Teletext was a thing of beauty. That was our number one news source in the 80s and 90s.
I worked for Clubcall, the premium rate telephone service for football clubs in the late 90s and was at one stage editor of the page.
It wasn't quick. If you wanted to see what was on page 12, and were on page two, you were on for a long wait. Or you could just play Bamboozle.
We had a number of ridiculous headlines down the years. The Ipswich reporter rang through
"Swedish Coach Arrives". Oh that's interesting, who have they got? It was in fact a Scania Coach for the new team bus.
He also came up with "Gloves In Hand". A new shipment of club gloves had arrived. Another reporter could never quite get the hang of a punchy headline and every call lasted for 20 minutes and still he couldn't come up with anything.
However, nothing will beat one of my good friends in journalism, who sadly lost his life at a tragically young age with his whole career ahead of him. But he was a supremely talented broadcaster.
But I remember the good times with him and one of the headlines he published on ITV page 524. After a heated argument with someone, he was fuming and went into the system to publish the person's name who riled him, followed by the words "NIGEL IS A ****". Insert the four-letter word (beginning with a c) as I can't bring myself to write it, but it was flashing red, bold and up for at least an hour.
I wonder if anyone called?
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