Ex Saint gets the Brighton Bug

During my time at the Journalist Works I am frequently on the look out for potential news stories.
As an aspirant sports journalist I would love to make press about my beloved Brighton and Hove Albion.

I recently interviewed a certain Andrew Sutton. You may not have heard of him, but trust me this man deserves respect from any Seagulls follower. Andrew was a Southampton fan (Scummer!) before being hooked by the "Albion Atmosphere" and is even buying a season ticket at the Amex next year!
Here is my story, which I hope The Argus will publish!

     Brighton vs Southampton has always been a fierce rivalry. It’s almost up there with the enmity of Crystal Palace. However, for one Albion fan the upcoming Saints fixture will have more significance than ever before.


Andrew Sutton, 23, from Thornhill Rise in Portslade will be cheering the stripes on at the Withdean,
only a few weeks after “being converted” from their South Coast rivals.


“I was a Southampton fan when I was growing up because of my granddad but I didn’t realise I had a fantastic team on my doorstep. Now I plan to work as a programme seller at the new Amex to fund my season ticket for next season.”


Andrew has travelled to most of Albion’s away matches this season, getting the coach to all corners of the country and has heralded the atmosphere created by the Brighton fans on board for getting him hooked. 
He said: “I used to only go watch Brighton when a spare ticket was floating around.


“I play darts with the son of a man called Jon who runs a bus company called BHA Blues Away. I used to always travel up with them every now and then but the atmosphere just got my hooked.


“We always have a laugh and it’s thanks to people like Jon. He encourages a good sing-song and well friendly banter."


One of his proudest football moments was when he was a small child he got to see Matt Le Tissier from only three yards away at Southampton's old ground, The Dell. But his all time favourite memory came at an Albion game: “I was actually at the last game at the Goldstone Ground, it was chaos.


“Someone tore up the centre circle, others clapped the goal nets, people were taking seats and a steward came up to me and said, ‘You guys are doing a cheap demolition job for us.’ It was fantastic.”


Andrew believes the move to the Amex stadium and promotion will entice more football fans to join the Albion cause. He said: “Getting promoted this season will make travelling to games on the bus ten times more fun.


“If we can hold on to our current players especially the likes of Calderon and Glenn Murray things will only get better. I will always have a soft spot for Southampton but nowhere near the same magnitude now that I’m an Albion fan.”

Emulating Wayne

        What's going on in my life I hear you ask?
As I write this my head is aching after a quality night out for Rik's birthday, I am getting text updates from my mother regarding Andy Murray's progress in the Australian Open Final (stupid internet won't let me stream from the BBC website) and I am trying to coherently express myself in this blog before I relax into speaking my own brand of vernacular slang... Innit.

       I had a conversation with my dad the other day, and I think it may be worth sharing, about Wayne Rooney.
Wayne's presence in the press these days is fast becoming ubiquitous; seeing prostitutes, handing in a transfer request, trying to find the next street soccer star etc. etc.
But what the old man and I were concerned with is the way he plays football. Or to be precise, the way he used to play football.

On his day Rooney is one of the best players in the world, no one can doubt that. He can play a pass as swift as an Andy Gray sacking (Go me, topical reference!) , he can burst the net with ferocious shots and his touch, as delightfully epitomized against Birmingham last weekend, is second to none.
But he has not taken off to the worldwide superstardom as was fatefully predicted when he curled a delightful shot past David Seaman as a 16 year old to end Arsenal's 30 match unbeaten run.

Wayne Rooney used to play with a "swagga" on the pitch. He used to run at people and not be afraid to pull the trigger and used to have this fearless, raw talent that made everyone who watched him stand up for a closer look, including current club Manchester United who confidently spent 30 million squids on him! But you know all this, right?

Now, he is more mature, he works hard for the team, he is selfless in possession. Credit to him for all these attributes but I have to say, I miss the old Wayne. When was the last time you saw him do this: http://bit.ly/gEfIRK

My dad remarked that Wayne Rooney is not what he used to be after his metatarsal injury on the last game of the season before the 2006 World Cup.

The reason I am saying all this is because I am drawing a comparison with Wayne Rooney and myself.
Not on the football pitch though, my arena is the news room.

I have just started an NCTJ journalism course with Brighton Journalist Works with the hope of getting the qualification to take my first step on the ladder to becoming a sports journalist. I aim to be fearless, a little brash, and put 100% into what I am faced with. Now, two weeks in it has already got in to full swing. The people I have met are great, the course is teaching me stuff everyday and I am slowly getting used to the early mornings. So when the writing form of a metatarsal injury comes along, which no doubt it will, I aim to be the Wayne Rooney of old: hard working, driven and with a slight air of intrepidity.

Ah, crap. Murray lost.

Rooney: Confidence personified

Published!

Completed my work experience at Sportsbeat  in Wimbledon last week,
And I got my first athletics article published with help from Andy Howden.
http://www.morethanthegames.co.uk/athletics/2312225-ohuruogu-not-fazed-russias-recent-400m-dominance

Check it out!

Finding my fingers

Well, the new season is underway.

New signings from all corners of the globe have flocked to the shores of Blighty eagerly hoping to impress their new fans and managers alike. Hernandez to United, Chamakh to the gooners and my personal favourites- Agustin Battipiedi and Christian Baz to Brighton and Hove Albion. 

But it is not just on the pitch that newcomers are trying to make a name for themselves. 

Budding wannabe journalists, like myself, are eagerly trying to take the online and print world by storm. My linguistic tools have been sharpened by three years of an English degree at Kent University, my knowledge has been enhanced thanks to a summer of football frenzy and my brain is now a catastrophic mix of stats and facts ready to drop in to any unsuspecting topic in the sporting world. 

Now all that I have to look forward to is the new season to get in to full swing. 

I have taken inspiration from the Scholes' and Giggs' of the journalism world and now am limbering up for the long haul. 

Just like a starlet taking part in a prematch warm up at Stamford Bridge, similar questions will be asked of me: Am I ready for the step up? Will I be able to cope with the pace of the game? Will I be able to justify the large transfer fee paid for me? OK, maybe not the last one but I can't wait for the chance to give it a go.