Top football people to follow on Twitter - Part 1

A match made in heaven, ain’t it?

Twitter and football: what initially seemed like a concise affair has apparently, turned into a distressed, yet long-term relationship. With the increased digitization of the ‘beautiful game’ in the past decade or so, this social-media platform has taken the world by storm. Noble? Dreadful? Not worth it? Doesn’t matter.

The footballing world has adapted to it like Joey Barton to communal outrage, Piers Morgan to public embarrassment, Chelsea to manager-sacking, or maybe the more clichèd fish to water (I tried pretty hard to sneak in a Balotelli reference there, but failed).

The Twitter bird has taken you to places (read John Terry’s bedroom), and exposed you to stories (read Ryan Giggs’ super-injunction) you couldn’t have possibly imagined before.

Want to know what your favourite footballer had for dinner last night? Want to indulge in the chronicles of your beloved footballer’s love-life?

Don’t worry, let your anxieties take a backseat. There’s a budding journalist hidden somewhere on this planet, figuring out the answers to all your questions while you stare at your handheld or your computer. Not to forget, there are also the trivial matters of team-sheets, match previews, analysis, reviews and pre/post-match reactions.

In this piece, I’ll be enlisting the ‘big daddies’ of football journalism on the Twitter-verse:

1. Henry Winter (@henrywinter)-

The Godfather of football journalism in Britain, Winter hardly needs any introduction. He currently earns his corn as a football correspondent with The Daily Telegraph, having worked with The Independent during the time of it’s inception. He has formerly written a column for Four Four Two magazine, and has been involved in the co-ordination of autobiographies of Liverpool legends like Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes and Steven Gerrard. He played a crucial role in putting up the book FA Confidential, and often part of the Sky Sports and BBC Radio panel.

He himself made headlines recently after honouring a bet he lost against Newcastle manager Alan Pardew by taking a dip in the River Tyne. Winter is concise in his tweets, impartial and doesn’t mind the occasional humour either. He replies to fans’ queries as well.

On the recent Ashley Cole controversy

2. Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore)-

A retired English footballer, he is the man who once broke the British transfer record when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for €8.5 million. He is now a full-time broadcaster with talkSPORT. He started his career in journalism with BBC Radio Five Live, has done gigs for ITV Central and British Eurosport, and is a regular commentator and studio analyst for GTV (Ghana) and SBS Sport (Australia). Currently, he hosts Kick Off and Call Collymore, two radio shows for talkSPORT. Having been a victim of depression himself, he supports anti-depression organisations and frequently tweets about them. Astute, cheerful and opinionated in his tweets, he is one of the few guys out there who have taken their talents on the field to the Internet with much aplomb.

on the Anfield renovation plans

3. Oliver Kay (@OliverKayTimes)-

His appointment as Chief Football Correspondent at the The Times, and choice to be the successor to Martin Samuel (another highly-rated football journalist) confirms his widely-renowned reputation. After starting with The Nottingham Evening Post and The Evening Sentinel in Stoke, he has slowly stepped up the ladder of football journalism as one of the most respected professionals around. He is one of the few prized journos out there to have survived the crunch when News International decided to charge a £2 a week subscription to his articles. Having been part of the British contingent of press members for the 2010 World Cup, he has covered the EURO 2012 campaign, along with Team Great Britain’s 2012 Olympics campaign. Replies quite often, and breaks news before most others.

on the John Terry conviction

4. Tony Evans (@TonyEvansTimes) -

A devout Liverpool supporter and another esteemed member of the press from The Times bandwagon, he started his career across the waters as an editor for an American weekly, First Down (Football Monthly). A call back from home meant that he started his career in England with The Sunday Times, later moving to The Times, with who he now works as The Football Editor. With apparently no formal training in journalism, he’s what they call the ‘reader’s editor’. He is renowned for his book, Far Foreign Land, in which he artistically captured his eight-day journey by train to Istanbul for the 2005 European Championship final.

on controversies surrounding Luis Suarez

5. David Conn (@david_conn) -

One of football journalism’s finest analytical minds, this correspondent from North Yorkshire started his career as a weekly columnist for The Independent in 1999, before moving on to The Guardian in 2005. His expertise in the exploratory issues of ownership and financing in football led to the authoring of books like The Beautiful Game?: Searching the Soul of Football and Richer Than God: Manchester City. He was voted the UK Sports News Reporter of the Year in 2010 for his world-class work in broadcasting whilst having won the F0otball Writer of the Year thrice already in 2002, 2005 and 2009 respectively. Smart, interesting and intellectual in his tweets, he doesn’t seem to disappoint his army of almost 50,000 followers.

On the recent shift in power regarding the Portsmouth ownership

6. Oliver Holt (@OllieHolt22) -

A regular guest on the Sunday Supplement, he made the headlines last year when Rio Ferdinand apparently called him a “fat prick” via a personal message (not that personal any more). He won the Sports Writer of the Year and Sports Journalist of the Year in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Highly opinionated, slightly misdirected and a huge fan of tweet replies.

On Ferdinand’s refusal to wear the ‘KIO’ t shirt

7. John Cross (@johncrossmirror) -

He is one of the most engaging journalists on Twitter, who also happens to write for The Daily Mirror. In 2009, he wrote an article addressing the issue of ‘homophobia’ in football and remains one of the few to have constantly addressed the issue. The Gooner that he is, he is often found discussing issues related to Arsenal.

at the recent Poland vs England game

8. Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) -

The Chief Football Writer for The Guardian and Observer started his journey with the Newark Adviser. He has worked as The Guardian’s inside man at Manchester United, and also broke the ‘Bebe to United’ story first.

Has written a few books, the most notable and popular of them being ‘This is the one’ and ‘Squeaky Bum Time’ (not their full names), both being adaptations from Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at Old Trafford.

on Michael Owen vs Manchester City earlier this season

9. Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) -

He’s regarded as one of the finest journalists ever to have written for the BBC and currently works with them as their Chief Football Writer. Dignified and audacious in his tweets, he’s known for sparking the hottest debates concerning the Premier League.

His Twitter feed usually consists of links to his brilliantly-written and managed blog, vigorous football debates and live commentary.Doesn’t mind the occasional banter either.

on Coloccini vs Sunderland last weekend

10. Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) -

A Scottish football journalist who earns his corn at The Sunday Times, The National and Sports Illustrated - three very famous news brands in the world. He regularly features in the Champions magazine too.

He keeps close tabs on the less pronounced transfer rumours/dealings. In 2011, he caused a stir in the transfer market by publicizing Barcelona‘s pre-contract deal with Santos for Neymar worth €10 million.

On Liverpool’s transfers situation