Joining Bartholomew today is retired sport journalist Tony Rickson following the publication of his third football book. PLUS: We take a look back at Sheppey's historic FA Cup win.
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00:00 Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:20 up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Bartholomew Hall and here's what to expect on this Friday,
00:26 the 20th October. Sheppey's glory, penalty triumph propels United into first FA Cup Round
00:34 One appearance. Charity kick-off, All Hallows gears up for inaugural Cross Park charity
00:43 football match. And kicking on we talk retirement, writing and rejuvenation with former Kent
00:49 sports journalist Tony Rickson. Hello there. But first of all, let's take a look at the
00:56 round-up of the headlines. England's World Cup star Ben Earl, who started his career
01:00 at Sevenoaks Rugby Club, says he is eternally grateful for his former club and the support
01:06 received by fans throughout the competition. In a video posted to the England team's social
01:12 media, Earl recounts the early days of his career at the club. England are set to face
01:16 their toughest challenge of the World Cup yet this weekend as they take on defending
01:21 champion South Africa. And one of those who will be watching, of course, is Sevenoaks
01:26 chairman Steve Fitzmaurice, who spoke to us earlier this week. Ben Earl, who was on Sevenoaks
01:33 Rugby Club's books coming up through the junior section, is having an absolutely storming
01:38 tournament. He's inspired the nation, let alone Sevenoaks Rugby Club, and we're looking
01:42 forward to seeing him go well for England. He was always full of enthusiasm, full of
01:46 commitment, giving it 100% on the pitch. He was an incredible athlete, multi-sport in
01:52 terms of his talents. It wasn't just rugby. And then he went on in his rugby career and
01:59 look at where he is today. A tennis player from Dartford has become the first teenager
02:04 to win the men's UK Pro League. After 480 matches and up against more than 100 other
02:10 players and not dropping a set all week, Patrick Brady bagged himself a place in the finals
02:16 hosted at the National Tennis Centre. Securing an early break in both sets, Brady won against
02:22 Giles Hussey, who sat nearly 400 places above him in the ATP rankings, 6-3. Reflecting on
02:28 his success, Brady says he is overjoyed after training hard and having to set out this season
02:34 to try and win a significant title. Well, congratulations to him. Now, on to football
02:38 and this week, Sheppey United made history as a tense penalty shootout confirmed their
02:43 place in the first round proper of the FA Cup for the very first time. A goal from Dan
02:48 Bradshaw in the opening minutes made sure that Sheppey were leading most of the way,
02:53 but an 85th minute equaliser from Billa Ricci sent the game into extra time and teed up
02:58 penalties. Now, Sheppey keeper Aidan Prowse's save was the decider as a perfect five spot
03:03 kicks from the Ikes won them a place and they're now set to face League Two team Walsall in
03:07 the first round. And of course, we found out today that game will be on TV. We caught up
03:11 with Sheppey's captain Richie Hamill earlier this week.
03:14 I've watched the video probably about 15 times this morning as well. So yeah, yeah, just
03:28 overwhelmed with emotion, really. I think the way the game went as well is a really
03:33 sort of traditional FA Cup tie as you sort of remember him obviously going ahead and
03:37 then being pegged back sort of five, 10 minutes to go and then having to sort of pick ourselves
03:42 up and go again, really. I think I felt quite confident when he went to penalties. I knew
03:47 Aidan would save one. So as long as we sort of converted our five, I knew we'd win. But
03:52 yeah, great feeling at the end.
03:55 At home, I fancy us against against most teams. Yeah, so it was good to get him back. I thought
04:07 on the day on the Saturday, I thought we probably could have won it and that maybe sort of our
04:11 chance maybe slipped away. But I think we performed to the same level again on the last
04:17 night. So yeah, happy to get it over the line. This season, it's been a bit of a stop start
04:22 in the league, but the FA Cup has put a massive light on the club, which is obviously going
04:26 to be a good thing. So yeah, sort of long may it continue.
04:32 Keith Millen will be in the dugout at Priestfield as the team takes on Notts County this weekend.
04:37 The team is appealing the red card he received in last weekend's match against Walsall. Millen
04:42 denies touching the Walsall player who had appeared as though he tripped over. Meanwhile,
04:47 young midfielder Dom Jeffery says he's confident Gillingham can get the win this weekend. We
04:51 heard from them both.
04:52 It's going to be an interesting game. They're both good sides, Notts County are very good
04:57 sides. Obviously they lost 4-1 on the weekend, but so do we. Yeah, it'll be interesting to
05:01 see what happens. It could be a 0-0. I think we have everything in the squad to go and
05:07 get three points Saturday.
05:09 We've got video evidence to show that I don't touch the player. All I've done was just stop
05:18 the ball. I was really conscious that we had to move on very quickly on Monday. So we sort
05:24 of put Saturday to bed on Monday and then all week we've just been working towards this
05:28 game. So it's a big game for a lot of reasons. Obviously we're both near the top of the league
05:39 and we know what to expect from them and we've got to make sure we compete and hopefully
05:45 we can cause them some problems.
05:48 Now here's a quick look at the football fixtures happening this weekend. As we were saying,
05:52 Gillingham are back at home this Saturday as they host a high-flying Notts County side.
05:56 We're who are becoming the eighth team in history to play 5,000 football league matches.
06:01 The clash will see the League Two's third best attack try to outscore a Gilles team
06:05 who currently have the worst goal scoring record in the division.
06:09 In the National League, Ebbs Fleet will be travelling north to play an AFC Fylde side
06:13 routed to the bottom of the table, coming off the back of three consecutive defeats
06:17 while the Fleet, who have lost four of their last five games, look to find some form again.
06:22 And it's a quadruple home billing in the National South, with Maidstone looking to jump into
06:27 the automatic promotion places with a win against Farnborough, whilst a loss for Dover
06:32 Athletic against Hemel Hempstead could see them finish the weekend at the foot of the
06:36 table.
06:37 Dartford host bottom side Haventon Waterlooville, while Tunbridge will have their work cut out
06:41 against a third-placed Bath City.
06:43 And in the Itzmian Premier, Chatham look to continue their great start to the season away
06:47 to Concord Rangers, as folks can travel to relegation-threatened Kingstonian and Margate
06:51 host Hashtag United.
06:53 Well, one more event that's happening this weekend is a charity football match happening
06:58 at All Hallows in Medway.
07:01 I spoke to the organiser earlier this week.
07:03 So Christian, thank you very much for joining us here today.
07:07 Welcome to Invicta Sport.
07:08 Tell me about this charity football match.
07:10 Yeah, so the charity football match, it was initially just going to be a charity football
07:14 match.
07:15 It was on May 31st, so this coming Saturday, and it's sort of blossomed from there.
07:19 It's now going to be a whole day family fun event.
07:22 So there's a six-team tournament and then family fun all around it.
07:27 It sounds like there's definitely something to go along to if people are looking for something
07:30 to do this weekend.
07:31 Now, you've chosen two charities for this event that you're going to be donating the
07:35 proceeds to.
07:36 Tell me about those.
07:37 Yeah, so two.
07:38 The first one is Last Chance Animal Rescue.
07:41 So they basically save animals from unneedly being put down and then look to re-home them.
07:47 And then the Red Eagle Foundation look after and support disadvantaged, disabled and terminally
07:52 ill children.
07:53 They're both based in Kent because we wanted to choose local charities to help.
07:57 Absolutely, and it's important.
07:58 We hear from charities all the time on CAMTV about that local support.
08:02 And that second charity as well, I know that you have quite a personal story with that
08:06 as well about your brother, is that right?
08:08 Yeah, that's right.
08:09 So we never used the Red Eagle Foundation ourselves, but yeah, my brother, Colby, would
08:16 have been brilliant had we had known about the stuff that they do because it's very close
08:20 to our family.
08:21 Obviously, he was born and he had disabilities, cystic fibrosis.
08:27 So the work that they do is really close because it's helped support families in similar situations.
08:32 It's such an inspiring story as well that you're doing this in memory of your brother
08:35 and for him as well.
08:38 Now, when people come along this Saturday, what can they expect?
08:40 Obviously, there's a football match in the middle.
08:42 Who's going to be playing?
08:43 What's that sort of?
08:44 Yeah, so there's a football match.
08:46 So the football matches go on from 10 till about half past three and then the trophy
08:49 presentation.
08:50 There's a mix of teams.
08:53 Some got in touch with me and said, "Really want to be a part of it?"
08:55 And they put together a team.
08:58 But some of them, there's a family team that's taking part.
09:01 And yeah, around the football, we've got food stalls, we've got carnival games, some lawn
09:06 games for the children.
09:08 There's even an ice cream van and it's free to come.
09:12 And it's dog friendly as well.
09:13 So everyone can come.
09:14 Well, it sounds like the perfect day.
09:17 Why football?
09:18 You could have done any sort of sporting event.
09:20 Why put on a match?
09:22 I used to play back in the day.
09:24 I used to play myself.
09:26 And before lockdown, we actually done a 12-hour football charity match.
09:30 And this was going to be something that was going to be later that year.
09:33 But then lockdown sort of got in the way.
09:36 But being a big football fan myself, it sort of is something I'm passionate about.
09:40 So it's easy to get behind and plan.
09:42 Are you going to be taking part yourself?
09:43 I'm not.
09:44 No, I'm going to be running around, making sure everyone has fun.
09:47 But yeah, no, my playing days are over.
09:49 Brilliant.
09:50 And have you got a sort of target in mind, how much money you want to raise for the two
09:53 charities?
09:54 No target as such, really.
09:56 Yeah, I mean, every team that's participated has paid an entry fee.
10:00 So there is an amount already being raised before we even start the day, which is brilliant.
10:05 And we've got the raffle on the day, which has got some really lovely prizes that have
10:10 been donated.
10:12 So yeah, any amount is brilliant.
10:14 But yeah, as much as we can, basically.
10:16 That's great.
10:17 It sounds like there's so much fun for the whole family.
10:20 You talked about the raffle there.
10:21 What kind of prizes can we expect?
10:23 Yeah, so we've had some businesses donate.
10:26 So we've got Copper Rivet Distillery have donated a tour for two.
10:30 Chapel Down Winery have donated a tour.
10:33 We've had people donate £50 Amazon vouchers, M&S vouchers.
10:37 There's so many I've got to do a second poster.
10:39 I can't fit them all on the one.
10:41 But yeah, there is just tons.
10:43 I've been blown away by how many people have supported it.
10:46 And the sponsors as well.
10:48 The sponsors on the front of the programmes, they have basically funded the whole day.
10:52 Without them, it wouldn't be possible because everything's been covered.
10:55 So all the money raised goes to the charities on the day.
10:58 That's fantastic stuff.
10:59 I mean, you've put so much effort into this.
11:01 You said that it's been a project working on for a few years.
11:03 Can we expect some more fundraisers from you in the future?
11:07 Quite possibly.
11:08 It's been a task, but I've really enjoyed it.
11:12 And yeah, if Saturday goes how I've got it in my head, then yeah, I can definitely see
11:16 it becoming more than just a one-off.
11:18 Fantastic.
11:19 Well, Christian, if you give it a variety of sports and your different sort of events,
11:24 we'll be definitely coming along to support it and to cover it on Invicta Sport.
11:28 Thank you very much for joining us today.
11:29 Brilliant.
11:30 Thank you.
11:31 Now, we've reached half time, which means it's time for a break.
11:34 But coming up, I'll be speaking with Tony Rickson, the former Kent Sport journalist
11:38 who has just released his third book.
11:41 We'll be talking about how to know when it's time to quit and how to keep on going afterwards.
11:45 Plus, we'll have action replay with all the latest clips sent in by you, the KNTV viewers,
11:50 of you getting active in the county.
11:52 See you then.
11:53 Thank you.
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15:09 Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport live on KMTV.
15:15 We have a brand new section of the KMTV website to share with you today.
15:19 We've just launched a dedicated sports section where you can keep up to date with all the latest sports stories,
15:24 interviews and features from across the county.
15:27 Just head to kmtv.co.uk and click on sport.
15:30 There you can check out videos like this one from back in September where we sent our reporter Abbey out to try out paddle boarding in Tunbridge.
15:38 A passion for paddling, protecting wildlife and reducing plastic.
15:44 Here's a sport that encompasses all three.
15:48 Paddle boarding.
15:50 Sapwith Anna was born out of a love for the water during a very isolated time in the pandemic and the water sport has since soared in popularity.
16:00 It's the fastest growing sport in UK at the moment.
16:03 Definitely more so with female attendance.
16:07 So from my stats about 88% are women but also we have some men just a bit more on the competitive side.
16:15 So we have racing as well.
16:17 We do, loads of our members do race.
16:21 Yes, huge, huge growth in the last four years.
16:25 And Anna a huge issue that we've seen hit all the headlines recently as well is sewage and the sewage discharge pollution in our rivers like the River Medway that we're on right now.
16:35 How worried are you about river pollution and what that could mean for your business?
16:39 Super worried.
16:41 There is more and more we hear about obviously because the paddle boarding community is growing.
16:46 So there's a big campaign out now by Lizzie Carr who is the founder of Planet Patrol.
16:50 We're actually testing the waters and it is huge.
16:54 I mean every year I probably have a one week off because of the algae and because of obviously the farmers around us throwing all the chemicals in.
17:04 You have to stop.
17:05 So for me a week in the height of the summer it's huge.
17:09 And also obviously for the benefit of all these people, their mental health, they want to be out on the water.
17:15 It's not good, definitely not good.
17:17 And wildlife, you know, not the last thing.
17:20 Wildlife, you see dead fish, you see dead sheep, it's not good.
17:25 But it's not just sewage polluting the river.
17:29 Found a glass bottle, a shoe, someone was obviously drinking shots because there's loads of shot glasses in there.
17:37 There's a football if I didn't mention that.
17:40 Plastic bottles, loads of paper.
17:43 How long did it take you to find everything you've got today?
17:46 Probably about ten minutes in total.
17:49 It was a good but very sad day.
17:52 Clearing up the river is just one way of giving back to the water they paddle on every day.
17:58 And not only does the sport boost their bodies, but these enthusiasts say it works magic for their minds.
18:05 It makes your mind just go quiet, nothing stresses you out.
18:10 Once you come out of your paddle boarding it's like you are completely refreshed.
18:14 Really good in terms of thinking about in your head the balance, but also in your body.
18:21 So good for muscles all round.
18:23 It's fantastic, it really does help.
18:26 Actually if I've not been out for a few days because of work or family I start to feel that I need to get out.
18:34 It's not just stand up paddle boarding, sit down or kneeling down.
18:38 You can also do yoga on these boards and a litter pick as you go down the river.
18:42 But also it's a pretty interesting way to walk your dog.
18:46 Come on then.
18:48 Abbey Hook and Lola for KMTV.
18:55 Now it's time to welcome our next guest onto Kent tonight.
18:58 Former Kent journalist Tony Rickson has completed a hat trick and released his third book about football.
19:04 Kicking On tells the story of how footballers tackle the game of life after hanging up their boots.
19:10 From the highs of raising money for charity or creating multi-million pound businesses
19:14 to the lows of struggling with mental health, drink and drugs.
19:17 It's all discussed in this book.
19:19 Well here to talk about it and the release and to share a bit of insight into his own career is the former group sports editor for the Kent Regional Newspapers.
19:27 Tony thank you very much for joining us. Welcome to Invictus Sport.
19:31 First question, this is your third book. What inspired you to take on this topic in particular?
19:36 I always like those features that you see in newspapers about the Coventry Cities team who won the cup final in the 1980s.
19:44 What do they do now? Where are they now?
19:46 I've always been interested in those, what happens to people in mid-age after they've had the heights of their career in their 20s perhaps.
19:53 I started researching it and I found a figure that said that 4 out of 10 retired professional footballers suffer some sort of mental health problem.
20:02 Anxiety, depression, perhaps money worries because they've invested badly or been misadvised.
20:08 And I wanted really to do a book about the 6 out of 10 who hadn't suffered problems.
20:14 I think football is positive, I think it's joyful, I think it's exciting and exhilarating.
20:20 And I want to reflect more that side of football in the books that I've written rather than the anxieties and the depression of it.
20:27 Yeah of course, I mean I really love the way the book opens.
20:30 You sort of take the perspective of a sort of anonymous footballer who's reached that point in his career where it's either he leaves or the manager kicks him out.
20:39 That seems to be something that we kind of hear from footballers across the board, that it's kind of this shared experience.
20:46 But then after they leave, it's completely different for every footballer.
20:50 Absolutely, I think coping with retirement is a really important subject and it does crop up a lot in the book.
20:56 I think there's a lot of advice for people, it's not a textbook but there is a lot of advice about retiring.
21:02 I think of retirement not just from a career, you retire from singing in a choir or playing cricket.
21:10 I played cricket until I was in my 60s, I was playing in the Kent League.
21:13 And retiring from something like that is quite a wrench, you've got to think about it and plan what you do the following Saturday.
21:20 And similarly in the book, I think a lot of footballers talk about how they had to think it through, how they had to cope with it.
21:28 I think you should always have a small period of reflection after you've retired, say from a job,
21:35 where you try not to wake up at the same time that you had to wake up for all the years that you had to be somewhere at a certain time of day.
21:43 And then I think you've got to get on with life and do something afresh and new.
21:47 And the footballers who challenge themselves to do that, I think make the most interesting stories in the book.
21:53 Absolutely, but of course many footballers stay in the footballing world as well, become managers or coaches.
22:00 Do you think that's part of that routine and that sort of being in amongst the dressing rooms, that kind of scene, is that why they stay on do you find?
22:09 Absolutely, I think that giving up the camaraderie is a huge part of retiring from playing football.
22:16 And if you can stay in football and work in an academy or become a manager or a coach or a pundit on television,
22:23 then I think that will be the first option that footballers like to take.
22:27 But you can only have one manager for 11 players and so the opportunities are limited and you've got to be a special sort of personality to be a manager.
22:37 So I think that taking a step away from football is a huge one, but for lots of footballers they're forced to do it because there aren't the opportunities.
22:49 Well there's one opportunity going at the moment at Gillingham's for any sort of former footballers that want to come in and take that one.
22:55 But no, I find it's quite ironic in a way that you've retired from being a journalist yourself and you've carried on with something that you love in terms of writing.
23:04 Why did you decide to pick up writing books?
23:07 I think ironics are weird words to use. I wanted in retirement to do two things, which was to keep fit in mind and in body.
23:17 I'd walk about five miles every day and try to keep fit and healthy.
23:22 I wanted to do something that kept me busy, kept me occupied, something to do in the evenings perhaps when my wife's got the television on and it's a programme I don't want to watch.
23:33 So that's how it started and I was thrilled when the publishers accepted my idea for a first book and will continue to be thrilled if they take in a second or a third.
23:44 It's a great hobby, I love the writing, I love the researching. I'm not quite sure about the publicising of it afterwards, but there you go.
23:52 Just quickly before we wrap up then, when you look back over your career with Kent Regional Newspapers, are there any highlights that you could share with us?
23:59 I think there are lots. How many minutes more have you got?
24:03 Give us one.
24:05 You've caught me by surprise there. I was a sports journalist for many years for them. I also went into the other side of the newspaper and I became an editor.
24:15 There were lots of highlights while I was an editor. Some of them, can you have bad highlights? I think you can have bad highlights.
24:22 I think they can be good or bad. I'm sure you can fit it all into another book if you ever think of writing an autobiography.
24:29 But that's all the time we have unfortunately here. Thank you very much for joining us.
24:33 My pleasure.
24:34 And that is really all the time we've reached on today's episode. There's just a couple of minutes more extra time to take a look at this week's Action Replay.
24:42 First up on this week's Action Replay and it's a trip to St Michael's Prep School in Sevenoaks, where it's girls under 11 hockey squad has just won the IAP's Under 11 Regional Girls Championships.
24:54 In the quarter final against St Faith's School, a hat trick from Captain Elizabeth sent them to the semis, where a 2-0 win over Bancroft School has granted them a place in the national finals in November.
25:06 Reflecting on the competition, Elizabeth said even though the highlight of the day was winning the semi final, the delicious lunch was a pretty close second.
25:15 Next, Kent-born Dame Kelly Holmes has taken on a huge eco-themed relay triathlon to raise awareness of ocean conservation.
25:23 The athletics icon teamed up with long-distance swimmer Ross Edgley and Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy in this never attempted before challenge, which saw a 15.8km cycle, a 1.5km swim and 11km sprint in their respective specialities.
25:41 And finally, here we have the Bay Point Blazers Under 17 squad in their final preparations taking place before the inaugural East Kent Youth Basketball League matches take place this Sunday.
25:53 The league is the only youth basketball league in the area and will give those youngsters hoping for a future in the sport a chance to play competitively, with teams from the Canterbury Kings to the Folkstone Saints.
26:05 Don't forget if you want to appear on next week's Action Replay, all you need to do is send in your clips and pics to our social media or an email.
26:15 And just as Sophia said there, don't forget if you want to appear in next week's Action Replay, you absolutely can.
26:22 Tag us on social media @kmtvkent or send in your clips to our email sport@kmtv.co.uk.
26:29 All you need to do is tell us what part of Kent you come from and what it is you do. We'll do all the rest and you'll be on your local TV.
26:35 Well that really is full time on today's episode of Invicta Sport.
26:39 If you want more from KMTV you can head to our website kmtv.co.uk but from me I'll see you on Monday.
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