The Dale Hurman Interview

Hi, I’m Truman Capote. SMBU recently asked me to conduct an interview with the club's biggest and most surprising signing of the summer, one Dale Hurman. Sadly I’ve been dead for 23 years so someone else had to do it. But here’s what they found out with a threat of "We’ll just make it up if you don’t answer these".

Q1: So first things first, how, when, and maybe even why, did you become a Wycombe fan?
October 1990. I went to watch the Conference game at Slough Town, which ended in an entertaining 3-3 draw. I knew Wycombe had moved to a new ground and visited Adams Park soon afterwards when there wasn’t a game on. Being suitably impressed I went to the FA Cup tie with Basingstoke Town. We won 6-0. The following week we played top of the table and unbeaten Kettering Town and thrashed them 5-1 in front of 4,000. It literally was pulsating stuff; some of the goals from the likes of Nicky Evans, Mark West and Dave Carroll were just fantastic. A week later we played Yeovil at home and I couldn’t go because I was ill. I was gutted. I wanted to be there. I was hooked. I had previously gone to Loakes Park in 1988 but don’t remember much from the game.

Q2: What has been your most memorable moment in supporting Wycombe?
There have been so many and all of them memorable and special in their own ways. From Westy’s winner at Wembley in 1991 right up to Sergio’s goal at Oxford. If I had to pick one moment it would be the replay at Wimbledon during that FA Cup run.

Q3: …and the worst?
There have been many sickening scenes on the pitch. I’ll never forget the abject performance at Gillingham in an FA Cup replay under Smith or losing to Basingstoke Town on penalties. Scott Barrett scoring for the scum and then their 5-2 win at Adams Park a couple of years later were pretty horrific. However they really do pale into insignificance because the worst moment was when I heard that Mark Philo had died.

Q4: Paul Lambert has bought in a lot of new players over the summer. Have any of them particularly stood out for you so far?
Performance wise I’ve only seem them play a few times to be able to fairly judge. Those I have spoken to have been very polite and friendly.

Q5: What frustrates you about Wycombe or football in general?
How long have you got? The obsession with money over almost everything else. Every single little thing being sponsored. The media’s obsession with the Premiership / Champions League. Players’ wages. Ticket prices. The loss of terraces. The loss of atmosphere. Soul-less plastic stadiums. At Wycombe I find the apathy and the lack of togetherness amongst the supporters frustrating.

Q6: … and what gives you the right fackin’ horn?
Jakki Degg gives me the right fackin’ horn. I’m also developing an unhealthy obsession for Krista Allen at the moment. Whilst football excites me greatly, it is never a sexual excitement.

Q7: So, Football Stats, Grounds, Players, Programmes and Writing, all in the name of Wycombe Wanderers… this must be your ideal job?
Absolutely. I’m loving every second of it.

Q8: How did you get the job?
I had considered applying for the job the previous two times it was available but allowed politics and personalities to get in the way. When I heard that Matt Beadle was leaving I contacted Steve Hayes and expressed my interest in the role. He asked me a few questions and considered it and got back in touch to offer me an interview which I attended and was subsequently offered the job.

Q9: What’s it like working for the club?
It has been fantastic, as I’ve already said I’m loving every second of it. I didn’t have any pre-conceptions of what it would be like. I have been very warmly welcomed by my colleagues, which has been appreciated. There are some great people working there. Working alongside Matt Cecil has been great, his head is bursting with ideas and he is a great writer and is always calm and collected.

Q10: Are you an entryist?
I’m not convinced that working as a website writer would get you very far. I have my own views on how the football club should run, and I have never shied away from voicing them. Instead of being ignored or simply being lip-service, Steve Hayes has genuinely listened and in same cases, acted. This was the case before I started working at the club and is still the case now. It is a small example of how the old constitution could and should have worked.

Q11: What are your strengths and what will you bring to the club?
I hate this question. It’s very easy to sound big-headed and arrogant. I prefer other people to judge. What I would say is I have a willingness to communicate and it’s my intention to inform all supporters as much as is possible. I still have a lot to learn, what is possible and what isn’t and what the restrictions are. I need to improve, be it my writing skills, or my interview technique. Given a little time hopefully the answer will be fairly obvious.

Q15: What do you think of the local media coverage of the Wanderers?
I’ve been on record as saying that the Bucks Free Press’ coverage is disappointing at times. I remember how good the coverage was when we won the non-league double and I think my expectations are based upon those levels. The arrival of our tenants has created a direct competitor for space that once was ours, which isn’t going to help our coverage.

Q16: You have been very critical of the board over recent years particularly on the constitution change, the CRM and the ground sponsorship deal, how did you weigh that up before taking a role working for them?
I am a Wycombe Wanderers supporter and after everything that has happened to this day, I am still a Wycombe Wanderers supporter. After the constitution change I was very disillusioned with things. The vast majority of members clearly indicated that they were not interested in protecting what I’d call “the soul” of the club any longer. Frank Adams memory had already been disrespected. The football team almost seemed to be secondary. It was the last straw. I felt like I had been asked to compromise so many times and I wasn’t prepared to do so again. I was angry and frustrated and despite being a member and having a vote, it wasn’t enough. My personal circumstances meant I could move away, which was something I had always wanted to do but Wycombe Wanderers had always been a reason to stop me. Such was my anger and frustration at the time the move away meant I could make a clean break and it seemed like fate.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and moving away allowed me the space I needed. I remember we played Scunthorpe United at home on a Tuesday evening and for the first time I actually felt like I was 300 miles away. I really wanted to be there. When I was able to just concentrate on the football, the feeling was just as intense as it had always been. When we scored I felt just as elated as I have always done. Off-the-pitch Steve Hayes came to me and offered to listen. That’s all it took. We met, we talked and he listened, even though I had a long list of issues. He treated me as an equal and showed me respect. Not only that but he acted upon them too. He continued to do so during the following two years and things have changed. The ground is rightly named after Frank Adams once more. The club has adopted a policy of not changing our colours unnecessarily away from home. I have a personal dislike of the CRM, but was and am content to have the option to be excluded, which I was allowed and accepted. The only time it became an issue was when it excluded me from the semi-final first leg of the league cup, and even that problem was resolved. It may have taken me over two years but I have finally come to terms with the constitution change although I will never be in favour of it and would prefer to see it change.

All of these issues have effectively been resolved. I have learnt some lessons in the last few years too. Ranting and raving and f’ing and blinding might make me feel better but it doesn’t actually help change things for the better.

Q17: Is there anything that you’ve been critical about the club on in the past that you would now change your opinion on since you’ve experienced things from the inside?
No.

Q18: Many fans, including you, have been left disappointed over recent years about the poor communication from the club. Personally I think it has improved quite a bit over the last couple of years. What is that down to and how will it continue?
We’re talking about a ten years timeframe during which time we have seen the arrival of the Internet, which has changed things considerably. Like you, I think the communication from the club has changed, particularly in the last two years or so. Matt Beadle and James Skitt did an excellent job working on the official website and Wanderers World. You could tell that Matt was a supporter and knew what communication supporters want. Communication is down to a willingness to do so, on the part of both the individual and the club.

Q19: What use have you seen the CRM put to in your time working at the club?
I haven't had any involvement with the CRM yet. When I do, I'll get back to you.

Q20: From the outside it looks as though Steve Hayes and Paul Lambert are doing a very good job and making some great progress with the club. Yet there is still that question of the mounting debt. Are you happy with the way the club is going or do you fear for the future?
Anything that might affect the future of the football club concerns a £4.65m debt and me is worrying and the sooner it is cleared, the better I’ll feel.

Q21: Could you tell us your opinions on the Trusts, whether you are a member and whether moving back into the area and working at the club will change the amount of involvement you have with the Trusts?
I am in favour of trust movement as a whole, although there wasn’t any need for a Supporters Trust at Wycombe until the constitution change and the way the Supporters Trust became involved in the constitution change was distasteful. I am in favour of the merger and it has potential to be a positive organisation. I believe there are some good people on both boards and hopefully those individuals will make up the new board. Its greatest battle will be how it sells itself and fights the apathy. There needs to be that will to communicate with all supporters if it is to be truly representative and to be fully inclusive. I may well become involved in that communication as part of my job. Further than that, I don’t have any plans to get more involved at the moment, but you never know it will depend on circumstances.

Q22: Have you had any embarrassing moments yet? Spilt coffee down your trousers? Stood in front of Alan Parry with your flies open? Forgotten the capacity of Whaddon Road?
No, nothing particularly embarrassing. It’s 7,066 by the way.

Q23: Have you treated your new colleagues to any gems from your record collection?
They haven’t yet had that pleasure.

Q24: What sort of stuff do you read and does it influence the way you write your articles?
I tend to go through spells of reading and tend to go for serious subjects, although usually fiction. George Orwell’s 1984 is probably my favourite book. If I have been influenced by any writer it would have to be “oily sailor” who never fails to impress. He writes in pictures not words.

Q25: Do many of the players come into the office? Who do you get on with best?
The players are based at the training ground most of the time, so they only pop into the office every now and again. In the short time I have been there Russell Martin and Matt Bloomfield have been true gentlemen.

Q26: SMBU remembers you pulling off a fine save in goal for the smbu-dream-team-riverhound-soccer-kickers-6-a-side-first-XI. Have you had a chance to a have a kickabout with any of the players?
Sadly not, but should the day ever come and Paul be watching, watch out Jamie and Scott.

Q27: All friendlies are gash aren't they?
From a supporters perspective they couldn’t be more gash.

Q28: Have you ever been for a day out at Brill Hill, the highest point in Bucks?
I have never been to Brill Hill but I have been for a day out to Coombe Hill, which is near Wendover. There is a memorial to the 148 soldiers from Buckinghamshire who died in the second Boer War, one of whom was my great grandfather. Coombe Hill is 853ft, and it’s my sad duty to tell you that it actually dwarfs poor old Brill Hill, which is less than 700ft. Brill Hill isn’t even the second highest point in Bucks. The highest point in Bucks is actually Haddington Hill, which is 876ft and is about 4 miles north east of Coombe Hill.

Q29: And finally… can we have a prediction for the season?
Sure, Bolton Wanderers to get relegated from the Premiership this season.

21.09.2007. 14:17

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