THE AUTHOR
A former Tiverton journalist, Colin Gunney was Reading Football Club
programme editor for 14 years and the man behind the club’s nickname
change from The Biscuitmen to The Royals.
Colin was born at East Anstey on the edge of Exmoor and lived and
worked in Tiverton during the late 1960s/early 1970s. He worked for the
now defunct Devon & Somerset News, based in Tiverton, co-ordinating
and designing their sports pages and followed and reported on Elmore.
In October 1972 he moved to Reading to join the Reading Chroncle
group of newspapers on the sports desk. Six months later he was
appointed sports editor of the Chronicle’s sister newspaper, The Berkshire
Mercury, then the oldest newspaper in the country.
He followed and reported on Reading FC for the group for five years and
designed and edited Reading’s award-winning matchday magazine/
programme for 14 years.
Never liking the club nickname the Biscuitmen – Reading was home to
Huntley & Palmers biscuits – Colin persuaded the directors of Reading
FC and the Chronicle Group management to agree to find a new
nickname and ran a competition in the Chronicle – The Royals was born.
After leaving the Chronicle, Colin worked for 16 years as design/studio
manager for a London-based company designing and producing
corporate communications for a range of national and international
clients.
He went freelance in 2001 and in March 2012, he and his Reading-born
wife Linda, decided to relocate back to Tiverton where he continues his
design business from home.
A former golf club captain at The Club at Mapledurham (on the
outskirts of Reading), he has several golf-based clients. He continues
as press officer of the Berks Bucks & Oxon (BB&O) Golf Partnership,
content managing their website as well as designing a quarterly
16-page magazine. He also helps out content managing the Oxford
County Ladies Golf Association (OCLGA) website and is press officer of
Caversham Heath Golf Club (on the outskirts of Reading).
More than 40 years ago, while living in Tiverton, Colin was also chairman
of the Tiverton Youth Centre Football Club (comprised mainly of young
Elmore players) which gained promotion from the third to the first
division of the Exeter Sunday League in successive seasons.
Most of the photos in this book were taken by Colin Gunney
Some (clearly marked) were taken by professional photographer Mike Slater
(mikeslaterphotography.zenfolio.com)
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 077 156 41786
www.gunneyphotodesign.co.uk
www.gunneydesign.co.uk
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gunneyphotodesign