Paul Fennessy

AFTER 40 years working in football, Paul Montgomery has no shortage of stories to tell.

Some of his favourite anecdotes have been published in a new book, ‘Rough Diamond,’ documenting life as a well-travelled scout. 

Montgomery has family links to Manchester United and Newcastle — his father passed on his support for the latter while growing up in a miner’s house in the Durham village of Craghead.

A devout fan of the sport from childhood, Montgomery took a circuitous route to turn his passion into a day job.

He initially established himself as a respected music promoter and nightclub boss in Britain — there are plenty of entertaining non-football-related stories in the early parts of the book devoted to this time in his life.

There were many famous sporting faces that he initially got to know through these individuals frequenting his nightclubs.

Montgomery started in football in the mid-1980s when a friend asked him to become a non-executive director at Hartlepool, which involved fundraising and “trying to find some players”.

Willie McFaul, Jack Charlton, and Malcolm Macdonald — the respective coaches of Newcastle, Middlesbrough, and Fulham at the time — were among the managers he was on friendly terms with.

Despite attending games sometimes several times a week, Montgomery often found his advice was ignored.

“Unless you played at the highest level, [the mentality was] you knew sweet FA about football,” he tells The 42.

Even his beloved Newcastle ignored Montgomery’s recommendations on several occasions.

“Many times I would go and say: ‘This is the last time I’m coming because I’ve told you this one, Perry Groves, Trevor Morley, players went to [big clubs], they took no notice, Bernie Slaven, people like that. And it went on like that for a while.

“And at that stage, I thought: ‘Nobody’s going to take notice of what I’m saying.’ I mean, even going back to Maurice Johnson, [who I recommended] when he was at Patrick Thistle.”

Yet Montgomery’s talent for spotting a player became more widely known during his time with Hartlepool. Footballers bought for five-figure fees were often sold for six and seven.

The young scout eventually got his big break when Jim Smith was manager of Newcastle.

“I remember him saying to me: ‘You know your stuff. Do you want to come and help me?’ I said: ‘Not a problem.’ And there began my career.”

The first player the Magpies bought on Montgomery’s recommendation was an obscure goalkeeper playing for Czech club Baník Ostrava — Pavel Srníček.

Former Newcastle goalkeeper Pavel Srníček. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

He was taken aback by the sheer trust Smith was suddenly putting in him.

“I said: ‘Jim, you’ve never seen him.’ He said: ‘No, you have. That’ll do for me.’”

A nervous Montgomery went up to watch Srníček on his first day of training in Tyneside.

“After five or 10 minutes, someone went through, the ball went between his legs into the goal. And then 15 minutes later, a cross went through his hands and into the net. I went: ‘For fuck’s sake.’

“I stood there. I didn’t move. And, you know, it’s funny, Jimmy was walking around the pitch, and I could see him getting nearer. And I was like a racehorse with blinkers looking one way. I was looking at the pitch, and I wasn’t seeing anything. I was just mortified about what I’d seen.

“All the emotions were going through me. Do I really know what I’m doing here? I’ve just witnessed this debacle of a goalkeeper.

“And Jimmy was walking, I could feel his presence. He used to like a cigar. And that smoke was coming, and I didn’t even flinch. I focused on that pitch, and he walked around the back of me. He’d come up and he said: ‘Were you pissed when you saw him?’ Then he continued to walk around.

“And I swear to God, I did a Michael Jackson back to the car. I got in the car, went home, and I never came out for about four days, I couldn’t believe it, I was distraught.”

Montgomery feared his career as a scout was over before it had seriously begun until Smith told him to report back to the training ground a few days later.

“He said: ‘Get up here now, I want to talk about some players. I want you to go and see these other players.’

“I said: ‘What about the goalkeeper?’ He says: ‘Look, he can’t speak English. He can’t do that.’ But he says: ‘Don’t worry about it.’”

As it turned out, Montgomery’s first instincts proved to be correct. Srníček became an important player for Newcastle, making 150 appearances between 1991 and 1998, while also establishing himself as a regular for the Czech Republic.

With encouragement from Smith, Montgomery’s confidence grew as well.

He also worked under Smith and his assistant Steve McClaren as part of a Derby County team that frequently punched above their weight in the mid-to-late 1990s.

Smith led the Rams to Premier League promotion during the 1995-96 campaign.

They were a solid mid-table club for the next three seasons, despite working with a limited budget.

Montgomery helped Jim Smith's Derby County punch above their weight. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Montgomery was integral to the astute signings of Rory Delap, Paulo Wanchope, Christian Dailly, Chris Powell, Stefano Eranio and Francesco Baiano.

“There was no money spent,” he recalls. “They were 250 grand, 300 grand, free transfers.”

As is invariably the case with clubs whose finances are restricted, the minor miracles did not last forever.

The Rams eventually lost many key figures who helped them exceed expectations, including Montgomery.

The offer to link up with Bobby Robson and his hometown club Newcastle United proved too alluring to turn down.

The original individual Robson had earmarked to head his recruitment, Charlie Woods, had to see out the last period of his contract at Spurs, so Montgomery was asked to occupy the role in the meantime.

“Jim was a great man. He said: ‘We can’t keep producing rabbits out of the hat like we do when the money’s getting greater [elsewhere].

“Derby is not going to be able to compete — we finished eighth and ninth [two seasons on the bounce] in the Premier League with all low-budget players.

“He would say: ‘We can’t keep doing that.’ He said: ‘Look, [Newcastle is] where you’re from. That is your club.’”

Though it took a backseat to sport, Montgomery also continued with his work outside of football during this period.

He had a bar in the town of Stanley near Robson’s office and every other day, he would be summoned by the legendary coach who would “never want to go home”.

They would drink multiple cups of tea and sit there endlessly discussing players. Montgomery held Robson in such esteem that he was happy to while away the hours with him.

“A fantastic, unbelievable motivator,” he says of the man who perenially referred to him as ‘son’.

“You couldn’t say ‘no’ when speaking to him.”

Later, following changes behind the scenes at Newcastle, Robson recommended Montgomery to his friend and former Magpies star Glenn Roeder, who was managing West Ham.

Montgomery knew Roeder during his days as a player at Newcastle. One of the latter’s tasks as club captain was to chaperone a young Paul Gascoigne and ensure he stayed away from Montgomery’s nightclub.

In the book, he writes: “At that young age, Gazza was terrified of Newcastle United club captain Glenn Roeder. He’d implore me to do him a favour and let him know if Glenn arrived, so he could leave by the fire exit to avoid being spotted. I’d then get Glenn asking me: “Has Gazza been in, Paul?” and I’d say: “Emm… only for 10 minutes and I think he’s long gone now…”

It was while working at West Ham that Montgomery says he discovered the best player he never signed.

It was an obscure Ivory Coast-born striker who had played a couple of seasons in France with Le Mans before recently joining Guingamp for £80,000 to little fanfare.

Montgomery had made the trip not to see Didier Drogba but another future Chelsea star — Florent Malouda.

West Ham were struggling in the Premier League at the time, despite a talented squad that included promising youngsters such as Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Jermain Defoe and Glen Johnson.

Montgomery identified Didier Drogba's potential before he became a superstar. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Roeder told Montgomery to find five players who could help salvage their relegation-threatened season. It didn’t take him long to identify one.

“The first game [Drogba] came on for 20 minutes or so,” he remembers. “And I know it sounds daft, but in 20 minutes, I just thought: ‘What’s that?’ I had him marked down as someone to keep an eye on.

“So then I went back, and he played half an hour [the next game], and then the next time I went, they played Lyon, who were top of the league.

“They had a great centre half, who I wanted Bobby to sign, called Edmilson. He was the captain, and he ended up going to Barcelona for four years. Lovely man. I met him for dinner. I used to do all that, go and speak with him, although he couldn’t speak English.

“I had a translator with me, and Edmilson would be playing for Lyon. So I thought, I’ll kill two birds with one stone because I’d like to keep with him.

“And in that game, Lyon were 2-0 up at half-time, and then the big man came on at half-time, scored one, made one. And I thought: ‘Whoa.’ He ruffled Edmilson and the other [centre-back] up.”

Montgomery consequently informed Roeder that he had found him a “proper striker” available at a bargain fee of £400,000.

“Well, Glenn nearly choked when I said 400 grand. He must have thought: ‘He can’t be that good. You don’t mean 400 grand?’ I said: ‘I’m telling you, don’t even ask me a second question. Just do it. I’ll sort everything out.’”

Owing to Montgomery’s enthusiasm, Roeder eventually acquiesced.

The scout made another trip to France to meet Drogba, who was starting games for Guingamp by now.

Initially, he tried to arrange the meeting via Djibril Cisse’s agent-brother Hamed.

“He said: ‘I don’t know this player.’ Nobody knew him.” 

After the game, Montgomery went to visit Drogba at his house.

“I said to him, in a pretty shit French accent: ‘Tous est un grand jouer dans Anglais.’ He looked at me and [probably thought]: ‘Is he pissed?’

“I was meant to say: ‘You’ll be a big player in England.’ We even discussed money — things like that — and we left.”

A tentative agreement was reached for Drogba to join the Hammers midway through the season.

But by the time the January window came, West Ham were bottom of the table following a disastrous run of injuries.

Drogba was only starting to establish himself in the French top flight having spent four seasons in the second tier.

He did not want another campaign on the periphery of English football. 

However, the Ivorian promised to join the club in the summer, but their subsequent relegation to the Championship with a record-high points tally gave the burgeoning star cold feet.

Instead, Drogba signed for Marseille and impressed to the extent that he secured a club-record £24 million move to Chelsea the following season.

When it became apparent that West Ham could not sign Drogba that summer, Montgomery also recommended him to Newcastle.

Montgomery worked under Bobby Robson at Newcastle. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

But Robson decided against pursuing a deal — the season had already ended so there were no opportunities to see the 25-year-old striker play live.

The following campaign the Magpies reached the Uefa Cup semi-finals where they met Marseille.

After the first leg finished 0-0 at St James’ Park, Newcastle lost the return match 2-0 — Drogba scored both goals.

“I texted Bobby after, and I said: ‘Remember him.’ He said: ‘I was expecting this text, but I have to say, you were correct.’

“He was laughing: ‘I knew I would get that from you, Paul.’ He said: ‘He is a big player,’ and then obviously he became a big player.”

After West Ham, Montgomery had another memorable stint working under Alex McLeish at Birmingham City in the late 2000s.

During that period, the club secured promotion to the Premier League and enjoyed an impressive ninth-place finish in their first season back in the top flight.

Montgomery was instrumental in the club acquiring several players, including Irish internationals Keith Fahey and Stephen Carr. He rates both individuals and considers the latter one of the best-ever signings he oversaw.

After leaving Newcastle and not playing for a prolonged period, many people — including Montgomery — assumed the full-back had retired.

But the Birmingham doctor, who had previously treated Carr when working at Newcastle, informed him otherwise.

The Dubliner was given a week-long assessment to prove his fitness and subsequently became club captain, in addition to making over 100 appearances in five years on Birmingham’s books.

Montgomery describes the signing of the Irish star as “like winning the lottery”.

The scout says his third season at Birmingham featured his best and worst moments in football.

Despite another limited budget to work with, McLeish’s side stunned Arsenal in February 2011, triumphing in the League Cup final.

It had been the club’s first appearance in the final of a major competition at Wembley for nearly 55 years, and their unexpected 2-1 victory against Arsene Wenger’s men prompted ecstatic scenes.

However, within a few months, Birmingham were relegated.

Montgomery blames the club’s ownership for this sudden capitulation.

Since 2009, they had been led by Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung, who in 2014 was jailed for six years after being found guilty of money laundering.

While looking relatively safe in mid-table, the Blues were short of bodies in January and most people felt a recruitment drive was necessary.

Mousa Dembélé (who was with Dutch club AZ and would later go on to star for Tottenham) was available for €3 million. Montgomery also recommended loan deals for two strikers — Newcastle’s Shola Ameobi and Spurs’ Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Yet the people running the club opted to ignore this advice and kept faith with the squad as it was.

Montgomery felt the team had the potential to qualify for Europe but instead, their injury crisis worsened as the season wore on and they were relegated on the final day.

To make matters worse, Pavlyuchenko scored a brace in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham that sealed their fate.

A tense exchange between Montgomery and a representative of the owner ensued and he left the club acrimoniously.

“We were getting somewhere, we were going places, and we’ve just hit this brick wall,” he says.

“I was so down because I put in so much effort for three years and that was all blown away by bad decisions.”

In more recent years, Montgomery has not been as prominent in football.

He has an informal role advising Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish.

And like at the start of his career, his advice sometimes gets ignored.

Montgomery is friendly with ex-Man United assistant boss Mike Phelan and says Luis Diaz, N’Golo Kante, Kim Min-jae and Ansu Fati were among the players he unsuccessfully pitched to the Red Devils.

But despite these setbacks, Montgomery wants one more big job in football.

“For sure, if a project came that whetted my appetite, I would take it overnight. It wouldn’t matter what country it’s in either.”

He is sceptical of the well-documented data revolution that has irrevocably altered how clubs do business.

And while describing online support systems such as Wyscout as “great tools,” he disagrees with people such as Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson who often prioritise these mechanisms over attending games.

“I wouldn’t watch six games on Wyscout and think: ‘Oh, yeah, I’m going to sign him.’ No chance. I would watch two games to see if he looks half-decent. Then I’ll go and see him [play in the flesh].

“You need to see his attitude, body language, work ethic, recovery, everything.”

But Montgomery prefers to invoke the past rather than the present as the conversation concludes.

Explaining how the book’s ‘Rough Diamond’ title originates from a phrase Bobby Robson used to describe Montgomery because he was so different from other scouts but no less skilled, he adds: “[Bobby used to say]: ‘Tone down the expletives on players when we have meetings, it’s not very professional. I’m alright myself, but if we have meetings…’

“I said: ‘Alright Bob, no problem, but if someone’s shit, they’re shit.’”

‘Rough Diamond: How A Nightclub Boss Found Football’s Future Stars’ is published by Reach Sport. More info here.