Living 238 miles away from Clarence Road, I for one am indebted to the journos and broadcasters whose skill and commitment make that distance seem a little more bearable.
Nowadays, of course, we enjoy all the benefits of an internet culture when it comes to finding out what’s happening.
Results are filed and emailed electronically, within seconds of the final whistle. Interviews and matters of interest are pinged around the world at the press of a button, from Hartlepool to Helsinki, instantly, meaning our voracious appetite for snippets of news can be satisfied on a daily basis.
That wasn’t always the case! My good friend Bill Hamilton (pictured) was, for a number of years, the reporter known as Sentinel, laboriously filing typewritten, carbon-copied accounts or hunting down a landline so as to ring his editors with hurried word-for-word descriptions of games bellowed down the line from what were often crowded pressrooms (if indeed there was even a pressroom) with players and managers jostling in corridors.
Bill’s recollections of fiery encounters with Alvan Williams, who managed Pools from January 1964 – May 1965, are not for the fainthearted.
On one occasion, having published a piece that reflected Pools in a not very flattering light, Bill, as Sentinel, found himself pushed up against a dressing room wall with Alvan’s hand around his throat. Suffice to say, Alvan Williams hadn’t taken too kindly to Bill’s honest reporting!
So, this week, a nod of thanks to those who sometimes brave controversy and disagreement in order to meet deadlines and give us the inside track on events at TS24 8BZ. Granted, they probably don’t find themselves pinned up against walls too often, with an angry manager frothing at the mouth just inches from their face, but fearless journalism, whether in print or over the airwaves, still calls for wily courage, diplomacy and expertise.
Bill Hamilton went on to enjoy a very successful career with Tyne Tees TV and the BBC, and we wish every success upon our own local correspondents.
Author: Stephen
Author of Poxon's Pools