A TALE OF TWO CITIES

This has not been a routine Saturday.

First of all, credit where it's due. Manchester City have broken new boundaries in media relations by not only producing a first class pie but also serving it direct to my seat. Let me give more details about this important development. The matchday media sheet states: "For members of the media a bespoke pie has been created as a half-time snack by our Consultant Executive Chef John Benson-Smith". Full marks to the chef and also to the member of City's staff who, spotting me still hardwired to my mic and cans as the rest of the media headed for the press room at half-time, brought me one tasty bespoke pie to make sure I didn't miss out.

That's what I call style.

I was there to report City v Hull for Setanta Ireland. Pre-match, things hadn't gone so well. Setanta always ask for their reporters to be allocated a seat which has an ISDN port so we can connect up our kit and dial through to Dublin. Unusually for City, they hadn't done it this time. I was switched to a seat which DID have an ISDN port...but when I dialled Dublin, nothing happened. So I asked the media assistant if the ISDN was enabled. At City, unlike most clubs, they route lines to the various ISDN points themselves on a match by match basis. "Yes, the points are all live," he said. Then I got the club's telecom engineer to have a look. "It's not live," he said.
And away he went to get it sorted. It took another ten minutes before I was through to Setanta's sound gallery. Good job I wasn't in a mad hurry to get on the air.

Then, while City and Hull occupied themselves with a 1-1 draw, the mobile starts beeping with tales of the unexpected from Chester City's match v Eastbourne. Fans on the pitch in the first half protesting about the "ex" owner Stephen Vaughan (see countless previous posts for the background). Game held up. Fans on the pitch again in the second half. Game delayed. Match abandoned.

Back home, straight onto the fans' message board Devachat.com to find out what went on. One thread has had over 14,000 hits already. I shouldn't approve of fans invading pitches but a) this was clearly a peaceful protest and b) I can't say anything other than it was totally, totally justified.

THE FINAL CURTAIN?

Could be the end of the road for Chester City this Saturday. At home to Eastbourne. All the signs point to us emulating Accrington Stanley four decades ago and have our results wiped from the records in mid-season.

Quick upsum:

Our best players, on loan from league and even Premier League clubs, have left in the last fortnight.
Remaining players have been on strike this week because their wages haven't arrived.
Club's MD has been in talks with the PFA about large loans made by the PFA which we can't repay.
Home end will be closed against Eastbourne because we haven't got enough stewards.
On Monday we face the latest deadline to pay money owed to Wrexham and Vauxhall Motors as well as the PFA. There is no sign that this will be forthcoming.
Owner has been declared not a fit and proper person after admitting a £500,000 VAT scam and told to dispose of his shares in club.
He refuses to enter into negotiations with a former director who wants to buy him out.
Instead he hands ownership to his son.

This is football's equivalent of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

The sun will shine again one day. It's just a bit hard to see it from where we sit right now.

TT RACES AXE TWO-STROKES

The Isle of Man Government has announced that next year's TT will not include the Billown TT races for 125 and 250cc machines.
If you're not familiar with this tale, the addition of these races for two-stroke machines took place in 2008. The idea was to create a challenging race for the two-strokes who no longer race over the Mountain Course during the TT meeting. For the previous few years they had been frozen out of the festival altogether.
The races took place over the 4.25 mile Billown circuit in the south of the island.
At the same time as cancelling these races, the Manx authorities have announced a massive programme of public entertainment for next year's TT fortnight. Looks like it was an either/or debate and the racers lost.
I think this is a terrible shame. It was a controversial move to give TT branding to races which were not staged on the Mountain Course, but they proved very popular and to cancel them after only two years doesn't give them a chance to build up a tradition and heritage of their own. I can't help feeling that it devalues the efforts of those who rode their hearts out to win podium places.
I don't know how this will impact on my commitments next year. I commentated on the first Billown TT in 2008 (picture above is of the commentary box at Billown, the best commentary position in the world) and I was due to do so again next year - if Manx Radio secures the contract for radio coverage, which is up for renewal at the moment.

The situation at Chester City goes from farce to tragedy. I have sent the following letter to the Football Association's Compliance Unit.

Compliance Unit
Football Association
25 Soho Square
LONDON
W1D 4FA


November 22 2009


Dear Sir/Madam

I am a journalist who has covered professional football for over 35 years. I am also a supporter of Chester City FC for 47 years.

I am writing to ask you to investigate the transfer of ownership of the club from Stephen Vaughan to his son, Stephen Vaughan junior, as announced by Mr Vaughan senior in a radio interview yesterday.

You will be aware that under the terms of a Disqualification Undertaking signed by Stephen Vaughan senior on November 11th 2009 he accepted a bar on acting as a company director for a period of 11 years. The FA then indicated to David Conn of The Guardian that it would take the necessary steps to ensure that the ownership of Chester City complied with your “fit and proper persons” test.

It is inconceivable that the transfer of ownership to Mr Vaughan’s 24-year-old son, who is a professional footballer on the books of Chester City, should create a situation in which Mr Vaughan has no control or influence over decision-making. This would appear to be an attempt to circumvent the rules and regulations of the FA.

You will also be aware that the entire future of the football club is hanging by a thread for financial reasons. I ask you now to act swiftly and decisively to ensure that the ownership of the club is transferred to genuine purchasers at a reasonable price. There are potential buyers who have expressed interest. Any delay could be fatal to the future of the club which, without a genuine change of ownership, will (by its own financial projections posted on the official club website in September) be insolvent long before the end of the season.

I would be grateful if you could contact me to let me know what action you will take.

Yours faithfully




CHARLIE LAMBERT

TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS

I've been reunited with my best mate in broadcasting. He's been away down south for around 10 days and I was worried that he wouldn't make it back in time for our trip to Anfield tomorrow. But he's turned up, freshly scrubbed, all set for the big game.

He's called Glen Sound and he's been with me to football matches all over the country. He was there when Newcastle were relegated on the last day of the season. He was with me when Adebayor set off on that crazy celebration after scoring against Arsenal. And I'm very pleased that he'll be at my side when Liverpool play Manchester City this weekend. He's my voice and my ears, and he comes in a compact little case with a couple of leads, and sockets for microphone and headphones.

This invaluable chum is my ISDN broadcasting kit, manfactured by a company called Glensound based in Kent. I stupidly left the batteries in too long and they began to corrode. So I sent it down to Glensound to be cleaned out and serviced. Heart in mouth in case it didn't make it back in time for my next booking. That's why I despatched it during an international break.

It is one of the downsides of being a freelance that there is no-one else to take responsibility for maintaining your kit. If it doesn't work, you can't blame some faceless engineering department in Shepherds Bush. On the other hand, the upside is that you can always ensure your kit is present and correct. I recall turning up for a late call-out by the BBC to cover a game at Maine Road. The Beeb were supplying the kit which would be delivered to the stadium. Sure enough, when I arrived, there it was. But when I opened it up in the press box, there was one item missing - the microphone.

The ISDN kit, commonplace these days, took over from its bulky predecessor, the COOBE. It stands for Commentator Operated Outside Broadcast Equipment. There was another version called a SOOBE. (Self Operated Outside.....fill in the rest yourself). Like the Glensound, the COOBE could be operated by the reporter alone. It came with mic (well, usually) and headphones. You plugged in to a bulky GPO socket, cranked a handle as if you were starting a 1933 Austin Seven, and with luck someone picked up in the BBC studio. You could then broadcast in microphone quality while hearing the studio in your headphones. The big drawback was that telecom lines had to be booked with the Post Office (later BT) on every occasion, and the lines only went to one destination.

There was a problem one day at Everton. A wire became disconnected from some vital component. I can't recall all the details but I do remember going to the restaurant to borrow a knife and strip back the sheathing to expose the bare wire. Not having a soldering kit to hand, I spent the whole match jamming the wire against the terminal with my thumb to enable me to get on the air.

ISDN technology has made everything more flexible. The kit is smaller, lighter, and you can dial from your seat in the press box anywhere in the world. That is a godsend to freelances servicing more than one client. When it first arrived the system was somewhat fragile. Every reporter was petrified that the connection would suddenly trip out and refuse to reconnect. Today (touch wood) it is much more reliable.

So long as you don't leave your batteries in too long.

YOU'VE GOT TO HAND IT TO THE DIRECTOR

Amid the furore of Thierry Henry's handball, the failings of the until-then-very-good officials, and the bad luck of the Irish, an accolade for excellence should be awarded. To the French TV director who had the camera in exactly the right place and made brilliant use of the replay facility. Bravo!

GUARDIAN TURNS SPOTLIGHT ON CHESTER

Chester City's plight is brilliantly summed up by David Conn in today's Guardian. In a detailed analysis Conn traces the path from Stephen Vaughan's takeover in 2001 to today's situation in which the club is broke, cast adrift at the foot of the Blue Square Premier, and facing expulsion unless football debts are cleared by Monday week.

The main story inside the Guardian's sport section is also written up on Sport's front page, under the news line that Vaughan has become the first person to fail the FA's "fit and proper person's test." Another dubious distinction for our club.

David's piece performs two other functions. It gives us, the club's supporters, a real boost knowing that someone in a positon of influence has noticed what is going on. And I hope it also embarrasses the FA who should have taken action much, much earlier.

Meanwhile the Liverpool Daily Post today reports that the club is talking to potential new owners. I'll wait and see on that one - there have been too many false dawns already.