Finding Row Z Interview- Phil Ascough

The first in hopefully a long line of interviews, Editor Dean Mears speaks to journalist/author Phil Ascough about his new book Kissing The Badge- How much do you know about 20 years of the Premier League?

The man himself, Phil Ascough.

Phil is the former Business Editor of the Hull Daily Mail and has been a freelance journalist since 2009, an avid Hull City fan whose work as a Commerical Project Manager for major sport companies mean you may have read some of Phil's work before. Phil can be found on Twitter @audaciouschip. 


So, Kissing The Badge has been published, was being an author a life long dream of yours? Or was it simply a natural progression from your journalistic work?

Definitely a natural progression. I’ve messed around with books on my own before – still working on something about Hull City that’s been three years in the making but work keeps getting in the way – but this is the first one in my own name. Before I set up as a freelance writer and media/PR consultant I spent nearly 11 years with the Press Association, working with major sports governing bodies and sponsors. As part of that I oversaw some substantial publications for the various English and Scottish Leagues and for the PFA centenary – for one of them I ghost-wrote one of the last pieces to appear in the name of Sir Bobby Robson. They were all great books but expensive because of their size and the number of photographs. We considered something heavyweight this time but decided to go for the sort of thing football fans might enjoy in the pub before a game or while travelling to an away game. It’s about the first 20 years of the Premier League, but there are now more former Premier League clubs in the Football League so we expect it to appeal to a lot of people.

What advice would you give any aspiring journalist's/authors?

That’s a tough one. There’s no doubt the key to getting this picked up by such a big publisher was my contact with them. You need to be able to write, you need to be able to come up with good ideas that can be delivered to a deadline – most of this was done in just over a month – and you have a better chance of getting a deal if you have a track record. It can take a long time to build credibility so keep persevering and try to plan new ideas well ahead to ensure you have plenty of potential projects in the pipeline. It helps if your ideas are topical but not so obvious that other people get there first.

Onto the book, Kissing The Badge, what can readers expect?

Kissing The Badge is available from Amazon today.

It’s an easy-to-read collection of trivia, questions and quotes. There are 20 sections covering such categories as Heroes and Villains, Strikers, Keepers, Champions, Shock Results, Howlers. Each section has an editorial intro as a bit of a scene-setter, maybe generating some debate about issues arising from the Premier League, but nothing too long or heavy. There are some great illustrations by a guy called Beach who has done a couple of top notch cricket books – Criki Leaks and WG Grace Ate My Pedalo. It’s a really good combination. There are incidents in there that anyone who follows football will never forget, a few that will jog the memory and one or two that a lot of people were never aware of. There is some serious content but also a lot of fun and the occasional tongue-in-cheek look at some of the wacky things that have gone on.

I've seen on Twitter, you're a regular with the Xanders Bar quizzes, did the inspiration for the book come from there?

The other way round. I’ve been promoting it heavily on Twitter – and will continue to do so – and the guys down there asked me to organise a football quiz off the back of it. We’ve only done one so far and the attendance was a bit more Wigan Athletic than Manchester United but we’ll build it up.

In a tweet, why should readers click this link and buy your book?

Because sometimes the Premier League isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but sometimes it is.

Can we expect more releases from you in the future?

Hope so. If nothing else I have to get that Hull City book finished, but I’ve got some more ideas up my sleeve.

Finding Row Z would like to thank Phil for his time to conduct this interview and has promised a signed copy to one lucky reader if the interview gets lots of coverage, so head to twitter and facebook and spread the word!