The story behind Enjoy the Game.
Lionel Birnie explains how he researched Enjoy the Game, the story of Watford’s dramatic rise through the divisions in the 1980s. The task of interviewing everyone who played a part in the story took him from Wilf Rostron’s furniture warehouse in South Shields to sharing a bacon sarnie with Graham Taylor at The Belfry. How do you tell a story people think they already know? I’m round at Nigel Callaghan’s mum’s house in Stafford, deep in conversation when Mrs Callaghan asks me if I’d like another coffee. Nigel calls through to the kitchen to ask her if...
Read MoreLooking for The People’s Grand Tour?
Lionel Birnie has devised The People’s Grand Tour, the second edition of which will take place from May 19 to June 10 2012. Quite a lot of traffic is coming here from people Googling The People’s Grand Tour. The People’s Grand Tour is a global cycling project. Its motto: Ride, Wherever you are. The People’s Grand Tour website is here.
Read MoreWe’re all going on a summer holiday.
CYCLING Why the Tour de France is not a three-week jolly >> A bit of a change of pace today. This blog is not intended to be serious all the time, rather it’s a random collection of thoughts as they occur. If there’s anything you’d like to read about in future, drop me a line at lionel@lionelbirnie.com or send me a message on Twitter @lioneljbirnie I made the mistake of complaining to a friend the other day that booking hotels for this summer’s Tour de France was turning into a bit of a nightmare. “Everywhere within 40 miles of Liège is already...
Read MoreThe boys who cried wolf.
CYCLING Why the Alberto Contador ruling is a consequence of cycling’s past >> Some of this will not be new to seasoned followers of cycling and anti-doping legislation but it perhaps demonstrates that those seizing on individual details from the Alberto Contador ruling are missing the bigger picture and failing to grasp how cycling’s present is the sum of its past. In one way, Contador could be seen as a victim. He is a victim of past excesses and the failure of successive generations to tackle doping in a way that provoked wholescale cultural change. The rules in place...
Read MoreEnjoy The Game
In 1977 Elton John and Graham Taylor drew up a ten-year plan to reach the First Division. They did it in five... Watford challenged the giants of English football in the Eighties. They were runners-up to Liverpool, played in Europe and reached the FA Cup final.
Read MoreFour Seasons
Four Seasons was published in 2001 and tells the story of Graham Taylor's second reign as Watford manager. Promotion from the Second Division to the Premiership in successive years had supporters dreaming of another miracle.
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