TomClare
14 Sep 2007, 09:08 AM
By Robert Philip
Telegraph 14/09/2007
Prepare to be impressed while I drop a few names on you from a very great height because, for one day - and one day only - your humble hack has been schmoozing with the glitterati: sporting legends Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Steve Redgrave; Flat-racing icons Lester Piggott and Frankie Dettori; motor-racing world champions Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill; World Cup winners Martin Johnson and Sir Geoff Hurst; Rory Bremner and Sir Tim Rice; Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, and the Treorchy Male Voice Choir; six England cricket captains (appearing here in alphabetical order): Atherton, Denness, Emburey, Gatting, Stewart and Willis; Steve Rider and Jimmy Hill; Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan; Amir Khan and Joe Calzaghe.
I could go on and on but I trust you can picture the scene on the trading floor of BGC in Canary Wharf, where Alan Brazil had set up his TalkSport radio studio in the corner of the room to interview the head-turning stream of celebrities who emerged every time the lift doors opened.
Since 2005, Sept 11 has been Charity Day at BGC, the brainchild of chairman and CEO Lee Amaitis, who lost 740 friends and colleagues when the first terrorist plane struck the World Trade Centre, where the brokerage company occupied the 101st-105th floors.
Amaitis, I should explain, may be one of the most powerful men in the city but first and foremost he is a sports 'nut' whose twin passions of boxing and horse racing are reflected in the fact that the walls of his office are covered in photographs of those such as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Secretariat.
Having raised almost £5 million for good causes in the first two years, Graham 'Son of Colin' Cowdrey in his role of Director of Group Entertainment and Social Responsibility (in other words, 'funmaker') used all his persuasive powers to assemble a guest list which, as Rory Bremner put it, resembled a David Frost Garden party. "You must meet the Pinochets, Your Majesty."
As the dealers did whatever it is dealers do (it is a mystery to me but every cent from the day's profits will go to help others), it was noticeable that they were a seen-it-all, difficult-to-please audience. Sportsmen and sports women, soap stars and pop singers, news readers and ballroom dancers, politicians and page-three models, were all greeted with discreet courtesy, but only the arrival of Sir Alex, who had sampled the ugly side of fame when, unbeknown to us all, he had been assaulted in Euston Station the previous night, had the money men frenziedly reaching for their cameras.
The boy from Govan who grew up to become a footballer and Clyde shipyard shop steward now walks among us as a sporting god, the greatest football manager in the history of football management, with nine league titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups, the Champions' League and the European Cup-Winners' Cup.
And oh, yes, before beginning his 21-year-reign at Manchester United, he transformed Aberdeen into the major force in Scotland, with three league titles, four Scottish Cups, one League Cup and the European Cup-Winners' Cup. He also proved to be something of a demon trader, helping to complete a number of telephone deals on behalf of BCG.
But enough of the financial machinations; "Do great heroes," I wanted to know of Sir Alex, "revere great heroes of their own? If you could invite four people from the world of sport - alive or dead - to partake of bread and wine at Old Trafford, who would be on your guest list?"
"Number one, Muhammad Ali," came the instant response. "The greatest sportsman of all time, no question. Not just his because of his abilities as a boxer but for his stand against the Vietnam War. He set such a fabulous example to us all. At the time, there were those who thought he was anti-American; but he wasn't.
"Muhammad Ali was simply anti-war and that was a great message to the world. I met him only once - by which time he was suffering badly from Parkinson's - but it was a great thrill nonetheless. He had an aura about him you could almost touch, a fabulous personality and if you want to know what part psychology plays in sport, then Muhammad Ali was a master of it before anyone else had even thought about it.
"Sonny Liston wasn't afraid of any man on earth but even he was unnerved when Muhammad turned up at his house carrying a bear trap. Muhammad changed the shape of boxing because he was an entertainer as much as a fighter, an artist sharing a canvas with sluggers. I can remember going along to Green's Playhouse in Glasgow - which was the biggest cinema in Europe - at about three o'clock in the morning to watch the Rumble In The Jungle live on the big screen.
"Number two, Jock Stein, who was so far ahead of his time it wasn't true. I moved to Dunfermline just as the Big Man left to go to Celtic but by then he'd revolutionised the place. He'd made Dunfermline - who he had rescued from relegation within six weeks of his arrival at East End Park - into a big club. In 1961 they won the Scottish Cup; the following season they reached the quarter-finals of the Cup-Winners' Cup, and the year after that, they were beating Everton in the Fairs Cup.
"From then on, it just got better and better, didn't it? He won the European Cup with 11 boys born from within 20-odd miles of Parkhead. Even in 1967, that was an incredible achievement. When he later became Scotland manager, I was fortunate to spend two years as his assistant during the qualifying for the 1986 World Cup. That's when I came to realise how much humility the man had. I was young and eager to learn, so I'd quiz him about his various tactics in Europe. Jock, who'd out-thought everyone, was totally matter-of-fact. 'Ach,' he'd say, 'wee Jimmy was brilliant that night,' or, 'Murdoch was fabulous', never, ever a word about his own role in Celtic's latest great victory.
"He would have been well within his rights to glorify himself in some way but that simply wasn't Jock's style. He was also a very intelligent man who played the press brilliantly. I remember one day down at Turnberry, he invited me to join him at the press conference to which he turns up about 10 minutes early and plonks himself down on a chair outside the room. Along come the hacks and Jock starts, just loud enough for them to hear. 'Here's such and such coming, big gambler . . . this one's having it off with so-and-so'. He knew everything about them and they all knew that he knew.
"Jock had a bigger network of spies than the CIA and the KGB put together. He used to phone me at Aberdeen on a Sunday night. 'So what's happening?' There was no point in telling him because he knew anyway. 'I'm signing a new midfielder,' I'd tell him. 'Aye,' he'd reply, 'Billy Stark from St Mirren for 70 grand'. In his own way, he was as massive a presence as Ali.
"Number three, my idol, Denis Law. To me, Denis epitomises what it is to be a Scot: he started life in an empty house, he had the courage of a lion - he probably had more fights with the biggest centre-halves in the world than any other player I can remember - and they all knew he could handle himself."
An ex-Rangers man naming Jock Stein as a hero is one thing, but surely it is unusual for a striker (and one who scored 167 goals in 327 appearances for six clubs) to idolise another striker from the same era. "Ach, I'm much younger than Denis (22 months to be exact); also, he was in England whereas I was in Scotland, but whenever he ran out at Hampden in Scottish blue, then he really was an idol to me.
"What a lot of people don't remember is that I almost replaced Denis in the team that beat England 3-2 at Wembley in 1967 when I was in the squad. Denis was really doubtful with injury but, as we all know, he was declared fit at the last minute and scored the first goal. But, yes, it was almost me and not Denis who played in the Not-The-World-Cup-Final, but he's one special guy."
And your fourth and final lunch guest, Sir Alex? "I've been mulling this over in the back of my mind since you first posed the question. Maybe it was the era I was born in but I've always admired boxers, people like Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Graziano, Roberto Duran - hard, hard fighting men who came out of the ghettos. Then there's Jack Nicklaus, who still holds the record for Majors - though Tiger is closing in - and people that know him tell me he's a really nice fellow.
"But the man I'm going to go for, because he shaped almost every part of athletics training, is Emil Zatopek with his five Olympic gold medals. The interval training that he initiated way back in the Fifties has influenced everyone, from myself to Martin Pipe, the National Hunt trainer. So it would be fascinating to sit down with the guy and find out when and why he came up with an idea that didn't just transform athletics but every other sport as well. Muhammad Ali, Jock Stein, Denis Law and Emil Zatopek, four giants at one table."
What Sir Alex neglected to say, of course, is that there would be five giants for lunch.
** The BGC Charity Day raised more than £3 million in aid of the Bobby Moore Fund, Sparks, the Peter O'Sullevan Trust, DebRA, Multiple Sclerosis, National Literary Trust, Walk The Walk, Chance to Shine, Honey Pot, Barnardos, Winston's Wish, the Paul Hunter Foundation, Wooden Spoon and UK Youth.
Telegraph 14/09/2007
Prepare to be impressed while I drop a few names on you from a very great height because, for one day - and one day only - your humble hack has been schmoozing with the glitterati: sporting legends Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Steve Redgrave; Flat-racing icons Lester Piggott and Frankie Dettori; motor-racing world champions Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill; World Cup winners Martin Johnson and Sir Geoff Hurst; Rory Bremner and Sir Tim Rice; Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, and the Treorchy Male Voice Choir; six England cricket captains (appearing here in alphabetical order): Atherton, Denness, Emburey, Gatting, Stewart and Willis; Steve Rider and Jimmy Hill; Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan; Amir Khan and Joe Calzaghe.
I could go on and on but I trust you can picture the scene on the trading floor of BGC in Canary Wharf, where Alan Brazil had set up his TalkSport radio studio in the corner of the room to interview the head-turning stream of celebrities who emerged every time the lift doors opened.
Since 2005, Sept 11 has been Charity Day at BGC, the brainchild of chairman and CEO Lee Amaitis, who lost 740 friends and colleagues when the first terrorist plane struck the World Trade Centre, where the brokerage company occupied the 101st-105th floors.
Amaitis, I should explain, may be one of the most powerful men in the city but first and foremost he is a sports 'nut' whose twin passions of boxing and horse racing are reflected in the fact that the walls of his office are covered in photographs of those such as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Secretariat.
Having raised almost £5 million for good causes in the first two years, Graham 'Son of Colin' Cowdrey in his role of Director of Group Entertainment and Social Responsibility (in other words, 'funmaker') used all his persuasive powers to assemble a guest list which, as Rory Bremner put it, resembled a David Frost Garden party. "You must meet the Pinochets, Your Majesty."
As the dealers did whatever it is dealers do (it is a mystery to me but every cent from the day's profits will go to help others), it was noticeable that they were a seen-it-all, difficult-to-please audience. Sportsmen and sports women, soap stars and pop singers, news readers and ballroom dancers, politicians and page-three models, were all greeted with discreet courtesy, but only the arrival of Sir Alex, who had sampled the ugly side of fame when, unbeknown to us all, he had been assaulted in Euston Station the previous night, had the money men frenziedly reaching for their cameras.
The boy from Govan who grew up to become a footballer and Clyde shipyard shop steward now walks among us as a sporting god, the greatest football manager in the history of football management, with nine league titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups, the Champions' League and the European Cup-Winners' Cup.
And oh, yes, before beginning his 21-year-reign at Manchester United, he transformed Aberdeen into the major force in Scotland, with three league titles, four Scottish Cups, one League Cup and the European Cup-Winners' Cup. He also proved to be something of a demon trader, helping to complete a number of telephone deals on behalf of BCG.
But enough of the financial machinations; "Do great heroes," I wanted to know of Sir Alex, "revere great heroes of their own? If you could invite four people from the world of sport - alive or dead - to partake of bread and wine at Old Trafford, who would be on your guest list?"
"Number one, Muhammad Ali," came the instant response. "The greatest sportsman of all time, no question. Not just his because of his abilities as a boxer but for his stand against the Vietnam War. He set such a fabulous example to us all. At the time, there were those who thought he was anti-American; but he wasn't.
"Muhammad Ali was simply anti-war and that was a great message to the world. I met him only once - by which time he was suffering badly from Parkinson's - but it was a great thrill nonetheless. He had an aura about him you could almost touch, a fabulous personality and if you want to know what part psychology plays in sport, then Muhammad Ali was a master of it before anyone else had even thought about it.
"Sonny Liston wasn't afraid of any man on earth but even he was unnerved when Muhammad turned up at his house carrying a bear trap. Muhammad changed the shape of boxing because he was an entertainer as much as a fighter, an artist sharing a canvas with sluggers. I can remember going along to Green's Playhouse in Glasgow - which was the biggest cinema in Europe - at about three o'clock in the morning to watch the Rumble In The Jungle live on the big screen.
"Number two, Jock Stein, who was so far ahead of his time it wasn't true. I moved to Dunfermline just as the Big Man left to go to Celtic but by then he'd revolutionised the place. He'd made Dunfermline - who he had rescued from relegation within six weeks of his arrival at East End Park - into a big club. In 1961 they won the Scottish Cup; the following season they reached the quarter-finals of the Cup-Winners' Cup, and the year after that, they were beating Everton in the Fairs Cup.
"From then on, it just got better and better, didn't it? He won the European Cup with 11 boys born from within 20-odd miles of Parkhead. Even in 1967, that was an incredible achievement. When he later became Scotland manager, I was fortunate to spend two years as his assistant during the qualifying for the 1986 World Cup. That's when I came to realise how much humility the man had. I was young and eager to learn, so I'd quiz him about his various tactics in Europe. Jock, who'd out-thought everyone, was totally matter-of-fact. 'Ach,' he'd say, 'wee Jimmy was brilliant that night,' or, 'Murdoch was fabulous', never, ever a word about his own role in Celtic's latest great victory.
"He would have been well within his rights to glorify himself in some way but that simply wasn't Jock's style. He was also a very intelligent man who played the press brilliantly. I remember one day down at Turnberry, he invited me to join him at the press conference to which he turns up about 10 minutes early and plonks himself down on a chair outside the room. Along come the hacks and Jock starts, just loud enough for them to hear. 'Here's such and such coming, big gambler . . . this one's having it off with so-and-so'. He knew everything about them and they all knew that he knew.
"Jock had a bigger network of spies than the CIA and the KGB put together. He used to phone me at Aberdeen on a Sunday night. 'So what's happening?' There was no point in telling him because he knew anyway. 'I'm signing a new midfielder,' I'd tell him. 'Aye,' he'd reply, 'Billy Stark from St Mirren for 70 grand'. In his own way, he was as massive a presence as Ali.
"Number three, my idol, Denis Law. To me, Denis epitomises what it is to be a Scot: he started life in an empty house, he had the courage of a lion - he probably had more fights with the biggest centre-halves in the world than any other player I can remember - and they all knew he could handle himself."
An ex-Rangers man naming Jock Stein as a hero is one thing, but surely it is unusual for a striker (and one who scored 167 goals in 327 appearances for six clubs) to idolise another striker from the same era. "Ach, I'm much younger than Denis (22 months to be exact); also, he was in England whereas I was in Scotland, but whenever he ran out at Hampden in Scottish blue, then he really was an idol to me.
"What a lot of people don't remember is that I almost replaced Denis in the team that beat England 3-2 at Wembley in 1967 when I was in the squad. Denis was really doubtful with injury but, as we all know, he was declared fit at the last minute and scored the first goal. But, yes, it was almost me and not Denis who played in the Not-The-World-Cup-Final, but he's one special guy."
And your fourth and final lunch guest, Sir Alex? "I've been mulling this over in the back of my mind since you first posed the question. Maybe it was the era I was born in but I've always admired boxers, people like Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Graziano, Roberto Duran - hard, hard fighting men who came out of the ghettos. Then there's Jack Nicklaus, who still holds the record for Majors - though Tiger is closing in - and people that know him tell me he's a really nice fellow.
"But the man I'm going to go for, because he shaped almost every part of athletics training, is Emil Zatopek with his five Olympic gold medals. The interval training that he initiated way back in the Fifties has influenced everyone, from myself to Martin Pipe, the National Hunt trainer. So it would be fascinating to sit down with the guy and find out when and why he came up with an idea that didn't just transform athletics but every other sport as well. Muhammad Ali, Jock Stein, Denis Law and Emil Zatopek, four giants at one table."
What Sir Alex neglected to say, of course, is that there would be five giants for lunch.
** The BGC Charity Day raised more than £3 million in aid of the Bobby Moore Fund, Sparks, the Peter O'Sullevan Trust, DebRA, Multiple Sclerosis, National Literary Trust, Walk The Walk, Chance to Shine, Honey Pot, Barnardos, Winston's Wish, the Paul Hunter Foundation, Wooden Spoon and UK Youth.