Paul Gardner (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Paul Gardner is an American soccer journalist and author. He has written more than one thousand columns for Soccer America and has covered American soccer for England's World Soccer
magazine since 1973. His books include The Simplest Game , Nice Guys Finish Last and SoccerTalk: Life Under the Spell of the Round Ball.
Gardner immigrated to the United States in 1959 and became the managing editor of a medical magazine. He started covering American sports for British publications in 1961, when his feature on Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle’s pursuit of Babe Ruth's 60-home run record appeared in The Observer
.
In 1964, Gardner left the medical magazine and spent two years in Italy before returning to New York, where he discovered a sudden American interest in pro soccer. The United Soccer Association and the National Professional Soccer League – which eventually merged into the NASL – launched in 1967.
The emergence of American pro soccer in the late 1960s coincided with Gardner’s start as a full-time free-lance journalist and he has since covered soccer for publications on both sides of the Atlantic.
Among the publications he has written for are Sports Illustrated
, The New York Times
, USA Today
, The New York Daily News, The Sporting News
, The Village Voice
, The Times
(London), The Guardian
(London) and The Independent
(London).
Gardner was the color commentator for the first-ever live telecast in the United States of a World Cup final, in 1982 on ABC. He also served as ABC color commentator with legendary Jim McKay
of NASL games in 1979-81.
He also did commentary for NBC (1986 World Cup), CBS (NASL) and ESPN (college), and has been a film producer and was the scriptwriter and soccer adviser for the award-winning instructional series Pele: The Master and His Method in 1973 .
He has covered eight World Cups and 10 Under-17 World Cups -- plus FIFA Under-20 World Cups, Olympics, European Championships and Copa America tournaments.
Gardner, whose columns appear twice a week at SoccerAmerica.com, received the 2010 Colin Jose Media Award from the National Soccer Hall of Fame
.
"In the afternoon many of us played for the school in rugby or field hockey," Gardner wrote in the introduction of his book, SoccerTalk. "Who knows what awful punishment we would have suffered had it got out that we were wasting our adolescent muscle power on soccer only a few hours before school duty called?"
In trying to explain why soccer cast some sort of spell over him, Gardner has written: "I find in soccer what I have found in life: unpredictability, constant surprises, and a fascinating contrariness. It is an activity that suggests it has a mind of its own, one that will tease and disappoint as much as it rewards.
"A little world where players don’t do things you were quite certain they would do, and other players do things you never thought they were capable of. A world where planning goes astray and experts are repeatedly confounded."
the game -- especially business and coaching -- that he sees as threats to the
beauty of soccer and its fundamental values as entertainment.
He has persistently called on soccer’s governing
bodies to crack down on thuggish play and to reverse the trend of low
scoring. Some of his recommendations have been implemented. In 1977,
he began writing that the offside rule be changed so that an attacker
in line with the last defender would be considered onside. FIFA made
the change in 1990. FIFA also adopted his suggestions on how refs
deliver second yellow cards, requiring numbers on the front of
jerseys, and clarifying in its rulebook the ejection of coaches.
Gardner is a vehement critic of the shootout as a tiebreaker, advocating instead the counting of corner kicks.
He has long been a proponent of the Latin style of play and an unrelenting critic the United States' historic neglect of Hispanic talent.
Pele's New World Documentary of Pele's first season with New York Cosmos (1975) Co-producer, co-director, writer
World Soccer
World Soccer may refer to:*World Soccer Magazine*World Soccer, a game for the Sega Master System-See also:*Football around the world, a listing of all international teams*World Soccer Daily, a U.S. based soccer radio show and podcast...
magazine since 1973. His books include The Simplest Game , Nice Guys Finish Last and SoccerTalk: Life Under the Spell of the Round Ball.
Career
Gardner studied pharmacy at the University of Nottingham and from 1953 through 1959, as a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, worked in London as the assistant editor of Pharmacy Digest.Gardner immigrated to the United States in 1959 and became the managing editor of a medical magazine. He started covering American sports for British publications in 1961, when his feature on Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle’s pursuit of Babe Ruth's 60-home run record appeared in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
.
In 1964, Gardner left the medical magazine and spent two years in Italy before returning to New York, where he discovered a sudden American interest in pro soccer. The United Soccer Association and the National Professional Soccer League – which eventually merged into the NASL – launched in 1967.
The emergence of American pro soccer in the late 1960s coincided with Gardner’s start as a full-time free-lance journalist and he has since covered soccer for publications on both sides of the Atlantic.
Among the publications he has written for are Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, The New York Daily News, The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
, The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
(London), The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(London) and The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
(London).
Gardner was the color commentator for the first-ever live telecast in the United States of a World Cup final, in 1982 on ABC. He also served as ABC color commentator with legendary Jim McKay
Jim McKay
James Kenneth McManus , better known by his professional name of Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist....
of NASL games in 1979-81.
He also did commentary for NBC (1986 World Cup), CBS (NASL) and ESPN (college), and has been a film producer and was the scriptwriter and soccer adviser for the award-winning instructional series Pele: The Master and His Method in 1973 .
He has covered eight World Cups and 10 Under-17 World Cups -- plus FIFA Under-20 World Cups, Olympics, European Championships and Copa America tournaments.
Gardner, whose columns appear twice a week at SoccerAmerica.com, received the 2010 Colin Jose Media Award from the National Soccer Hall of Fame
National Soccer Hall of Fame
The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 that honors soccer achievements in the United States.-History:...
.
Personal
In 1930 in England, Gardner attended a Ramsgate school that did not field a soccer team because it was seen as a common, working-class sport. But he and friends created their own team and played games in secret on Saturday mornings."In the afternoon many of us played for the school in rugby or field hockey," Gardner wrote in the introduction of his book, SoccerTalk. "Who knows what awful punishment we would have suffered had it got out that we were wasting our adolescent muscle power on soccer only a few hours before school duty called?"
In trying to explain why soccer cast some sort of spell over him, Gardner has written: "I find in soccer what I have found in life: unpredictability, constant surprises, and a fascinating contrariness. It is an activity that suggests it has a mind of its own, one that will tease and disappoint as much as it rewards.
"A little world where players don’t do things you were quite certain they would do, and other players do things you never thought they were capable of. A world where planning goes astray and experts are repeatedly confounded."
Themes
Gardner is well known for his columns criticizing the influences onthe game -- especially business and coaching -- that he sees as threats to the
beauty of soccer and its fundamental values as entertainment.
He has persistently called on soccer’s governing
bodies to crack down on thuggish play and to reverse the trend of low
scoring. Some of his recommendations have been implemented. In 1977,
he began writing that the offside rule be changed so that an attacker
in line with the last defender would be considered onside. FIFA made
the change in 1990. FIFA also adopted his suggestions on how refs
deliver second yellow cards, requiring numbers on the front of
jerseys, and clarifying in its rulebook the ejection of coaches.
Gardner is a vehement critic of the shootout as a tiebreaker, advocating instead the counting of corner kicks.
He has long been a proponent of the Latin style of play and an unrelenting critic the United States' historic neglect of Hispanic talent.
Film
Pele: The Master and His Method Instructional Series (1973) Writer, soccer adviserPele's New World Documentary of Pele's first season with New York Cosmos (1975) Co-producer, co-director, writer
Television
Color Commentator- NBC: 1986 World Cup (seven games including final)
- NBC: 1984 European Cup final
- NBC: 1984 World Cup qualifying
- ABC: 1982 World Cup final
- ESPN: 1981 NCAA Division I
- ABC: 1979-81 North American Soccer League
- TVS: 1977-78 North American Soccer League
- CBS: 1977 North American Soccer League
- Channel 67-NY: 1974-75 New York Cosmos