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Football's coming home!

The announcement that Burton-upon-Trent is to be the new home of English football took the nation by surprise.

Except for the population of Burton and the surrounding area, that is – as the story about the National Football Centre had been a scoop for the Burton Mail a fortnight earlier.

The centre will see England players – from Beckham and Campbell down to the youth teams – train and develop their game on the outskirts of the town in a £30m development.

The front page story by Peter Small, published on February 2, was picked up five days later by a disbelieving Radio Five Live, and only came alive when the Press Association put out a snap on Wednesday alerting the nation’s media to a press conference the following day.

The Mail had left the competition trailing in its wake, down to some good old-fashioned journalism and a valuable newsroom contact.

Deputy sports editor Andy Tilley said: “We ran the story and it was ignored.

“Our news editor Andy Parker was interviewed on Radio Five and even their presenters treated it as a bit of a joke. They were very condescending, asking questions like ‘Is is true?’, and how we knew.

“The whole thing was treated with an air of incredulity.”

But the tip-off came good and the news made national headlines at the end of the week.

The sportsdesk personnel in Burton point out that the area is something of a footballing capital already, with high-flying Burton Albion managed by former England striker Nigel Clough, and the local FA is the oldest in the country, formed in 1871.

The original exclusive, and Thursday’s splash and feature inside were put together by chief reporter Peter Small, Steve Doohan, Andy Mann, Chris Watson, Nathan Jones and Andy Tilley.

  • Keen-eyed locals spotted FA technical director Howard Wilkinson at a local garden centre, at the edge of the land set aside for the new facility, weeks earlier – but no-one batted an eyelid as he lives not far away, near Sheffield.

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