Book Review: The Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout by Simon Hughes
Now this is an intriguing book. Whilst most of the key architects of Liverpools's lasting success over the four decades after Bill Shankly took over avtively shunned publicity, most were still pushed into the limelight.
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Even so, a book looking at Liverpool's chief scout doesn't exactly spring to mind as a plausible idea.
Yet that is what Simon Hughes has done with 'Secret Diary of a Liverpool Scout' in which he takes a look at the life of Geoff Twentyman. A task rendered all the more complex by the facts that Hughes never actually met the man about whom he is writing and Twentyman having died five years ago.
Strangely, however, the book works extremely well. Much of the merit for that is down to Hughes himself who has intelligently threaded together the various aspects of Twentyman's life to ultimately show both how he worked and also his genius.
Fittingly he does so in a manner that mirrors that adopted by the man he is writing about: a large deal of legwork. For Hughes has tracked down not only most of Twentyman's best picks but also those players he looked at but who ultimately ended up elsewhere.
The latter are often revealing as it emerges that most of these players have a genuine respect for Liverpool and most are left wondering about what could have been.
Aside from that, perhaps the most striking aspect of the book is the uncanny similarity in the limitations imposed on both Bill Shankly and Rafael Benitez.
"The brief was to find the best young players Liverpool could afford and with the potential to develop in the future." Sound familiar? Of course it does: it is what Benitez has been doing in recent years. In reality, however, is that this is what Twentyman had to do at Liverpool where there simply wasn't enough money to spend to buy the most promising youngsters in the country. So Liverpool and Twentyman had to be sharper than the rest by spotting players with potential rather than those that were clearly set to do very well.
Which raises the question as to whether it is still possible to achieve success in this manner. Possibly but would the fans be as patient with the players as they were back then? Would they accept not seeing the club linked with big names? Somehow, I doubt it.
A chat with the book's author, Simon Hughes
How did the idea to write a book about Geoff Twentyman come about?
Geoff's son, William, runs a barbershop in Crosby. Jamie Carragher is one of his clients and one day William got talking to him about his father and his role within Liverpool Football Club. Around 18-months ago, Carra suggested writing a book and told him to speak to the Liverpool Echo.
Eventually, William came to the LFC Magazine who I work for, and presented his father's original scouting diary. (The magazine is part of Trinity Mirror - a company that also owns the Echo),
I had a look at the diary and realised that it was a unique writing opportunity because it was a field of Liverpool's history and football in general that had never been explored in any depth before.
The diary itself looks like a lost artifact of football history and at a first glance could be an aged family photo album. Inside, there is a year-by-year account of scouting activities with notes by several scouts including Geoff on a variety of players.
William had toyed with the idea of publishing a book about his father for years, but it was only after speaking to Carra that he realised it was a really good idea.
Was it daunting to write a book about the life of someone you hadn't ever met?
Initially it was. It was very important to research his character thoroughly to gain an understanding of what Geoff was like firstly as a person, then secondly as a professional. His personality was important because Bill Shankly only employed people he could trust implicitly. To gain a greater understanding of the man, it meant speaking to hundreds of different people.
The story of Liverpool Football Club as we understand it today started in Carlisle, 1949, when Shankly was appointed as manager of Carlisle United and appointed Twentyman, who was a player there, as his captain. I had no appreciation of Carlisle history, so research on that aspect of the story took the most time - although that isn't the main focus of the book.
As it turned out, was it difficult to write?
I quickly realised that I didn't want the book to be a collection of memories or solely a tribute book to one man because different people all saying, 'Geoff did a great job at Liverpool - he should be recognised more,' would become repetitive.
I decided that the book should be divided into three separate parts, detailing Geoff's story on how he arrived at Liverpool at the beginning and the legacy he left at the end with an analysis on how scouting has changed in the modern day game at the end. The centerpiece of the book involves interviews with more than 30 players that he scouted, many of which never ended up signing for Liverpool. I have tried to steer that part of the book away from Geoff and treat them as a mini-autobiographical account of their careers.
What sort of help did you get from the club as well as Geoff's family?
From day one, Geoff's son William was very enthusiastic. He put me in contact with dozens of family, friends and scouts that worked with his father. He was on the phone every day for 12-months. Without his influence, the book would never have been written. His brother, Geoff Twentyman jnr, who played professionally for Preston and Bristol Rovers, also helped too.
There is a bit of controversy surrounding Geoff's departure from the club so certain people still there preferred to keep a polite distance. Having said that, all of the players and backroom staff were forthcoming.
Jamie Carragher in particular was very helpful. The book includes an interview with him at its conclusion and he also helped with the initial launch, which was held, at his restaurant back in August.
It must have been quite interesting to get to talk to all those Liverpool legends. Were they all willing to talk?
All of the players that he scouted agreed to an interview. After all, they were indebted to Geoff - particularly Phil Neal who was considering part time football with Kettering just before Liverpool approached Northampton about his availability.
All of the ex-Liverpool players are media savvy so they were all happy to divulge some interesting stories. Through work, I have learnt that interviews with former footballers always provide more entertainment because they can be more reflective and open about their careers. On the other hand, current players are usually protected by their clubs, agents and publicists so there is a limitation to how much they can reveal.
Personally, I found it just as interesting interviewing legends from other clubs - people like Trevor Francis, Gordon McQueen, Martin Buchan and dare I say it, Tony Cascarino - who had a colourful and checkered career but has been very critical of Liverpool lately in the media. Francis Lee was a funny one too, as was John Gidman who was very open about the mistakes he made during his time at Aston Villa, Everton and United.
There was only one player that Geoff scouted who refused to be interviewed. I wont say who he is, but unsurprisingly he's still involved with a Premier League club.
Was it surprising to find players that Liverpool didn't sign being complimentary about the club? Or was that you editing out the criticisms?
The only time we edited anything out was because it was in danger of being libelous. Otherwise, I let each interview flow naturally as they happened. Andy Gray was probably the only one that was reluctant to say many positive things about Liverpool because he became a success when he went elsewhere - particularly at Everton. The big surprise was Martin Buchan, who captained Man Utd in the 70s. Twentyman had a strong interest in him but decided not to pursue a deal due to the emergence of Phil Thompson. Buchan had a reputation off the pitch as a tough man that didn't suffer fools. But he spoke well about Liverpool because he clearly admired how they went about achieving success. Many of the players weren't aware of any interest from Liverpool so it came as a shock. Cascarino in particular couldn't believe that Kenny Dalglish would consider him a Liverpool kind of player -maybe with good reason.
Liverpool used to spot a lot of players from the lower leagues both in England and Scotland. That no longer happens. Why do you think that is the case?
It comes down to the globalisation of the game and the advent of academy systems. Part of it is also down to owners, directors and a new breed of football fan demanding instant success. There is a lack of patience in football today and that results in many young players being let go by football clubs at an extremely early age.
There is a desire by clubs in the modern game to swallow up the best talent around at the age of 10. By the age of 17 or 18, players need to be the finished article otherwise they are usually released. Speaking to scouts in the game today, I get the impression that there is a school of thought that if you haven't been spotted by a club's scouts as a teenager, it's impossible to develop to the required standards even after a couple years first team football in the lower leagues.
I'm sure there are players in the lower league that could become great players in the modern game. But that would mean allowing them time to settle and in Premier League football today, managers can't take the risk of waiting because of the demand for instant results.
When Liverpool were successful, many of the lower league players they signed were afforded time in the reserves before being plunged into the first team. Again this takes time, and a degree of success on the pitch beforehand to make this system work.
Terry McDermott, for example, had to go through this process. He was one of only two players in a Kirkby boys' team that wasn't signed up by a football club when he was 16. The star of that team was John McLoughlin, who eventually played around 50 games for Liverpool. Terry had to sign for Bury because even though a lot of First Division clubs had a look at him, they felt that his body wasn't going to grow enough to deal with the demands of top-flight football. He was on the dole when a Bury scout came knocking at his door offering him a contract. Terry signed for Liverpool at the age of 22. By then he had grown into a man by playing lower league football with Bury before going to Newcastle. He learnt his way around a football pitch and learnt how to handle himself. It toughened him up and he eventually became PFA Players' Player of the Year.
Years earlier, they made a judgement on him before he was even allowed to grow. It happens to thousands of young players now - in an environment where it is even tougher to shine because of the demands of instant success. Once at Liverpool, he had to wait 18-months before gaining a regular position in Bob Paisley's first team. Bob, of course, could only adopt this approach because his team were winning trophies so the pressure to put Terry in his side was irrelevant.
The other player in that Kirkby boys' team considered too lightweight for a contract with a league club was Dennis Mortimer. And he captained Aston Villa to the European Cup in 1982.
Why is it important that the contribution of Geoff Twentyman be remembered?
His role in targeting players was integral to everything Liverpool achieved in the 1970s and 80s. From the 11 players that started the 1977 European Cup final, Twentyman and his band of scouts had spotted six of them, initially playing in the lower leagues. In 1984 against Roma, nine of the 16-man squad had been brought to the club on Twentyman's advice.
I wanted to make sure that the book didn't romanticise Twentyman's contribution by saying that he had a role that was any more important that other employees at the club. But I wanted to highlight that he did his job better than any other scout around.
I think the most important thing to remember is that Liverpool's success was spawned from a collective responsibility that Bill Shankly instilled into the club. Each person's role was important as the next and they were trusted to make an informed judgement when they had to. Bill Shankly trusted Bob Paisley absolutely while they trusted Geoff to spot the right player. Equally, Geoff trusted all of the scouts that worked for him.
It proves that when everyone is pulling in the same direction, a football club can achieve great things.
Is he remembered enough within the club?
No - but I suppose that was the nature of his work. It is only because I have seen his original diary that I can really understand the extent of what he did. Equally, scouts only seem to find the headlines when a number of players turn out as failures. Geoff's record was phenomenal and nearly every player he signed proved to be either successful or profitable when they were sold on.
Because he had a distinctive surname, I think I lot of proper Liverpool fans remember that he worked for the club in some capacity but didn't really understand his role.
The problem with scouting, especially in his era, was that it took months and months of research by a number of people before Liverpool agreed to sign a player. Tom Saunders, for instance, who was a great Liverpool servant, is sometimes credited with spotting Steve Heighway and Bruce Grobbelaar. In part, that is true, but several club scouts went to watch both players before the club financed a deal.
Again, Andy Beattie, who had known Bill Shankly for years and years and managed the Scottish national team was the scout that first saw Kevin Keegan play for Scunthorpe, rather than Twentyman. His note on the player in the original scouting diary said something like, 'Played in midfield. Would be better as a forward.' After that, Geoff went to watch him play several times before recommending him.
Personally, I think it's a shame that someone who contributed so much towards the greatest period of success wasn't recognised properly before he left the club. Including his playing career, he gave 25-years of his professional life to Liverpool - enough to earn two testimonials.
You only have to see a decline in success in the club's transfer policy after he left to understand how important a role he played.
When he died, Geoff's family was sent a letter by the then manager Gerard Houllier so I suppose it indicates he was still remembered by some people behind the scenes.
Liverpool fans are often accused of living in the past. Do you think that books like this pander to the nostalgic element and as such confirm that impression that outsiders have?
No. The book isn't just about Liverpool's history and the re-telling of its glory years. That has been done many times before. I hoped it would appeal to Liverpool supporters and fans from other clubs as well. There are interviews with many players that didn't play for Liverpool and each interview attempts to focus on the players' career rather than just what was happening at Anfield. I'd like to think the book is a comprehensive review of the scouting scene in the 60s, 70s and 80s analysing why Liverpool managed to do it better than anyone else.
Any more books planned?
Hopefully. I have an idea for something a little more contemporary but it could be another 12-months before it's out.
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