From Weddings to World Cups Memories of Fifty Years as a Journalist

Ian Wheeler's career in journalism started when he left school at fourteen and was employed by the local weekly newspaper The Northern Scot and Moray and Nairn Express. Cub reporters learnt their trade the hard way and, under the exacting direction of Miss Robertson, Ian reported weddings, funerals, the County and Sheriff Court proceedings and the weekly football results. After National Service, Ian returned to Moray but soon took up employment with Dundee publisher DC Thomson as a reporter and gradually moved to become a sports writer. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Ian found himself at various times based in Dundee, Glasgow, Newcastle and Manchester reporting on major club football and also Scotland and England internationals. He was on first name terms with players, managers and many who worked behind the scenes. The stars - Alf Ramsey, Brian Clough, Bob and Bill Shankly, George Best, Bobby Moore, the Charlton brothers, Billy Steel, Dave Narey, Alan Gilzean and many others - have become legends in the history of the game. Ian Wheeler's memories of fifty years in journalism is an enlightening account of the Golden Age of football, when players worked for a modest wage and clubs enjoyed a measure of financial equality.