Sir Alf could be inscrutable in my time as his ‘chaperone’
LAST summer saw England come as close to lifting a championship as they’ve come since those heady days of ’66 under Sir Alf Ramsey.
Gareth Southgate is a very different character from the late, great Sir Alf, certainly more approachable and media savvy. I know because I had close-up professional and personal experiences with both.
When Southgate was playing for Aston Villa, I used him as a studio pundit on Central’s Sports Special midweek TV show and even attended his 1997 wedding. I have to say he is a top person.
Decades earlier, in 1974, ITV signed the recently-sacked England manager Sir Alf for their World Cup finals coverage in the then West Germany and I was given the job of being his interviewer and ‘chaperone’ alongside my other reporting and interviewing duties.
Sir Alf was a man of few words. During that tournament I travelled the length and breadth of West Germany in a chauffeur-driven car with Sir Alf and Lady Vicky Ramsey in the back.
Over those many hours in their company, the only words I can recall spoken were when occasionally I would turn round from my front seat and say: “Alf, we are approaching an autobahn service station, would you like to stop?”
In response, I was always greeted with “No, thank you!”
I liked him but found him inscrutable at times.
Ramsey did a great job in the main for England. He was a highlyrespected, ruthless manager with tremendous tactical knowledge.
His England also obtained third place in the 1968 European Championship and reached the quarterfinals of both the 1970 World Cup and 1972 Euros. He was knighted in 1967 after England had won the World Cup the previous year.
A former England right-back himself with 32 caps, he was a member of the 1950-51 Spurs title-winning team before managing Ipswich Town from the third tier of English football to Division One champions in six years.
But after England infamously drew 1-1 with Poland in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers, his team field to qualify and the FA sacked him ... and ITV moved in.
Working with him, Sir Alf was always polite and courteous to me. At the end of the tournament, he thanked me and spoke highly of me to my bosses about the way I had treated him.
But I got to talk to him more on our live interviews than I ever did socially. Fair enough, that was his way, but I do have plenty of memories of our time together.
The first one was when, upon entering one stadium, we spotted his England successor, the ex-Leeds United boss Don Revie, and Sir Alf immediately turned to me and said: “Gary, let us walk another way, please. I do not wish to speak to that man!”
Then there was a dinner in a Dusseldorf restaurant on the night of the Greyhound Derby Final at London’s White City on June 29. We were in Dusseldorf for the West GermanySweden match the next day.
The Derby favourite Jimsun was trained by Geoffrey De Mulder in Meriden and the owners saw me as their lucky charm in charge of placing the bets. They even tried to fly me back for the race but ITV said no!
So instead they visited my wife Katie in the ATV newsroom and gave her the money to fly out to join Sir Alf and myself, figuring that would be sure to make the dog win. We all had good money riding on trap one winning. Strange logic, though!
Anyway, I told Sir Alf about the circumstances and when during dinner I rang Fleet Street for the result, I reacted to the news we had won by throwing my arms up in the air and ordering Champagne. Sir Alf simply said: “I take it the dog won!”
When we went out for lunch in Munich at the famous Haxnbauer restaurant, where the speciality of the house was pork, the waiter brought a tray of joints.
“Why is he showing us these?” Sir Alf enquired suspiciously. “You have to pick one.” “What, a whole one?” he exclaimed.
“Yes,” I said. “Afraid so!”
We were in Munich for the final when West Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1. I sat behind Sir Alf and my great friend Hugh Johns in the commentary positions. A memorable experience.
That night the ITV outside broadcast lads asked Sir Alf, Lady Vicky and myself to join them at a rowdy, large and packed beer garden marquee with an oompah band playing.
Soon bottles were flying everywhere – at times just missing us. Amazingly, not one person recognised Sir Alf.
I was worried but need not have been. To my relief, he turned to me at one point and said: “It’s a bit different, ain’t it, but Vicky and I are quite enjoying it.”
At the end of the trip, Sir Alf said to me: “I had no idea how difficult your job is and if I became a manager again – which I won’t – I would treat you differently.”
Well, three years later, he did become manager of Birmingham City for a year.
What proved to be his last match was a 4-0 defeat at Coventry City in front of the ATV Star Soccer cameras.
Afterwards, I knocked on the Blues dressing room door – it was so much easier in those days! – and Sir Alf answered it. “Hallo Gary, what do you want?”
“An interview with you please.” He responded: “No thank you” and shut the door... That was my last conversation with him. He had referred to type, bless him.