 I
was born in London in 1977 but my early writing career
got off to a pretty rocky start. At my nursery school
I used to write my words so close together that they
got all jumbled up and no one could read them.
 To
be honest, my football career didn’t kick off
brilliantly either. My parents were divorced when I
was very young so my dad thought that, when he saw me,
taking me to football matches would be a good idea.
But I was only about four or five. It was quite scary
and I didn’t like it at all. I used to plead with
him to take me home so I could watch Buck Rogers on
TV. But we both persevered and that’s where the
football seeds were sewn. These days it’s me that
drags him up from Brighton so we can watch games together.
By the time I joined school, football was pretty much
the centre of my life. I never thought I was obsessed
– I just liked it a lot – but those around
me thought I was. When I was 15 my mum and dad came
together (a rare occasion in itself) to take me out
for a Chinese meal and deliver a harsh message over
the seaweed. “Stop all this football business
because you’re not doing anything else and your
school results are really going to suffer.”
But
I wanted to prove that I could be successful and still
focus on football. So, during school and university
I started to build a pretty decent CV for myself. I
did work experience at, among other places, Arsenal
FC, Radio Five LIVE, Carlton TV, The Mail on Sunday
and Sky Sports. I’d worked out that if I wanted
to get a job in football, I’d have to prove my
ambition to people. Otherwise, I’d just sound
like every other football mad kid: “I want
to work in football.” You have to stand out
from the crowd in some way if you can.
My CV came in handy when, in 2000, after I’d
graduated and gone travelling around Australia and New
Zealand, I wrote to The FA to see if they had any vacancies.
They called within a couple of days and said they were
actually recruiting for graduates at that very time.
What luck!
I was so nervous for the interview but I gave it everything.
I didn’t want them to think that I didn’t
want it enough.
Thankfully
I got the job and it has lead to some unbelievable experiences.
As Editor of The FA my job around the England Team is
bring to life for the public what goes on behind the
scenes and to give the players and coaches the platform
to talk directly to the fans. The most important thing
is getting the players to trust you, to understand you’re
on their side.
I’ve been lucky enough to go to a European Championship
and two World Cups. Staying in the England Team Hotel
during a World Cup is an unbelievable experience. I’ve
even managed to squeeze my way into a couple of functions
at Buckingham Palace and Downing Street. When you’re
standing there, with the Queen on one side and David
Beckham on the other, you have to pinch yourself that
it’s all actually happening. I know how lucky
I am and I know those memories will stay with me forever.
I also write all the programmes for England matches
and The FA Cup Final. It makes me proud to think that
football fans all over the world are collecting the
programmes that I’ve written. I’ve still
got all my programmes from the games I’ve been
to – going right back to the Buck Rogers days!
It was when I wanted to buy a present for an 11 year-old
football mad boy that the idea to write this book actually
struck. There didn’t seem to be a football novel
for kids. I couldn’t understand it. I know that
if someone had given me one when I was 11, I probably
would have read it in two days flat.
I also knew that writing about football was something
that I could do. So I did it.
And here it is. I really hope you like the story of
Jamie Johnson. |
