team; visiting Mopti in the north-east, with its peeling sign on entry proclaiming it the “Venice of Africa” (“not much like Venice”, claims Wilson); being invited to Taribo West’s 28th birthday party at a church in Milan – you could see why he was so enamoured with it.
Indeed, covering African football would appear one of the more challenging jobs as a journalist. Characterised by delay, confusion and poor infrastructure, one would wonder why a man who has also attended his fair share of European Championships and World Cups would continue to bother. But rather it precisely these things that makes Africa Cup of Nations so special.
“Things actually happens at Cup of Nations, there’s always a story. You’re never churning out dull previews. At the end of the World Cup, you’re always scrabbling around for something to say, a line on something you’ve covered every aspect of. There’s always something to say when you go Africa. Plus access to players is much easier – though has got a little bit stricter since Mali – but there’s always a chance you can rock up to a team hotel and grab a player for a chat. You just have to accept that with transport you have to give yourself plenty of time, Wi-Fi will come and go, that sort of thing”.
Indeed, he goes onto demonstrate with a wonderful story about a journey during the 2012 Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial
to have a global reach. Doing stories on match fixing in Romania, corruption in Serbia seems far more interesting and significant than some Fulham right back who strained his hamstring. That wider socio-cultural, socio-political aspect. It was a real good training ground – Matt Sprio (French football expert and commentator for Eurosport), Ben Lyttleton (European football writer and author of Twelve Yards), Marcus Christenson (football editor at the Guardian), Duncan White (former football correspondent at the Telegraph) – they were all there”.
Clearly a massive player in the shaping of not just the contemporary football journalism landscape but the interests of the modern fan, One Football most importantly introduced Wilson to Mali – a tournament he calls the “best Cup of Nations I’ve done”.
“The pitches were terrible, the football was awful, but the country and the vibe was sensational. Nice hotel, not expensive. Food really good and not expensive – could eat fish straight from the River Niger. It was great”.
As you’d expect, he is abound with tales of his travels in Mali, with the fact it was his first tournament really allowing him to appreciate all the fantastic quirks that African football has to offer. Breaking into a stadium in Segu and stealing the tactical diagrams of Carlos Quieroz’s South Africa team;