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FWA Q&A: Dave Kidd

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Dave Kidd of the People on nappies, a bar-room brawl and the beauty of Clint Dempsey…

Your first ever newspaper?
The Romford Recorder. The office lobby always smelt of urine but it was a good place to learn.

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
Stacked shelves in Superdrug as a student. Rose through ranks to be in charge of loo roll, nappies and sanitary products. Power probably went to my head.

What was your finest achievement playing football?
I went a year unbeaten at Subbuteo.

Most memorable match covered?
Personally it was Chesterfield v Plymouth in 1997. The Sun sent me because Chesterfield were to play in the FA Cup quarter-final a week later ‘just in case anything happened’ and to write four paragraphs if it didn’t. In the final minute Bruce Grobelaar in the Argyle goal was barged into the net, sparking a wild-west bar-room brawl. A proper fight. Five players were sent-off in one match for the first time in the history of the Football League. The referee sang like a canary afterwards and I got what I think was my first ever double-page spread.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Clint Dempsey’s winning goal for Fulham in their epic comeback against Juventus in the Europa League 2010. A thing of unutterable beauty. I think I already have it on at least two DVDs.

Best stadium?
Craven Cottage.

…and the worst?
The Dell at Southampton was always hellish to work at.

Your best ever scoop?
Had a fair few bigger ones but the most amusing was my story that Fulham had sacked former Top of the Pops legend Diddy David Hamilton as their PA announcer. On The Sun, we started a campaign to get the great man reinstated. Fulham capitulated and Diddy is still in position to this day. Crusading journalism at its best.

Your personal new-tech disaster?
I am the world’s youngest Luddite at 38. It’s all a disaster for me.

Biggest mistake?
Getting involved in debates with Liverpool supporters on Twitter.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
My headmaster always thought my name was Brian Kidd.

Most media friendly manager?
Arsene Wenger, pre-match rather than post-match. Always enlightening and never ducks a single question.

Best ever player?
Zinedine Zidane. I spent a whole week watching David Beckham training in a monsoon in China when he first joined Real Madrid and Zidane was so good you were happy to get drenched through every day watching practice sessions.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
From my own living memory. Barcelona at Wembley last May. Brazil in 1982, who made me fall in love with the game as an eight-year-old.

Best pre-match grub?
Arsenal. Bet everyone says that.

Best meal had on your travels?
The best meals are too drunken to remember.

…and the worst?
Covering cricket in Kanpur, India when the state was dry for three days due to a religious festival.

Best hotel stayed in?
I’ve been at Mirror Group too long to remember any!

…and the worst?
Travelodge, Widnes.

Favourite football writer?
Steven Howard. All the better because he’s never on TV, radio or twitter, so everything is fresh.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
John Murray, 5 Live.

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

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
An Ashes series in Australia.

Last book read?
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.

Favourite current TV programme?
I honestly don’t watch anything apart from sport or my wife’s house-hunting shows these days. The woman on A Place In The Sun seems to have a rather nice chest.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
Don’t think I have any.

What advice would you give to any budding football writer?
Tell it like you’d tell your mate in the pub. Entertain the readers. And tell them something they didn’t already know. That’s what you’re there for.

My Week: Jim White

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The Daily Telegraph’s Jim White on taking the Piers…a burglary and the other Jim White

Monday January 30
I’m in the stately surrounds of Warrington Town Hall for the Gary Speed inquest. Sombre is barely adequate as an adjective to describe the mood. The Speed family are here looking bereft, drawn and above all utterly bewildered. There’s a huge media presence, too, reflecting the interest the case generated. The public affection unleashed on his passing demonstrated there is a real thirst for answers.

But those hoping for clarity are unlucky. As the coroner Mr Nicholas Rheinberg delivers a narrative verdict, we are no nearer finding explanation as to why a man apparently with so much to live for chose to take his own life. He left no note, an extensive trawl of his computer and mobile phone by the police uncovered no apparent motive, none of those closest to him detected any change in his demeanour in his final hours. He had no history of mental health issues. When Mr Rheinberg asks his widow Louise if she can think of anything that might have provoked her husband into killing himself she can only slowly shake her head and tearfully whisper “no”.

One thing is certain, however: none of the lurid internet stories that filled the information vacuum immediately after his death had any connection to the truth. In a week in which the likes of Joey Barton and Stan Collymore have been championing new media’s superiority over old, it was a sobering reminder that standards of reporting are wildly different out there on the web. Irresponsible some newspapers might be, but not even the most scurrilous red top would repeat some of the stories that spun round social media in the wake of his death without doing the most rudimentary of checks. As Anthony Haylock, Speed’s brother-in-law, put it when he re-tweeted the following: “So, Gary Speed wasn’t gay, wasn’t having an affair and wasn’t facing tabloid exposure. Nice work Twitter.”

Mind you, the fact that the original message was sent by Piers Morgan, a man who made a lucrative career from low-grade tittle tattle, demonstrates that even in a case like this the moral high ground is seldom easily identified.

Tuesday January 31
t is transfer deadline day. Or, as Sky Sports News likes to call it: Jim White Day. My namesake, the silver haired Sky newsreader, has made something of a name for himself turning up the excitement dial to hysterical as the transfer window closes. And as he has done so, he has inadvertently made a name for me too. This morning my phone is already blinking with alerts to the several dozen who are now signed up to follow me on Twitter in the mistaken belief that I am that Jim White. I hope they’re not disappointed when none of the tweets they will subsequently receive from me are written in capital letters and concluded by half a dozen exclamation marks.

Plus, there is a text from an old girlfriend reading: “You’re famous! Check out page 45 of the Guardian”. And there indeed is a profile of Jim White. Though I have to wonder what sort of impression I must have made on her if she cheerily accepted the piece’s description of a “shouty Scotsman” as me.

But then, when it comes to the relative status of Jim Whites (and let’s be honest, both of us trail way behind Whirlwind Jimmy) I was long ago made aware of where I stand. Back in 1999, I was doing some work at STV just after the other JW had transferred to Sky. My then sports editor at the Guardian rang the switchboard in Glasgow in an attempt to track me down. When he asked to be put through to Jim White he was told by the lady on switchboard: “Well, we do have a Jim White in the building. But I have to tell you, he’s no’ the famous one.”

Wednesday February 1
In the office writing a column where I am distracted by the news that, ahead of their Super Bowl appearance, the New York Giants and New England Patriots have sold 8,000 tickets to enable fans to attend a press conference. Apparently the fans will sit in the stands and listen as the event is broadcast on the giant screens. It is an idea that no doubt will soon be borrowed by Barclays Premier League clubs, ever anxious to find new ways to buff up their bottom line. Though obviously at Old Trafford, half those fans hoping to attend the manager’s press briefing can expect to learn when they turn up that they have, in fact, been banned.

Thursday February 2
These days sports reporters need all the skills of the legal correspondent. I’m at Southwark Crown Court to watch Harry Redknapp give evidence in his tax case, and the public benches are packed with football writers struggling to get to grips with the requirements of not prejudicing a trial. How much easier it would be were we in a position to mock poor witness evidence or mark the prosecuting counsel out of ten for his cross examination performance. Instead we can make no comment at all, obliged simply report the facts. A struggle for some of us I can tell you.

Still, I can reveal that at one point the phone went off in the pocket of the bloke sitting next to me in the public gallery. It took him an age to find it and switch it off, giving the entire court the opportunity to be serenaded by several choruses of “Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur”. Lucky he wasn’t in the jury.

Plus, of all the evidence I hear today, this is the observation that sticks in the mind. It comes from Mick McGuire, who, when working for the PFA, used to negotiate Redknapp’s managerial contracts for him. He is talking about the time when he told his client that he was due a pay-off of £130,000 when he first walked out on Portsmouth. However, Redknapp replied that he didn’t want it. Was this unusual? McGuire is asked.

“Let’s put it this way,” he says. “In 22 years negotiating contracts, I never came across anyone in football who turned down any money they were legally entitled to.”

Friday February 3
Am woken up at six by my wife telling me we’ve been burgled. My laptop has been whipped off the kitchen table, together with mobiles, wallets and her bag. After contacting the police, the insurance and credit card companies, I dash off to London Colney for Arsene Wenger’s press conference with a creaking old laptop removed from a cupboard under my arm. I’m looking forward to hearing him discuss the threatened boycott by disillusioned Arsenal fans who intend to put rubbish bags on their seats during the forthcoming game with Blackburn. The good thing about Wenger is he never shies from a question, always addresses all concerns. He is, in short, good copy.

But when I arrive at Arsenal’s training base I discover that his press conference is already over. It was shifted to 9.30 o’clock this morning. Didn’t I get the email? asks an Arsenal press officer. Well, no I didn’t. But if you happen to be at a car boot sale this weekend and you pick up a newish Sony Vaio with a picture of the lesser Jim White on the wallpaper and an email from Arsenal in its inbox, perhaps you could forward it to me.

Saturday February 4
It’s my day off but I end up transfixed by Twitter. Joey Barton is adding further weight to his bold promotion of new media by giving – via several tweets this morning – his unflinching opinion of John Terry. It is pointed out to him – by Stan Collymore among many others – that the law prevents comment on a live court case. Given that with over a million followers he has more people reading him than several national newspapers, it is suggested maybe he ought to observe the rules of sub judice and not pass potentially prejudicial observation. Barton takes offence at these warnings, seeing it as a freedom of expression issue. He is damned if he will be silenced, he angrily announces more than once, quoting George Orwell in his defence.

By coincidence, at an event this week I chat with Matthew Syed, the erudite Times columnist who has been recently appointed as Barton’s ghost-writer for his autobiography. Maybe – in order to facilitate a rapid improvement in the situation – Syed could donate part of his planet-sized brain to his new collaborator.

Sunday February 5
At Stamford Bridge for Chelsea’s game with Manchester United. John Terry walks through the press room and stops for a chat with several reporters. Nobody mentions Barton’s Tweeting. Or indeed the court case. But we do learn that he is injured and that Chelsea will be without not only him but also Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. It is a long, long time since all three of the nation’s favourite footballers have been missing from the blues line up and most in the press room predict an easy victory for Manchester United.

It doesn’t quite work out like that. Chelsea sprint into a three goal lead, the sparky Juan Mata looking particularly threatening. To recover their position as title challengers, United are obliged to launch the most scintillating comeback of the season. It is orchestrated by the immaculate passing of Paul Scholes, who comes on as substitute midway through the second half. Much of the pre-match discussion in the press room had been about the weather and the number of layers being worn to keep out the chill. As if to a fancy dress party on a wintry theme, the Mirror’s John Cross has come dressed as a duvet. I am wearing thermals and a jumper so thick it could double as a bullet-proof vest. Yet I am still freezing. I cannot help noticing that Scholes trots on to the pitch wearing short sleeves and eschewing all hint of glove, high-necked under-shirt or David Luiz-style tights. Clearly in Salford they mock the very concept of winter. And snigger at those who dress accordingly.

Behind the scenes at Match of the Day

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PAUL ARMSTRONG, editor of Match of the Day, takes us behind the scenes of a British institution…

Why Fulham went from last to first…how to squeeze 10 goals into 10 minutes…and glad to have Sir Alex back…

When does the planning for MotD start and what does this entail?
Our planning starts as soon as the fixtures come out in June, often while we’re working on a World Cup or European Championship. Sky and ESPN pick their weekend live fixtures, we send multi-camera Outside Broadcasts to three Saturday 3 pm games, and we send commentators to every weekend game. Pre-season sees either new titles commissioned, or the tweaking of the existing ones. Having to remove that iconic opening shot of Bobby Moore after West Ham were relegated was a bit of a wrench last summer.

Who decides which commentators will be at which games?
My immediate boss, Andrew Clement, who is also an Outside Broadcast director, allocates the commentators. We have a group of four or five lead commentators who travel to World Cups and Euros, and there’s a careful effort to allocate them an even share of the major Barclays Premier League clashes across the season. We then have a small group of trusted freelancers and guest voices from 5 Live to cover the rest of the games across a weekend. The beauty of Barclays Premier League coverage in recent years is that every game has multi-camera coverage and a commentator on site, so any game can lead the
show.

Do you draw up a rough schedule of order of games?
We don’t construct a running order in earnest until all the games are over. As the season evolves, the title race tends to lead, followed by the relegation battle, then the race for Europe. Mid-table encounters tend to end up later in the show, in the same way as they may not feature on FWA members’ back pages too often. That said, there are times when unexpected games promote themselves up the running order – we led with Wolves 2 Villa 3, followed by Fulham 5 Newcastle 2 the other week – and Blackpool led the show several times last season, simply because they’d caught the imagination and been involved in open, entertaining games. The beauty of the modern MotD format is that we can show at least a few minutes of every game with commentary. The old beef – which I often shared as a Middlesbrough fan – about a team only featuring for a minute in a single-camera round-up, is well and truly redundant. The new complaint is “we’re always on last”, the heartfelt, and mathematically impossible, cry of something like sixteen sets of Barclays Premier League fans.

You have feeds of games coming into the studio on Saturday afternoon…do you try to keen an eye on all of them? How many monitor the matches?
Yes, our production office has all the games coming in live on screens. The pundits concentrate on a pre-allocated 3pm kick-off each, and while we sometimes miss the nuances, we’ve become pretty adept at watching seven monitors at once. Staggered kick-offs may not suit the fans, but are actually quite good news for us. We can watch a game at 12.45, some more at 3pm, then another at 5.30 on the average Saturday. The resulting running order may be subjective, but at least it’s based on a reasonable overview. Each game has a designated producer making notes in the videotape area, then editing that game. Between them and the commentator at each game, you hope as the
programme editor, to be alerted to anything noteworthy from all the games. As the editor, you then decide on an order, how long each edit should be, and how much time to allocate to analysis. The show goes out live, so with the videotape durations being exact, the live chat sections are sometimes adjusted on the hoof. The action always has to come first, is pre-edited, and comprises at least 80 per cent of any given show. So, if you see a pundit trying to summarise the last game of the show in 15 seconds, it’s usually my fault, not theirs.

When do Gary Lineker and whoever else is on the show arrive?
Now we’re based in Salford, Gary gets a train up from London to be at the studio in time for the 3pm kick-offs. At least one of the two pundits (Hansen and Lawrenson from Southport, and Shearer from Newcastle) travel in for the early game, and they all watch the 3pm kick-offs and late game, then stay until we’re off air just before midnight.

Do you note down the time and who is involved in controversial incidents?
Yes, as above, there are big timecode readers in the VT area and the production office, so we should all be on the same wavelength if we need to find something.

Do Gary, Alan Shearer, Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson talk the incidents through before the show starts?
The pundits spend most of the evening fine-tuning their video analysis sequences with the producers, so should know what’s coming, but we don’t rehearse the actual chat sequences. Gary knows the themes of the analysis, and has seen the matches too, but largely improvises the questions, and often asks a supplementary based on whatever the pundits have just said. The hope is that it all looks reasonably spontaneous, as indeed it is. The only words which are pre-scripted are Gary’s links, which he writes himself within a running order structure determined by the editor.

At what time do you finalise the running order?
It’s usually in some kind of order after the 3pm games. The advent of the 5.30 game in recent years has made our lives a little more complicated, in that you can’t finalise the running order until that’s over, and you have to factor in the need to change durations accordingly. The Fulham v Arsenal game a few weeks ago was drifting along as a 0-1 at fourth or fifth in the running order, until Fulham scored twice at the death and it rocketed to first and a longer duration. You then have to tweak the rest of the programme to work out where, say, you can include a top six graphic without giving away the other scores. That is the ultimate crime for the hardy (and vociferous) band of viewers who manage to carry off the great Likely Lads challenge and avoid the results all day.

Who has the final decision?
The editor’s decision is final. Though he reserves the right to umm and aah, and consult, before making that decision. The Twitter era has made us ever more aware of how seriously (too seriously in some cases) fans take our subjective assessment of the editorial pecking order, so we do try to come up with an order we can justify retrospectively.

Is there a maximum time you can give any one game?
There’s a 10-minute match action limit on the Sunday live games. That presented a bit of a challenge to MotD2 this season in the cases of Manchester United 8 Arsenal 2 and United 1 City 6, but the producers concerned somehow squeezed all the goals and major incidents in.

What is your worst case scenario nightmare as kick-off for MotD approaches?
Editorially, that we may have missed something which will make huge headlines the following day. That’s one of the reasons we almost always transmit live – Sir Bobby Robson turned down a return to the England job late one Saturday evening, so Gary was able to speak live to him on the phone. Patrice Evra’s account of the Suarez incident on French television began to circulate on the wires on a Saturday evening. We couldn’t take the story a lot further, but were at least able to signpost the forthcoming storm during the course of that night’s live show. Technically, we’re absolutely in the hands of the experts and the increasingly complex technology. If that fails to work,
we’re all pretty helpless.

Has it happened?
There was a complete power failure in Television Centre during a midweek MotD last season. Those midweek shows are fairly hairy at the best of times given the fast turnaround, so losing all pictures during the games meant there was every chance we’d have no show at all. After about half an hour, power returned. We knew we’d have to mount a show, but had to cobble together what we could of the missing segment of each game by asking the Outside Broadcasts to play down key moments when the games were over. Gary prefaced the show with a precautionary reference to a few gremlins, but somehow, every goal and key incident made the air. We didn’t do full justice to Liverpool 0 Wolves 1, a game in which Wolves had apparently been superb, and had certainly scored their winner, during the missing segment. The goal, a few incidents, and Mick McCarthy’s interview did make it, but it wasn’t quite our normal service, and I wrote a piece for the Wolves website the following day to admit as much. Mind you, it turned out a lot better than ever seemed possible sitting in the dark at about 9pm.

It’s good to have Sir Alex Ferguson back on board…
It is indeed. Much as we appreciated Mike Phelan standing in for Sir Alex, the Match of the Day production team and viewers always want to hear the thoughts of the managers themselves, particularly when he’s the most successful in the history of the English game. He’s our near neighbour now – I can actually see Old Trafford out of the window as I type this – and at the time of writing, it looks increasingly likely that he may just pull off one of the more remarkable Barclays Premier League title wins of his illustrious career.

FWA Q&A: Oliver Kay

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Oliver Kay of the Times on a garlic bread factory, a nightmare in Naples and a load of rubbish in Braga…

Your first ever newspaper?
The first to employ me full-time was the Nottingham Evening Post, which I joined as a trainee sports reporter, but I’d done a lot of work experience before that, starting on the Crewe/Nantwich Chronicle and then spending several months on the Evening Sentinel in Stoke. I learned a lot at the Sentinel, including that one of the few ways to stop the press – literally – is to put a foil-wrapped pasty in a microwave so that it catches fire, setting off the alarms and automatically bringing the fire engines round. “Who is responsible for this?” “The work experience kid on sport.”

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
I worked in a pub while trying to break into journalism, but my best answer to this has to be working in a garlic bread factory one summer. Twelve-hour shifts in a garlic bread factory. I was absolutely useless. I would slow the whole conveyor belt down. I was to Primebake what Dimitar Berbatov is to Manchester United – but without the good bits. I didn’t last long.

What was your finest achievement playing football?
My playing career peaked when I scored a hat-trick aged in my one of my first matches for primary school, aged eight. I was or am genuinely two-footed and can hit a decent pass, but essentially I’m lazy, slow and my mind wanders, so there was no danger of becoming a footballer. I’m so out of practice now that, on the rare occasions my back will withstand a kickaround, I’m an embarrassment.

Most memorable match covered?
A few stand out for different reasons. For unpredictability combined with high quality Manchester United v Real Madrid in 2003. For best performance by one team then possibly Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro in the 2006 World Cup and the Cambiasso goal. For atmosphere, Liverpool v Chelsea Champions League semi-final second leg in 2005. I don’t think my ears have been the same since.

Best stadium?
You can’t beat a ground with atmosphere and soul. The ones that come to mind are Villa Park, Anfield, Goodison, Old Trafford, Celtic Park, Ibrox, all of which are fantastic when — and I must stress this — they’re at their best. Of the great European grounds, Camp Nou and the Bernabeu are great, but the atmosphere often feels a little sedate. I love San Siro. At least when it’s full, there’s a fervour there that you don’t get in Spain. Shame about the wifi.

…and the worst?
When I went to Braga in Euro 2004, I looked around the ground, which is built into a rockface, and I thought “Wow.” Before too long I’d changed my mind to “Actually, this is just rubbish.”

Your best ever scoop?
I’ll follow what Neil Ashton said. My best scoop is my next one (although you’ll probably have longer to wait for mine than Ash’s.)

Your personal new-tech disaster?
Napoli v Manchester City a few months ago was one of the worst. My laptop failed all night. I couldn’t get on the internet through the wifi or my dongle. I’m always happy to do it the old-fashioned way, talking to a copytaker, but I couldn’t get a phone line out either. It was a stressful night, which might be why, having got to Naples airport afterwards, I left my phone on the bus. Nice work.

Biggest mistake?
Trusting the word of people when instinct tells you they’re chancers and liars. You learn from things like that.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
I used to look a lot like Muzzy Izzet when he was at Leicester and I was slimmer. But in terms of actually being mistaken, a lot of people on Twitter mistake me for Ollie Holt — mostly when they’re angry. There was another occasion when I was driving to a match when I heard on the radio “We’re joined now by Oliver Kay from The Times.” Ever professional, Ollie somehow continued without putting right that slur on his character.

Most media friendly manager?
There are the obvious ones like Harry Redknapp, Neil Warnock and Sam Allardyce who are always available and always willing. It does surprise me slightly that there is such a public backlash against those who are willing to communicate rather than those who don’t. The majority are accommodating both publicly and privately. One I really like is Roberto Martinez.

Best ever player?
The best of my lifetime are Maradona and Messi. I loved Maradona even when we were all supposed to hate him in 1986. I never had chance to watch Maradona play live, but watching Messi is a huge privilege. He’s a genius.

Best ever teams (club and international)?
This Barcelona team are the best club side I’ve witnessed. To dominate Europe in the Champions League era is incredible, never mind to do so in the style they have. Some of their antics can be off-putting, but they only seem to resort that in matches against Real Madrid. International? As well as Spain, I’ve had soft spots for France of 1984, Holland of 1988, West Germany of 1990 and France of 2000, but the Brazil team of 1982 – Zico, Socrates, Junior, Eder, Falcao – was the one that opened my eyes to the world beyond my League Ladders.

Best pre-match grub?
Arsenal and Chelsea are good – Chelsea let themselves down with plastic plates and cutlery – but the carvery at Manchester City is the best. It’s best not to eat for a couple of days beforehand if going to City.

Best meal had on your travels?
Why have we moved on to food? The best meal on a work trip was probably at the River Café in Brooklyn. Fantastic food, but probably above all because I’d flown my wife out to join me in New York at the end of a pre-season trip. If I’d gone there with a group of journalists, we would only have ended up talking shop.

…and the worst?
I’ll try anything that’s different – from bear sausages in Warsaw to whale steaks in Oslo. One thing I’ll never try again is the range of delicacies I sampled from a street hawker in Beijing on a pre-season tour: a few beetles, a scorpion and a silkworm. The beetles and the scorpion were tolerable, but the silkworm was stomach-churning. I paid for it for about a week afterwards … .

Best hotel stayed in?
I’m less fussed about home comforts than about location. Put me in a hotel near Las Ramblas or Broadway or Ipanema and I’ll be happy as long as the bed is comfortable.

…and the worst?
Is there a bad hotel in Monaco? Yes. And our travel company managed to find it. I’m not one to complain about this kind of thing, but it’s tough being on a business trip in a hotel room that doesn’t have a plug socket. I also spent a fortnight of the 2006 World Cup in a grim place on an industrial park in Dortmund, where the seat of the desk chair as high as the desk. Again, not great working conditions.

Favourite football writer?
There are some brilliant ones in this country. I would happily reel off dozens who I admire. If pushed for one, I’d say my ex-colleague Martin Samuel. Sometimes I disagree violently with his columns – a few times recently, in fact – but I always enjoy them. For a columnist to entertain, provoke AND inform takes some doing and in my opinion Martin is the best at it.

Favourite radio/TV commentator?
I always liked Barry Davies, even if there was always the suspicion that he’d rather be commentating on the pommel horse, Wimbledon or the Trooping of the Colour. TV-wise these days, I’d say Martin Tyler or Clive Tyldesley – Tyler’s reaction to Sunderland’s stoppage-time winner the other week really caught the moment – but I always enjoy radio commentaries more. If you listen to a match on 5 Live, you know you’re going to get a really good commentary. (Or at least you’re more likely to take their word for it … .)

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
Just one? It’s a poor state of affairs that we don’t have post-match and even pre-match mixed zones, where reporters have the opportunity to speak to players as they pass. But we’re a million miles from that when Manchester United don’t even hold a post-match press conference. That is a ridiculous situation, which neither the Premier League nor we as a football-writing community should have allowed to take hold. And do print that.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
Outside football? Pah. I would have loved to be at the Rugby World Cup final in 2003 or to have been ringside at one of the all-time great fights, but I’ve always been about football. What am I looking forward to most at the Olympics? The football.

Last book read?
Currently reading “Freedom” by Jonathan Franzen. The last sport book I read was Ronny Reng’s “A Life Too Short”, about Robert Enke, which is a stunning, brilliantly researched and extremely important work. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Favourite current TV programme?
Not sure you’d class either as current, but I’ve just been catching up with the latest series of Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Thick Of It, both of which are brilliant.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I’ve got programmes and ticket stubs going back way before I was born, but I’ve not really gone out of my way to get things signed. There are plenty of things I treasure – programmes, shirts, old photos – but no particular stand-out item.

FOOTBALL WRITERS PREPARE TO HONOUR NIALL QUINN

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LOCAL RIVALRIES will be put to one side as the region’s football community comes together to celebrate the very best of the 2010/2011 football season on Sunday night.

Sponsored by Barclays, the 2011 North East Football Writers’ Association awards dinner at Ramside Hall Hotel in Durham is a regular highlight in the region’s football calendar. It will be attended by a star-studded guest list, which includes players, managers, directors and officials from of all the north east football clubs.

The event was originally due to be held on November 27 but was postponed following the tragic death of former Newcastle United and Wales footballer Gary Speed.

Tributes will be paid to Gary during the evening and the event will raise money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, which is a charity he strongly supported.

“Everyone was devastated by the news about Gary. There was simply no way we could go ahead with the event in November.” said Colin Young, representing the North East Football Writers’ Association.

“He was someone my colleagues and I had a great deal of respect for because of the way he conducted himself on and off the field.

“Many of the guests and journalists at the awards knew Gary personally and this is an ideal occasion to pay tribute to a real football man who is greatly missed.”

This is the third year the North East Football Writers’ Association has supported the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and this year, for the first time, the Association and the charity will be jointly making an award to honour one of the region’s most respected football professionals.

The inaugural North East Football Writers’ Association’s Personality of the Year, in association with the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, will be presented to Sunderland AFC’s Niall Quinn in recognition of his five years as the club’s chairman and his wider contribution to the local community.

Lady Elsie Robson was particularly pleased to agree the nomination given Niall’s role as a Patron of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and his close links with her husband.

Commenting on Niall receiving the new award, Lady Elsie said: “My family and I are very proud that the inaugural Personality of the Year is not only going to a great football man, but also to a man who represents our charity so magnificently.

“He truly does maintain the same kind of football and community ethos as my husband.

“After we lost my husband, my family and I realised we needed support from Patrons who could help us continue the important work of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. Niall was one of the very first people I thought to ask for help.

“I know Bob would have approved whole-heartedly of Niall’s involvement with the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and we’re very grateful for his ongoing support.

“As everyone knows, my husband was a Newcastle United fan but he loved to visit the Stadium of Light. He was always very well looked after by Niall and they had a wonderful relationship based on mutual respect.

“Niall has represented Sunderland AFC as chairman with great dignity. His positive influence has extended far into the community and we wish him very well in his new role with the club.”

Newcastle United and England legend Alan Shearer, also a Patron of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, will be supporting the awards evening, when Newcastle’s Fabricio Coloccini will be crowned Player of the Year. There are also awards for, Middlesbrough’s Joe Bennett, who is Young Player of the Year, Hartlepool United’s Ritchie Humphreys, Carlisle United, Darlington and Whitley Bay FC.

Young added: “We’re really proud of our links to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and we’re thrilled that Lady Elsie and the charity have given their blessing to our new Personality of the Year award in Sir Bobby’s memory.”

“Our annual dinner is about the region’s football clubs and their supporters joining together in harmony and friendship to celebrate the best of each other. There’s no better symbol for that than Sir Bobby, who was universally respected, nor his Foundation, which benefits people right across the region. We think Niall is an appropriate and deserving winner.”

Since Sir Bobby and Lady Elsie launched the charity in 2008, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation has raised over £3.9 million to help find more effective treatments for cancer.

It funds projects within the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which directly benefit cancer patients from across the north east and Cumbria, including the clinical trials of drugs at the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre.

To make a donation, view messages of support, or for more information please visit www.sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk or donate by sending a cheque to Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, Room 203, Cheviot Court, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7DN.

John Moynihan Funeral Service

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Gerry Cox on the Match of the Day farewell to a football writer and friend.

THE CREAM of British sportswriting talent turned out in numbers to honour John Moynihan at the football writer’s funeral service on Tuesday January 30.

Hugh McIlvanney, Brian Glanville, Pat Collins and Henry Winter were among the many at Mortlake Crematorium for the service, where John’s former Sunday Telegraph colleague Colin Malam did a reading and evoked fond memories of John, who was 79 when he passed away two weeks ago.

John’s son Leo, himself a fine football writer and an FWA member, paid tribute to his loving father in a moving eulogy, which recalled his colourful life. John grew up in bohemian circles, with his artist father Rodrigo commissioned to paint a portrait at the family home of the young Princess Elizabeth, now our Queen. John’s frustration at being unable to enter the room where the Princess sat was understandable.

The stories were many and surprising. Few of us who knew John realised that he’d briefly been a music writer, but realised it was not for him after suggesting to the Beatles that their bubble had burst when ‘She Loves You” was knocked off the top of the pops in 1962.

It was in the 1960s that he got the chance to write about his first love, football, and more specifically Chelsea, the club he followed and adored.

Leo recalled how, as a young boy, he would get postcards from tournaments in exotic places, and even the odd crackly long-distance phone call, enabling him to go to school the next day, bursting with pride that his father was covering the World Cup. Perhaps we take for granted now the fact that our friends and families still marvel at the wonderful opportunities this career affords us.

Leo explained that on the day John was fatally injured by a car, the two of them had lunch while discussing how John would celebrate his 80th birthday this summer. As a fixture at Chelsea Arts Club, he would have one party with his ‘arty’ friends, while another for his colleagues from many years covering football. Another party would accommodate those he played and partied with at Chelsea Casuals and then Battersea Park FC, and then finally a family celebration.

Sadly it was not to be, but the celebration of John’s life was concluded in upbeat spirit as the Match of the Day theme tune played us out of the service, and the stories and memories were exchanged long into the evening at the Chelsea Arts Club.

It was a fitting tribute to a fine football writer and friend.

The FWA was represented by former chairmen, Alex Montgomery, Brian Scovell and Gerry Cox, and many other members.

FWA Q&A: Neil Ashton

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The Daily Mail’s Neil Ashton on clapping Palace fans, Iniesta’s goal and a whopper in Buenos Aires…

Have you ever worked in a profession other than journalism?
Yes, I worked in my mother’s restaurant when I was about 16/17. I loved it, particularly as I set out in each shift to earn more in tips than I did in salary (which wasn’t difficult on my mother’s rates). I also worked for a corporate events company in golf, which allowed me to travel around the world and in return I rarely got paid. It didn’t last long, much as I enjoyed it.

Finest achievement playing football?
When Steve Coppell turned to me and said: “You’re on” in Geoff Thomas’s benefit game at the Colosseum between Palace and Manchester United in 2006. To play in the same team as my boyhood heroes – Geoff, Mark Bright, Ian Wright and Andy Gray and to play centre-half against Mark Hughes – was something I didn’t imagine could ever happen. Shaun Custis from the Sun was on the phone the next day and he said: “Right, you’ve got two minutes to tell me everything and then I never want to hear another word about it again.” Somehow I forgot to tell him I had clapped the Palace supporters in the Holmesdale Road when I walked off the pitch – unfortunately for me it has now become part of Matt Lawton’s entertaining dinner party stories.

Most memorable match covered?
On the rare occasion when I need to remind myself of the reasons why I love the game, I think of the unique roar that went up from a corner of Barcelona fans when Andres Iniesta scored that remarkable stoppage time equaliser at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League semi-final second leg in 2009. I’ve never heard a sound like it and I was transfixed by the celebrations that
followed by the corner flag.

The one moment in football you would put on a DVD?
Professionally it has to be Iniesta’s goal against Chelsea – the moment it left his boot, it was destined to beat Petr Cech. Personally it’s John Motson’s commentary of Mark Bright’s hooked, left foot equaliser against Liverpool in the 1990 FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park. On the Holte End we momentarily stood in shock each time Palace scored and it was only a second or so later when we realised the linesman’s flag hadn’t gone up, it was bedlam.

Best stadium?
The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff is magnificent. For historical significance, then it’s tough to beat Camp Nou or the Bernabeu.

…and the worst?
None. I still get a knot in my stomach on matchday, a real sense of anticipation and it doesn’t matter which game I’m going to. I got the same feeling in the days when I covered Crewe v Port Vale as I do for the Champions League final – to the supporters it means just as much.

Your best ever scoop?
I’m not one for patting myself on the back. I prefer to look ahead and would like to think that my best stories are still ahead of me.

Biggest mistake?
This question brings me out in a cold sweat. I once got an introduction to a property developer who wanted to buy Elland Road at the height of their financial troubles. The developer wanted to pull down the stadium – Billy Bremner statue and all – and suggested that the mighty Leeds went to groundshare with Barnsley while they redeveloped the site for a supermarket. It didn’t go down well with Leeds fans.

Have you ever been mistaken for anyone else?
No, although I’ve been told AVB looks like me.

Favourite football writer?
I would love to be able to write with the touch or poise of Hayward, but it’s never going to happen. In terms of emerging talent, Sami Mokbel at the Daily Mail has the fearless qualities that are required of news reporters. Good on him.

Favourite TV commentator?
Has to be Bryon Butler, painting a picture and mesmerising the radio audience with that incredible change of pace. His description of Maradona’s second goal at the 1986 World Cup – Maradona, turns like a little eel, he comes away from trouble, little squab man, comes inside Butcher and leaves him for dead, outside Fenwick and leaves him for dead, and puts the ball away…and that is why
Maradona is the greatest player in the world…’ is broadcasting at the highest level.

Most media friendly manager?
Harry. Doesn’t everyone say this?

Best ever player?
Zizou. I still marvel at his ability, La Roulette trick that took two or three players out of the game in one spin of those magical boots. The guy was something else.

Best ever teams (club and international)
CLUB: Current Barcelona team, although Ajax’s 1995 Champions League winning team would give them a game. INTERNATIONAL: Spain in 2008 and 2010. The football’s breathtaking at times.

Best pre-match grub?
Wembley, provided it’s an FA event. They really know how to look after the media.

Best meal had on your travels?
Carlos Tevez’s two best friends in Argentina took me into Fuerte Apache and in return I told them to book the best restaurant in Buenos Aires – they got the driver to take us Burger King and they dined out with whoppers, fries and genetically-modified Sprites. Respect

…and the worst?
Any time I have to eat food on the run or from an airport.

Best hotel stayed in?
The Faena in Buenos Aires. England’s general manager Franco Baldini could have a nice sideline business in hotel recommendations around the world.

…and the worst?
When I put my bags down in my room at the Cabanas in Sun City for the World Cup in South Africa, I wondered how I would ever get through the next 42 days and nights. The only thing that spared me was the company of the Independent’s Sam Wallace and the Sunday Telegraph’s “foot corr” as he calls himself, Duncan White.

If you could introduce one change to improve PR between football clubs and football writers what would it be?
I wouldn’t really, they do a solid job in tough circumstances. Perhaps I’d probably remind them that they are employees of the club and are not part of the management or squad. I’ve seen press officers walk on to the pitch to high five players and pat them on the bum at the end of a game and I’ve seen players kissed on both cheeks by female press officers when they come out of the dressing rooms. It’s unnecessary, but can understand why it happens when people are caught up in the moment.

One sporting event outside football you would love to experience?
Has to be the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

Favourite current TV programme?
What is this, Shoot! magazine? I flick through the channels and find some football. If there’s nothing live, then it’s Football Greatest Managers on Sky, or FA Cup Legends on ESPN.

Last book read?
I’ve been reading A Life Too Short, the tragic story of the German goalkeeper Robert Enke, since the start of November, but the poor guy had so many demons I can only read it in short passages.

Your most prized football memorabilia?
I paid an absolute fortune for Crystal Palace’s famous adidas sash kit from the 1980/81 season worn by the No7 at the time David Giles – it’s an absolute beaut and I wouldn’t sell it for a million pounds. Mark Bright’s No9 shirt from the 0-9 defeat at Anfield in September 1989 and Ian Wright’s No10 shirt from 1987/88 are also up there. I collect match-worn Crystal Palace shirts and have told the chairman Steve Parish he can put the entire collection on display in the grand entrance hall to their new stadium when they finally move there.
ENDS

A super job for American Football writer

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Nothing left to chance

Footballers must speak to the media

Living in the spotlight

By CHRISTOPHER DAVIES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Must be available?

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

And if they don’t?

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

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

But occasionally the lunatics take over the media asylum.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Farewell to a Friend

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Ian Laws was the sort of guy who gave reporters a good name.

SUNDERLAND Echo journalist Ian Laws died on January 26 of a suspected heart attack at the tragically young age of 41. Friend and colleague Graeme Anderson recalls the man known to one and all as Lawsy.

IT’S still impossible to take in the fact that Ian Laws has gone, but the truth is we might have lost him in the spring of ’99 when, by his own account, an elephant almost sat on him.

Lawsy had gone over to Denmark on something of a scoop. We’d just broken the story that Carsten Fredgaard was to become Sunderland’s expensive close-season signing, and our man had flown over to watch him in action for Lyngby ahead of his move.

Afterwards, Fredgaard happily consented to an interview and photographs, (if only the midfielder had been as good a footballer as he was affable a man!), and Lawsy had suggested the local zoo as one of the locations to get a sense of place for his pictures.

So engrossed was Lawsy in getting his photograph – and those who knew him could vouch for how absorbed in a task he could get – that he failed to notice the grey bulk of the giant herbivore ambling backwards towards him.

Only the strangled cry of the increasingly concerned Dane alerted the focused photographer, and a startled Lawsy jumped out of the way just as Dumbo swished past him.

Lawsy couldn’t help but laugh on his return home, wondering how the Echo would have tactfully reported his demise.

It’s a good story and I hope you like it. I’ve got loads of them.

But then everyone who came into contact with Ian tended to have a humorous tale to tell.

It’s remarkable to think how many times a mention of his name in company would bring a smile to the faces of those present, for he had a rare ability to get on with pretty much anyone.

He was a character, but not in a loud, brash way.

He was bloke-ish, loved the banter and crack of his mates or any fans he got into conversation with, but always listened twice as much as he spoke.

And when he did speak, it was invariably worth listening to. When I think of him, it’s always with him with a smile or a big grin on his face and he loved to laugh.

He had the driest sense of humour, I think, of anyone I’ve ever met and it came to him instinctively.

Last year, giving him a lift into town from the Echo, for example, we pulled on to Chester Road at the Hastings Hill roundabout and looked over to the fields of grass left after the recent clearances of Pennywell’s council estates.

“Eee, I remember this when it was all houses, you know,” he said absent-mindedly.

Lawsy came out with stuff like that all the time. He was modest and self-effacing, but he was as sharp as a tack.

As a journalist, he was the sort of guy who gives reporters a good name.

I got to know him well, over the course of a decade spent living in each other’s pockets, and I enjoyed his company enormously.

The Echo’s budget does not stretch to separate rooms for its reporters during coverage of away games, so he was my room-mate and we became known as “Eric and Ernie”, with wind-up colleagues occasionally enquiring which one of us had the glasses and pipe and which the slippers and toupee.

We never really thought of it as odd, but that’s journalism for you and long before his encounter with the elephant, he’d got used to the bizarreness which sometimes comes with the job.

As a news reporter, he’d already sung karaoke on live morning television; dressed up as Long John Silver for a carnival float, and cycled from the Board Inn to Fawcett Street in competition with a bus and car to see which was the fastest way into town after the new bus “super-route” had been introduced on Durham Road.

For the record, he and his bike won.

It was sport, though – football especially and Sunderland Football Club in particular – that was his passion, and he relished his decade on the Echo sports desk from 1999-2010.

It wasn’t always easy for him.

There’s a vast difference between being a supporter of Sunderland Football Club and a reporter on Sunderland Football Club – even if the hearts are in the same place.

Any view you espouse will automatically alienate someone, even if the majority might agree with you.

Every time you reveal a fact or a story, there’s a danger you’ll upset someone who’d rather it had stayed secret. And even the most harmless disclosures of information can sometimes cause offence in the super-sensitive world of football.

At such times of conflict and misery, you’d occasionally hear Lawsy quietly repeating to himself, reminding himself: “It is my job, not my life. It is my job, not my life. It is my job, not my life.”

Despite the words themselves, I always took it is an indication of how deeply he cared and how sensitive he remained, despite years in the hard-knock world of his chosen career.

Not that such unhappy times happened very often.

Lawsy was very good at his job – boxing promoter Frank Maloney once famously refused to start a press conference because Ian was running late, telling the disbelieving press corps: “We’ll wait a few minutes until Lawsy gets here.”

Ian’s last interview was carried out this week, when he talked to Julio Arca ahead of tomorrow’s Sunderland-Middlesbrough game – a piece which will appear in the club’s matchday programme.

Programme editor Rob Mason said: “Ian apologised if the piece was longer than expected but said he was enjoying himself so much cracking on to Julio again, that it over-ran.”

Julio told the Echo: “I cannot believe Ian is dead.

“It was good speaking to him just a few days ago and I was expecting to see him and his son, James, at the match on Sunday. I enjoyed the interview and I remember during my time at Sunderland that the players liked and respected him.”

Tributes like that have flowed into the Echo since his death.

Mick McCarthy rang up the club to ask for his condolences to be passed on to the family. Boxer Tony Jeffries’ dad, Phil, said: “Our family are utterly devastated by the news. We’ve spoken to Frank Maloney who is in New York and he’s shell-shocked but wants to try to make it back for the funeral.”

Chairman Niall Quinn expressed his condolences. Gary Bennett rang up in disbelief. David Craig called to offer the thoughts of all at Sky Sports to his family and friends. Journalists from across the sports industry have been in touch and continue to call offering their support.

Former manager Peter Reid said: “I’ve always thought that when you’re a manager, you need a good relationship with your local man. You need to be able to trust them, confide in them at times even, so that they’re in the picture and report accurately.

“Lawsy was just a young lad when he started covering the club, but he picked things up quickly and you could have a laugh with him, too. It’s terrible news and my heart goes out to his family and his kids.”

The Sunderland Echo was a very sombre place to be when we heard the news. It felt like a death in the family, which in a way, it was. He was well-liked throughout the company.

Everyone who came into contact with Lawsy soon felt as though they knew him. He was open and giving and easy to get on with. But, in truth, he was a very private person and kept his private life largely to himself.

Several of his close friends in journalism still have the text he sent to his mates
out of the blue which simply said: “Got married today.”

On an away trip on the south coast after a game against Portsmouth, we were giving him stick in a late-night pub for the fact his phone was constantly ringing. “Well,” he admitted, finally getting sick of the mickey-taking: “It IS my birthday.”

If the wedding had to go uncelebrated, at least the birthday didn’t, and I still remember the goldfish bowl size cocktail the pressmen chipped in to buy him – a wary Lawsy observing: “So that’s what absinthe looks like.”

Throughout his life, his deep love for Sunderland Football Club, shone through.

So there was a strange appropriateness to the fact that when he died on Thursday night, he was wearing a Sunderland shirt.

His love for the club, however – great though it was – was nothing compared to his love for his family and in particular his children – Lauren, James and Millie.

Private person though he was, everyone who knew Lawsy understood how much he adored his kids.

He was utterly devoted to them.

And while our loss is massive, theirs is incalculable.

A little more than a year ago, Lawsy left the sports desk and moved into the expanding internet side of the newspaper business.

He had grown a little disillusioned with the way football was going, disappointed that the personal relationships he had struck up with players like Julio were now things of the past as access to players became more and more restricted with each passing season.

But the driving force behind his decision to leave sport was that he could spend more weekends, more time generally, with his children.

I’m glad that he got to spend more time with them in those last 15 months.

Though it will be no consolation to them right now, I hope they take some comfort eventually from the knowledge that he leaves them with a host of golden memories and the fact they could not have had a better dad.

For my part, I will miss the kindness and warmth of my friend and his good counsel down the years.

Rest in peace, Lawsy. Rest in peace, Ian.

This article first appeared in the Sunderland Echo