Football's Nearly Men - Adrian Doherty

 

Adrian Doherty was born on the 10th of June 1973 in Strabane, Northern Ireland the son of Geraldine and Jimmy Doherty, a former footballer himself. In 1986 he turned out for a Derry U14 representative side against Dublin’s top junior club Home Farm in a game that took place at the Brandywell before a friendly between the Candystripes and Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. With his dad Jimmy, a former Derry City winger, among a large crowd, Doherty junior put on a scintillating display and scored both goals in the 2-0 defeat of the all-conquering Dublin outfit who, up to then, had reputedly gone 50 games unbeaten. Clough’s assistant at that time was former Derry City player Liam O’Kane who set up the trial at which Adrian impressed. However, by this stage, Adrian was playing for the highly-respected Moorfield Boys Club in the city and while turning out in a game for them his performance impressed Arsenal’s Northern Ireland talent scout John Dillon. Trials at Highbury, and a follow-up approach to his dad Jimmy from Pat Rice, took Adrian to the brink of signing for the London club, but Moorfield manager Matt Bradley, a Manchester United fan, made it his business to let United's Irish scout know that the club would be crazy to miss out on a rare gem. A subsequent visit to a game in Cookstown, where Adrian was playing for Derry and District, by United scout Eddie Coulter took only 10 minutes before Adrian's talent was acknowledged and in August 1987, alongside the future successful manager Brendan Rodgers, he was invited to attend a trial. After ticking all the boxes during his trial at Old Trafford, the start of a new life in England began. Bradley has since said that Adrian was "the best young player that I have ever seen in Ireland in over 30 years of coaching and scouting."

Adrian though is the player nobody mentions when they talk of that group at Manchester United 'Class of '92'. He was on the opposite wing to Ryan Giggs and for a while Alex Ferguson and his coaching staff wondered whether he was actually the better player. He was "One of the fastest wingers many people have ever seen." according to Tony Park, co-author of 'Sons of United', a history of the club’s youth team. "The United scouts said he 'could catch pigeons' he was that quick."
Brendan Rodgers who played with him at Manchester United at schoolboy level has said, "Speak to Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, the Nevilles, they will all tell you he was the best player they ever played with at that level." Ryan Giggs has said that Adrian, at 14 or 15, was probably the most talented player in Britain, and the Strabane youngster was Sir Alex Ferguson's ideal player, adding: "Doc just didn't upset the manager. Being the type of player he was, a winger who was unpredictable and took risks, you would expect him to lose the ball from time to time, but honestly he would lose it very rarely. He was a freak. He was incredible." Gary Neville has also said that he was the best player he ever played with.
Adrian was also very gifted in music, was a writer, a poet and a very shy young man. He did not really follow football, preferring to write poems and the Bob Dylan lover would sometimes turn up to training carrying his guitar.

David Meek, the Manchester Evening News journalist wrote at that time: "Behind the scenes Doherty is tipped to make the kind of impact not seen since George Best was given his chance. Alex Ferguson is being urged by his back-room staff to play the boy from Belfast. His speed and skill have been a revelation in training. Doherty, a first-year trainee, is immensely shy but plays with courage to match his ability. He is a winger who can dribble at top speed and can shoot with either foot."
Tipped to make his first team debut against Everton, he endured a devastating blow in an 'A' team match against Carlisle United in February 1991 in which he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury. It was a setback he could never quite overcome. It took several months to recover from the initial injury however, in a cruel twist, his knee gave up on him again in his comeback. He didn’t play much more for Manchester United after that with injury robbing him of the opportunity of footballing stardom and effectively ending his career. Although he played a couple of matches for Derry City, his heart wasn't in it and after a spell in Preston working in a chocolate factory Adrian moved to Holland and took a job with a furniture firm. His family were upset with how Manchester United handled Adrian, feeling that they could have done more to help and support him. One morning on his way to work in the furniture factory in the Netherlands he tripped and fell into a canal. He was pulled out by the emergency services but slipped into a coma. He would never wake up. On the 9th of June, 2000, a day short of his 27th birthday, Adrian Doherty died in a hospital at The Hague with his family at his bedside.

Oliver Kay's magnificently researched and superbly crafted book, 'Forever Young: The Story of Adrian Doherty, Football's Lost Genius', is part affectionate and uplifting profile, part heartbreaking tragedy wrought from a career that promised so much, but delivered so little - thanks primarily, but not only, to injury. 

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/footballs-nearly-men-bojan-krkic.html

A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Crissy Rock

 

Christine Murray, known professionally as Crissy Rock, was born in Sefton General Hospital, Smithdown Road, Liverpool on the 23rd of September 1958 to coal man Edward and Margaret (née Bryan) Murray. With her 3 younger brothers, they lived with Margaret's mum and father in their two bedroomed flat at 11D Windsor Gardens, Liverpool 8 on the fourth floor of the tenament block with Crissy attending St. Saviours Primary School on Crown Street.
After getting married in 1983 she began working the clubs as a stand-up comedian and then appeared nationwide when starring on the BBC's ' Bob Says Opportunity Knocks'. On the show she was given the highest marks for any comedy act on the series. Bob Monkhouse later said: "She has the art of timing and had me in stitches".
In 1991, following a period of ill health, Crissy returned to the stage, taking bookings on the club and cabaret circuit. Within months, she was voted runner up in the "Club Comedian of the Year" competition for the Merseyside region.
By 1993, her career had started to take off as she performed her act in clubs in Blackpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, South Wales, and London. By 1994, Crissy Rock was bill-topping at the Central Pier and the famous Blackpool Tower.

In Ladybird Ladybird 1994

Whilst working the clubs as a stand-up comedian, she was spotted by 'Royle Family' star and fellow Liverpudlian, Ricky Tomlinson, who recommended her for a part in the Ken Loach film, 'Ladybird Ladybird'. This was her debut acting performance portraying Maggie Conlan in the award-winning 1994 film. Loach later recalled: "I cannot think of anyone I have worked with who shines more brightly than Crissy Rock". Her performance won her numerous awards, including 'Best Actress' at the Berlin Film Festival and also 'Best Actress' at London Film Critics Awards, and she also received a 'Best Newcomer' nomination in the Evening Standard Awards. Film critic Gene Siskel said on the CBS 'This Morning' programme, "No Oscar ceremony will be complete without a nomination for this brilliant performance". She next appeared in 'Dalziel and Pascoe' (1996) and in the TV film 'Brazen Hussies' (1996), alongside Julie Walters, Robert Lindsay, Jimmy Tarbuck and Julian Cleary before a major role in the TV drama series 'Springhill' (1996-97), as nosy neighbour Anita Cartledge for 14 episodes. In 1997, she played alongside Billie Whitelaw in the six-part BBC1 series 'Born to Run' and then in 1998 toured the UK in a drama called 'Shellfish', in which she played the pivotal female role of Pat. The Guardian newspaper praised her saying, "Pat is an utterly believable portrayal of a woman making a last grab at happiness." When she next appeared alongside Pete Postelthwaite in the BBC crime crime drama 'Butterfly Collectors' (1999), Nancy Banks-Smith, writing in The Guardian said, "Crissy Rock, just switch her on and watch her go." This was the first of two plays she featured in that year, the other was as Jean Walton in Jimmy McGovern's BAFTA nominated Channel 4 play 'Dockers' (1999) with Ken Stott and Ricky Tomlinson. More substantial roles followed as she was in 2 episodes of 'Peak Practice' (1995-2000) and played the regular role of the unnamed newsagent in the BBC1 drama series 'Clocking Off' (2000), before starring as Amber Costello during a four-week stint in Channel 4's soap opera 'Brookside' (2001). In 2002, she worked with Ricky Tomlinson again, when she played Madame Flo in his six-part BBC series 'Nice Guy Eddie' and also starred in a short film called 'Hero' (2002), which won the Hamburg and Dresden International Festivals in three categories and also the London International Film Festival for short subjects.

In the early 2000's, before she decided to settle there, she was on holiday in Benidorm and happened to be in Valentines Cabaret Bar. She got talking to the owner and said that she was a comedienne from the UK and would do a slot for him – he chuckled and said that "everyone from England is a comedian"! But she struck a deal and said that she would do 3 nights for free for him. Well, the place was absolutely jam packed and he couldn't get her back in quick enough. Unfortunately for him, she was heading back to the UK but returned and spent many years working a number of months at a time here. Following a five-year retirement from acting, Crissy was cast, without audition, as Sylvia Ryan in the two part 'Closure' episode of Lynda La Plante's 'Trial & Retribution' series (2007). The following year saw her cast in another of Plante's TV productions, 'The Commander' (2008). Her love for Benidorm was continued when she took on the role of loudmouthed hotel manageress Janey York in ITV's sitcom 'Benidorm' (2007-2015). As the sometimes shift manager at The Solana Resort, she was a surly Liverpudlian who doesn't take any nonsense from the guests. Over the years, she has also appeared in various feature films, including 'Under the Skin' (1997), 'Act of Grace' (2008) and 'A Boy Called Dad' (2009).

Crissy's excellence as a comedienne and actor is all the more remarkable when you consider the way her life has been plagued by trauma and turmoil. Never has there been a more honest and disturbing biography written than hers, 'The Heart Within Me Burns - From Bedlam to Benidorm'.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-les.html

 

A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Les Dennis

Leslie Dennis Heseltine was born in Chesterton Street, Garston on the 12th of October 1953. For a while, he lived in a pre-fab in Speke before moving to Childwall where he attended Stockton Wood School, as well as the overspill classes at Joseph Williams Primary School, also attended by Paul and Mike McCartney. He then went to Rose Lane School where Jimmy Tarbuck had gone to from Dovedale School, and then Quarry Bank High School, after passing his 11-plus,  which was John Lennon’s old school. He remembers his early days “We went to Butlins in Pwllheli every year, and when I was ten I went in to the Junior Talent Competition and I came third. I then went into the adult competition when I was 14 and won it and got my free week at Butlins as a prize."
As a school boy he had a Saturday job in Burtons, a mens clothing store, and started in entertainment working as a stand-up comedian in the North West Social and Working Men's clubs. ( see more here - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2019/01/merseyside-mirth-makers-les-dennis.html )

Following his successful stint as the host of ITV’s Family Fortunes between 1987 and 2002 Les went on to enjoy a thriving career as an actor, starring with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the English National Opera and in numerous hit plays and musicals in the West End and on tour, as well as a regular role in the 'soap' 'Coronation Street' (2014-16). He remembers ‬when he was 17‭ ‬going on a school trip to Stratford‭ ‬to see Shakespeare’s 'Twelfth Night' and thought‭, ‬"Oh‭, ‬I really want to do this‭.‬" As they recorded the whole series of Family Fortunes, all 16 shows in three weeks, it meant that for the rest of the year he could go off and do a rep play at the likes of Oldham Coliseum or Birmingham Rep and learn his craft as an actor. He'd been divorced from his first wife, and during the TV quiz show’s run he met actress Amanda Holden while performing in 'The Sound of Music' in 1993, and they married in 1995.‬ however they split up briefly in 2000 after Amanda had an affair with 'Men Behaving Badly' actor Neil Morrissey who they had both appeared with in the TV movie 'Happy Birthday Shakespeare'. Having had a stint as Amos Hart in the stage musical 'Chicago' in London working at the Oldham Coliseum, he had become known as a talented actor who in 2001 joined the cast of 'Brookside' for 6 episodes. While separated from Amanda, Les appeared in 2002 on 'Celebrity Big Brother'‭ and although finishing runner-up, he had what the press perceived‭ ‬as a breakdown live on television‭.‬ Afterwards the phone didn't ring for a while‭ until Ricky Gervais offered him a part in his series 'Extras' (2005), as a washed-up‭, ‬middle-aged television star who is cuckolded by a younger man‭.‬ Les said, "People kept saying it was a brave move but it gave me a chance to show that I’ve got a sense of humour about myself‭. ‬I took it with both hands and it opened me to a whole new demographic‭. ‬He then worked with Ricky Gervais again on the series 'Life's Too Short' (2001-2014), and his one-man play 'Jigsy', a dark comic drama about an ageing stand-up comedian played at the Assembly Rooms on the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012, earned him a Best Actor award at the LDP Arts Awards and a stack of 4 and 5 star reviews from the national press. In 2014‭ ‬Les showed his acting prowess at Derby Theatre when he played Victor Smiley in Peter James’‭ ‬play 'The Perfect Murder‭'.‬ ‬Then‭, ‬in 2014‭, ‬it was announced that he was joining 'Coronation Street' where he stayed for two-and-a-half years‭.‬ However it got to the stage where he wasn't allowed to do other things that he wanted to do because of his 'soap' committment, so when he did leave he went straight on to star as Uncle Fester in the 'Addams Family Musical' tour (2017) and then into other theatre jobs that he really enjoyed‭.‬ 

In the 2021 ENO production of HMS Pinafore broadcast on Sky Arts

In early in 2019 Les was cast by the Royal Shakespeare Company in two Restoration plays in its smaller Swan Theatre‭. ‬He played a corrupt senator in the tragedy 'Venice Preserved' by Thomas Otway‭, ‬acting alongside his niece Jodie McNee,‭ and was also in John Vanbrugh’s comedy 'The Provoked Wife‭'. Having starred with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the English National Opera and in numerous hit plays and musicals in the West End and on tour, far too many to mention, and playing the lead role of King Arthur in 'Spamalot' (2013) in the West End, in July 2022 it was announced that he was to play the role of Grandad, in the smash hit West End show 'Only Fools and Horses The Musical'

Dad-of-three Les said, "As a kid I was always a massive fan of Monty Python so when Spamalot came to town I thought ‘I'd really love to be in that’ and now I’m excited that I’m actually not just in it, but playing the lead role. I’m really looking forward to always looking on the bright side of life."  It has recently been announced that he  is set to star in Shakespeare North Playhouse and Not Too Tame’s upcoming production of 'Twelfth Night' in 2024, taking on the role of Malvolio in a “contemporary revamp” of the classic comedy, set against the backdrop of the music industry. Les has a grown-up son Philip from his first marriage‭ ‬to Lynn Webster in 1974 and having married Claire Nicholson in 2009‭, the couple have two children: a daughter, Eleanor Grace, who was born on 24 April 2008 and a son, Thomas Christopher, who was born on 14 April 2011.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-david.html

Football's Nearly Men - Bojan Krkic

 

 

Bojan Krkić Pérez was born on the 28th of August 1990 and arrived at Barcelona at the age of nine from the small town of his birth, Linyola, Spain. Here he became top scorer in the history of Barcelona's youth system with 423 goals, his father, who had the same name as him, was a Serbia international player who finished his career at Mollerusa and was later a Barça coach. A quick striker with quite notable dribbling  skills, it was said that he scored over 900 goals for various youth teams after joining the club, breaking Lionel Messi's record. The winger's Barça breakthrough came hot on the heels of that of Messi, three years his senior, and there were high hopes that he could go on to have a similar career to the Argentine. He is actually a fourth cousin of Messi, both are the great-great-great-grandchildren of Mariano Pérez Miralles and Teresa Llobrera Minguet. Under Frank Rijkaard he scored 10 league goals in his debut season and went on to to net 41 times in all competitions for the club, winning three league titles and two Champions Leagues. He was, at the time, the youngest Barcelona player ever to feature in a Champions League game, at 17 years and 22 days. On the 20th of October 2007 (at 17 years and 53 days), he made his first league start for Barcelona away to  Villarreal and scored in the 25th minute. It was his first goal for the club's first team and it made him the youngest ever goalscorer for Barcelona in a league match. Bojan was also the second youngest player, after Zubieta, to debut for the senior Spanish national team and could have been the youngest but he had an illness before what would have been his first match. This was the kid who had smashed every goal scoring record in Barcelona’s academy and scored on his first league start, but on the day he was due to play his first game for Spain in Málaga in 2007, still only 17, he didn’t come out to warm up. His parents, aware something was wrong, clambered over the fence and headed down the tunnel to the dressing room, where Bojan had suffered an anxiety attack: He said, "I started to feel this powerful dizziness, overwhelmed, panicked. The press didn't understand why a 17-year-old Catalan boy was saying no. And it had nothing to do with political issues, I was a kid who needed space and time to understand what was going on. To say no was a decision that was nobody's fault. I felt I had to tell the truth. But the truth wasn't told when I missed my debut with the national team. It was said that I had gastroenteritis. I didn't say it, the Spanish FA said it. From the beginning, they didn’t tell the truth. A boy of 17 years does not have the strength or the voice to stand up and say it."

That evening, he left Málaga in a minibus and that summer had to pull out of the Spain squad for the Euros. He was taken to a psychologist by the name of Josep Monseny, who has guided him throughout his life, a man he says 'symbolises my process' and who helped him to manage his anxiety. He had 'begun to build' as he puts it, but was still only 17, on medication, working through his illness. The headlines, leaked, spoke simply of a refusal. "The people at the federation didn’t help; they exposed me, at a time when I was very weak." he says. However, he eventually fell down the pecking order under Pep Guardiola and left Camp Nou for Roma at the age of just 21 for a fee of €12 million. While there he scored seven goals in 37 appearances in 2011-12 and then spent the 2012-13 season on loan at Milan where he scored three goals in 27 games.. Following this temporary spell at Milan, he then made a bizarre return to Catalonia in 2013 and was immediately loaned out to Ajax with whom he helped win the Eredevisie title, not playing a single minute for Barça before leaving again, this time for Premier League side Stoke City. Stoke manager Mark Hughes said "Anyone who knows European football will be aware of him as a player and the fact that he sees his future at Stoke City is really exciting."

He stayed in England for five years but, hindered by injuries, found himself in and out of the team, and he ended his playing career at the age of only 32 after uneventful spells in Germany, the United States and Japan. Without a team since finishing his contract with Vissel Kobe, his last club, Bojan leaves the field of play with a total of 451 official matches played in seven different countries (Spain, England, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada). He has worn the colours of Barça, Roma, Milan, Ajax, Stoke City, Mainz, Alavés, Montreal and Vissel Kobe. Bojan said, "I would like to proudly announce that my time as a professional football player has come to an end. I am very grateful for everything I have experienced. Life is in stages and I feel that my time has come." 

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/footballs-nearly-men-saido-berahino.html

 

 

Pool Of Sound - Reid Anderson

 

 

Reid Anderson is a singer-songwriter and actor from Liverpool but, born in Greenock, he grew up in Morecambe, however he has been in Liverpool most of his life. His family are a mix of Northerners and Scots, with musicians throughout on both sides. They all grew up playing in brass bands and Reid has been playing in groups or solo since he was a teenager. His Grandad he says was mates with Andrew-Lloyd Webber's dad and played trumpet in a jazz band for Bing Crosby back in the day.

June 2015 saw Reid supporting 'Bird To Beast' at a MUK Klub gig at the Night & Day Cafe, Manchester where it was said he was also B2B's official third wheel playing drums, guitar, vocals and zither. A solo performance in June 2016 at Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool saw him on acoustic guitar with the exception of his opening song 'We Would Have Noticed the Moon' which was atmospherically delivered on piano. Denis Parkinson reviewing it said, "An engaging, characterful start, full of sadness and resignation. Delivered in a style reminiscent of the mythical parts of America that it might not be quite safe to visit when there’s a full moon in the sky, his music is Americana with a gothic influence and is traditional but with a modern twist; confidently and skilfully delivered. Memorable tunes and thoughtful lyrics, standout songs 'Your Lullaby' and '23 Skidoo' were highlights of this short but powerful set. Reid’s voice is rich and resonant. Imagine a waltz being played by a lone musician under a big top in a well-travelled circus that’s seen much better days. A true pleasure."

 

Reid himself describes his music as "dark folk / Americana mixed with 50s and 60s pop n rock". It was once described as follows: "...dark ballads of love and loss. Imagine The Wicker Man soundtrack written by Nick Cave, or an episode of The Twilight Zone soundtracked by Leonard Cohen and Roy Orbison. Kind of sums it up for me. I once played John Lennon in a short comedy film called 'Paul Is Dead', which went down well at the film festivals. It's based on a (slightly altered) conspiracy theory that Paul McCartney died in the late 60s and was replaced by a look-a-like shepherd from the Lake District called Billy Sheers." He writes dark, mesmerising, sweeping sounds; lyrical vessels, reminiscent of sea shanties, traveller’s songs and folk myth. As an actor and singer-songwriter based in Liverpool his recent acting role in the BBC / HBO series 'Rain Dogs' has him performing his single 'We Would Have Noticed The Moon'.

He describes the finest musical experience of his life so far, as a songwriting exchange trip he went on called 'From Memphis to the Mersey'. "Myself and another songwriter from Liverpool (Chris Kearney - you should also check him out) were chosen to go to Memphis with two songwriters from Memphis (Chris Milam and Lanita Smith) to write songs together. There were also mentors from Liverpool (Garry Christian and Joey Ankrah) and Memphis (Susan Marshall and Stax legend William Bell). There was a return trip to Liverpool a few weeks later to do it all again. The Memphis trip will forever be etched in my mind, mainly due to the filmed session at Sun Studio. Hallowed ground indeed." He performed 3 songs at Sun Studio, Memphis in an episode of The Sun Session for PBS with fellow Liverpool songwriter, Chris Kearney.

2023 single 'Whalebone'

 

He also had the pleasure of writing a song with William Bell and is in the process of finally completing an album and releasing lots of new music over the coming year. Working with brilliant multi-instrumentalist producer Jon Humphreys (from Liverpool psychedelic folk / jazz group Professor Yaffle), he will also be working with his long-term string arranger and musical sibling Steph Kearley on some new material too. He has also started working on a theatre production with Liverpool writer Ian Salmon, which will have him acting and singing my songs.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/05/pool-of-sound-haarm.html

 

Football's Nearly Men - Saido Berahino

 

Saido Berahino was born on the 4th of August 1993 in Bujumbura, Burundi and played football as a child with a ball of plastic bags tied up with laces. After his father died in the Civil War, Saido fled his native Burundi alone as a child, receiving political asylum in England when he joined his mother and family in Newtown, Birmingham. Skilled in several sports, the youngster started to stand out at school and, above all, on the football pitch, and joined the West Bromwich Albion Centre of Excellence in 2004 at under-12 level from inner-city youth club Phoenix United, and turned professional seven years later. Academy Head of Recruitment at West Brom, Steve Hopcroft, told the Telegraph in 2014, "He improved year after year, we will always remember him scoring four goals for the Under-15s in a game up at Liverpool. All the other academy teams would always talk about Saido after games." He didn’t make his senior debut for the club until he'd made a couple of eye-catching loan spells at Northampton and Brentford in Leagues 2 and 1 respectively. However, when he did break into the West Bromwich Albion first team in the 2013-2014 season he became a regular and was viewed as hot property. Having netted a hat-trick against Newport in the League Cup second round, he was included in Gareth Southgate's first squad as England under-21 boss and scored on his debut in a 1-0 win over Moldova. If his reputation wasn’t already on a rapid rise, it was about to soar with his first Premier League goal coming against reigning champions, Manchester United, at Old Trafford. The striker bagged nine goals in all competitions that season before a breath-taking 2014-15 campaign saw him net 20 times, 14 of those coming in the Premier League. With a strike rate like that everyone wondered how far the young forward could go and – more immediately – which top club would take a chance on him as he was seen by many as the future of England’s strike force. Transfer gossip saw Berahino linked with a January move to Liverpool, with Tottenham also reportedly willing to part with considerable cash in order to secure his signature. Saido’s purple patch in front of goal was too appeasing for Hodgson to resist, and the striker received his first senior England call-up for the November fixtures against Slovenia and Scotland. "It’s up to Saido to show he can make this step up from his own level, under-21, to the senior level." Berahino’s former West Brom boss said – but the opportunity never arose. A couple of weeks after that international break, it emerged that Berahino had been arrested for drink-driving the month before. Attitude issues and rumoured unrest saw West Brom scrap plans to give Berahino a new contract, accepting that they’d have to sell him on in the summer but, when Tottenham came calling, their bids were rejected, prompting fury from the player himself. When he was denied a move to Spurs on deadline day, Berahino threatened to strike. Spurs had famously put in a number of bids for the England youth international that were rejected by the club in the summer of 2015. The fourth and final rejected bid had come on transfer deadline day which famously led to a twitter outburst from the player, in which he stated that he would never play for the club again under chairman Jeremy Peace. Unsurprisingly he was fined for those comments, and later apologised, but that season turned out to be sporadic at best for the once flying forward. Well before the angry incidents of the 1st of September 2015, colleagues had spotted a concerning trait in Berahino's make-up that meant he was easily distracted and knocked off course by a little success or a minor setback. Having already been handed the first of two drink-driving convictions in January 2015, in September came a game at Crystal Palace that further alienated team-mates. Having been substituted by Tony Pulis at half-time with the game goalless, Berahino put on his headphones during a half-time team-talk and left the stadium during the second half as his colleagues lost 2-0. Football is littered with sliding doors moments, and his botched transfer to Tottenham Hotspur would have serious repercussions on a promising career.

In January 2017, more than 10 months after his last Premier League goal, a move to fellow Premier League side Stoke City came about, a move worth £12million, as the forward admitted he had lost his way at his previous club. There was no resurgence there though, and with Stoke hurtling towards relegation under Mark Hughes, Berahino was among a group of training-ground mavericks who angered team-mates with their antics. Former England defender Glen Johnson recalled, "He had the wrong mentality and attitude from day one and for whatever reason, when he was at Stoke, he was going against the grain." Sadly top form never returned and Stoke reached a settlement with Berahino to cancel the final three years of his contract. He left having scored just three league goals in 51 appearances and after just one season with Sheffield Wednesday the 29-year old was released by them. He now plays for Cypriot First Division club AEL Limassol and is captain of the Burundi national team.

Those who saw a young Berahino making his way through the ranks at Albion and with England can appreciate the scale of the talent that went unfulfilled. England manager Gareth Southgate recognised it, Manchester United recognised it and his team-mates recognised it.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/footballs-nearly-men-ravel-morrison.html

 

A History Of Liverpool Thespians - David Yip

 

David Nicholas Yip was born on the 4th of June 1951 to a Chinese father, a seaman from the Canton area  of southern China. Loy Yip arrived there in 1941 having travelled from Guangzhou to Hong Kong as a teenager, where he earned his passage to Britain on the Blue Funnel Line. Loy then met his future wife Betty at a tea dance but, being an English woman who had chosen to marry a Chinese man, her family disowned her and cut her off. David was the third eldest of eight children, 7 boys and one girl, and had a working class upbringing born into a small terraced house on a cobbled back street, Duke Terrace, close to Liverpool’s Chinatown. After leaving school at 16, he worked as a shipping clerk for British Railways for 2 years, then at 18 he was offered a job as an assistant stage manager by Teresa Collard at the Neptune Theatre. He participated in local youth productions while working at the Everyman Theatre, including one under the direction of Barry Kyle when he was visiting the Liverpool Playhouse. Yip's peers encouraged him to audition for drama school and he he won a place at East 15 Acting School, London after hearing about the acting school while working at the Everyman whre he trained from 1971 to 1973. He said: "East 15 in the early 1970s was challenging and inspiring but the conditions were very basic to say the least. But it prepared us well for the profession we desired to enter."

Having began his career in theatre, David first appeared on television in an episode of the ITV game show 'Whodunnit' (1975) and the BBC television film 'Savages' (1975), followed by an episode of the BBC sitcom 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' (1978). The following year he played Frank Chen in the science fiction mini series 'Quatermass (1979) and then as Veldan, one of the Dalek slave workers, in 2 episodes of 'Doctor Who' (1979) in 'Destiny of the Daleks'. However his big break came when, As Detective Sergeant John Ho, he became the first Chinese lead actor in any British television drama series, 'The Chinese Detective' (1981-82). In it he gave a wonderful performance as a British born Chinese detective sergeant in the police, facing prejudice from both his colleagues and the community. The series offered traditional police procedural storylines in a setting of occasional prejudice and distrust within the police force, and the prejudice displayed by those he encountered whilst doing his job. Like many other television detectives of the time, he was something of a maverick, often using unorthodox methods to solve crimes. He was a loner by necessity - none of his colleagues wanted anything to do with him. By portraying the racism endemic in the police force, the programme upset some senior officers, but did not appear to have taken particularly extreme liberties with the truth. Although it ran for just two series with a total of fourteen episodes, it made an impact, and is still well remembered.

In The Chinese Detective

In a 2022 retrospective of 100 BBC gamechangers, the British Film Institute called David Yip's performance "pensive and affecting". After watching him in the series, director Steven Spielberg cast him in the opening scene of 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' (1984) as Jones' past companion Wu Han, marking David's feature film debut. This was followed by a supporting role as CIA liaison agent Chuck Lee in 'A View to a Kill' (1985) and a lead role as Mike Wong in the 1986 mystery comedy film  'Ping Pong'. Returning to TV his next major role was playing Michael Choì in 'Brookside' (1989), when a young, professional Chinese family, the Chois, arrived at the vacated No.7, appearing from May 1989. Widower Michael moved in with his young daughter Jessica and before long, he embarked on a relationship with a colleague, scientist Alison Gregory, played by Alyson Spiro. 

He played Mr Kim in 3 episodes of 'Making Out' (1989-91), starred in the BBC sitcom 'Every Silver Lining' (1993) and appeared in the television adaptation of 'Wilde Justice' (1994). This was followed by small roles in the films 'Goodbye Hong Kong' (1994), 'Hamlet' (1996), 'Fast Food' (1998) and then  'Entrapment' (1999). Next he played Assad in the two-parter 'Arabian Nights'(2000), Merv in the film 'My Kingdom' (2001) and Dr Pang in 7 episodes of the CBBC series 'Oscar Charlie' (2002). David then returned to the stage in 2008 at the Hampstead Theatre, London in the British premiere of 'Turandot', Bertolt Brecht's final play that was written just before his death in 1956. David also wrote a play with Kevin Wong entitled 'Gold Mountain', based on his father's life; a 1,000-mile walk, barefoot, from a remote Cantonese village to Hong Kong, followed by six months on a merchant vessel that eventually landed in Liverpool, where he established a successful laundry business, then lost it all in a single hand of poker. It was intended for the Liverpool Capital of Culture 2008 event, but was delayed due to writing problems. It premiered on the 6th of October 2010, at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool and was performed again in 2012. In 2013 he joined the cast of feature film 'All That Remains' (2016) before reuniting with Gemma Chan from 'Turandot' in the play 'Yellow Face' at the Park Theatre and then the National Theatre. From 2017 to 2018, he returned to the National Theatre for 'The Great Wave', led the play 'Eastern Star' at the Tara Theatre, and played Hong Mankyo in the psychological thriller 'Fortitude' (2017-18). He also had a voice role as Grandpa in 26 episodes of the TV animated series 'Luo Bao Bei' (2018). He has starred more recently in the thriller film 'Break' (2020), 'Midsomer Murders' (2021), 'The Capture' (2022) and in 'Pennyworth' (2022).

At Edge Hill University

 

At University of Essex

Following a visit to Edge Hill in 2017 to talk about his wide ranging film, television and theatre work spanning four decades in 2022 he was awarded honorary doctorates by Edge Hill University and the University of Essex in recognition of his contribution to supporting the UK’s Chinese community through art.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-sharon.html 

 

 

Football's Nearly Men - Ravel Morrison

Ravel Ryan Morrison was born on the 2nd of February 1993 in Wythenshaw, Manchester and his first club was Fletcher Moss Rangers Football Club, an amateur junior football club based in Didsbury, Manchester. He was first scouted for the Manchester United Academy aged 8 by former United coach Phil Brogan and Sir Alex Ferguson described Morrison as having "as much natural talent as any youngster we ever signed", while Rio Ferdinand called him "the best young kid I have ever seen in my life". Phil Brogan said: " I had never seen anything like Ravel before. I had this surge of excitement the moment I saw him. I knew I had found a boy—he was incredible—and I knew he could go all the way to the top. You just had to see him. It was the way he moved across the pitch, with or without the ball. He was amazing. On pure talent, I would say Ravel Morrison was better than Paul Pogba. Of course, Pogba had his many qualities—he was strong and athletic—but he couldn’t do the things Ravel could do; no one could. The other boys were in awe of Ravel. He just looked as though he was destined to be the best."

Ravel signed on as a first-year scholar in 2009 and turned professional on the 2nd of February 2010, on his 17th birthday. However, no matter how talented you are, success is not always guaranteed, as we are revealing, and Ravel Morrison’s career is a great example of this. He was prominent in United’s 2011 FA Youth cup winning team with Jesse Lingard and Pogba. Initially he was compared to the greats of the past like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and many others. However he just didn’t possess the work ethic, patience and consistency needed to become a great. Brogan recalls, "He got a taste but then got bored. He needed more games. When he was bored, he got into problems." Ravel himself has admitted to skipping training sessions and this lack of drive and work rate was a major stifler in the Jamaican's career. By 2012, major concerns had built up over him and whether he could actually make it at the club with all his issues off the pitch. Court appearances and assault charges resulted in Ferguson making the difficult decision to let the youngster go. On deadline day of January 2012, Morrison dropped down a Division to join West Ham on a three-and-a-half-year contract, but made just one first-team appearance as the Hammers earned promotion back to the Premier League. The following season he was sent on loan to Birmingham City and, while there were initial concerns over his attitude, he finally displayed moments of quality at first team level. After returning to Upton Park ahead of the 2013-14 season, he then made the breakthrough into the first team and began to make an impact on the Premier League but fell out of favour with manager Sam Allardyce before eventually returning to the Championship to join Queens Park Rangers on loan in February 2014. Later he joined Cardiff City on loan, where he started only once and with six months remaining of his deal at West Ham he signed a pre-contract agreement with Lazio in January of 2015. Despite a promising start to pre-season, the England under-21 international failed to establish himself at Lazio amid renewed criticisms of his attitude which saw him on the move again joining Mexican outfit Atlas on loan. Lazio then gave him the chance to train with rising Swedish side Ostersunds in February 2019 but he struggled with injuries and only made a total of nine appearances for the club. After leaving Ostersunds he returned to British shores in 2019, signing a one-year deal with newly-promoted Sheffield United. Then there was a one-year deal with ADO Den Haag in September 2020, the 11th club of his career, before he was handed a lifeline from Wayne Rooney's Championship side, Derby County where he found his feet once more - but his next club would come sooner rather than later as Rooney, the new manager at DC United, persuaded the player to come across the pond to sign up with his 13th different employer.

Ravel Morrison’s career is the sad reality of what can occur if even the brightest talents lose focus and don't possess the right attitude and motivation to work at the level needed to make it as an elite level footballer. 

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/footballs-nearly-men-federico-macheda.html

A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Sharon Maughan

Sharon Maughan was born on the 22nd of June 1950 in the Liverpool 6 area, “on a street that doesn’t exist any more” she says. The Mughan family (Sharon added the extra 'a') moved to Kirkby when she was four and she attended St Gregory’s girl school. It was her Mum Nora who she credits with supporting her early days. As Sharon said, "Oh my mother didn't know anything about the business at all. So she thought it was the best thing in the world, she wasn’t aware of any of the negatives and she never saw a bad side to it. She was such a dreamer, she was amazing, and from the day I said I wanted to become an actress she made me believe I could. She made me believe I could achieve anything.” So Sharon left in the late 1960s to attend drama school in London seeing it as a way of escaping her background, but often wept with misery and loneliness. Joining RADA at 18 to pursue her acting ambition, upon graduating she gained her Equity Card while playing Ophelia in an Open University tour of 'Hamlet'. She then performed in rep at the Liverpool Playhouse and Chester and won her first television opportunity in the TV drama series 'Eyeless in Gaza' (1971), then in Philip Mackie's 'The Organisation' (1972), starring Peter Egan. This led to episodes of 'The Last of the Baskets' (1972) with Patricia Hayes, 'Z-Cars' (1972) and then 'Justice' (1973) with Margaret Lockwood. In 1973, Sharon was chosen for the role of Rachel Rosing in a Granada TV serialisation of Howard Spring's novel 'Shabby Tiger', appearing in all 7 episodes. This led to Alan Bennett asking her to appear alongside him at the Lyric Theatre (Shaftesbury Ave), London and the Oxford Playhouse in his original production of 'Habeas Corpus' (1973-74) playing 'Felicity Rumpers'. She went on to work with Elaine Strich, playing the title role in 'If You Knew Susie', in the 'Dial M For Murder' (1974) TV series and worked with John Stride in the final series of Yorkshire Television's 'Main Chance' (1975), playing the Nordic 'Inge Lindstrom'. David Mercer's controversial 'Huggy Bear' (1976), with the infamous 'chocasms' scene, was her next television venture.

Sharon and Trevor married in 1980

In 1977, Sharon joined the cast of Franco Zefferelli's 'Filumena', starring Joan Plowright and Colin Blakely in London's West End, where she met her future husband, actor Trevor Eve. Sharon said, "We went on tour and fell in love on the drive to the first venue in Norwich." She was the better known of the two when they met, having starred in the successful TV drama series 'Shabby Tiger', but when Trevor won the lead role in 'Shoestring' he became an overnight star. Her early shyness didn't hold her back for long, as she went on to play the lead in several TV series such as 'The Enigma Files' (1980), 'The Flame Trees of Thika' (1981), 'Dombey and Son' (1983) and 'By The Sword Divided' 1983-85).
It was the Gold Blend adverts, running between 1987 and 1993, that made her a household name however. They starred Sharon with Anthony Head as Sharon and Tony, a couple who begin a slow-burning romance over a cup of the advertised coffee which it is said boosted coffee sales by 40 per cent, making stars of the two leads on both sides of the Atlantic. Sharon is reputed to have made so much money from the campaign that in 1991 the family moved to Los Angeles to capitalise on her high profile. She loved the relaxed lifestyle and continuous sunshine, but worried about the earthquakes and her children turning into 'little Americans'. During that period she made single appearances in 'Inspector Morse' (1989), 'Hannay' (1989) and 'Murder, She Wrote' (1992). As well as playing onstage Billie Dawn in 'Born Yesterday', Anne Daviot in 'Adam Was a Gardener', Nora in 'A Doll's House' at Chichester Festival Theatre, in 1993, she received excellent reviews for her debut directorial production of 'Widowers' Houses' in London. In 1997, she and her husband founded Projector Productions with Charles Haswell. With Trevor as producer, she went on to executive produce and star in 'Cinderella' alongside Kathleen Turner, and executive produce 'Twelfth Night'. Although work didn't flood in when she returned to Britain she was philosophical that the coffee commercial had given her and her family financial freedom and security. Nevertheless, she went to considerable lengths to break free from her sophisticated image - even playing Myra Hindley in a controversial touring play called 'And All the Children Cried', and then in her breakthrough role as Trish, the brassy Liverpudlian mother of ward sister Chrissie (played by Tina Hobley) in the BBC 1 drama 'Holby City' (2003-06). Sharon said "I adored playing her. I had spent so many years playing these classy, repressed, manipulative women that I just loved the freedom of playing someone so unpredictable. You could say I went back to my roots. I certainly had no trouble with the accent as Scouse is my first language." In spite of this, she decided to throw in the towel after three and a half years and was killed off in a crash as she and new screen husband Robert Powell were off on honeymoon.

As Trish in Holby City

Then she appeared in Roger Donaldson's 'The Bank Job' (2008) , quickly followed by guest leads in the BBC's 'Waking the Dead' (2009), starring Trevor Eve as Superintendent Peter Boyd, and 'Kidnap and Ransom' (2011), also starring Trevor. This was followed by films, 'The Babymakers' (2012), 'Flying Home' (2014) and 'The Atticus Institute' (2015), all shot in the USA. On the 19th of February 2014, she was part of the invited audience at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the centenary of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She and Trevor were then asked to perform in front of the Queen in the Investiture Room, along with Hugh Laurie, Sir Tom Courtenay and Dame Helen Mirren. Sharon then appeared with Trevor in her son Jack Eve's debut feature film as writer/director, 'Death of a Farmer' which, having had a screening at the Dinard Film Festival, had its UK Premiere at the Borderlines Film Festival on the 5th of March 2014. In September 2014, she starred in the British premiere of Neil Labute's well received play 'Autobahn' at the King's Head Theatre in Islington. She finished the play with a 30-minute monologue. She later appeared in the film 'Untitled' (2017), playing the drug dealing mastermind controller of a struggling filmmaker and in the short 'Rain Stops Play (2019).

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-cheryl.html

 

 

Football's Nearly Men - Federico Macheda

 

Federico Macheda was born on the 22nd of August 1991 in Rome, Italy and began his football career with local club Lazio's youth team after being spotted at the local Atletico Prenestino club in Rome. However, due to Italian football regulations preventing under-18s from signing professional contracts, he was not permanently tied to the club, and shortly after his 16th birthday, he was signed by England's Manchester United, where regulations permited the signing of players aged 16 and over.

On Sunday the 5th of April 2009, Manchester United were drawing 2-2 in a crucial game against Aston Villa. As things stood, Liverpool sat top of the table following a last gasp win over Fulham the day before. Dropped points were not an option for Alex Ferguson’s side. Then the 17 year old Italian came off the bench for Manchester United and scored a stunning late winner to beat Aston Villa 3-2, forging the Red Devils ahead in the battle for the trophy with Liverpool, transforming his debut into the stuff of dreams. It propelled his name around the world and briefly he was adored by the red half of Manchester. Federico though found it would never get better than that at the top level — though his form for United earned subsequent loans to Serie A, the Bundesliga, Championship and then a permanent transfer to Cardiff City. He was initially sent on loan to Sampdoria in 2011, then QPR for just three matches in 2012, then Stuttgart in 2013, where he failed to find the net in 14 league games, before finding some success on loan at Doncaster Rovers and then impressively with Birmingham City at the end of the 2013/14 season with 10 goals from 10 starts. Becoming the Blues top goalscorer that season, and the expiry of his contract with Man United, brought Macheda to Cardiff's attention, with the Bluebirds recently relegated from the Premier League and looking for some cut-price signings. However regular game time didn't materialise. He stuck around in Cardiff until March 2016, starting just 13 games in nearly two years, scoring six times. A three-game loan stint with Nottingham Forest came and went before his Cardiff contract was cancelled by mutual consent. He went without a club from August to December 2016, but then landed a move back in his homeland with Novara Calcio in the Italian Serie B. Panathinaikos brought his first taste of Greece and his most fruitful spell. Macheda, back at a 'big club', netted 40 times in just over 100 matches, a far better return than his previous efforts. That move lasted four years and was perhaps the most stable period of an otherwise nomadic career but his fall from grace continued as he bounced around European clubs and eventually ended up in the Super Lig in Turkey where he's struggled.

The career of a footballer is short. One moment can change a career forever. When your aim is to make the grade at a big club, those split-second chances are even rarer. You have to seize them; grab them by the throat or they will pass you by. It's even less common that a player does that and still slips through the net. Their big moment goes to script only for the success to be short-lived and self-sabotaged. Macheda told Calciomercato, "Regrets? I have only one. When I made the step up to the Manchester United first team, I had to give three times as much as what I had already. I didn’t, which is the only regret I have. I’ve learned a lot from that mistake. I advise the younger players to listen to close relatives and friends, and to surround themselves with people who really love them. It’s never easy to manage pressure. You just have to focus on what you do on the pitch, and don’t worry too much about what the media is saying."

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/footballs-nearly-men-alexandre-pato.html

 

Football's Nearly Men - Alexandre Pato

 

Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva was born on the 2nd of September 1989 in the city of Pato Branco, Brazil and is more commonly known as Alexandre Pato or just Pato. Pato began his career as a youth player for Internacional in 2000 and having risen through the youth ranks there, he burst onto the scene aged 17 by scoring on his Brazilian championship debut at Palmeiras in November 2006. It was the start of a trend as Pato also scored on his debuts for AC Milan, Chelsea, Corinthians and Brazil. A month later, he broke Pele's long-standing record as the youngest ever scorer in a FIFA-organised competition by netting against Al Ahly in the Club World Cup, a competition Internacional won. Then, in a game ro mark the 50th anniversary of the 1958 World Cup final between Brazil and Sweden, he was announced himself to the rest of the world with an audacious lob from what seemed an impossible angle. After Brazil's 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium that night, Brazil manager Dunga, a man who rarely gets carried away with anything, said: 'His style of play is similar to that of Ronaldo. I don't think he is a normal talent.' Pele. Ronaldo. 'The new Kaka' at Milan, it seemed no comparison was too lofty for Pato, just the latest Brazilian wonderkid poised to take the world by storm.

Having scored 12 goals in 27 appearances and helping Internacional to win the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup, in August 2007 he signed for Italian side AC Milan and started his Milan career brilliantly with nine goals in 20 appearances during his debut campaign. The following year, he was the club's leading scorer with 18. In 2009, he scored 18 goals in 42 matches in all competitions, which earned him both the Golden Boy and Serie A 'Young Footballer of the Year' awards. A quick, agile, and creative forward with excellent technical ability and an eye for goal, he was considered to be one of the world's most promising young footballing stars and had three very good years at the San Siro, but towards the end of the 2009-10 campaign came the first injury issues that would send his career into a tailspin. During the 2010-11 season he helped Milan win the Serie A and was the club's joint top scorer with 14 goals in 25 games but his hamstring was giving him the most problems, going three times within the space of a year. Then issues with other thigh muscles saw him restricted to just 25 appearances in his final two seasons with Milan and also cost him a place in the Brazil squad for the 2010 World Cup. In January 2013 he returned to Brazil, signing for €15 million with Corinthians, where he won the Campeonato Paulista. However within a year, he had been branded one of the worst signings Corinthians had ever made. His sluggish performances were blamed initially on the pressure of his high transfer fee but eventually they were put down to a general lack of effort and a dressing room rift caused by the fact that he earned significantly more than his team-mates.

In 2014 he joined São Paulo on a two-year loan deal, where he played 95 games, scoring 38 goals for the club. In January 2016 he transferred to Chelsea in England on a loan deal, but despite Chelsea paying the entirety of his £30,000-a-week wages, there seemed little urgency to get him involved. In the end, Pato played just twice for the London club and his time there is very easily forgotten before he left for Spanish side Villarreal that same year. Then in 2017 he signed for Chinese club Tianjin Tianhai before returning to São Paulo in 2019. Being a full international for Brazil since 2008, Pato was part of their squads which won the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and competed at the 2011 Copa America. He also won two consecutive Olympic medals for the country, a bronze in 2008, and silver four years later.

Pato has reflected on what might have been. "The first thing you have to understand is that I left home very early. Maybe too early. When you are 11, you're not ready for the world. You go out there chasing this dream, but you're alone, and it's very easy to get lost on the way. As a footballer, I was ready for the world. As a person, I was nowhere close. I cried a lot. I hid in my room. I couldn’t tell my mom, because I knew she'd turn up the next day to take me home. So I just told her, 'Ohhh, things are grrrrreeeat'! The football? That was just fun. I went from the under-15s to the first team in no time. At 17, I was going to the Club World Cup, scoring in the semifinal and playing Barcelona in the final. That’s when I met Ronaldinho."

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/footballs-nearly-men-david-bentley.html

 

Pool Of Sound - Astles

 

Daniel Astles is a young singer/songwriter, born in Kirkdale, Liverpool,moved to Southport when young, but is back and now based in Toxteth, Liverpool. Since the tender age of 13 he has been playing shows and writing songs, creating a backlog of material despite his young age. Often his big vocals and ambient guitar tones leave a lasting effect of listeners. In the press he has been praised for the maturity in his songwriting. Being described as a 'major talent' by Liverpool Bands and having a 'polish beyond his years' by Getintothis.com who also had this to say about him in 2015, "what sets Astles apart from the glut of ostentatious young pretenders is his composure, a polish beyond his years on that material that, given his youth, must surely bely more than a smattering of innate talent for his art."

Generally characterised either by understated acoustic guitar of pinpoint delicacy as a bare-bones backing for his dawn-like, heaving vocal, brave in its idiosyncratic heave, or by tinges of ambient, filmic electronica. As on his newer demos, what underpins the breadth of Astles' work is the strange confidence he finds in his timorousness, as if each quivering lead lyric is matched both by intention and execution. Mostly playing solo with his electric guitar, or occasionally with a backing band, including Guitar, Violin and Percussion, Astles is described as 'gorgeous, lilting indie' by the NME, His songwriting celebrates the refuge of music to a young lad in the North West, surrounded by football-focussed men and machismo - to which his music is the perfect antidote. His late uncle. Joseph Deans was a massive music fan and worked at Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre but sadly took his own life aged 27 which came as a huge shock to his family. Dan said, "I remember speaking to one of my uncle’s friends. He said my uncle was a cool lad who could get everyone into gigs. He had all the guest lists and was always on to the cool stuff. He wrote gig reviews and applied for jobs at places like NME. They said he was so passionate about music - it was clearly his life. He just seemed like he was a good friend, he liked to laugh and he liked having fun. After I got my first record player my granddad said, 'Your Uncle Joseph’s records are in the loft.' When he died, they were put away in a box that time forgot. When I found it, I was blown away." Joseph’s taste in music, a mixture of popular and obscure hits, has shaped Daniel’s song writing. There was a mixtape that was done like an album with music from 'Radiohead', 'The Beatles', Kate Bush and 'Abba', sandwiched with interludes of Jack Kerouac poems and radio comedy. Finding that mixtape changed Daniel's music career and changed his life. "It gave me a path to follow," he says.

 

In 2017, after winning the Merseyrail Sound Station prize and stealing the show at LIMF, he released a new EP 'Live At The Nordic'. Recorded in just one afternoon, the debut offered twenty-three minutes of searching vocals, cute guitar riffs and a hell of a lot of potential. Now the Southport singer-songwriter already has a wealth of experience soaking up the creative culture of Liverpool, playing shows, hitting the studio and running his own open mic night in Southport. He’s gone from home-made Youtube videos to recording with revered sound engineer Michael Johnson – think 'Joy Division', 'Erasure' and 'Soft Cell' .He says, "This EP was sort of an accumulation of the songs written over the last few years. I sort of see it as a soundtrack of me aged 16-18. The newer stuff I’ve been writing is a lot more mature and ambitious. I’m working a lot in the studio at the moment, doing a lot of writing, and I’ll definitely be releasing some studio stuff this year." In 2019 Getintothis saw him again at Phase One, Liverpool and had this to say about him 'warming up the room', "After a clutch of singles and a stint in Bill Nickson's backing band he's here showing his finer side. With a full band behind him, Astles showcases the live credibility of his songwriting- it’s a joy to behold. The set starts with just the perfect mix of slacker beats with thunderous guitar complimenting things."

Currently recording a number of tracks in the hope to release a debut single by the end of the year Astles is grabbing comparisons to artists such as Jeff Buckley, John Martyn and Ben Howard whilst gigging relentlessly across the country in places such as London, Norwich, Manchester and Liverpool, including this years Liverpool International Music Festival at Sefton Park. Astles is currently in the development stage of his career taking time to home his craft and work with as many people as possible to mould a song which he believes is developed. Currently under the guidance of the LIMF Academy , having had massive support from BBC Radio Merseyside and Lancashire and described as 'A voice to listen out for, a sincere and earnest one filled with a smile and moving gravity.' Astles is waiting to make his first move whilst still creating waves in the city. 

2023 saw Astles secure PRS Momentum Funding while signing a publishing deal with Starwood Management and Sentric. He is playing in Liverpool on Apr 16, 2024, 7:00 PM at Baltic Market, having been to The Parish in Huddersfield on Apr 10, 2024. He kicked off the year playing at Liverpool’s world famous Cavern Club on the 23rd of January for BBC Introducing and this singer-songwriter has lots in the works for 2024, including a run of UK dates in April and lots more music to follow.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/pool-of-sound-reid-anderson.html

 

A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Cheryl Murray

 

Cheryl Frayling-Wright was born on the 13th of July 1952 in Liverpool, the only child born to father Arthur and mother Marjorie, and grew up in Bertram Road, Sefton Park, Liverpool. At the age of eight she begged to go to stage school in Liverpool and joined the famous Elliot Clarke School of Dance and Drama then later she went on to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, (LAMDA), for a three year drama diploma. Cheryl married her first husband, surveyor, Ian Murray in 1970 but they later divorced. Her first TV appearances were in the series 'Billy Liar' (1973) and 'Vienna 1990' (1973), followed by single episodes in 'Within These Walls' (1974), 'Z-Cars' (1974), 'Microbes and Men' (1974) and 'Dixon of Dock Green' (1975) before starring in all 3 episodes of the series 'Zigger Zagger' (1975) as Edna and in 4 episodes in 'Crown Court' (1974-75). Cheryl was also active on stage appearing in 'A String In The Tail', Terence Rattigan's 'Separate Tables' (1976) with John Mills, and in the pantomime 'Aladdin' (1983) in Blackpool with Stan Boardman.

 

After a couple more TV roles she got her big break in 1977 when she joined the cast of 'Coronation Street' (1977-83), playing Suzanne 'Suzie' Birchall, the former best friend of Gail Potter who was lodging with Elsie Tanner. Suzie was taken on at Sylvia's Separates along with Gail and talked her way into sharing her lodgings at 11 Coronation Street. Over the following two years, the girls got up to a lot of mischief together, with Elsie doing her best to keep them in check. Then, in 1979, Gail married Brian Tilsley and moved out, but as a feisty barmaid who gave Elsie Tanner a run for her money, Suzie had tried to seduce Brian Tilsley on the eve on his wedding. This led to Suzie exiting the 'Street' and moving to London craving some excitement. 

Sadly after leaving the 'soap' she battled with multiple sclerosis, with her first sudden attack coming while appearing in the Street. She said, "I was in bed in my flat in Manchester when I was suddenly woken up by a tremendous pain in my back, as though knives were being stabbed into me, and found I could barely move. I honestly thought I was dying and crawled to the phone to dial Granada for help." A doctor was sent round and she was admitted to hospital immediately and spent the next five weeks there believing she had a virus of the spine before the news was finally broken to her that she had MS. However she later appeared in the fourth series of David Croft's 'Hi-de-Hi! ' (1983), as Joan Wainwright and alongside Ronnie Corbett in an episode of 'Sorry!' (1985), and played the eldest daughter of Billie Whitelaw and sister of Smiths fan Lucette Henderson in the 1988 video "Everyday Is Like Sunday" by Morrissey - which was filmed in and around Southend-on-Sea and Westcliff. In 1998 she took the role of vets wife Mrs Parker in 'Emmerdale' but found the strain of work too hard so she was replaced by actress Lottie Ward. She found travelling from her Cheshire home to Leeds a gruelling experience and couldn't rest as much as she needed to. Cheryl explained, "Stress is terribly bad for MS so although I'd have loved to have done more episodes, I had to listen to my body and decide enough was enough," She had married her second husband, Colin Jacobs, a management consultant and their only child Louise was born in 1981. The couple later divorced and Cheryl then single lived with her daughter and their cat Tigger in a large semi-detached on a housing estate in Wilmslow, which she bought in her Street days. Thanks to a regimented beauty regime, she kept her fresh looks and said she had even been turned down for parts because she looked too young. Her mum, Marjory, also an MS sufferer, was a former hairdresser, whom Cheryl thanked for her youthful looks, for insisting she plastered on Oil of Ulay for as long as she could remember. "I adored her. We were very close as a family and I miss her dreadfully," she says. Cheryl retired from acting in 1998 due to her diagnosis years earlier and in 2014 made a guest appearance on the ITV documentary 'Gail and Me: 40 years of Gail on Coronation Street'. 

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-philip.html

A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Philip Whitchurch

Philip Whitchurch was born on the 30th of January 1951 in Liverpool. He began doing theatre back in the 1970s through a strange route before drifting into Television and film, although theatre remains his first love. His first job was in Sunderland and he picked up that accent pretty quickly. Although his native accent is from Liverpool, he has found he can get his mouth around most regional accents, e.g. Geordie, Birmingham, Lancashire and Manchester. His first TV role was in 'Gaskin' (1983) playing Mr. Gaskin the father of Graham (Paul McGann). The following year he was in 3 episodes of Coronation Street as Dick Lewis, a decorator a part which led to him appearing in the role of Cyril McGregor in all twenty-six episodes of the soap spin-off, 'The Brothers McGregor' (1985-88). In between he was the caretaker with the nickname 'Castanets' in 'Scully' (1984) and in 8 episodes of 'The Practice' (1985) as Des Quinn. More TV roles followed and he was the voice of the Sergeant Major in 5 episodes of 'The She People' (1987-91) and in 'Little Sir Nicholas' (1990), then as Inspector Jack Wilson in 4 episodes of 'Waterfront Beat' (1990), a police series set in the Liverpool docks. There followed Alan Bleasdale's G.B.H. (1991) in which he played the elder brother and chaffeur of the main character Michael Murray played by Robert Lindsay, the hard-left Labour leader of a city council in the North of England. It was also in 1990 that he was cast as a character in 'The Bill' (1990-1995) that few will forget. As Chief Inspector Philip Cato, the man they called 'the bald-headed bastard from Barton Street', he didn't suffer fools gladly, especially those who he perceived as being unsympathetic to his methods. His strokes were legendary - as were the grudges against police officers he thought had worked against him. He was confrontational both on the street with suspects and in the station with Sun Hill officers.

as Philip Cato in The Bill

Next he was approached by Director Tom Clegg, while shopping in Sainsbury's, to appear in the 'Sharpe' series (1994-1997) in a part equally as popular as his character in 'The Bill'. Eager to be involved, he invoked a 6 week absence of leave clause in his contract with 'The Bill' to enable this to happen. As William Frederickson, nicknamed 'Sweet William' by his men, he was a captain of the 60th Royal American Rifles. At some point, Frederickson suffered serious facial wounds which destroyed his left eye, tore away most of his right ear, and knocked out several teeth. When fighting, he takes out his false teeth, and removes his wig and eye patch, to terrifying effect. More TV work followed, notably in TV Mini series such as 'Plotlands' (1997), 'Rocket Man' (2005), and as Tyler in 6 series of 'My Hero' (2001-06), a comic fantasy about a bewildered space alien who doubles as an Earth superhero. On a medical theme he also appeared in 4 episodes of 'Casualty' (1989-2009), 7 episodes of 'Holby City' (2004-19) and 4 episodes of 'Doctors' (2003-2020).

as 'Sweet William' in Sharpe

His film credits include playing the Fisherman in 'Beowulf & Grendel' (2005), Carlin in 'Three Blind Mice' (2003), Woodberry in 'Wondrous Oblivion' (2003), Black Dog in 'Treasure Island' 1999), Drago in 'Shot Through The Heart' (1998), Corporal Dade in 'The English Patient' (1996), and Blackner in 'Blue Ice' (1992).
On stage he's played Jack (Billy’s father) in Elton John's West End in stage adaptation of 'Billy Elliot' from the 5th of December 2005 until the 2nd of December 2006. He returned to the role from the 2nd of June 2008 until the 29th of November 2008, and played the role on Broadway from the 29th of January 2010 until the 2nd of May 2010, stepping in for original cast member and Tony Award winner Gregory Jbara. He has also played Eddie Carbone in 'View From The Bridge' (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), Shalimov in 'Summerfolk', Vasques in 'Tis Pity She’s A Whore' (Young Vic Theatre), Inspector Goole in 'An Inspector Calls' (The Garrick Theatre), Walsh in 'The Changing Room' (Royal Court Theatre), and Talthybius in 'Women Of Troy' (National Theatre). In 2016, he was cast as the Duke of Gloucester in the Talawa Theatre Company and Royal Exchange, Manchester's co-production of King Lear'.
In his voice over work he is probably best known for voicing all the characters in the BAFTA nominated cartoon series, 'The Shoe People' (1987-91) and narrated a piece for BT Sport’s coverage of Everton & Liverpool FCs long rivalry building up to a showdown game. Other voice work includes commercials for McDonald's, Fiat Punto, Thomas The Tank Engine, and Tomy Toys, and ADR/dubbing for the BBC2.
Philip is also an accomplished playwright, and in 2014 he came to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival not only to present a play, but to appear in it too, alongside his wife Sally Edwards, who he married 22 years earlier, in 'Shakespeare, His Wife And The Dog’ which garnered great reviews. He said, "I’ve always written. My first commissioned play was at the Liverpool Everyman back in 1984. Since then I’ve had my plays performed at various theatres in the UK including a soul musical, 'In The Midnight Hour'. I like telling stories and that's what actors and writers try to do. This is the first time I’ve ever performed in my own work and I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy it but I’ve had a great time!"

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-nick.html