An Interview with…Mick Dennis

This week’s interview is with Mick Dennis, the former Sports Editor of the Evening Standard. Mick also wrote for The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mirror, The Sun and The Sunday Times.
Between 2003 and 2015, Mick was the Football Correspondent for the Daily Express and has also working in broadcasting at TalkSport, LBC and Radio Five Live and appeared on Sky News and Sky Sports News.

What made you want to work in journalism in the first place?

I went to a careers convention while still at school. A guy (who I got to know, years later) was there from the National Council for the Training of Journalists. I hadn’t thought about journalism at all as a potential career, but he had some leaflets and it was a lightbulb moment for me. From then on, I knew I wanted to work in newspapers.

Were you a football fan before you became a journalist?  If so, who did you support?

My dad took me to football matches all over London. I watched a lot of (amateur club) Hounslow Town and Chelsea.

What was the process of getting a match report together when you were involved in writing them?

The process depended on who I was writing for. The first reports I wrote were of non-league matches for the Eastern Daily Press, with whom i was training to be a general reporter. Their “Pink Un” football newspaper, which was published on Saturday evenings, required most of the report to be phoned in at half-time, with an intro sent by the same method at full-time. Then, on the Sunday, I would write a considered report of about 200 words for the Monday morning paper. By the time I graduated to writing about Norwich for the Pink Un and EDP, the Saturday requirement was for a “running report” telephoned more or less constantly during the game. So I would be watching one move, making notes about the one before and dictating copy about the one before that, and always trying to catch up. The process remains the same, though. You are trying to tell the story of the game with engaging tone and content.

How soon after the final whistle would you have to have the report completed and sent to your Editor?

Again, this depends on the outlet for whom I was working. If it was for a daily paper, then, a report of an evening game would have to be filed during the game, with say 600 words at half-time; then, at 3/4 time I would “top and tail” what I’d sent earlier with three paragraphs for the top of the report and four or five for the bottom. After the game, hopefully after getting quotes from managers and possibly players, I would file a complete rewrite for the next day’s latter editions.

Which other football journalists do you admire and why?

David Lacey, who was the Guardian’s football correspondent for many years, was the best I shared a press box with. He conjured witty yet insightful prose day after day.There are different types of football journalists, though, and there is much, much more to the job than reporting matches. For the rest of the week, journalists have to generate sports news, and Matt Lawton, who recently joined The Times from the Daily Mail, is someone I admire for breaking stories. Another is Daniel Taylor, now of The Athletic website, who did brilliant work exposing the scandal of sexual abuse of young footballers. David Conn, of the Guardian, is also brilliant at story-getting. He made himself the foremost authority on the Hillsborough disaster.

Who was the best football player and manager to interview and why?

I loved talking to the late Graham Taylor, because he was such a good man. I managed a couple of exclusive stories based on interviews with him.Players seldom feel able to talk freely and openly, but I have had conducted some enjoyable and revelatory interviews for three books I produced about Norwich City. I’d say Grant Holt’s chapter was the most enjoyable to conduct and produce, because he is a very funny guy.

Did you prefer being an Editor or a journalist sending a report from the match?

Being a sports editor has its own challenges, skills and rewards. I enjoyed my period in that role. But nothing can beat going to a big match and being content with the reports you produce there. As I say, though, football journalism is about so much more than match reporting. And the money was better as an editor!

What was the proudest moment of your career and why?

The biggest scoop I had, I’d have to say, was that Chelsea were installing an electric fence to prevent pitch invasions by fans. But I am prouder of some of the editions of the Evening Standard I sports edited. When great feature ideas were in the same paper as some jaw-dropping stories, and the whole lot was well designed — that felt good, even if I’d not contributed a single word to the actual writing. Then, towards the end of my career, I wrote some strident, cogent columns which were well received.

Which newspaper did you like for the best?

The Daily Mirror under Piers Morgan, for whom I wrote a weekly football column, was a brilliant product.

What was your favourite era that you were involved in the game?

When I was a young buck, I used to be thoroughly irritated by all the old hacks droning on about, “In my day…”. But I suppose that the era before the internet, when newspapers were people’s principal source of information, was a very exciting time to be a sports journalist.

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