It
is a Thursday lunchtime in a decent real ale pub in the centre of Sheffield.
Stood at the bar, watching my pint settle, a voice calls out behind me;
"Hello Ian". It is a familiar voice, one that brings back memories
for me of local radio and Saturday afternoon sports programmes. To others
reading this, the voice might be familiar from reports on 5Live and Final
Score. Some of you may have even read his reports and analysis in the national
press. Well, up until the days when Yorkshire football gave him something to
write about.
The
man in question is Alan Biggs and we are meeting to talk about the life of a
freelance sports journalist and his new book - Confessions of a Football Reporter………another Biggs at Large.
We had
first met a month or so earlier, a mutual friend introduced us at a party and
we agreed to meet up for a chat for A United View. Both Simon (our mutual
friend) and I told Alan that night that he needed to "get on twitter!” He
did, by the way - @AlanBiggs1 if you wish to follow.
We
proceed to chew the fat for the best part of an hour, mostly about the parlous
state of Sheffield football and Alan's varied career; which now finds him in a
less secure working environment than a few years ago. Thanks to the rise of
technology, the ongoing failure of South Yorkshire football clubs and, to a
greater extent, the rise of the Premier League.
Like
many of us who write and talk about the game, both professionally or for
pleasure, Alan made his way on journalism after the dawning realisation that he
was never going to make it as a player;
"First
you realise that you aren't going to be good enough to play for England. Then
you realise that you aren't going to be good enough for Chesterfield. Then you
decide that if you can't play football for money, you might as well write about
it!"
Alan's
family had moved to Chesterfield from Kent when he was young and the first step
in his new career was to take the well respected journalism course at Richmond
College in Sheffield. On completing the course he spent "one year of misery in
Dickensian conditions" as a trainee news reporter (read "tea
boy") at the Derbyshire Times, back in Chesterfield. Alan quickly realised
that reporting "Deaths in the District" wasn't going to fast track
his reporting career.
Around
the early to mid 70's local cable TV stations were cropping up around the
country. One such station; "Sheffield Cable Vision" was to provide an
interesting sideline and a new outlet for Alan's aspirations.
"The
station was broadcasting to 30,000 homes across Sheffield and I approached them
about providing some sports coverage. I was given a sports preview show every
Friday evening, moonlighting whilst still at the Derbyshire Times.
Unfortunately the station closed 6 months later, but nothing to do with my
arrival!"
The
small screen exposure was still useful and it led to an opportunity to work in
a third form of media, just 18 months into his career. Stuart Linnell, then
Sports Editor at local commercial radio station Radio Hallam, saw Alan's show
and invited him to become a news reporter at the station. Alan eventually
succeeded Stuart as Sports Editor in 1980.
I
tell Alan that I remember his sports shows; "My Dad always used to say
'That Bloody Biggsy's an Owl’". A claim Alan quickly refutes.
"I
always said I didn't support either Sheffield club. I had an affinity to both,
you had to, both working in the city and closely with both clubs, but I support
Chesterfield. That never stopped the accusations of bias from both sides of the
Sheffield football divide though!."
It
is not only accusations of bias towards either club that is a problem. It can
also come from warring factions within a club. In recent years Alan has been a
regular columnist in the local weekly Sheffield Telegraph and Alan had a major
role reporting the latter part of Dave Allen's reign as chairman at Sheffield
Wednesday. His stance, perceived to supporting the incumbent chairman, led to
much abuse from the 'Allen Out' brigade.
"I
look back now and think I was right. You only have to see some of what happened
at Wednesday since to see how what Dave Allen was doing was right for the
club."
For
what it is worth Alan recently launched his book at the B2Net Stadium, with
former players and ex-referee Keith Hackett in attendance. It was, he says, the
natural club to host the evening and for their help he is very grateful.
Back
to the early 1980's and under his stewardship Hallam Sport was a massive
success, broadcasting a mixture of music and sports reports it was a
combination which initially didn't sit that well with Alan, yet it out-rated
Radio Sheffield's more old fashioned output - where it became the norm to stick
on a brass band song at 4:40 to try and bring good luck for a local side
needing a goal! It also gave Alan the opportunity to host a Sunday morning show
on the station, the "Partridge-esque" titled - Bacon & Biggs - another
ratings hit. Yet it all came to an abrupt end in 1984.
"I
had been on holiday. I walked into my office, looked at my desk of papers and
thought - I've got to make a sports show from that! I couldn't face it. I put a
piece of paper in the typewriter and typed my resignation. Colleagues looked on
in shock. It was spontaneous, I didn't tell the wife until I got home and I had
nothing to move to."
Thankfully
he wasn't out of work for long, Bacon n Biggs continued, he was offered a
sports reporting job for the other side (BBC Radio Sheffield) and started
writing for Today newspaper the following year. In 1989, a Sport on 2 producer
- Peter Slater (still reporting on 5 Live now) offered him a role covering
matches in the North of England. Despite the ignominy of being introduced as
Alan Gibbs for his first national radio report, he went on to cover anything
between 50 and 75 games a season between 1989 and 2005, by which time sports
coverage had switched to 5 Live.
As a football fan, the thought of being paid
to watch that many games excites me and he got to see many exciting games and
unusual incidents, not least reporting from Hillsborough as Paolo Di Canio
shoved Paul Alcock and the referee fell to the ground in about five
instalments. "Excerpts from my report were used in sport trailers for weeks
afterwards. It really was an amazing situation and the trailer was nice
exposure".
Unfortunately,
in 2005, the BBC undertook a cost cutting exercise on 5 Live and Alan was one
of many reporters to see a healthy line of work disappear. Thankfully for him,
the BBC was developing coverage on their Final Score programme and that became
a replacement and he continues to report for them to this day.
 |
| Interviewing Sven for Final Score |
Final
Score has continued to put Alan on the spot on some unusual and controversial
incidents. One such incident saw him reporting on the balloon-gate goal at the
Stadium of Light;
"Everyone
in the press box thought it took a deflection. To the naked eye it looked like
a standard ricochet and that is how we were all reporting it. It was only when
Chappers in the studio came back to me later, with the studio team having seen
a replay, that I was able to tell all in the pres box about the balloon. Rapid
re-writes all round and I then had to introduce each further update with a new
balloon related pun. There are only so many!"
Another
time Alan dropped on to a big story, whilst reporting for Final Score, was when
Phil Brown decided to give his half-time team talk on the KC Stadium pitch, a
situation which nearly caught Alan out.
"Usually,
when the studio comes over, I need to have a 30 second summary ready to report.
As the half time whistle blew I stuck my headphones on and glanced down at my
scribbled notes. It’s a fast moving programme and they usually come across
quite promptly on the whistle, so I was ready and launched into my report on
cue.
As
I was finishing, the producer was talking in my headphones; "Look at the
pitch, the players are out there, what's happening Alan?"
The
viewers at home could see the pictures and Phil Brown talking to his players. I
looked up and all I could see, in the far corner of the pitch, were the Hull players
sat around on the pitch and the coaching staff stood around them. So I described what I could see, yet didn't
really know what was going on. Thankfully, Ray Stubbs in the studio came to my
rescue, having the benefit of the pictures he was able to lead the
conversation"
Alan
covered Northern football, and the Yorkshire and Humberside beat in particular,
for many papers over the years. Starting out at Today and taking in the Daily
Express, The People, News of the World and Daily Mail amongst others. In fact
he is currently pulling together a tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson for a future
edition of the Mail.
In
that time many papers have closed their Northern editions and the focus of
reporting football has changed. If you
throw in only passing success for Yorkshire football, it is a much harsher environment
for a freelance football journalist to work in.
"The
problem now is that, with a few honourable exceptions, the national papers
don't give a damn about the football league. As budgets have been slashed the
focus of reporting has switched to the Top 4 or 5 clubs.
There
is a perception amongst editors that, this is what the public want. They are
aiming at a new breed of football follower, non-football going people, who
claim an interest and adopt one of the big teams. The type of "fan"
who know very little about the game apart from what they read or hear and their
eyes glaze over when you talk about any team from outside the Premier
League"
Like
the Arsenal fan in The Fast Show I suggest? "Absolutely!"
If
anything, the switch between different media types hasn't helped Alan. Writer,
Presenter, Reporter, he reflects that it may have been better to have a niche
in one of those areas, rather than spreading his skills successfully, but more
widely over all forms. It certainly caused him problems when trying to pull the
narrative together for his book.
What
also causes him a problem these days is the increasing politics and skulduggery
around football, particularly around takeovers and financial deals. He speaks
with the knowledge of someone who has had his fingers burned.
"Reporting
on a club takeover is treacherous and in some ways your training leaves you
ill-equipped to deal with it. Not only are there complicated financial aspects
to understand, but you also meet many people who claim they are interested in
buying a football club. Some of these "buyers" look you in the eye
and brazenly tell you porkies, they just have a different moral code. There are
times I have accepted what they have told me in good faith and reported it.
When the promises are broken, I was the one getting it in the neck from the
fans.
I
am a lot more sceptical when dealing with these issues now."
Although
he still writes for the Daily Mail and The Football League paper and reports
for the BBC, there is nowhere near the same volume of work available through
traditional sources as there used to be. Alan has had to be alive to potential
new opportunities. Unsurprisingly, social media and internet broadcasting are
starting to supply them. In some ways that is full circle for a reporter who
was alert to the opportunities early cable television provided.
I
glance at my watch. It's time for me to head back to work. As we depart I ask
Alan where he will be reporting from on Saturday?
"Oakwell. Barnsley
v Watford. I am not expecting any balloons, centre circle team talks or
assaults on referees."
He
was right. It finished one all and not even a yellow card was brandished. It
was one of the more standard days in a football reporter's career. A career
that, more frequently these days, involves you picking your way through a
minefield of emotions, politics and personalities.
Thanks
to Alan for his time. He was never going to give the best stories away in this interview, so all the more reason to give his book (with a foreword from Trevor Francis) a read. If you would like to buy Alan’s book it is available
here or here and in all good bookshops.
