The Journalist

We've been rickrolled. It's never really occurred to me before, but it's hard to believe a man that young - 21 at the time - could produce a voice... like that.

The double save from McFadden's penalty up there with the best piece of goalkeeping I've ever seen live (or certainly the one I always think of)...

Posted this in another Wrexham thread the day they sealed promotion. Think it's worth repeating because everyone here criticising the media has no grasp of the scale of the story, nor the wider interest in it... I think the whole “media love-in” thing is interesting - it’s very much a two-way street. You can promote the shit out of a story/event but if people aren’t interested it doesn’t land (and, believe me, we do plenty of that). The interest in this story has been genuinely phenomenal today though - the traffic some of the content has driven has been extraordinary and blown me away, I guess because it’s a story that transcends sport. So yeah, just wanted to make that point from a position of actual knowledge - yes, the media have bought in but so has the audience. Why? Because whether you like it or not it’s a good - and pretty ridiculous - story! And when asked where the audience was based... Predominately the UK. It’s fair to say the story has done relatively big traffic in North America (last month the Wrexham page was the fourth-most visited by US readers, more than Man City!), but actually BBC audience numbers for sport in the US aren’t that huge in the grand scheme of things. What is interesting though, as you allude to, is the type of audience coming to the story. Yesterday’s live page was particularly popular with younger readers, for example. We were also interested in the thumbs up/thumbs down balance on the goal posts. I’d have expected it to be relatively even, a mixture of well wishers and cynical fans who want Wrexham to fail (a bit like on this thread), but there were 3,300 ups v 130 downs on the third goal. That’s fairly unprecedented. So yeah, I think it just goes to prove this is way more than just a straight football story/run-of-the-mill ‘non-league team wins promotion’ tale. It’s a great news story which the audience has engaged with to a level way beyond my expectations.

I saw Bell blaze a last-minute penalty over the bar at Blackpool in a 0-0 draw. That was the only one I can recall him missing, though. Was generally really good from the spot. I feel like Tinnion had at least one saved, but can’t remember the game…

Predominately the UK. It’s fair to say the story has done relatively big traffic in North America (last month the Wrexham page was the fourth-most visited by US readers, more than Man City!), but actually BBC audience numbers for sport in the US aren’t that huge in the grand scheme of things. What is interesting though, as you allude to, is the type of audience coming to the story. Yesterday’s live page was particularly popular with younger readers, for example. We were also interested in the thumbs up/thumbs down balance on the goal posts. I’d have expected it to be relatively even, a mixture of well wishers and cynical fans who want Wrexham to fail (a bit like on this thread), but there were 3,300 ups v 130 downs on the third goal. That’s fairly unprecedented. So yeah, I think it just goes to prove this is way more than just a straight football story/run-of-the-mill ‘non-league team wins promotion’ tale. It’s a great news story which the audience has engaged with to a level way beyond my expectations.

I think the whole “media love-in” thing is interesting - it’s very much a two-way street. You can promote the shit out of a story/event but if people aren’t interested it doesn’t land (and, believe me, we do plenty of that). The interest in this story has been genuinely phenomenal today though - the traffic some of the content has driven has been extraordinary and blown me away, I guess because it’s a story that transcends sport. So yeah, just wanted to make that point from a position of actual knowledge - yes, the media have bought in but so has the audience. Why? Because whether you like it or not it’s a good - and pretty ridiculous - story!

Pretty amazing to think that 10 years ago they beat Sheffield United and Brentford in the League One play-offs to reach the Championship.

I would urge people to wait and see on Wilson. Pearson isn’t like previous managers - many assumed Vyner and Pring would never really play for us again 12-18 months ago, for example, but now they’re among our first picks. There’s obviously something there Pearson isn’t completely satisfied with but by the same token as soon as Wilson buys in he’ll get his chance. And there’s no reason to think he won’t. Big summer ahead for him.

Amazing night. A genuine privilege to have commentated on it. The sort of thing you dream about as a kid. Being a football journalist with a young family living 150 miles away from Bristol hasn’t been particularly conducive to watching City live - in fact, I’ve probably only been to about a dozen games during the past decade - but getting to do that game, the last Bristol derby and the night we beat Manchester United presumably means I qualify as a bit of a lucky charm.

Couldn’t really comment. (Completely agree)

Lots of speculation about who his replacement will be but I'm not sure there will be one. His role is exactly the type of job - sports presenting, but not commentating or producing - BBC England are looking to close. It wouldn't surprise if he's walking out on VR (not that it's anyone's business). By some distance the best interviewer in the region and the job of effectively holding our sports clubs to account is now all on James Piercy. Nobody else even comes close to those two.

Wonder who will be his last guest/our last guest?

Keith Downing! Had a caretaker spell at West Brom in the Premier League and was named as joint caretaker for one game with Paul Simpson after Dean Holden’s sacking.

I think you’re still missing one… Edit: have double checked and you are! Technically speaking, there’s one more…

I thought we were the better team from the moment Andy King came on. He made a huge difference, just gave us that control and composure. I feel genuinely really pleased for the players - plenty of people getting on their backs but I think they've been playing pretty well even through the sticky patch. Football is ultimately about results, I get that, but football fans are a nightmare for judging a performance on the scoreline rather than the actual performance.

For all the moaning, we really deserved that.

Ignoring the scoreline, minutes 21-40 have been a million times better than minutes 1-20. Much better with King on.

I don't mind the miss so much... but he HAS to roll that five yards to give Sam Bell a tap-in.

Clearly only 20 minutes in, plenty of time to go etc etc but this sort of performance does highlight how hard it will be to replace Alex Scott (if we didn't know that already).

I don't for a minute think they'd look at Pearson, but hypothetically I wonder if he'd stay or go. Whether we like it or not the vast majority of managers would snap your arm off for a move from us to Leicester (and a genuine chance at staying in the Premier League), but I wonder whether having put so much work in, and at this point in his life, he'd want to see it through. It's almost like he's done pretty much all the hard work here it'd be a shame to walk away now.

Would seem a shame if Gavin Ward didn’t win Champagne Moment. After everything, you’d love to be a fly on the wall at the PGMOL when that award turned up in the post.

I thought Adriano Basso was going to be useless on early showings. Surprised Robbored hasn’t posted yet too, he’d surely win this category - biggest football thing he got wrong was his own name when Gary Johnson pulled him into his office.

I think it'll only negatively impact on attendances if clubs continue to completely price out large swathes of ordinary fans with the ridiculous cost of watching bang-average live football these days. If this means clubs are forced to rethink ticket pricing that's only a good thing, I think, because the majority of football fans know the live product is better than watching on TV. Make it affordable and accessible and they'll keep coming whether it's on TV or not.

At the time of writing, it's hard to think of a more successful one. I think he deserves huge credit. I remember seeing him in the FA Cup replay against Premier League side West Brom in 2016 - just shy of his 23rd birthday - and thinking he looked like a child playing an adult's game. He was so far off the pace it was difficult to believe he'd ever make a proper impact in the Championship, let alone at the top level. It all happened relatively late for him but he's done amazingly.

Not one that ever saw the light of day, obviously, but I'll always remember this Blackpool story which, until it reached my subs desk, read... Blackpool: Lee Clark to ride Big One if club stay up (This is what it ended up as...)