Memories

Paul Hince looks back at a remarkable career that reached the highest levels in the ultra-competitive fields of football and journalism. As a professional footballer Paul joined boyhood heroes Manchester City under the legendary Mercer-Allison partnership of the late 1960s before continuing his first class football career at Charlton, Bury and Crewe Alexandra. After retiring from the game he then worked his way up to the heights of Manchester Evening News Manchester City correspondent and, later, became that paper's first and only 'Chief Sportswriter'. Sprinkled with wit and candour, the author reveals the secrets behind Manchester Citys success of the late sixties and his unusual start in sports journalism when he reported on the non-league match he was playing in! Paul went on to report on Oldham Athletic's remarkable rise through all four divisions of the Football League before landing the job he seemed born to fill -- Manchester City correspondent of the Manchester Evening News. Paul's reign as City correspondent coincided with a decade-long crisis as chairmen Peter Swales and Francis Lee battled for control of the club. Once his working relationship with former team-mate, now City chairman, Francis Lee had broken down completely and he was branded a 'lowlife' by manager Alan Ball and blamed for their relegation in 1996, Hince felt compelled to forgo the poisoned chalice. Instead he was appointed Chief Sportswriter and England correspondent, from where he had an eyewitness view of the way the tabloid press operated. Famed in later years for getting up the noses of both United and City fans in equal measure courtesy of his weekly columns, Paul retired from the Manchester Evening News in 2006. This is a humourous yet poignant review of a remarkable career from one of the finest sportswriters of his generation.