Neil Morris Interview - Rev's reflections

As Mike pointed out below, the interview I did with Neil Morris is all transcribed and up live on the official Phoenix website at www.manchesterphoenix.co.uk.

After recording it, transcribing it and mailing it over to Mike, I've now had the chance to sit back, read it through, and take it in. When you're recording an interview you only tend to half-listen to the answers as you've got one eye on your recording levels and the other on your pre-written questions sheet, and when you're transcribing it the best way is to take it in sections of about ten or so words, so it never makes sense until you read it all through again later.

A couple of things struck me about the interview. Firstly, the support that the Elite League are offering Phoenix is actually quite impressive. Sure, the cynic in you may say that it's because they want to keep Phoenix alive for their own ends, and that may partly be the case, but for that all they'd really have to do is say "yes we support you" and offer us first dibs on fixture dates next season. But what they've done is offered to give tickets to their home games to the Phoenix office to be sold on to the fans, so that the fans can get their hockey fix and the Phoenix can add some cash to the coffers to keep us afloat during a season where no money is coming in. That means that each of the clubs that gives those tickets to the Phoenix office will be making no money whatsoever on them. Zilch, zippo, nada. If I wanted to go and see Sheffield take on Belfast, my twelve quid would have gladly been handed to the Hallam FM Arena box office without a second thought. But now I've been given the choice to buy the same ticket from Phoenix and see that money go to help my club, and not the club I'm going to see!

That speaks volumes about ice hockey to me.

Yes there are rivalries between clubs and fans, mostly friendly rivalries (except when some idiots take it a little too far) but the history of ice hockey throughout the UK is littered with examples of how ice hockey fans and teams will do their best to look out for and look after each other. I don't know of any other sport where that happens.

The second thing that struck me is something that I've known for a while but it really came to the fore in the interview, and that's how much of his heart and soul Neil Morris has put into this ice hockey club. I'm not talking about the money, although it's clear to all and sundry that he's sank enough money into the club to give his bank manager a coronary, but Neil's given this club everything he's got.

When I conducted the interview it was by phone - I work in Stoke on Trent, and the Phoenix office is 60 miles away in Droylsden, so a face to face meeting was impractical. I have the luxury of a teaching-standard radio studio at work, and it was from there that I did the interview, using a phone line the same as those used by radio call-in shows, so I could record Neil down the phone and speak to him through a studio mic. Anyway, what doesn't occur to a lot of people is that I'm calling Neil at the Phoenix office which shares a building with Comtec Presentations. Who's their Managing Director? Neil Morris. The guy is trying to hold down two full time jobs at the same time, he's running a hockey club and he's running a Production House at the same time. The man has got to be running himself ragged just trying to keep up with himself.

Comtec aren't small-fry. These are the people who are handling jobs such as staging the TUC Conference, they're doing awards ceremonies for people like BAFTA, they're staging product launches like Eurofighter. Neil's at the helm of it all, and he's always on the go because of it. And then he takes on a hockey club on top of it all. The man's a nutter.

Whenever I talk with Neil about Phoenix or FOMIH (which over the past two years has been rather frequently, let me tell you) there's always a passion in what he's doing, a desire to do things right and make a succesful job of it. The past year has probably been absolute hell for Neil, he's gone to the mountain and back so many times for the club that any lesser man would have packed up and walked away by now. The answers he gave in that interview are perfect illustrations of his drive, his want to see the club succeed.

And before anyone thinks I'm writing this to kiss a little corporate ass, let me point out that neither Mike, Carl nor myself are paid by Phoenix. In fact we paid our way just like everyone else through this season. I paid full whack for my season ticket, I bought my ticket for the Ice Sheffield game, I bought my replica shirts, heck I even bought my own camera tapes for all the interviews that I filmed. So I'm not trying to hike a pay rise out of Neil with this. I'm trying to say it like I see it.

I guess what I'm doing with this piece is having a veiled rant. Whenever I hear someone whinging about the club, or I see a posting on a forum saying that the club are being lazy and not trying and aren't keeping people informed, it cheeses me off. No, that's not strong enough - it p***ses me off. Do they think that the Phoenix office staff are sat on their collective arses, firing staples into the waste paper bin for entertainment? Argh!

Am I too defensive of Neil? Probably. He's a grown man, he can take care of himself, that much is clear. But I guess I have the luxury of seeing just how much effort, how much blood sweat and tears the man puts into his hockey club. And when I see that, I know that we are going to have hockey back next season, because Neil won't let it not happen.

As someone has pointed out on one of the internet hockey fan forums, if the whole sport was ran by an army of Neil Morrises, ice hockey would be all the better for it.