Veil of secrecy or open-faced?
3:14pm Monday 21st January 2002
THE various managers at Vicarage Road had different ways of dealing with the local press. For the majority of Watford's history there have been at least two newspapers and, more recently in addition, at least a couple of radio stations eager to carry up-to-date news on the Hornets.
Years ago, even before my time which to some I suppose is just after the dinosaurs ruled the world, press relations were at the most basic level.
Take for instance back in the 1930's when Neil McBain was boss at Vicarage Road. Frank Barnes, who had written under the name Freelance for over 30 years, had become editor of the paper and no longer covered Watford.
That was left to a young reporter, who went on to achieve national fame as a test cricket writer: Alec Bannister.
"Frank Barnes wanted a dignified paper and would have frowned quite severely at the thought of having Neil McBain quoted in the paper. In those days the manager was emerging as significant but Frank had been cossetted in the old ways," recalls Alec.
Yet it was a two-way street which the local press and the manager avoided. Bump into Neil McBain in the High Street and he was charming and affable. But apart from handing out details of the likely team, he provided nothing in the way of pre-match information.
In fact, Alec recalls, when Watford signed a winger during the 1930's, they completed the deal on a Thursday and made no mention of it until Saturday morning before a home game.
This meant they missed out on the opportunity of generating a bit of extra interest in the fixture and, quite probably, boosting the gate.
A man absorbed in betting, Neil followed the custom of the times by being somewhat defensive. In fact, they did not indulge in after-match conferences. The manager either said what he had to to his players, or headed for the boardroom and there he joined the directors with a whiskey. The press were ignored.
Says Alec Bannister: "I remember, after I left the Observer, I was on duty one day for the Press Association before the war. It was a Sunday and I had to contact the Arsenal manager George Allison about something.
"I was slightly timorous at the concept, remembering dealing with Mc Bain, but when I got through, he asked me my Christian name. He then said I should call him George.
"Next he told me: 'I am on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 360-odd days a year in the service of Arsenal Football Club. How can I help?'
"It was such a contrast."
Alec recalls that McBain's successor at Vicarage Road, Bill Findlay, was much more approachable.
In the post-war years, managers were happy to talk to the local newspaper, keen to drum up support and understanding.
When I first joined the West Herts Post back in 1960, Ron Burgess was manager. He was approachable, friendly and pleased to talk on most subjects.
There was a set day when you went to see him each week, but he would have a word after a reserve game and, indeed, after first team matches.
His successor was Bill McGarry, who kept the press at arm's length and got away with it during a very successful year. He ran a tight ship and when Dai Ward was quoted in the Watford Observer, Mc Garry remonstrated with the sports editor, asking what he was doing talking to one of his players without seeking the manager's permission.
"Frankly Bill, he was no longer your player when I spoke to him. You had sold him," was the reply, which totally torpedoed the manager.
McGarry huffed and puffed, but perhaps that gives you an insight into his attitudes.
He would talk after the game and he would give you a specific day in the week when you could go down and talk to him in preparation for the West Herts Post's Thursday publication, or Friday's Watford Observer.
Now, in those days, when it came to Easter, the Watford Observer would not publish on Good Friday, but drop back to Thursday. In anticipation of this, and not wanting to go head-to-head, the West Herts Post came out on the Wednesday.
As a result, the copy deadlines were brought forward a day. So when the then sports editor of the Watford Observer turned up at Vicarage Road on Wednesday lunchtime, McGarry greeted him with: "Your day is Thursday".
With that he left the open-mouthed reporter to his own devices.