Asked to decide which was greater, his love of Dundee Football Club or his admiration for Sir Matt Busby, Patrick Barclay would probably find it a close-run thing.
The London-based journalist, who was a heavyweight sports writer with the leading Fleet Street titles for decades before taking retirement from the newspaper industry recently, has penned a book on the man who set Manchester United on the road to becoming the giant of world football that we know today.
Paddy, who regularly travels to Dundee to watch the Dark Blues, is back in his home city on Saturday at the Malmaison for an evening of Busby and general football chat.
And no doubt Dundee FC, Jack Hendry, Scott Allan, Simon Murray et al might get a mention.
“I must have been a Dundee supporter for 65 years,” said Paddy. “My first game was in 1956.
“I was born in London and moved to Dundee at the age of four. My grandfather, Alexander Wighton (no relation, though I’d be proud to be related to Craig) used to talk to me about the players in the 1910 cup-winning team.
“I kept badgering him to take me to Dens Park.
“He didn’t actually go to games himself, but he dropped me off one night to watch Hibs and gave me a shilling or whatever it cost to get in then. I couldn’t have been more than nine. We won 1-0 and I think George McNeill scored.
“It was a different era. I started off watching the reserves and then I’d troop out and watch the last half-hour at Tannadice.
“I’ve seen all the ‘pinch yourself’ moments down the years.
“I was on the Provy Road end holding a banner with my friend when we beat Cologne.
“Muirton Park was ethereal.
“For Anderlecht away, I listened to Flemish radio when I was told I had to go to sleep. Hearing Cousin and Gilzean mentioned by a gloomy Belgian told me all I needed to know!”
Paddy’s body of work includes biographies of Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson and Herbert Chapman.
Unsurprisingly, this isn’t the first published take on the life and times of Busby, but it is justifiably entitled “the definitive biography.”
“Nobody had written a book about him since the Ferguson years at United,” explained Paddy.
“A lot of young people have grown up in the belief that Sir Alex invented Manchester United. In actual fact his greatness was in re-inventing Busby’s Manchester United. They were very similar, of course, and he did that in a faithful way.
“It was as if he studied Matt’s United and decided to recreate the Busby magic.”
Paddy, whose journalism career began with DC Thomson after crossing the road from the High School of Dundee, added: “When I started in football writing it was in Manchester in the mid-70s.
“I came across Matt when he was in his ambassadorial role at Old Trafford.
“He had this ability to make people feel special. I can remember thinking, ‘wow, he really rates me as a journalist.’
“It later became clear that if you were the doorman at the Midland Hotel in Manchester he would leave you with the impression that you were the best doorman ever. He had such down to earth charm.
“He was so good in the way he dealt with players. He could make them drop themselves! When you got the dreaded arm around the shoulder he would say, ‘son, do you think you’ve been playing the best you can?’
“Of course, the answer would come back, ‘well, I suppose I could give a bit more’ and then he would say, ‘yes, I was thinking that too, maybe you should be rested for a bit’.
“He could be tough as well, mind you. He got rid of two of his best players in 1948 for the long-term good of the team.”
Saturday night’s event will be hosted by former Sky Sports presenter David Tanner, with guests including Bobby Seith and Amanda Kopel.
“Bobby made his debut for Burnley against the Busby babes in 1956,” said Paddy. “They beat that team three times in one season.
“Amanda would have met Sir Matt when Frank played for Manchester United.
“The discussion will move on. It won’t just be about Manchester United and Sir Matt. I’m really looking forward to it. ”
Tickets can be bought at www.BusbyDundee.eventbrite.co.uk or from Forbes Newsagent, Clepington Road, Dundee; Michael Johnston Hairdressing, Whitehall Crescent, Dundee; or Ron McLeod’s Golf Shop in Monifieth.
