The Most Under-Rated Manager in Leicester City History

kushiro · 29 March 2024

So here's that brief chat wth Steve Younger, who helped Gordon write the book (published by PItch, the company that put out Of Fossils And Foxes).

Hi Steve. It's great to have the chance to talk to you about this book. Could you first of all give us some background. How did you meet Gordon and how did this book come about?

Up until a couple of years ago I was working for Pitch International, a sports marketing agency based in London. When I left the company, Jon Owen, a founding partner of Pitch (and one of my oldest friends) and sports TV doyen Trevor East (former Pitch Chairman and also a great friend) put it to me that Gordon was looking to write his story; both have known Gordon a long time, Trevor in particular. I think they approached me because prior to leaving Pitch I ran their production department for more than a decade, producing and directing sports documentaries and writing and editing the scripts. So, when the idea of Gordon’s book was floated, I suppose they saw me as a good fit for such a project. I also had time on my hands. Trev, Jon, Gordon, and I got together, along with Andy Sterling (a Pitch associate and another long-time friend of Gordon’s). And that was all it took; Gordon and I hit it off – he’s such a lovely man, it’d be nigh on impossible not to get on with him – and we were up and running.

I must give great credit here to Jon, Trev, and Andy; without their help and support, this book would never have been written – at least not by me, anyway! Given my background, it felt like a natural progression to go on to write a book, though having said that, I’m not sure how it would’ve come about if the opportunity hadn’t landed in my lap! Much like several moments in Gordon’s career I was, to pinch his line, in the right place at the right time. I’m very fortunate, and very grateful.

Bill Shankly was a scrapbook man. Was Gordon too? Have he and his family kept a detailed record of his career, and if so, did that make the writing of the book easier?

Gordon’s home office is like a museum; nearly every inch of wall space is covered with a framed photograph or another item of memorabilia, and there are also several scrapbooks in the house (along with the numerous other photos, press cuttings, letters and so forth, which never made it into said scrapbooks), the curation of which is largely – if not completely – the handiwork of Gordon’s wife, Edith. There’s so much stuff that I, particularly as a Liverpool supporter, found fascinating, but interestingly, it didn’t really affect the writing of the book; we could’ve easily become bogged down in the minutiae of Gordon’s career but neither he nor I wanted that. We agreed at the outset – and still agree – that often, sports biographies full of stats, facts and figures are not the most entertaining of reads and these days, such stats are readily available on-line anyway, to anyone who wants to search for them. I’m not for a minute suggesting Shankly, My Dad and Me is more entertaining than such books, but we didn’t want to go down that road. This book was always intended to be about memories, moments, and people.

Gordon had an incredibly long and varied career in the game, stretching over more than 50 years. How difficult was it to decide what to leave in and leave out of the book? How does Leicester City fit into that?

It was very difficult – the first draft was twice as long as the final version! Gordon had handwritten much of the material, but the rest came from multiple Zoom calls – often just simple chats which we found triggered further memories which perhaps would not have arisen had we worked any other way. I then transcribed these chats and attempted to hammer then into some sort of shape. So much of what came out of those conversations concerned other people, and Gordon’s encounters with them, but ultimately this book had to be centred on Gordon himself so, acting upon the advice of the publishers regarding how long the book should be, several passages unfortunately had to go; not always though, as there were so many memories, so in terms of what we felt had to stay in, there was a lot of time spent cutting, trimming, and re-writing.

Leicester City FC obviously plays a huge part in Gordon’s story. When he arrived at Filbert Street, he’d already been a top-flight manager for the best part of a decade, and he continued in that vein at Leicester for another five years or so. It’s a period which introduced more big names too, such as Gary McAllister, Gary Lineker, and Alan Smith. For Gordon it was an incredibly important time of his life. I hope the book reflects that.

In the online preview of the book, it says 'this enthralling account spans six decades of an incredible journey through the game and his encounters along the way'. You've obviously worked very closely with Gordon over a long period to prepare this book. How has that encounter affected you?

It’s been extremely fulfilling. As this process was entirely new to both of us, I’m pretty sure our method of work was not as efficient as it could have been, but that didn’t concern us too much – we just went about it naturally and, in a way, muddled through. I always looked forward to the next zoom call with Gordon, and have always enjoyed writing too, so none of it was ever a chore. It’s something I would like to continue, most certainly.

Please tell us about Steve Younger the football fan. Where are you from? When did you start going to matches yourself? Can you recall your first game? Who did you support as a boy? Was your own father, like Gordon's, a big influence? Do you go to games now?

I’m from Formby, about 10 miles north of Liverpool. My first visit to Anfield (I’ve always been a Liverpool supporter) was in November 1980. Coventry City were the visitors, at that time managed by…Gordon Milne! (Liverpool won 2-1, though Gordon claims not to remember...!) I was 8 years old at the time, and my dad took me, though as a born and bred Geordie he supported Newcastle so wasn’t quite as excited as me! In truth, my dad was more of a rugby fan, having played to a decent standard in his youth. I’m sure he was somewhat disappointed in my allegiance to Liverpool though (my two brothers, my mum, my grandparents, all supported Newcastle), but there was never any pressure on me to join their Magpies gang. My dad was a massive influence on me, yes, but not when it came to football.

When I can, I still go to games with Jon; as I mentioned earlier, he’s one of my oldest friends and he and I have been going to Liverpool matches together since we were kids. There are loads of other lads in our group too, and win, lose, or draw, we always have a ball. On top of that, some of these lads’ kids are now joining us as well – not just at Anfield, but away too, and that includes Europe. It’s fantastic – the next generation is coming through strong!

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