Dons fan, journalist and Spanish Football expert Graham Hunter was in Aberdeen recently. RedTV caught up with him to find out what he was doing back in Scotland and at Pittodrie…

“It’s down to my sheer utter passion and love for Pittodrie and the Dandies.

“One of the most disagreeable experiences of my working life was having to be at the Camp Nou a few weeks back on a Wednesday night to watch Barcelona maul Valencia 7-0. Four goals for Luis Suarez and three for Lionel Messi, the best footballer who have ever laced up a pair of boots, and I was so unhappy to be there because it clashed with the mighty Dons beating Celtic 2-1. The goals from wee Jonny Hayes and Simon Church, that was all I could think about. So I had to come here as quickly as possible and touch the sacred walls and pay homage.

“It just so happened that Jamie Carragher was in Barcelona with me at the game, because he was going to interview Suarez. He was sitting two down from me and he knows that I am an Aberdeen supporter. So he was leaning across every five minutes to check the score. When we went 2-0 up I erupted. He knew I was not yelling at the referee in the Barca game or marvelling at Neymar’s skills, he just turned round and said “Aberdeen again?!” I said, “You had better believe it!”

“The work that has been done, the signings, the planning, the brand of football, the attitude, the fitness, the youth academy, the belief has put us in a position whereby I think we can have a very good season, it all makes for a hugely exciting time. We have a variety of players who you would pay to watch. There is a winning spirit and an attitude. We have a tactical approach that is very lively and intelligent.

“And during my visit to Pittodrie, I have seen something that stunned me.

“I rarely say that as it is not very often I am taken aback by something in football because I have been fortunate enough to be at the cutting edge of world football for the last 15 years or so as Barcelona give you access, they teach you, they let you speak to people who are unequalled and you witness things which have never been seen before.

“So to come to Pittodrie and to learn about the AFC Youth Academy and the philosophy, strategy, development plans, attitude and practice, which mirrors what I have seen at the Barcelona Youth Academy, is uplifting and absolutely stunning.

“I am aware that other football clubs are coming to us to ask us what we are doing. I am also aware that it is a process that will take a little bit of time to be fully understood.

“Hopefully the club will reach their goal of an AFC Youth Academy graduate making his debut every single season and having a first team in which half the players are made up of those who have come through our Academy.

“The real dividends should come over the next four, five, six years. I am more than willing to wait for that. I remember a time when Iniesta was not just small, but he was 14 and small. That has not lessened my appreciation for him from 19 to 31. Good things come from the investment in time and from good practice and waiting for the harvest to come through.”

Graham is renowned the world over for his knowledge of Spanish football and writes and works for a host of top media outlets including Sky Sports Spanish Football, ESPN, BBC Radio, Talksport, Newstalk, Uefa.com and FourFourTwo Magazine amongst others.

Graham first fell in love with football in Spain when he followed Scotland to the 1982 World Cup. During the 1990s, he often travelled to La Liga to report on and interview the likes of Sir Bobby Robson, Fabio Capello, Johan Cruyff and Louis Van Gaal, He then moved to Spain in 2002 and has been fortunate enough to report on the country’s footballing golden age.

Relationships between the leading football figures and the media in Spain have remained more respect-based and more constructive than in many parts of the UK and his years spent in La Liga have fostered relationships which saw him interview both Xavi and Gerard Piqué in the Wembley dressing room with the Champions League trophy following the celebration of their historic 2011 victory over Manchester United. He was also allowed to report and film inside Spain’s World Cup winning dressing room in Soccer City in 2010 and in the Euro 2012 winning dressing room in Kiev.

His favourite interviews are a who’s who of footballers of the last two generations – Leo Messi, Cruyff, Iker Casillas, Xavi, Pep Guardiola, Steve McManaman, Frank Lampard, Stevie Gerrard, Ronaldinho, Sergio Ramos, Andrés Iniesta, Marcello Lippi, Vicente del Bosque, Luis Aragonés, Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie and Jean Marc Bosman.

He admits that when he is interviewing these greats, “I keep my affiliation to Aberdeen FC (the Mighty Dandies) pretty low key, often not mentioning it for spells as long as 10 or 12 minutes…”
Graham has also started interviewing some of his many friends in football and putting them in a podcast. It sounds simple enough but the results have been stunning.

“The podcast has been fun because it is talking about football to people who were very good at it. To a man, all my guests have been generous and funny and interesting and open. There are three of us involved and we have been overwhelmed by the fact that 1.8 million people have downloaded one of the podcasts, and there have only been 13 or 14. We are not even a year into it.

“We are doing some crowd funding events so people can back us as we are not making any money from them. People did back us and to reward them, we are having some fiestas, something which I am notorious for! The first one we had was in Aberdeen and there was only one venue in the city which we could go to! The home of football!

“Up the dandies!”

The following interview was taken from RedTV. As well as his love of the Dons, he talks about the game in Spain at the moment and gives an insight into the problems facing Gary Neville.

His podcasts, The Big Interview with Graham Hunter, can be found here https://audioboom.com/channel/grahamhunter