Harrison shows Conor Gallagher aacademic development to accelerate,
the United States represented the
land of opportunity. They looked
online at New England schools, and
the financial aid on offer, and decided
on Berkshire School in Sheffield,
Massachusetts. “I had to go on a visit
to the boarding school and we just
didn’t have enough money for us to
go at the same time,” Harrison recalls.
“She said, ‘Just go and see if you like
it’. I was 14. She has this funny story
about me leaving the airport and
going off with these nice Virgin air
hostesses. I was like, ‘Bye, Mum,’ and
she was crying. I’ve always been
independent and adventurous. She
likes having me close but understood
that it was the best thing for me.
“Some journalists say, ‘Oh, she sent
you away,’ and she gets a bit upset
when people say that. She was
opening the door, as an opportunity.
She said, ‘Look, it’s up to you whether
you walk through it or not.’ It was a
joint decision which would ultimately
be the best for me.”
United were surprised. “They instil
this mentality that the only way to go
forward is to make it through at Manasking for and it’s tough at times. It’s
just not taking anything from anyone.
If there’s a challenge it’s making sure
I’m going in, going all the way
through and doing everything I can
to win the ball. When attacking, it’s
just being ruthless. It’s about having
this mentality. Kalvin’s a great
example, whether it’s a challenge or a
pass, he has that mentality.”
Yet there is an undeniably stoical
side to Harrison. He once received a
letter from a QPR fan commending
the way he withstood knocks in a
couple of forceful challenges at Loftus
Road in 2020. Harrison doesn’t
complain. He gets on with things.
Always has.
This determination stems from his
strong mother, Debbie, who made so
many sacrifices for her only child in
his formative years in Bolton. “She’s
always been a very competitive
person,” he says. “Everything she does,
she does to the maximum. She used to
play rounders, and she’d always tell
me how she’d do extra practice. I grew
up really close to my mum and she
created this mentality within me.
“My mum and dad split when I was
three. My mum’s always
tried to keep my dad in the
picture because of how
important it is to have a
father figure in your life.
He’s been supportive.”
Harrison started
out at Liverpool’s
academy but
moved to
Manchester
United
when he
was
seven. “Scott
McTominay was in
my age group,
Marcus Rashford
was a year below
but he always
played up the age
groups. Cameron
Borthwick-Jackson
too. The technical
fundamentals that I
have now come from
being at Man United.”
Debbie and Jack
decided that for his
footballing and10 1GS Saturday April 30 2022 | the times
Premier League could be
the latest Scandi thriller
The Premier League’s biggest
overseas broadcast partner,
NENT, has entered the British
market for the first time — and is
expected to consider competing
for domestic TV rights in the next
cycle of bidding.
The Nordic Entertainment
Group this week won the rights to
show all Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland
European and World
Cup qualifiers on its
Viaplay streaming
service over the next
four years, and will
also be able to screen
non-live coverage of
England games a day
after they are played.
NENT already has the
Premier League rights from 2022
to 2028 in 11 different territories,
including the Netherlands and the
Scandinavian countries, in a deal
worth more than £2 billion.
It would be no surprise if
NENT looks long and hard at
bidding against Sky, BT Sport and
Amazon for the Premier League’s
British rights from 2025 — thetender is likely to go out at the
end of next year—- and those
close to the company say it is
always interested in opportunities
to enhance its offering.
There is speculation that the
Premier League may change the
number of packages it offers, to
include separate ones covering
the opening day and last
day of the season,
though insiders say
that has not even
been considered yet.
Viaplay has won
the Scotland, Wales
and Northern
Ireland rights from
Sky and said it would
make some games
available for free. The
implications for S4C, which has
shown Wales matches with Welsh
language commentary since 2003,
are unclear. Viaplay plans to offer
Welsh language coverage but the
BBC newsreader Huw Edwards is
among those less than happy.
“S4C is the natural home of
Wales football... and we the fans
love the coverage,” he tweeted.the open
day o
tho
th
beeshe
from 2022th
an
Ire
Sky
make
available
implications foGB’s bubbly base
Channel 4 eyes Abdo for England gig
It will be intriguing to see the
presenting line-up for Channel 4
after its success in landing the
rights to all the England men’s
national team matches up until
Euro 2024.
Sources in the broadcasting
industry say Kate Abdo, who
hosts CBS Sports’ Champions
League coverage for viewers inthe United States, is a leading
contender.
If Channel 4 is looking for
experience, then fans’ favourite
Clive Tyldesley is an obvious
choice as commentator while
James Richardson, the stalwart
of its Football Italia coverage in
the 1990s, could offer a more
offbeat input.Speaker kicks off
The government’s announcement
on Sunday that it would legislate
for an independent regulator for
football did not go down well with
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of
the House of Commons.
The next day, Hoyle gave
Downing Street a tongue-lashing
for being “discourteous” and not
having announced the move to
parliament first. The sports
minister, Nigel Huddleston, told
the House that he accepted the
Speaker’s comments and “would
raise them with colleagues”.FA climbdown
FA board members have agreed
to ensure all potential conflicts of
interest and commercial
relationships are declared after
The Times revealed that the
Premier League’s interim
chairman Peter McCormick —
also an FA vice-chairman —
owns the law firm that carries out
its club takeover checks.
The FA is also refusing to give
up hope that it could be named as
football’s independent regulator
despite ministers’ reservations.Plaque comeback
A replica of the damaged marble
plaque that commemorates the
opening of Olympic Way for the
London 1948 Games has been
commissioned and will be
installed on the approach to
Wembley Stadium.
The old plaque is now hidden
away on a patch of scrubland but
it is understood that the
developers, Quintain, have agreed
to provide a replica after talks
with the BOA and a campaign by
Mike Collett, author of two
histories of the FA Cup.SPORT
NOTEBOOK
Martyn Ziegler
Chief Sports Reporter
SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEARJ
ack Harrison has always had
this hunger to learn and
improve. Even when injured
while with New York City FC,
he would watch David Villa
train, analysing his runs. Even when
invited by Frank Lampard out to
beautiful Montauk on Long Island to
watch England on TV during Euro
2016, Harrison would pick his brain
on what was required to make it to
the top. Even now, at Leeds United,
the 25-year-old Harrison scrutinises
Kalvin Phillips’s unyielding approach
to matches and is determined to show
similar toughness.
Harrison is unwavering in leaving
nothing to chance. He has built a gym
at home, wears a ring that analyses
his sleep and works with a nutritionist
and special chef. He speaks to the
Leeds legend Eddie Gray on the art of
wing play. He listened to Marcelo
Bielsa, understanding the need to be
more physical, and absorbs the advice
of Jesse Marsch, who tells him to be
more aggressive and a “son of a
bitch” in games. Harrison is
responding, with three goals in four
games, as Leeds fight to stay
up.
Time in Harrison’s
company at Thorp Arch on
Thursday reveals an
inherently polite, friendly
character juggling a more
ruthless streak on the
pitch. “People around me
are always telling me,
‘You’re too nice,’ and it is
how I am,” Harrison
says. “It sometimes
relays on to the pitch
where maybe I am a
little bit too nice. I can
be more ‘aggressive’
and more of ‘a son of a
bitch’ at times.
“Jesse has definitely
challenged me. There are
moments where maybe
I let a defender get in
front of me. Jesse’s
creating this
mentality of, ‘no,
don’t allow them
anything, be
aggressive’. I’m doing
my best to do
everything that he’s‘Manager
says be more
aggressive –
I’m really too
nice at times’
Jack Harrison tells Henry Winter about his
competitive mum, going to US alone aged 14,
Leeds’s survival battle and end of Murderball
Britain’s swimmers, boxers and
gymnasts will be in the perfect
spot to celebrate success at the
Paris 2024 Olympics after an
agreement was reached for those
sports to have a training base in
Reims, the unofficial capital of the
Champagne region.
The BOA has also secured Paris
Saint-Germain’s training ground
and the Georges-Lefèvre Stadium
just outside the city for its
athletics, football, rugby sevens,
hockey and weightlifting teams.Leeds United
v Man CitySky Sports (kick-off
5.30pm) and talkSPORT
radio