Sports writer ‘Footie’ had such a wonderful way with words
DAVID Foot, one of the country’s greatest sports writers, whose name was particularly synonymous with cricket, has died, aged 92, at his home in Westbury-on-Trym.
‘Footie,’ as he was affectionately known by friends and work colleagues, was a West Country man to the core. He grew up in the Yeovil area, spent all his working life based in the West, turned down offers from Fleet Street newspapers to be a staff reporter for them, and was never more at home than in the press boxes at Somerset and Gloucestershire county cricket clubs.
He was born in 1929 in the Somerset village of East Coker where his father was sexton. He spent his entire working life in journalism, beginning with the Western Gazette in Yeovil where, in 1945, the 16-year-old secured a position as a trainee copy boy.
In time he moved a little way north, to the Bristol Evening World. There he reported on cricket, of course, but he was no one-trick pony. When cricket was off-season, he wrote about Bristol City and Bristol Rovers football clubs. He was also a noted theatre critic and would on occasion happily, and skilfully, turn his hand to general feature writing if required.
The Bristol Evening World closed in 1961 and ‘Footie’ was, given his reputation as one of the very best, courted by Fleet Street. In the event, however, he chose to stay in the West and turned freelance, a status he maintained for the rest of his working life. He was especially well known to readers of the Western Daily Press. He wrote a weekly column for the newspaper for the best part of 20 years and, for a while, wrote a popular ‘Where Are They Now?’ column on former sporting stars from the West.
His cricket watching was mainly local, primarily following Somerset and Gloucestershire. Depending on what source you read he either never reported on a Test match, or alternatively did so just once. Either way it is easy to see why London did not appeal. Of his local workplaces he would say; “The press box is kinship; I love the chirpy, companionable aura. Repartee is sharp, incestuous jokes are traded, legs pulled. Whatever the public’s perceptions, we all have a great affection for the game. We drink and eat and talk cricket.”
As well as a skilled match reporter and feature writer, ‘Footie’ was a prolific novelist, with about 25 books published. Two were autobiographical - West Country Reporter and Footsteps From East Coker - while nearly all the others were cricket-themed. These included much-admired works on Somerset batsman Harold Gimblett (Harold Gimblett: Tortured Genius of Cricket) and Gloucestershire and England great Wally Hammond (Wally Hammond: The Reasons Why), two publications which the late Frank Keating, the well-known former Guardian sports writer, described as “imperishable classics in cricket’s canon”.
Mark Easterbrook, sports production editor for the Bristol Post, said: “I knew David for 30 years and was fortunate to share a press box with him at cricket matches on countless occasions.
“As well as being a mighty fine writer, the lovely thing about ‘Footie’ was his warm, generous personality. Everyone enjoyed his company in the press box and members of the public would often pop their heads around the pressbox door to ask ‘Is David here today?,’ such was his popularity.
“He had a great sense of humour, and you had to marvel at how he would often deliver such excellent copy from minimal notes. Maybe that was because, as he would say, he was not par
ticularly interested in stats. He preferred to put his focus on the personalities involved in the match.”
Friend and fellow cricket writer Richard Latham said: “David charmed everyone he met, with his quiet demeanour, infectious chuckle, warm personality and delightful eccentricity.
“He was a doyen of cricket writers, whose books on the sport he so loved have captivated countless readers over the years. The depth of his research, allied to his humour and turn of phrase, made each one a gem.
“I was lost in admiration for his skills as a journalist, covering Bristol football as well as cricket, and as a prolific author. But above all, I delighted in his company, whether in press boxes or over a pint of beer, which he always insisted be served in a glass with a handle. David was unique and great fun to be with.”
Former HTV presenter Roger Malone said: “If ever a sports writer deserved the label of ‘gentleman of the press,’ it had to be David Foot.
“Polite, persistent, perceptive and with the gift of turning a lovely phrase, David’s piece in whatever journal he was writing for was always a delight to read and I tried not to miss one.”
Bristol City president Marina Dolman said: “David was truly lovely man, with a warmth you don’t usually associate with journalists! He was always very fairminded with his reports and wrote with feeling, which meant his love of cricket, in particular, shone through.”
Bristol sports journalist Graham Russell, himself 92, said: “I was already freelancing when David came up from Yeovil to join the old Evening World in the 1960s.
“There could be no more cordial way of spending time in a press box than in the company of my dear friend. He was always the better writer, but I never let on!”
Several former Bristol Rovers players joined in the tributes. Ian Holloway said: “So sorry to hear the news. What a great man”, while Tom Stanton added: “David was a true gentleman and will be sadly missed.”
Phil Bater said: “You could always trust David”, and Geoff Twentyman observed: “What a gentleman. Incredibly sad news.”
Former Somerset and England cricketer Vic Marks said: “David was one of the great West Country journalists. I got to know him in my playing days and always looked forward to reading his quirky, independent views on the cricket.
“He was such a self-effacing man. We often enjoyed going back to our roots because he was brought up in East Coker and I was born at Middle Chinnock, five or six miles away. If you knew David was covering a game, you made sure of reading his reports because he was a brilliant writer.”
Former Gloucestershire captain David Graveney said: “Very sad news. Another icon of journalism departs.”
He is survived by his wife Anne, son Mark and journalist daughter Julia.