Let’s not follow José’s example...
José Mourinho’s press conference antics on Friday reminded me of the first ‘presser’ I attended – albeit for different reasons – at Highbury on January 25, 2003. For some background to the story, I was a young reporter at the time, covering Farnborough Town who had been handed a dream tie against Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Farnborough were originally drawn as the home team, but the tie had been switched to north London for ‘safety reasons’ with Cherrywood Road deemed unfit to stage a match of such magnitude.
Following the draw, the town of Farnborough was swept up in a media storm. The club signed an exclusive sponsorship deal with The Sun, and manager Graham Westley was at the front of the fun bus steering them on their ride, and when a football club nails its colours to the mast of one national newspaper, you can guarantee a few others will seek retribution, looking for angles to exploit.
By the time the match was played and Boro had succumbed to the inevitable – a 5-1 defeat that could have been far worse – there were a number of journalists who wanted answers to certain questions, and they had nothing to do with the contents of the match that had seen defender Christian Lee sent off early and striker Rocky Baptiste score one of the most famous goals in the club’s history.
One of those journalists was The NLP’s very own Ian Ridley, at the time Football Correspondent for The Observer. Ian – stood to the side of the room with notebook in hand – probed Westley on why the tie had been moved from Cherrywood Road, and his questions were soon followed-up with a quite abrasive Sue Mott from The
Telegraph seeking further explanation. Westley had always kept the regional Press at close quarters but this was uncharted territory and he seemed visibly uncomfortable.
For what it’s worth, and Ian may well disagree with me here; I didn’t think a decaying Cherrywood Road was in any state to stage a game of that size, but I appreciate there were other factors to consider and with Farnborough pocketing more in gate receipts at Highbury, I understood why the questions were being asked.
But you’ll rarely see a manager being challenged like that now, even in the lower reaches of the National League where more and more are protected from reporters by an army of press officers who demand protocol is followed at every corner. Fair enough. But it’s funny how clubs, managers and players are quick to recognise the importance of the media when they seek publicity for other matters.
■ Looking for something to complement your Sunday reading of The NLP this Bank Holiday weekend? The NLFullTime podcast will bring you all the latest reaction following Monday’s games with a focus on life at Chester and Chorley – two clubs enjoying contrasting fortunes at the start of the season, while also looking at how Barnet are adapting to life back in the National League. Follow them on Twitter @NLFullTime to hear the latest news from Steps 1-4.