AS A CHIEF Football Writer of Britain’s top selling and most widely read
newspaper, the influence Shaun Custis wields over the world of football
means his work is read by players and managers as well as millions of
football fans.
In reference to both himself and his brother, Neil, also a sports writer
for The Sun, Alex Ferguson once remarked that ‘there are too many fucking
Custis’ in this world’ (after Neil was mistakenly banned from Old Trafford
for an article Shaun had written). But such heated reaction comes with the
territory for Sun journalists.
My naivety had led me to believe that working for a newspaper like The Sun
surely meant that the big sports stories would be easier to access and
information easier to acquire, but my assumption couldn’t have been further
from the truth. ‘It is the opposite,’ Shaun tells me, ‘When managers and
players speak to The Times or The Guardian they think they are going to get
an easy ride. But when The Sun rings up they often run a mile, a call from
us can make people jump.’
Previously a writer for The People and Sports Editor at the Daily Express,
Shaun Custis is used to being a point of criticism for players and managers.
Sir Bobby Robson famously invited Shaun down to the Newcastle United
training ground to explain his comments after he had written an article in
which he noted that Newcastle needed four changing rooms at St James’ Park
to cater for the number of different cliques within the squad. As a Geordie,
he was surprisingly unhurt by Sir Bobby’s attack.
‘You have to have a thick skin. You soon realise that people will attack
you, that people will ridicule you on radio and television. Sir Bobby had a
different view on things that I did, that’s just different interpretations
If you believe that what you’ve written is correct then you can handle the
criticism.’
It isn’t just managers and players then that have to shake off criticism.
‘Gordan Strachan can make you look stupid at press conferences and Managers
like (Sir) Alex Ferguson will know everything that’s being written about him
and his team in every newspaper by 8am and you have to deal with that. I
know Rio Ferdinand very well and he has got a lot of stick of The Sun in the
past and he understands… he doesn’t like it, but he understands that’s
just the way it is.’
And that is the way it has been for a host of players and managers in recent
years. One cannot fail to forget The Sun’s treatment of Steve McClaren
during his reign as England manager, calling him such names as ‘Maccy Mouse’
and ‘the Brolly Wally’. For Custis however, it all boils down to whether
newspapers lead or follow public opinion.
‘We often get criticised for getting stuck into a manager, but it’s often
nothing compared to the stick he’s getting of the fans. One of the most
uncomfortable games I have ever been at was when England played away in
Andorra under McClaren and we were drawing 0-0 at half time. The fans
completely turned on McClaren and it was vicious. As a journalist hanging
around the England camp you can see how players react with the manager and
we only write what we see.’
But is all this talk of newspaper influence and power becoming slightly
dated? The authority of papers such as The Sun has undoubtedly shrunk in
recent years as the numbers of copies being sold has fallen as more and more
of us turn to the web for our daily dosage of news.
‘The Internet undoubtedly provides newspapers with a serious challenge,’ he
admits, ‘But those who talk of newspapers dying in the next twenty or thirty
years ignore the fact that The Sun for instance sells three million copies a
day, each copy being read by on average three people, meaning nine million
read what we write every day. Yes there is shrinkage, but the fact is people
still love reading newspapers. The question is how we can work with the
Internet, and how we do it without losing money?’