The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-22)

The Sunday Times May 22, 2022 21

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Floodlights

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“Put your trust in

me and you can go

from £20 a week to

two grand,”

promises the

youth coach, Barry

Bennell, to bunch

of schoolboy

footballers who

giggle nervously at

the prospect.

For Bennell,

serving 34 years

for a litany of

sexual offences

involving young

boys, it was never

about the money

— as this

harrowing,

low-budget drama

details. Jonas

Armstrong plays

Bennell as being

careful to mentally

seduce the

parents before

physically abusing

their boys, but

Floodlights tells

the awful tale

through Andy

“Woody”

Woodward, the

football-loving

innocent boy who

from prison for

sexual offences in

the US and now

calling himself

Richard Jones —

stalks him on

Facebook.

For Bennell, the

end is finally

beginning. For

Woodward, the

scars remain.

John Aizlewood

after being abused

“on a daily basis for

three years” has

grown into a

broken man.

Long retired

from football,

Woodward, played

by Gerard Kearns,

plucks up the

courage to blow

the whistle after

Bennell — released

The winners of

the 2022 Sports

Book Awards in

association with

The Sunday

Times will be

announced at the

Kia Oval on

Thursday, in an

event hosted by

the ITV football

presenter Mark

Pougatch.

Among those

shortlisted or

attending are:

Michael Holding,

David Gower,

Christine

Ohuruogu and

Brian Moore. The

evening will also

benefit the Bob

Willis Fund, which

was set up to

raise money for

prostate cancer

research and

awareness.

For more

information, visit:

sportsbookaward

s.com

JUST FOUR DAYS UNTIL OUR SPORTS BOOK AWARDS...

No Way Home — I stood up

and clapped midway through.

My absolute favourite film,

which is completely away

from all that, is Scarface. It’s

something I grew up on as a

kid. I could tell you every word

and I’m always in the mood to

watch it.

MY FAVOURITE TV SHOW

I’m more of a documentary

kind of guy. I’ve watched The

College Admissions Scandal,

which I thought was amazing.

I’ve also watched The Sons of

Sam, which is about an

American serial killer. But the

best one of the year by far was

The Tinder Swindler. You

won’t understand the naivety

of some of these women, but

it’s really awful what happens

to them. I did also enjoy Squid

Game, which had quite a lot of

unnecessary violence.

MY FAVOURITE POP STAR

I love rap music, especially

an artist called Pusha T. His

albums are great. I also got

introduced to Sam

Fender this year, whom I

had previously never heard of.

I saw him performing live and

I’ve listened to his album,

which is pretty cool.

MY FAVOURITE BOOK

I recently read Shoe Dog: A

Memoir by the co-founder of

Nike, Phil Knight, which was

pretty cool, but the best book

I have ever read was

Relentless, by Tim S. Grover,

which focuses on top athletes

such as Michael Jordan, Kobe

Bryant and Dwyane Wade.

By Ellie McDonald

lTroy Deeney: Redemption

has been shortlisted for The

Sunday Times 2022 Sports

Book Awards. His

documentary about diversity

in the national curriculum,

Troy Deeney: Where’s My

History? airs on May 23 at

10pm on Channel 4

EAT

DRINK

LOVE

EAT

MY FAVOURITE MEAL
If we’re eating in, my partner,
Alisha Hosannah, can cook
some unbelievable South
American food, like
something called pepperpot
or some pepper steak. I really
enjoy Asian food as well, such
as sushi. I still enjoy a nice
beer too.

MY FAVOURITE RESTAURANT
There’s one we went to
recently that is based around
Batman. It’s called Park Row in
London. Because I love
Marvel and DC so much, that
was also a cool experience. It
was decorated in a Batman
theme, and had rose-petal
cocktails and things of that
nature. If you love Marvel and
DC as much as me then
definitely go.

MY DREAM DINNER PARTY
Barack Obama, Conor
McGregor and Alisha, my
partner. Alisha is the kind of
person who challenges me
with everything. When she’s
not telling me off she’s not
bad to be around. Obama is

fascinating to me. I think he

would have so many stories,

and I would have so many

questions. And McGregor —

he’s like one of the best and

worst drinking partners you

could ever have. I just have a

feeling the man behind the

bravado is quite a cool guy

but an interesting character.

And I guess we would eat

somewhere like the Maldives

... on a beach out there.

DRINK

MY FAVOURITE TIPPLE

I like a good spiced rum but I

don’t drink as much as I used

to. I just don’t think it brings

out the best in me. I’m lactose

intolerant, which doesn’t help.

So when we go out for food

the waiter will come over and

ask, “Do you want dessert?”

And my partner, every time,

will go: “I will, but he’ll have a

green tea.” In those moments I

feel ridiculously old!

LOVE

MY FAVOURITE FILM

The best movie I’ve watched

recently would be Spider Man:

Troy Deeney on

drinking green

tea and knowing

every word in

Scarface

From top: Deeney would

love dinner with Obama, and

is a huge fan of Al Pacino in

Scarface, and Fender

MY FAVOUR

I love ra

an artis

albums

introd

Fende

had previo

Kearns plays the role of Woodward