Paul Trevillion, Tottenham Born, Tottenham supporter and artist extraordinaire.
Paul Trevillion,
Tottenham Born, Tottenham supporter and artist extraordinaire.
If you are like me, as old as me and remember the 60s ("then you
weren't really there…" as the saying goes), you will love this.
In the 60s, I went to the John White Memorial match with my dad (I
would have been 9). The front cover of that memorial programme was drawn by
none other than Paul Trevillion (which I've still got). In fact, all these
memories are connected to the legendary Paul Trevillion (and Tottenham born
to-boot!). And probably your memories as well, whether you know it or not.
I could bore you to death on Paul Trevillion, Spurs and comics… and the
60s… but I won't (thank god! I hear you shout). But I will give you a brief
history:
Paul Trevillion is Tottenham through and through, and has met them all;
from Bill Nicholson to Churchill to George Best and the list goes on ad
infinitum.
He is an acclaimed sports artist, whose career spans 70 years. He produced
artwork for publications like The Eagle while still at school. From the 1960s
to the 1980s, he devised and illustrated pieces for Daily Mirror, Daily
Express, The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, and, as I said, TV Century 21
and in 2006 revived his cult football cartoon You Are The Ref - made famous by
football magazine Shoot! in the 1970s…
From that, a book collecting 50 years of You Are The Ref was published
in October 2006.
He spent most of the 1960s in the US working with Mark McCormack at IMG
for some of the world's greatest products. He is the author and illustrator of
over 20 books which have sold worldwide. He also illustrated the famous Gary
Player Golf Class.
Pausing for
breath…. he has met and drawn some of the
sport's biggest names, including Pelé, John White, Bill Nicholson (and many
other Spurs names) Bobby Moore, George Best, Franz Beckenbauer, Jack Nicklaus,
Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Sugar Ray Robinson and many thousands of others.
As a young man, and as I said, he also met and drew our Bulldog of a British
Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (Second World War PM).
No! not yet
finished…
He worked as a stand-up comedian (yes, really!), supporting the likes
of Norman Wisdom and Bob Monkhouse. And did even some bizarre things (haven’t we
all?), such as having a record, as – wait for it - the world's Best Worst
Singer' (I could have done that!). Even more bizarre, he was crowned world
speed-kissing champion (I could have done that as well, but I prefer something
slower and sensual) and invented the 'Pencil Grip' split-handed golf putting
technique.
Now, you might need to close your eyes here if you are a staunch Spurs
supporter and can't tolerate other clubs, notably, Leeds of the 70s (known as
the dirty team; quite a few players have felt the full force of Jackie Charlton's
studs down the back of their legs). Paul was also the motivator behind an
attempt to enhance Leeds United's image in the 1970s. He was hired by the
legendary Don Revie (yes, the man himself) in 1972. His input included wearing
numbered sock tags (which were subsequently thrown into the crowd as souvenirs)
and synchronized warm-ups. While Paul Trevillion went from strength to
strength, Leeds, themselves, became more of a yo-yo team; up and down the
league tables until they nearly disappeared up their own arses… now, after
years in the wilderness, they are back in the Premier League.
In 2008 – the year of the great financial crash and Spurs winning their last trophy - Trevillion was interviewed in the award-winning documentary Roy, about the life and times of Roy of the Rovers. Wich he first illustrated in the 1950s (the dcade I was born). The film ws shown at he 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2011 he was short-listed for the prestigious Sports Journalists'
Association Cartoonist of the Year Award. Marking this feat at the age of 75,
his long-time colleague Norman Giller commented in a tribute on the SJA
website: "To describe Paul as a cartoonist is to trivialize a career
dedicated to producing outstanding art." What great praise from one of the
worlds other great illustrators/ artist extraordinaire.
 |
| Rick Mayston/ Agent Fox Media |
Would you like to know more? Of course you would… you are Spurs! We are
Spurs! Well, Agent Fox Media; hosted by, and its very own director, a legendary
Spurs man (himself), Rick Mayston. Those that know Rick know he is Spurs through
and through and known throughout the Spurs Kingdom, takes the mic (No! not as
in Micky… but mic/ microphone) and morphs himself into the sixties icon Simon
Dee to interview Paul. For that interview, you can click HERE, and you will be instantly transported into a
world of nostalgia/ memory lane where time will stand still for an hour or so. I
don’t know if you’ve ever been to the Twilight Zone? Yes, I frequently have (some
have called it an asylum!); well, there is a fifth dimension there (a Spurs dimension)
beyond that which is known to Arsenal, Chelsea and Spammers fans. It is a
dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground
between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between
the pit of Chelsea/ Arsenal & Spammers fears and the summit of their
knowledge (which is very little). This is the dimension of Spurs. It is an area
which we call the Twilight Zone (well, I “call” it the Twilight Zone!). I’ll
tell you what, it beats some strong sherbets! I’ve never recovered… anyway, back
to the land of sanity.
So, you know
where to go to take that trip.
Also, if you subscribe (and you can suscribe by clicking HERE) to Agent Fox Media’s YouTube channel, you can be
brought up to date with other legendary stars that Rick and his company have
and will bring to you in the future.
If you want to know a bit more about Paul Trevillion, then you can
click on his own Website; for that click HERE. Paul
is now 86 years young.
It has been a pleasure, as always.
Glenn
COYS!
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