Graham Hunter has never forgotten winning his first football trophy with Cults Club in 1976 and embarking on a magic carpet ride with the sport.
His father of the same name had taken him to Pittodrie in the late 60s when Aberdeen’s reserves turned out in blue strips and the youngster was enthralled by everything to do with corners and free kicks, penalties and playmakers; a veritable dictionary of delight.
So you can imagine Graham’s excitement when Alex Ferguson, the Govan shop steward with a passing resemblance to Taggart, turned up in the Granite City in the late 1970s.
He said: “Fergie’s attitude, and how his players reacted, LITERALLY changed my life. And I soaked up their: ‘We’re scared of no-one, we can beat anyone’ mentality.”
That giddy period of European success and trophies galore was the catalyst for him to launch a prodigious career as a football broadcaster, writer and columnist.
And now he has become an ambassador for the Denis Law Legacy Trust; a cause which has a personal connection and is very close to Graham’s heart.
It’s difficult nowadays to imagine the Spanish game on our TVs without Graham in the forefront of the coverage on Sky or Premier, bringing his expertise to bear whether talking about Barcelona, Real Madrid or the latest transfer targets for English clubs.
And yet there was no guarantee he would become a household name when he set out on the journey with his family. It was a gamble, a high-stakes tussle where he had to trust himself in a dog-eat-dog world of rumour, intrigue and occasional football action.
The Scot in the Spain dressing room
He said: “I’m into my 23rd year in Spain – longer than I’ve lived anywhere else. The early days were tough enough. No contacts, not much money, rudimentary Spanish and no job. But I just believed that I could do it.
“I owe my wife Louise and first daughter, Cara, for their loyalty and support. The highlight of my life here has been our second daughter, Annie, being born in Barcelona.
“A distant second place was working with Spain at the 2010 World Cup – my cameraman and I ended up filming pitchside throughout the final and I was the only journalist who was allowed into the winning dressing room.
“There were no Spaniards there, just this idiosyncratic, Dandies-supporting Scot. But I could name another 50 astonishing experiences.”
An inspirational father figure
His dad, a Pittodrie season-ticket holder for more than half a century was – and remains – a huge inspiration and crops up in so many tales from his son’s life.
As the business manager for comedy trio Scotland the What and a Ledingham Chalmers partner, he is clearly one of those classic north-east lad o’ pairts with myriad interests.
And that has rubbed off on his son’s approach to embracing different challenges.
The Law badge on his shirt demonstrates his commitment to highlighting the epic work being carried out behind the scenes by the trust in Aberdeen – and once again, there’s a link between the past and the present which is worthy of illumination.
Graham said: “When [former Dons captain and Scotland internationalist] Martin Buchan moved from Aberdeen to Manchester United in 1972, my dad did his conveyancing – and they got Denis Law’s autograph for me.
‘Denis is one of the true greats’
“His 1964 Ballon D’Or prize is the only one which has ever been won by a Scottish player. In an age without mass televised football or the internet, or the homogenisation of football information, how brilliant must Denis have been in order to command the votes of the European cognoscenti?
“My dad, with [Scotland the What? stalwart] Buff Hardie, proposed Denis for his 2005 honorary degree from Aberdeen University and I was asked by the trust to give Denis’s proposal speech at HMT for the degree Robert Gordon University awarded him in 2017.
“The Streetsport-DLLT work in Aberdeen is, in my mind, one of the greatest things which I’ve ever seen in our city and I am hugely proud to be their ambassador.
“Thanks to them, we are one of only two cities in the UK to have three Johan Cruyff courts [in Rosemount, Tillydrone and Torry].
They work they do is heroic
“Kids who were causing bother on the streets, using up police and fire-brigade time now have chances to play sport, have a cause, have confidence and often have food to eat when otherwise they wouldn’t during the school holidays.
“Streetsport significantly reduces anti-social and nuisance behaviour – especially in terrific communities which happen to have low resources or high unemployment.
“So I adore the work of the trust, the staff and the volunteers – they are heroic.”
There’s no such thing as a typical day in the life for Graham and one suspects he wouldn’t have it any other way. Why settle into a rut when you can look for new stories, adventures and find yourself in the same frame as the likes of Jurgen Klopp?
And while Aberdeen FC have faced a difficult period in their history in the last couple of years, he is keeping the faith as fervently as any hot-gospel evangelist.
The busier it is, the better
He said: “I’m on La Liga TV every week (look out for it on Premier) and I report on Spain’s clubs and the national team [for www.uefa.com].
“The 40 days which I spent with the squad in the Black Forest, interviewing them and reporting on their matches as they won the European Championship [by beating England in the final last month] was another highlight of my career.
“I’ve a great friend in Duncan McMath who owns Zoom Sport International and I help him make football films. I often see my neighbour, [former Aberdeen, Spurs and Scotland star] Steve Archibald, and occasionally I get home to visit my dad.
“Whenever I can, I go to watch the mighty Dandies and I have got strong faith that we are well run – our training ground and the academy are both marvellous.”
He is the spirit of the Dandy Don
There’s a gallus quality about Graham which I’ve detected in other people from the region, be it fellow football enthusiast (and former boy band member) Ally Begg or the self-styled “wee loon from Maud”, renowned journalist Jack Webster.
They have all gone out into the world with the perspective that nobody’s better than them and they’ll stand or fall on their own endeavours.
But, ultimately, the common theme is that, no matter where they’ve journeyed, their Aberdeen home is where the heart is.
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