The Independent
 

Football writer quits Independent
By Adam Jay,  Friday 3 September 2004

Alan Nixon, one of football's most prolific reporters, has severed his links with the Independent following an argument over an alleged conflict of interest involving Wayne Rooney's agent.
Nixon had written for the newspaper for over a decade when his shareholding in Proactive Sports Management proved his undoing at the end of July. Proactive, known since July as Formation Group, is headed by Rooney's agent, Paul Stretford. The freelance reporter, who still writes for the Daily Mirror and the People, owns 20,000 shares in the company.

The shareholding, which Nixon has held since the company floated in 2001, has long been common knowledge in the football world, prompting comment in Private Eye as well as a Sunday Express article in January 2003. Nixon took legal action over the piece, which he claims to have settled for £18,500.

Nixon's interest in Proactive again attracted attention in July, this time from Kenny Fogarty, an ardent Everton fan who took issue with the journalist's coverage in the Independent of the Rooney transfer saga.

Mr Fogarty also pointed out on the website that he had just sent an email to the Independent's sports desk, asking: "How does a Proactive Sports Group shareholder get to write for your newspaper, offering contradictory stories on a common theme over the course of two days?"

Nixon claims that although the previous sports editor, Paul Newman, was aware of the situation, his replacement, Matt Tench - who had rejoined the Independent from the Daily Mail in April - was not. "Matt was new to the job and got startled," he said. "He knew nothing about the court case [against the Sunday Express]." Tench declined to comment on the matter.

Nixon further claims that Tench told him that stories about Proactive clients could no longer appear under Nixon's byline.

"With me it's all or nothing. I decided, 'Let's just leave it'," said Nixon. "It's not as though they paid me enough that I can't live without it."

Nixon says he bought 20,000 Proactive shares at flotation, and has not bought or sold a single share since. "I couldn't tell you how much they're worth," he insisted. "I never look. But I can't imagine they're worth as much as when they started. It's a matter of some amusement among people."

The shares were worth £5,000 when the company floated and are now worth £1,750.

He claims never to have "put any bias into my reporting" and not always to have painted Proactive in a flattering light. "I've had fierce rows with Paul Stretford about what I've written."

Past articles have referred to Nixon as a friend of Mr Stretford, whom he profiled in the Independent in April 2000. "I respect him and I hope he respects me," Nixon explained. "He'll always pick up the phone to a journalist."

Mr Stretford could not be reached for comment.

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[The above is unedited and provided within ToffeeWeb for archival purposes.]