Funny how life turns out. I grew up sports mad with my heroes like Muhammad Ali, Pele, Billy Wright, Jimmy Greaves, the Charlton brothers and Dr Roger Bannister to name just seven – and then many years later, I met them on a different level as a television presenter and interviewer.
I interviewed Muhammad Ali three times; Pele seven times; Billy Wright gave me my big break at ATV; I helped start and develop the TV career of Jimmy Greaves at the same station; I befriended Bobby Charlton during my long stint covering Manchester United’s big matches for ITV; and worked with Jack Charlton when he was a pundit for the same channel – before more regularly interviewing Big Jack in Dublin and then the USA in his role as the Republic of Ireland.
Roger Bannister – Sir Roger as he became in 1975 – was a neurologist who became famous for running the first mile race under four minutes.
That feat was 70 years ago on May 6 1954. I was nine years old and used to follow it all on the BBC radio with my father Jack.
The new record was worldwide news when the one-mile distance meant so much in athletics. Sir Roger was then a 25-year-old.
Years later, I did a long interview with him at the ATV studios in Birmingham. But the........