Ham&High sports editor Pat Mooney has celebrated 25 years with the title with a VIP invitation to the executive box at the recent Spurs-Reading FA Cup tie.

It was in April 1980, in his first week in the job, that he strode into his boss’s office and asked if he would pay for him to go to Italy for the day.

The 26-year-old had just covered his first Arsenal match – the first leg of the European Cup-Winners’ Cup semi-final against Juventus – and he thought it would be best if he was allowed to go to Turin for the return.

His boss Gerald Isaaman, one of five editors Pat has worked under, agreed and Pat has never looked back.

He was invited to Tottenham’s recent FA Cup tie against Reading as a special guest to celebrate, (belatedly), his 25th anniversary of working for Archant London’s Ham&High (Hamstead and Highgate Express).

He was joined in the executive box by his wife Cathy and his son Darragh, who along with his other son Neil, have supported him over the years.

Pat with Clive Allen

On the day he was handed £500 worth of sports vouchers by Ham&High editor Geoff Martin while Spurs legend and TV pundit Clive Allen presented Pat with a commemorative team shirt from the club’s 125th anniversary with the name Mooney and the number 25 on the back.

He said: “It was a nice touch and the whole day was really enjoyable. It was strange watching the match from somewhere other than my usual seat in the press box.”

Pat, a life-long Manchester United fan, has spent exactly half his life working at the Ham&High, covering Tottenham and Arsenal as well as local sports clubs.

During his time at the Ham&High Pat, who previously spent six years at the Harrow Observer, has covered the comings and goings of 13 Spurs’ managers – and five at Arsenal.

He said: “It is amazing how quickly the time has gone. What has stayed with me through that period is the enthusiasm and passion which you have to have, otherwise it becomes a chore, which it certainly has not been.”

Sport was in Pat’s blood from the start and he was a decent footballer himself – turning out for the Dublin side Bohemians, alongside Gerry Daly and Paddy Roche, who both went on to play for Manchester United and Ireland.

But his proudest moment on the pitch came in Gaelic Football when he won a Leinster Under-21 championship medal, playing for County Kildare in the early 70s. Pat is now a single figure golfer.

Arguably his greatest achievement at work was to persuade his bosses to put the sport on the back page, instead of inside the paper.

Over the years he has managed to double the amount of coverage dedicated to sport and gained the Ham&High such a strong reputation for its football reporting that he was given press passes to two World Cups – Italia ’90 and USA ’94.

But he said: “The prime function of a local paper is to report on local clubs. This was something very close to my heart from day one. I think we have managed to get a pretty good mix.”