Patrick Barclay was one of the UK’s most highly respected journalists and writers. Former Chief Football Commentator for The Times and Sports Journalist of the Year, he previously worked for The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent and The Observer. He also appeared regularly on Sky Sports and TalkSPORT. In 1994 Patrick was voted Britain’s leading sports writer.
Barclay travelled widely during his career, covering seven World Cups, eight European Championships, and four African Nations Cups. Educated in Dundee he remained a lifelong supporter of Dundee FC. He wrote a number of highly successful and critically acclaimed books including Football – Bloody Hell: The Biography of Alex Ferguson (Yellow Jersey, 2010), Mourinho: Anatomy of a Winner (Orion), which was updated and republished in 2015, The Life and Times of Herbert Chapman: the Stories of One of Football’s Most Influential Figures (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2014) which was shortlisted for the Football Book of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015. His last book, Sir Matt Busby: The Man Who Made a Football Club (Ebury, 2017) was shortlisted for the Cross Football Book of the Year at the Sports Book of the Year awards 2017. (DL)