Ever wondered what it is like to travel on the team coach of a top football club, mixing with players, managers and directors? John Wray had that privilege for many years as he accompanied Leeds United through their triumphs and tribulations at home and abroad. His sometimes serious, sometimes comical memories of a lifetime in sports journalism offer a fascinating insight into the joys and perils of a job that for most fans remains a mystery. Journalists covering their local club tread a thin line between satisfying readers' insatiable appetite for stories and keeping on the right side of their contacts.Trust is everything. John joined in the players' card schools, travelled with the team to Wembley when Don Revie was in charge and had a big bust-up with Revie's brief successor Brian Clough. He is still covering the club to this day, though he spent similarly happy times reporting on the low-key Bramley Rugby League team.
This book will appeal to football fans and fellow journalists alike as it traces a career encompassing everything from editing a football match between pub teams called Toby Jug and Squinting Cat to interviewing Eric Cantona, Howard Wilkinson, Vinnie Jones and a host of other big names.