Manchester: a football city on many different levels

Andy Mitten — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:45:00 GMT

I’m spending the week on the road interviewing footballers for my next book on Manchester United in the 70s. They’re all being offered the same fee and every player asked for an in-depth interview so far has said yes, so I’m working through 11 interviews for the 11 chapters.

I stayed with Gordon Hill last summer to do his interview and I’ve met up with Jimmy Nicholl, Gerry Daly, Jimmy Greenhoff, Lou Macari and former captain Martin Buchan this week. Next up is Joe Jordan in that London. Tommy Docherty and Sammy McIlroy have also agreed to be a part of the book and I’ve yet to contact two other players that I have in mind.

They’re all completely different personalities and their lives have taken very different paths, but without exception, they have all been utterly fascinating. Part of the attraction is that I get about three hours with each, time for a proper conversation about their lives. That and they love talking about some of the happiest times in those lives.

Some are close friends, others haven’t spoken for decades, but they all have their stories to tell about the roller coaster that is life. I’ve gone through a range of emotions, from laughing out loud at stories of ridiculous pranks to holding back the tears hearing how some former players lost their kids.

None of them were born in Manchester, yet many settled in the city. Some couldn’t return home because of the political climate of the time, others had settled here with the kids in school when their careers finished.

Manchester is a football city on many levels. Not only do players live and stay in the city, but many ancillary services are based there: agents, footballer friendly restaurants and car dealers. A significant number of tourists who come to the city do so for football.

Glasgow can be similar – a taxi driver from Ibrox a few months ago was explaining how vital football tourists from across the water were to his livelihood. Someone involved in boxing was saying that one reason Manchester gets so many bouts is because they know they can sell high end tickets to wealthy young footballers.

And it’s not just United and City players who live in Manchester, but players from Bolton, Blackburn, Wigan, Burnley, Liverpool and Everton. They buy big houses or fancy apartments, put their kids in the top schools and use the local services…though I’ve yet to see Wayne Rooney on a bus.

An agent mate visited for the first time this week from Spain and commented that you can talk about football with every cabbie. He was bringing the former Anderlecht midfielder Mark De Mann on trial to a Championship club close to Manchester.

I met Mark for a brew and he was asking about living in the north west, when perhaps he should have been more concerned about potential confusion at set pieces if players shout his full name. He was a good lad, a former Belgian international, who speaks decent English and was keen to highlight the tourist attractions of his country when all I wanted to speak about was the second battle of Ypres and the Battle of the Bulge.

At least I could talk to him in Manchester. If I ever get round to doing a United in the 2010’s book, I doubt that most of the players will still be living in the city, boxing bouts and car dealerships or not.

Texts from Forlan, golden geese and Georgie Thompson

Andy Mitten — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:38:00 GMT

Inter Milan were not the only visitors in Barcelona last week. FourFourTwo chief Hugh Sleight came along with Terry Venables, Marcel Desailly and Georgie Thompson from Sky Sports. (Yeah, you would).

They were speaking at some posh do in the Arts hotel, where Manchester United held their post match party in 1999, and where Roy Keane takes his family and lets his 64 kids run wild and enjoy the sea view.

I’ve heard good things about Desailly for a while. A journalist mate who went to Ghana to cover the African Nations met him and was invited to his family home for dinner.

Hugh introduced me to Georgie and Terry, who started telling me about my uncle Charlie. After he finished playing, he became an agent and took Chelsea on a pre-season tour to Sweden when Venables was a player.

Charlie was known as the penalty king when he played for Manchester United and held the club record until Eric Cantona took the crown.

"Charlie was in his 50s, but he was still showing us how to take penalties," recalled Venables. Then the former Barca and England manager paused, looked behind me and said, "Now there’s a pair of strikers." Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito were not walking past, but a buxom blonde.

I spoke to Gerrard Pique after the Inter game. He was pragmatic, professional and congratulated Inter.

Coach Pep Guardiola and outgoing club president Joan Laporta continued on that theme – which partially made up for Sergio Busquets’ cheating and the small mindedness of Barca officials who switched on the pitch sprinklers to stop the Inter players celebrating.

Most of them were right to ignore this (or dance in the water) as they celebrated in front of the 5,400 travelling fans.

Jose Mourinho was pure theatre after the game. The man has charisma, presence and a self assured arrogance to match Eric Cantona. He’s a genuine genius – though I doubt history will remember Inter’s defensive football as well as his contribution.

The Inter fans were still singing his name on the streets around Camp Nou three hours after the match. He’s their new hero over any player.

Diego Forlan texted after his first goal against Liverpool. He was assured that his name was still sung loud and proud by United fans.

A match going Liverpool fan I like and trust also emailed. ìDon’t believe the hype about Liverpool fans yesterday wanting us to get beaten (against Chelsea). Most I know wanted us to beat the tw*ts.î

Had you watched the Liverpool fans – none of them with Scouse accents - interviewed on Sky Sports, you would have thought that the opposite was true. But then if you judged Manchester United fans on the type of jester-hatted clowns they speak to outside Old Trafford, you’d be under the impression that no United fans come from Manchester...

How the media works, part 2983

You get an idea for an article about different club ownership models. You are particularly interested in the German model and travel to Germany.

Through a series of phone calls and a process of elimination, you develop the right contacts and speak to the best people. It takes nine days in total.

You write the piece. Another journalist reads it and gets in touch for some of the German contacts. You want to help him out. He repeats the gist of your article and speaks to the same people. Hey presto, he’s writes virtually the same article without ever leaving the office...

Glazer and the golden goose

Interesting times at Manchester United. The renewal rate for season tickets so far has been very low and there are plenty of concerned people at the club.

Many United fans have simply had enough of the Glazers and the fact that 70 pence in the pound goes to pay off the club’s debts.

The January bond prospectus made hideous reading for fans, with statements like: "We have been able to consistently increase matchday ticket prices for both general admission and seasonal hospitality seats at levels above the rate of inflation.

"Between the 2006/07 season and the 2008/09 season, weighted average general admission ticket prices for Premier League games increased 8.5 per cent on a compound annual growth rate basis. Furthermore, while other Premier League clubs have experienced a flattening or reduction in ticket prices in response to the economic downturn, we were able to increase aggregate ticket prices for the 2009/10 season by 2.5 per cent."

Ticket prices have risen by an average of 48% since they took over five years ago this month and United have been the only Premiership club to increase ticket prices in each of the last five years – though they have been held for next season.

Such has been the drop in demand the club would have been committing commercial suicide if they had tried to increase prices again. With demand lower and empty seats inside Old Trafford for league games for the first time since 1992 this season, fans no longer need a season ticket to see matches and tickets are regularly sold for less than face value at Old Trafford. The greed of the Glazers is killing the golden goose.

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Confessions of a Correspondent : Liverpool

Manchester: a football city on many different levels

Texts from Forlan, golden geese and Georgie Thompson