When I went out on my own after leaving my "proper job" at European Ferries around the time I had also been hired to relax and amuse the Brighton team at the FA Cup Final in 1983 I had a call from Vic. I think he had een me at the Footballer of the Year Dinner but in any case I knew his name from the Evening News. He came up to see me in Kent, bought me lunch and offered me a 36-week contract to appear on a new programme called "A Whole New Ball Game." It was meant to be a sporting chat show or today it would be seen as a sporting version of the One Show. Anyway it didn't work out and after 12 weeks Greg Dyke binned it. Vic and I often said our careers were lucky to survive that.
Later Dave Hill who was Vic's boss at Sky Sports saw me at Stanley Matthews 75th birthday dinner and decided to put me on the Monday Night Live. I did the first four but that didn't work out either! Through all this Vic was the guy I dealt with and even though these memories are not exactly positive everything about my dealings with Vic were. I liked him enormously and we always had a laugh. As I was still under contract with Sky I had to get his permission to do Six O Six on radio 5 which, I'm pleased to say did go well. A great bloke who I wish I had seen more of in recent years. RIP mate.