Читать книгу Jelleyman’s Thrown a Wobbly: Saturday Afternoons in Front of the Telly - Jeff Stelling - Страница 23

While flicking through one of the many mountains of local papers I have to absorb every week (by way of research rather than any onset of OCD) I began reading about Kenny Deuchar, a prolific striker for Gretna. According to one report, he was a qualified doctor and still practised in his local hospital from time to time. This was remarkable by any footballer's standards. Can you imagine Cristiano Ronaldo even applying a Band-Aid to a stricken Page Three model, let alone practising lifesaving techniques at his local A&E? Given his worthy day job, I figured Deuchar was somebody who deserved some recognition, so I began referring to him as ‘The Good Doctor’ whenever he scored, which, to his credit, was quite a lot. I even got a very nice letter from him one day thanking me for the publicity.

His biggest fan was Granny Mae, his, er, grandmother. By all accounts, she was an avid viewer of the show and was bowled over by the regular mentions of her grandson on digital telly. In time, I began to mention her, too, and the pair became a bit of a fixture in the cache of Soccer Saturday catchphrases. One day we even went up to Scotland to do a piece on Granny Mae as she watched the show from her living room. Of course, The Good Doctor did what he always did best and popped up with a goal or two, which made for a really nice afternoon. I think Granny Mae was beside herself.

I guess the show is good at bringing out characters like Deucher. He was a player that wouldn't have got any publicity if it hadn't been for us, and to bring personalities to life like that is a vital part of Soccer Saturday. After all, the show would be pretty boring if the only coverage we dedicated to the lower leagues was the results and goalscorers. It really raised his profile – he even got a loan move to Northampton – though the fact he was quite handy in the box must have helped, too. He went to play in the States with Real Salt Lake (only in America) against the likes of David Beckham. God knows what Granny Mae must have made of that, but he's back in Scotland with Hamilton Academical now.