and an overnight stay in Bexley. He certainly would not offer a compliment to a rival on the expectation of receiving one back.
Kevin was a great friend of mine for nearly 50 years since we met as young reporters at Reg Hayters sports agency just off Fleet Street in Fetter Lane. I recognised then the qualities that would make him such a supreme newsman and formidable rival; his fearlessness and persistence.
He immersed himself in the romance we all felt in working on Fleet Street and it was certain to me he would fit into the national newspaper scene and be successful. Old Reg sent him with England to the World Cup finals in Mexico in 1970 with a stack of assignments for the nationals – plus a Tommy Docherty column to write I think for the then Daily Sketch – oh, and would he please ghost a book with Bobby Moore. It left no time to enjoy Mexico. Wrong. Kevin always found time to smell the roses.
He introduced himself to me as half and half – half English through his mum and half Irish through his dad. He was a committed Republican , a source of the occasional argument between us, fuelled
by my Black Label and his Jamesons. They lasted no longer than the length of a good sleep.
We worked a beat between Ipswich and Norwich in the east, Southampton in the south with London in the middle. There would be glorious overnights and after match drinks with the late Ipswich chairman “Mr John” Cobbold and Sir Bobby Robson at Portman Road; with the late John Bond in some all night Greek restaurant at Norwich, or with Lawrie McMenemy first in his office at the Dell and then down to the long demised Polygon Hotel for coffee, sandwiches and brandy.
There would be trips to Leicester where the late Jimmy Bloomfield was manager or we would break into the Midlands mafia to make ourselves known to Ron Atkinson and Ron Saunders and eventually listen to Jock Wallace where I could be called on as after-match interpreter. As number two or three reporter we covered Southampton’s winning FA Cup campaign of 1976. We were joined by Steve Curry in the latter stages of the run on Wembley when Lawrie labelled us the Freeman Hardy and Willis of football reporting. These memories are not recalled to irritate our successors on the road who are now restrained in their search for information by press conferences. It is just the way it was. So many people so little time.
Kevin successfully dealt with a number of crises in his life including cancer. A few months ago he phoned to say that was in remission and he had been given the all clear. He became very ill a month ago. The cancer had recurred, the family were told. This time the end was inevitable and had to be dealt with by Hilary, his son Luke and daughters Lisa and Sara.
The man is no longer with us, but the memories of our friendship and his outstanding journalism remain.
In Memoriam: Malcolm Brodie MBE
MALCOLM BRODIE MBE – a man beyond a legend
By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES
Malcolm Brodie, a life member of the Football Writers’ Association, was unique in sports journalism – he had covered 14 World Cups and it would have been 15 had he not been on his honeymoon. He was awarded the Jules Rimet Trophy by FIFA as the journalist who covered more World Cup finals than any other.
Brodie, who awarded an MBE for services to journalism and an honorary doctorate by the University of Ulster, has died at the age of 86. His contribution to sports journalism was unparalleled and though he grew up in Scotland, it was in Northern Ireland that Brodie became the doyen of football writers. Jim Gracey, the current Belfast Telegraph sports editor, said Brodie had “taught a generation, maybe two or three generations everything we know about journalism, including myself.” Everyone who was anyone in football knew Brodie and Gracey said: “When you walked through the press centres at the World Cups everyone knew him, people like Pele and Bobby Charlton…he was on first name terms with them. The man was beyond a legend.”
As a young reporter finding my feet in the world of football writing, I shall never forget the help and encouragement Brodie gave me. He was as far from aloof as is possible and a 10-minute conversation with him was like a masterclass in journalism. Last February, when I asked Brodie to help with the question and answer section for footballwriters.co.uk (reproduced below) typically he replied: “Thanks for asking me to participate.”
TV presenter Eamonn Holmes has similar recollections and said: “Malcolm Brodie – always a kind word for me as a young journalist and even kinder ones as I grew older. I’ll always be thankful I knew him. RIP.”
Brodie “got a foot in the door,” as he put it, at the Belfast Telegraph in 1943 when he saw a vacancy for a copy-taker advertised. At the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where Northern Ireland defeated the host nation,a copy-taker for the Belfast Telegraph became legendary. Brodie told the story: “I started my match report ‘Magnifico, magnifico, magnifico…’ She said: “I heard you the first time.’”
In 1944 he became a news reporter, covering the courts – “I remember being baffled by the legalities” – and attending council meetings at Belfast City Hall. He went on to be appointed Acting Deputy Parliamentary
Correspondent but, after becoming disenchanted with the lack of real authority at Stormont, decided to pursue his dream of working in sports journalism.
Brodie remembered: “The Belfast Telegraph didn’t have a proper sports department at that time so I suggested to them that they should. Billy McClatchey, who was known as ‘Ralph the Rover’, and Jack Magowan helped me form the basis of what is the sports department as it is today.”
His first World Cup was Switzerland 1954 and in a chapter for Forgive Us Our Press Passes, a book in which FWA members wrote a unique chapter with proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital, Brodie wrote: “Switzerland, therefore, was my Jules Rimet trophy baptism. This was the era when football controlled the competition without starting time edicts from television, commercial enterprise or vested outside interests.
“The era when the media had virtually free access to the training camps and not, as happens so often today, be looked upon by the authorities as pariahs to be banished at all costs. Stadiums did not have an overpowering security presence. Yes, there were the flare-ups on the pitches but primarily the World Cup meant football.
“But Switzerland 1954, in an idyllic Alpine setting, was not without its ugly side, pinpointed by the infamous Battle of Berne, where the Brazilians invaded the Hungarian dressing room, went on the rampage, created havoc and tarnished their name – a scar which remains to this day despite their unquestioned supremacy in the competition.
“The Hungarians were by no means innocents. Allegations that Magyars captain Ferenc Puskas, who was injured and watched the match from the dug-out, had thrown a bottle at the Brazilian as he left the pitch could never be proved.
“Only the professionalism of English referee Arthur Ellis, who sent-off three players, ensured the match finished, with the Hungarians winning 4-2. Villain of the piece to the Brazilians but for the neutral it was a classic textbook example of professional refereeing.
“Underlining the freedom given to the press, I reached the corridors of the players’ dressing room shortly after the mayhem ended. The Brazilians shouted and protested behind a closed door as Ellis, from Halifax, was escorted to safety through rows of irate Brazilian supporters by Scottish referee Charlie Faultless.
“Can you imagine a newspaperman loitering near the dressing rooms of a World Cup finals today? No chance. The nearest we get is the so-called mixed zone where journalists wait behind wire for players to emerge from the stadium and be interviewed in an undignified scramble. I find this somewhat embarrassing, like waiting for crumbs of bread to be thrown to the starving.
“Hungary qualified to meet Uruguay at rain-lashed Lausanne. What a pity this game was not televised live as it proved to be one of the World Cup classics. The conditions were appalling, the standard awesome. ‘This is what I call football,’ commented Charlie Buchan, the former England and Sunderland defender, publisher of his monthly magazine and my companion in the Press tribune that night. ‘Who said these teams could not play in these conditions – they could perform anywhere. Yes, that is football.’
“Uruguay, inspired by Juan Schiaffino, one of the most accomplished inside forwards of all time, lost 4-2 after extra-time but earlier they had destroyed a mediocre Scotland, managed by Andy Beattie, former left back and manager of Huddersfield Town, in a nightmare occasion at Basel. Beattie resigned because of interference from officialdom, turmoil reigned in the camp and the Scots, who had helped give the game to the world, were given a douche of cold reality and a signal they were not the power many of their patriotic fans imagined them to be.
“The media facilities were efficient if somewhat spartan. Calls had to be placed with a central desk in the media centres; it cost a fortune to have a telephone installed while there were interminable delays on calls, many of which never materialised. Most of us in the overspill for the Germany-Hungary final at the Wankdorf Stadium, Berne, were soaked to the skin as rain fell incessantly. Many correspondents without early deadlines opted to return to hotels and file copy from there. Again it was a question of contacting the international operator which was quite a daunting task, but sometimes Irish charm worked. Latops and instant dialling were a world away. Still, it was fun.”
It was always fun working with Malcom Brodie, as Jim Gracey said – a man beyond a legend.
MALCOLM BRODIE on the best of Best…the wrong result and covering 14 World Cup finals
Your first ever newspaper?
Briefly Portadown News, County Armagh .and then Belfast Telegraph for almost five decades
Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
No, I was trained and worked in all aspects of journalism before specialising in sport; then appointed sports editor and football correspondent to create and develop a sports department whose reporters and columnists were given a global canvas for coverage of Irish and main international events.
What was your finest achievement playing football?
Deciding as a young schoolboy I wasn’t good enough to become an established player so opted to enter journalism which would, perhaps, retain my fanatical interest in football. A fortunate step which I never regret– if only you could turn back the clock!.
Most memorable match covered?
Difficult to answer as there have been many glory days with Northern Ireland and the Republic . My choice must be England’s 1966 World Cup win over West Germany at Wembley. An unforgettable day – and night at the Royal Garden Hotel. That scene flashes through my memory every time I walk past Bobby Moore’s statue at the national stadium..
The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
George Best’s scintillating performance when Northern Ireland defeated Scotland 1-0 in a 1968 Euro qualifier. Although Dave Clements scored the goal Best’s genius won the day with the finest individual display of artistry ever seen at Windsor Park. He was the ultimate superstar..
Best stadium…. and the worst?
Olympic Stadium, Rome and the Kombetar Quemal, Tirana circa 1965
Your best ever scoop?
Guadalajara World Cup Mexico,1986. I had just completed an interview with Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham before the final Group game against Brazil when he remarked: “By the way I’m going out to manage in Saudi Arabia.” Just like that- a throwaway line. He intended doubling the jobs. A quick look at the watch confirmed it was well past the morning paper’s edition times. The Telegraph, as an evening newspaper, a diminishing breed these days, therefore had a free early run
Your personal new tech disaster?
Impossible to list them all but I operated on the theory one failure to get a lap top connection meant lifting the telephone and dictating. That kept the blood pressure normal.
Biggest mistake?
Missing a goal answering a phone call and filling the wrong result at the end. It was corrected almost instantly but the damage had done – my thanks to the speed of the PA wire.
Have you ever been mistaken for anybody else?
No but I’ve been often called a name by irate punters which questioned the marital status of my parents.
Most media friendly manager?
Peter Doherty (Northern Ireland) 1951-62 His man-management technique and motivational skills could not be surpassed. Couldn’t stand phoneys or cheats.
Best ever player?
Pele (Brazil)
Best ever teams (club and international):
Club – Barcelona 2011 edging Real Madrid of the Sixties; international – Brazil’s 1970 World Cup squad who took the crown from Ferenc Puskas and his 1956 Hungarians.
Best pre-match grub?
Never sample any.
Best meals on my travels and the worst?
Winston Churchill Restaurant, Mexico City and National Hotel, Albania,1965 circa
Best hotel stayed in?
International Sheraton, Perth, Western Australia
…and the worst?
Metropole Moscow, Circa 1985
Favourite football writer?
Henry Winter (Daily Telegraph), logical successor to the late Geoffrey Green (The Times)
Favourite radio/TV commentator?
Radio: Alan Green (BBC); Television – John Motson (BBC) like The Master, David Coleman, a voice of authority..
If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be ? .
A request for greater transparency, easier access to players and an assurance that club officials and players will pay media the courtesy of returning calls. That is an El Dorado….I must stop dreaming it just won’t happen!
One sporting event outside football you would like to experience?
An England Ashes win over Australia in either in Melbourne or Sydney. To be at either venue on the decisive day must be something special.
Last book read?
My Trade by Andrew Marr
Favourite current TV programme?
Nothing specific, any documentary suffices.
Your most prized football memorabilia?
A miniature World Cup Trophy together with scroll from FIFA to mark covering 14 World Cup Finals; the inaugural Doug Gardiner Memorial Award from the British Sports Journalists Association for services to the profession, the MBE from the Queen, honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster, Gold Medal signifying Life Membership of the Irish Football Association.
What advice would you give to any budding football writer?
Learn all technical aspects in the new digital era including radio and television; closely study all the football rules and regulations. Present your own assessments in match reports, discard the quotes scenario unless it benefits your story. Stand by your own judgment, do your homework on every project and learn. The laws of libel working on the theory if in doubt leave out. Being a crusader can by a costly business if you don’t get the facts correct.
Thanks for inviting me to participate.
CAPITAL ONE WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR THIS FINAL
By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES
SIMON PARKER, the football writer closest to Bradford City, on the rise and rise of the Bantams
“In the future everybody will be world famous for 15 minutes” – Andy Warhol, 1968.
BRADFORD CITY are one win away from securing a place in the Europa League. Old sages may say nothing in football surprises them, but the rise and rise of the Bantams is up there with all the tales of the unexpected the occasionally beautiful game can offer.
Victory over Swansea City in the Capital Cup final at Wembley on February 24 will ensure English football’s most unlikely European qualifiers of their 15 minutes plus Fergie time.
Bradford’s success has changed the lives of the players, manager Phil Parkinson and everyone associated with the club. This true football fairy tale just keeps on going and the reporter closest to Bradford living the dream is Simon Parker, who covers the club for the Telegraph & Argus.
Parker started with the T&A in September 2000. “I had to wait until December to see my first win,” Parker told footballwriters.co.uk. “It’s been not so much a roller-coaster ride as a downhill ride, with two administrations and three relegations. There haven’t been too many high points.”
Until now.
Bradford’s passage to Wembley has thrust the club into the national spotlight and has given Parker a work-load he never dreamed of, not that he’s complaining.
He said: “As you can imagine, we have pullouts and supplements coming out of our ears. In fact, we have had for the last couple of rounds because we all looked at the Arsenal and Aston Villa ties as our big cup final. No one thought we’d still be going…we have plans for a special supplement the week before the final. I’ve already started work on this, speaking to some former players and trying to find every connection possible. Everything’s gone a bit manic, but it makes a change from covering League Two.”
Despite being England’s 11th biggest city, Bradford is not a hotbed of football, rugby league’s Bradford Bulls the only sporting cause for celebration in the new millennium.
Parker said: “In financial terms, Bradford has been on its uppers for a few years. It’s really struggled and needed a boost like this. Most of the headlines have been negative, for instance there were plans to build a big Westfield shopping centre, but it’s still a big hole in the ground. That typified the feeling that the city centre was going to rack and ruin.
“Now, you talk to people and there’s a real buzz about the place. What City have done is to get people talking about Bradford and the profile has been raised in a very good way. Bradford’s a big city with a large potential fan base. They still get huge crowds by League Two standards. The club have always been pretty good to deal with, though obviously it’s not the Geoffrey Richmond era [when Bradford rubbed shoulders with English football’s elite for two seasons].”
Parker has seen the usual procession of managers coming and going during his time covering the club – Chris Hutchings, Jim Jefferies, Steve Smith (caretaker for two games), Nicky Law, Bryan Robson, Colin Todd, David Wetherall (caretaker for 13 games), Stuart McCall, Wayne Jacobs (caretaker, one game), Peter Taylor, Peter Jackson, Colin Cooper (caretaker for two games) and Parkinson – plus one match in 2003 when senior players Jacobs, Wetherall, Peter Atherton and Dean Windass were in charge of team matters.
The men at the top are Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn, who have been joint-chairmen since 2007. Parker said: “They are chalk and cheese, complete opposites. Mark is very brash, he says what he thinks and will talk to anyone while Julian is very reserved. When you get to know him he’s a very funny guy, but he’s happy for Mark to have the spotlight.
“Mark’s always good for a quote and doesn’t worry too much if he upsets people. He had a pop at the local council after Bradford beat Arsenal because only one councillor had bothered to say ‘well done.’ He joked about inviting the one councillor on the team bus if they made Wembley.”
The more reserved Parkinson is one of football deep thinkers, as you might expect from a man who has a BSc degree in social sciences from the Open University.
Parker said: “Phil isn’t someone for the cheap sound-bite. He doesn’t ‘lash out’ or anything, but few can analyse a game better. He watches every match two or three times and goes through everything to the nth degree.
“The first time I spoke to him was a couple of days before he got the job [in 2011] and he was fine. He told me: ‘One thing I’ll promise you is that I’ll always ring you back.’ He’s been as good as his word even during recent weeks when the world and his brother were chasing him.”
For all the national interest, the local newspaper remains at the heart of a club like Bradford. The T&A will be there long after Bradford’s Andy Warhol moment has gone and Parker said: “I remember when I covered Southampton and Dave Jones said how important it was to get on with your local paper, joking that it gives you six months longer in the job.”
For all the excitement of reaching Wembley and the financial windfall that will stabilise the club, Parker has two major worries – whether the cup run will affect promotion and if Parkinson will sign a new contract. He said: “We won’t really know until May, but it’s what might happen to the league form. They’ll play 61 games this season and the squad is not accustomed to playing that many.”
Bradford’s League Two match against Wycombe last Saturday was postponed and they have other games to re-arrange. “Minds inevitably wander and they have done already, they’ve won only one point from the last four league games. They haven’t played particularly badly, but you can tell they’ve been distracted.”
Parkinson’s contract ends this summer and though he turned down the chance to speak with Blackpool, reports claim he earns £1,000 per week, which could be trebled in the Championship.
“It’s not just Parkinson, it’s all the coaching staff and quite a few players, too. Most League Two clubs offer short contracts because it’s not viable to have someone tied down for years. If the club can keep the manager the players will stay because they all want to play for him.
“The chairmen seem confident of keeping Parkinson and unless a big club comes in I can see him carrying on because he wants to see the job through here. Bradford is the type of club where if you do get it right, you’ll be remembered forever. They’ve made history by reaching the final, but if they could win promotion as well, Parkinson will be spoken of in the same way that Paul Jewell [who led Bradford into the top division] still is.”
There is a belief in some quarters that sensational back page stories sell newspapers when in fact good news is far more likely to boost circulation figures. Parker said: “Newspaper sales have fallen through the floor in recent years, but Bradford’s cup run has had a huge impact on the T&A. Phil Parkinson made the point that everyone will want a souvenir newspaper so that in years to come they still have that memory. It is something the internet can never give you.
“While I remain a Portsmouth fan, there is an inevitable attachment when you cover a club for 13 years, especially when you have lived through grim times for so long…you start to enjoy the high rides.”
One of the great things about football is that there are times when the game remains inexplicable, even to the most experienced managers and coaches. How on earth can the team ranked 78th in the 92-club English football pyramid beat three Barclays Premier League sides – Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa plus Watford who are pushing for promotion from the Championship – to reach the Capital One Cup final?
Parker said: “There are some very good players here, quite a few are Championship standard. For example, Nathan Doyle, a strong centre midfielder who was at Barnsley…the captain, Gary Jones, who was Mr Rochdale and if you watch League Two he is the midfielder every lower division team wants, he makes them tick and never wastes a pass.”
Can they do it again? Can they add Swansea to their already impressive list of scalps? Parker said: “I’ve written them off time after time. They were one goal down at Watford with five minutes left and won 2-1. At Burton, they were two down with seven minutes remaining – in every round they’ve looked to be out and Parkinson told me: ‘we are like a boxer being punched on the ropes, but we’ve got a hell of a chin.’ They have taken their punishment, but don’t get put down, they just keep digging away.”
The heavyweights of the English leagues will be absent from Wembley where Swansea v Bradford will be a breath of fresh air in the inaugural Capital One Cup final. Parker said: “Those who don’t support the top four or five clubs probably get a bit bored with seeing them dominate just about everything. Here you have two teams away from the mainstream who cannot say ‘oh, another trip to Wembley, but I’d rather get in the Champions League.’ It’s all or nothing for Swansea and Bradford on the day and that’s what makes it such a special event.
“Capital One must be delighted. They will always be remembered for having this final.”
FWA Q&A: MIGUEL DELANEY
MIGUEL DELANEY on super Spain…awesome Ajax…and magnificent McIlvaney
Have you ever worked in a profession other than football?
Sort of, but not really. I was lucky enough to go straight out of university into a job on the sports desk of the now sadly-defunct Irish paper, the Sunday Tribune. And, although they tried to inflict other sports on me that I never had any real interest in, I was always leaning towards football!
Most memorable match?
A few to mention for different reasons. I’m half-Irish, half-Spanish and, as such, there are results stands out for each for both professional and personal reasons: Ireland’s 1-0 over the Netherlands in September 2001, and then Spain’s 1-0 over the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final. I’ve never been as tense. Luckily, I didn’t have to file on the whistle for either. In terms of sheer performance and the sport being played to its highest possible level, hard to look past Barcelona’s 3-1 over Manchester United in the Champions League final. There was one moment in the first-half where, with just three touches on the edge of the box, Messi had nutmegged Vidic and taken Ferdinand out of the game. Barca were so good that, by the hour, you could see United were absolutely shattered from chasing them. There was no way back. As regards drama, Turkey’s 3-2 win – and comeback – over the Czech Republic in Euro 2008 was a pleasure to be at. Ultimately, the 2010 World Cup final is probably top of the list for the tension, the stage and what it meant – both for the sport and for me personally.
The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Iniesta’s goal against the Netherlands. From a more detached perspective, one of the most perfect goals I’ve ever seen was Hernan Crespo’s in the 2005 Champions League final: an astounding curling through ball from Kaka – that completely took a stretching Jamie Carragher out of the game – followed by a beautiful clipped finish. It was masterful.
Best stadium?
The Bernabeu. Epic dimensions to it. The sheer height of its stands, which seem steeper than Camp Nou, make it incredible.
…and the worst?
Anywhere where it’s difficult to get wifi. There were a few League of Ireland grounds with this problem.
Your personal new-tech disaster?
Once had a 50-minute interview, with what I thought was some great material, recorded on the voice programme of my iPhone. I rarely use the connector to charge the phone on the laptop but, in a hotel room with a ridiculously low number of sockets that were all filled, I decided to. As the phone hadn’t been hooked up to the laptop since I bought it, it immediately synched up, updated and wiped everything that had been on it before. I was close to tears.
Biggest mistake?
See above.
Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
Tim Cahill. I’ve actually been stopped on the street for that one.
Most media friendly manager?
Probably Roberto Martinez or Mick McCarthy, in different ways and for different reasons.
Best ever player?
For fundamental ability, I’d say Diego Maradona. I think his basic skill and manipulation of the ball is still just a touch ahead of Leo Messi’s – who is still obviously absolutely incredible. However, I think Messi will apply his ability much better and ultimately end up with a superior career.
Best ever teams (club and international)?
Ajax 1970-73 (with Barca 2008-11 running them close) and Spain 2008-12. As regards the latter, people go on about Brazil 1970 but they only had six games in conditions that weren’t conducive to defending. Spain have maintained it for four years and three tournaments and have had to put up with some of the deepest and most extreme backlines any team has ever faced. As such, I certainly don’t buy the ‘boring’ argument. As Euro 2008 and the final of Euro 2012 showed, if you step out against Spain they can rip you apart in the manner of that Brazil team.
Best pre-match grub?
Chelsea, by a distance.
Best meal had on your travels?
Can’t remember the name of the restaurant but Vienna during Euro 2008 was excellent. And I was a big fan of the strudels
…and the worst?
The so-called burgers they gave us in Minsk airport when a connecting flight from Warsaw to Kiev was delayed by 10 hours.
Favourite football writer?
It may be an obvious one but Hugh McIlvanney for the manner in which he manages to mix almost literary description with excellent detail in the most concise sentences. He had a line about the World Cup which, for me, sums up how good he is. “Earlier rounds offer sudden death but this is the only one that offers immortality.” That’s always stayed with me. It says so much in so few words, and in such an elegant way.
Favourite radio/TV commentator?
I’d probably go Martin Tyler or Barry Davies. I do like the way Clive Tyldsley attempts to capture a moment, though.
If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
For clubs to realise that, in an age when players are perceived as being detached from the public, making them more accessible can help their image. As I’m sure many have said, the distance between players and reporters – and, by extension, fans – has grown too great. What’s more, coverage of football seems to be becoming increasingly Americanised (and I don’t mean that in a negative sense) – with one difference: US sports offer superb access and realise this is necessary both to sell, and tell the story of, the game.
One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
The Olympic 100m final.
Last book read?
David Walsh’s Seven Deadly Sins. Tremendous work and a testament to him. The Lance Armstrong story has absolutely fascinated me, and there are so many human dimensions to it. More worryingly, though, I’m not convinced football is clean.
Favourite current TV programme?
The Sopranos has been off the air for six years but, since I can’t stop myself watching the repeats on Sky Atlantic, does that count? [Tony says yes – Ed]. I don’t think it will ever be bettered, not even by The Wire – which I also love. Greatly enjoyed The Thick of It recently, too.
Your most prized football memorabilia?
The stub for the World Cup final. Ultimately, it’s still the biggest sporting event on earth. It’s an honour to attend it.
Advice to anyone coming into the football media world?
Read as much as you can and write as much you can. Persevere too. It’s a tough industry but a rewarding one.
I was a football writer with Ireland’s Sunday Tribune for six years until it sadly went bust in early 2011 (writes Miguel Delaney). Having roved around the British Isles and Europe for them, I made the full-time move to London last year. Now, I primarily work for the Irish Examiner, ESPN and the Independent.
Barclays FWA Live
In December 2012, football writers Steve Bates, Andy Dunn, Ian Ladyman, Neil Custis and Paul McCarthy were joined by Gary Neville and Peter Reid to discuss the 2012/13 Barclays Premier League season so far. Here’s what they had to say…
In Memoriam Dave Horridge
By Jeff Farmer
The FWA – and the wider football family- has lost a great character and one of its nice guys with the death of former Daily Mirror journalist Dave Horridge.
Dave died last week at the age of 78 after a lengthy battle with debilitating illness.
I was privileged, as the Daily Mail’s man in the Midlands, to work alongside Dave in many press boxes during his 15 year spell in the patch from the early 1970s. He was a great friend and a valued colleague, respected by players, managers,directors and his reporting contemporaries alike.
Dave was a born and bred Scouser who never forgot his roots nor lost that wry sense of humour associated with his home city. His journalistic career began as a photographic messenger and a copy boy on the Liverpool Echo. He moved up to the sport subs desk on the Echo before switching to the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror sports desks in Manchester. In 1963 Dave became the Mirror’s first full-time football reporter on Merseyside – hugely enjoying a golden era of Liverpool and Everton success. He was an original member of the Merseyside Musketeers along with Derek Potter of the Daily Express,Colin Wood of the Mail and Mike Ellis of the Sun.
A decade on Dave moved down the M6 to join the Midlands Mafia of the 1970s – Alan Williams and Joe Melling of the Express, Hugh Jamieson and Bob Driscoll of the Sun, myself on the Mail and the legendary Peter Batt on the People. Dave fitted in quickly with the lot of us – as he did with the local paper brigade of Colin Malam, Dennis Shaw, Ray Matts, Dave Harrison et al. It was a vintage period for Midlands football with Cloughie’s amazing feats at Derby County and Nottingham Forest, Championship and European success at Aston Villa, Big Ron’s adventures at West Bromwich, Bill McGarry’s trophy-winning Wolves and Coventry in European competition.
Dave was a man who easily made friends and worked hard at making contacts. As he was respected by Shankly, Paisley and Kendall on Merseyside, so it was with Clough ,Saunders and Atkinson in the Midlands. Dave often said he was so lucky to have been in the right place at the right time in his career – on Merseyside and in the Midlands at a time of so much success,with titles, Wembleys and European sorties galore.
After the Midlands, Dave went part-time freelance for a few years (to keep in touch with his mates) and moved back to the Wirral. The family media tradition has been carried on by his son David who joined Central ITV as a teenager and is now a talented television sports director with a world-wide portfolio.
Dave Horridge’s funeral is at Landican Cemetery, Arrowe Park Road, Birkenhead CH49 5LW at Midday on Wednesday, January 30.
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