Tony Winning Put Me Through the Wringer and I Survived!

Seeing the names of Tony Winning and the greatest Sports Editor Steve Parry mentioned together in Nelson Graves’ lovely memoir, sparked a long-forgotten memory involving the same two men -- my very beginnings at Reuters in July 1993.

I had originally met Steve at the LA Olympics in 1984 when I was covering them for UPI and Steve was leading the rival Reuters team. We struck up an immediate liking for one other and kept in touch over the years until the fates conspired and an opening came up on the Sports Desk at 85 Fleet Street.

Steve interviewed me for the job and said, “As far as I’m concerned you could start tomorrow, but it’s not that simple. “I’m going to put your name forward, but you’re going to have to be interviewed by a fellow called Tony Winning, and that’s not going to be easy. He can be fairly intimidating.”

So Steve, a master of man-management and diplomacy, who regularly held his own against formidable counterparts like Tony, coached me on what questions he was likely to ask and what my replies should be.

“He won’t ask you who won the FA Cup in 1927 or who won Wimbledon last year because he has no idea, but he will ask you where you see yourself being in five years’ time. If he asks you that, say you’d be looking at being a bureau manager, or if he asks are you interested in derivatives, of course say you are.

“Show no negativity, no uncertainty, say this if he asks you that, show him you’re ambitious, he likes that “ etc etc etc.

I had the interview the following week - and Steve was right - Tony put me through the wringer. But I passed with flying colours and got the job.

Afterwards, Steve told me, “Tony was very impressed. You gave him all the right answers to every question he asked you. He thinks you’ll be OK! How did you pull that off so well? He’s a very hard man to please”  -- knowing full well he very much helped to get me through it.

That was the start of my 24 years at Reuters. Steve and Tony didn’t always see eye to eye on every twist and turn. But they came together as a great double act for me all those years ago.

 RIP Tony and pleased I passed the audition.

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