The Archive

Ever wanted to be a football pundit? Glen Wilson explains how easy it was to be mistaken for a virtual Andy Townsend

As Andy Gray took his final “boo” last month and emptied his desk of his telestrators and On The Buses DVDs, another much less prominent Andy also saw his media presence terminated. As Gray was exiting Sky Sports, Twitter was suspending the account of @AndyDTownsend, the satirical feed which had inadvertently found itself involved in the sexism scandals, having been mistaken by the Independent journalist Andy Herbert for the actual Andy Townsend.

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The British press has widely turned on Andy Gray and Richard Keys for the sexist “banter” which now sees them out of their jobs at Sky Sports

Following the leak of videos that showed some archaic opinions being expressed in the Sky Sports studio, Richard Keys may have hoped that a generous sprinkling one of the most overused buzzwords of recent times would aid his acquittal. In a now notorious interview with Talk Sport, Keys claimed to have “enjoyed some banter together” with assistant referee Sian Massey, apologised for his “prehistoric banter” and, using attack as the best form of defence, pointed out that one of his most vocal critics Rio Ferdinand was guilty of similar “dressing room banter”.

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Paul Buller attended a fiery discussion about the responsibilities of UK sports reporting, and left with some questions of his own

The question “What’s wrong with sports reporting?” might elicit the immediate response “Where do you start?”, but on a chilly January night in London the great and the good of sports journalism gathered at a Royal Television Society event to debate just that. Many familiar faces from the back pages filled the audience alongside broadcasters, students and inquisitive fans. A fiery encounter ensued, with football being the main catalyst for the arguments made by a heavyweight panel. 

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Neil White worries that those at the top of the Scottish game have got their priorities all wrong

Such is the Scottish Premier League’s expertise in debacle, you have to respect the fact that their current blind stumble towards some kind of undefined “change” has lowered the organisation’s stock among its customers still further.

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Faced with winding up order and Peter Ridsdale, it’s a grim time to be a Plymouth fan. But their local rivals are offering Supporters’ Trust solidarity and three valuable point, writes Gareth Nicholson

Derby day in Devon, and the Exeter fans are high on schadenfreude. The home supporters, meanwhile, are discovering that hubris is a cold mistress. Eight years ago, when Argyle cruised to a 3-0 victory on their way to a League Two title and year-on-year improvement all the way to the Championship, the Green Army had honestly believed that “We’ll never play you again”.

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