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“What is university life about? Discovery, excellence in sport, a good degree at the end of it- in that order. Ultimately I studied rugby and played economics.”
The pair helped Durham to reach the 1 2 final at Twickenham, where Fennell led the Palatinates out in an 34-10 loss to Loughborough.
They are the first ones to admit that the result was fairly expected. Ben reminisces that, “we sort of knew that we’d played our final in the semi, so we had two extraordinary days of celebration at the Court Inn. Will adds that, “Still, 30 years later, it’s ‘one more day’. It means we go again.”
This gets to the heart of what Will and Ben, still best friends today, look back most fondly on from their time at Durham.
Ben explains, “There’s something unique and special about this place that’s hard to put your finger on. There s ust a thoroughly special group of people that you end up finding. My nearest and dearest and closest happen to be people I was at atfield ollege with.”
Greenwood is a Durham legend, who’s since been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University and a place in the Hall of Fame. Yet, despite all this, he still can’t quite seem to believe it’s real. He exclaims, “I should be thanking Durham. This is the wrong way round. Durham was my absolute launchpad, no question. It’s where I changed completely as a human being, grew up and created friendships, and understood life a little bit more.”
Despite his somewhat lackadaisical approach to his own studies, Greenwood is a big believer that going to university is still a key step in the life and careers of the rugby players of today.
“They overspecialise too quickly. There may be a Marcus Smith, Jonny Wilkinson, or Zoe Harrison, who you know will be a global superstar from 18, but these are less than one percentile of those dragged into academies at 12 or 13.”
“You’re sold a dream that you’re going to play for England. You pick up six grand a year, live in an academy surrounded by four other lads, and just play rugby or Playstation. Then at 23 or 24, you realise ‘sugar, I’m not going to make it’, or you rupture an ACL and you’re invalided out of the game.”
“For me, I think there is a way to combine both. Go to Durham and be linked with Newcastle academy, or go to Exeter and be linked with Exeter academy. Go and do your 10,000 hours. Go and play amongst your own age group and develop as a player and as a human being.”
Another pressing issue in the world of rugby is the longterm effects associated with concussion. A group of players, including Greenwood’s former World Cup-winning teammate Steve Thompson, have spoken out about the effects of early onset dementia from repetitive collisions. It’s clear that this is something Will has put a lot of
thought into.
“It’s very sad to hear that some of my friends are going through some really tough times. I have no idea where I’ll be in ten or twenty years time, I had some pretty serious concussions in my career and it is a bridge which I will cross. Knowing what I know now, would I still lace up? Yeah. Would I still go through those knocks and those hits to have the journey I’ve had? Yes.”
He then went on to praise the changes World Rugby have put in place to protect players, particularly at a junior level.
“World Rugby is creating an environment where at a local rugby club, kids are having a lot of fun with their mates. They’re having 700 more touches than they used to in the olden days where it was just one big dogfight.”
“You then get to the stage where you’re 18 or 19 where, just like if you downhill ski, or ride a horse, or box, that there is a danger that comes with a pretty violent sport. We’ve got to a stage where now you can make an adult decision of what is going on.”
There could be no conversation with Greenwood that ignores his exploits in Australia in 2003. Being part of a World Cup winning side is an incredible feat for anyone, but when asked about his immediate feelings having been crowned champions, it was
simply “relief”.
“I think you may get a different answer from different teams. Greece winning the Euros might be ‘oh my God what have we just done’. Being number one in the world, there was a feeling of relief because we didn’t want to be another choker, another English team that says ‘could have, should have.’”
“In reality, we played our best rugby arguably eighteen months before. We had a bit of a purple patch, a two or three week blitz. We went to Ireland for three weeks, and went to Australia and New Zealand and won there. But by the orld up, the finish line couldn’t come quickly enough.”
Quite rightly, that side has been dubbed as one of the greatest English sporting teams of all time. Characters like Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson became icons of British sport, alongside partnerships such as Greenwood and Mike Tindall, which will go down in legend.
The makings of a team like this central to the book which Fennell and Greenwood have written.
“Togetherness, difference and growth” are the three things which Fennell says make up a great team. “Whether sporting, commercial or military, we found those three things at play. Celebrate difference, forge togetherness, accelerate growth.”
Greenwood looks back on his time with England and agrees.
“Just look at me and Tindall. Everything I couldn’t do, he could, and vice versa. If you want difference, there you go. In terms of togetherness, I’m at the bottom of a ruck against the French and you have someone like Martin Johnson over you with one bloke in his right arm, one bloke in his left arm and he’s busy headbutting the other Frenchman with his
are
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e finished by asking them each for one piece of advice which they’d gained throughout their extraordinary careers. After pondering over it, Will quotes Mark Twain’s famous epithet: “If you only tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” He then goes on to explain, “At the heart of that is don’t be afraid to speak out, don’t be afraid to speak your mind, don’t be afraid to ask for help, don’t be afraid to ask for support, don’t be afraid to offer ideas.” Ben interjects, “There’s pressure to be brilliant at everything. I promise you, age 50, no fucker is brilliant at everything. People who manage their careers well focus on what they’re brilliant at, and what they’re passionate about, and they absolutely double down on those things. They put people around them who cover off their weaknesses.” With his closest friend of thirty years sat opposite, Will is keen to emphasise, “ f you find people that allow that to happen, stay fucking close to them. Not everyone gets that. When you find them, then hunker down and stick in the tail of Halley’s Comet.” Friendship and collaboration are clearly fundamental to Greenwood and Fennell as people. They have the easy banter and almost telepathic understanding of two people who have spent a lifetime celebrating the good times together and supporting each other when things get tough. Ben got Will’s extra ticket for the World Cup Final afterparty. e tells stories of ill finishing playing for England, before Ben Fennell and Will Greenwood (DU Business School) rushing from Twickenham to Rosslyn Park to celebrate his ridged forehead, saying ‘What’re former university captain’s you doing, get out of there’, which victories in what was then rugby’s creates a total understanding in third division. It’s clear that for terms of our culture. This is me, these two, friendship comes first. this is you, this is how we look They thrive on teamwork and after each other.” have learned to play to each other’s strengths, and protect “Knowing what I know now, their weaknesses, as friends as much as they have in the would I still lace up? Yeah. respective teams they’ve been Would I still go through parts of over the years. those knocks and those It’s with this in mind that Greenwood tells us that, however hits to have the journey I’ve great the World Cup win was, had? Yes” he’d give it all back in a heartbeat rather than lose his university “And then in terms of years. accelerating growth, you have “Don’t take away my three a guy like (manager of the 2003 years at Durham. Those are my side) Clive Woodward, who’s mates. It would be like taking bringing in private equity people, away my right and left arm. I hockey coaches, royal marines, cannot overstate just how much trying to accelerate what we’re fun I had here.” doing. He wanted us to learn fast, mitigate the cost of failure, bring in interesting people to really speed us up or do those extra one-percenters that’ll make the difference over what we’re doing already.”
Sport spoke to England and Manchester City captain Steph Houghton about her career and all things women’s football in the North East
Abi Curran & George Simms
Sport Editors
In Steph Houghton’s own words, she has been “fortunate enough to have been involved in some unbelievable moments.” That seems to be a colossal understatement from the 33-yearold. The England and Manchester City captain has had a footballing career that most could only dream of.
From World Cups, to Olympic Games, to Women’s Super Leagues, Houghton has performed on the biggest of stages. But why would anything less be expected of yet another sporting star to be produced from the North East?
Houghton seemed to be stumped when asked to pick two highlights from her playing career, “God that’s a tough one.” A brief pause ensued. “I’d probably have to say the England captaincy, I think that was massive for me in terms of my career and also for me as a player.”
“To be given the opportunity to, first and foremost, play for your country but also to lead the side out at four major tournaments has been unbelievable and something that is more for my family than me.” “I think to be able to represent two amazing clubs in Man City and Arsenal and to win trophies with them is up there too. I mean the Olympics as well, 2012 was unbelievable so I can’t really narrow it down.” Despite naming three highlights, we’ll let Steph off on this occasion.
Brought up in South Hetton, a village in between Durham and Sunderland, Steph’s career has taken her across the world, but her roots underpin everything she does, both on and off the pitch.
“I love the fact I’m from the North East” she tells us. “A lot of my career, the foundations of who I am today, are because of how I’ve grown up and the people I’ve been surrounded by.” Houghton came through the Sunderland Centre of Excellence, before moving into the underland first team in 200 , aged just 17, and leaving for Leeds Carnegie in 2007.
Around this time, she was also studying Sports Science at Loughborough. She explained, “I always knew that I’d be playing football. I just didn’t know if it would be professionally.” This changed when she became one of the first 1 players to earn England central contracts in 2009.
Despite her time with England and at Leeds, Arsenal and Manchester City, she still credits Sunderland with giving her the opportunity and foundation to start her career. “I can never be more thankful for my football career - the basics that I learnt and how I could be as a human because of them. I’m very proud to have come from the North East and to have represented a team that I support.”
Despite the lack of success for their teams in both the men’s and women’s games of late, the North East has a reputation as a hotbed of footballing talent, and Houghton is keen to emphasise that.
She explains that “It’s obviously produced some of the best internationals, especially in the women’s side, over the last few years. There’s a lot of us that are involved, the like of Jill (Scott), Carly (Telford), Lucy (Bronze), Demi (Stokes) just to name a few. With the likes of Durham (Women) and Sunderland (AFC Ladies), it just shows that everybody has a love for women’s football in the region and wants them both to do well.”
So what’s next for women’s football in the North East? A lot of that will depend on whether Amanda Staveley comes good on her promise to invest heavily in the women’s game in Newcastle. Steph is keen to emphasise that just throwing money at women’s football will not automatically improve clubs.
“It’s important that clubs invest but there has to be some strategy behind it, it’s not just about throwing money in, there has to be a well thought out plan to allow the club to progress nicely and produce their own players, as well as trying to attract other players.”
She uses her former club, Sunderland, as an example of this, “ I went through a spell with Sunderland where they wanted to invest but did we really have the backing or was it kind of a bit of a talking gesture. At the time I wasn’t really so sure. Ultimately that’s why the club is potentially in the Championship. With the players they have produced, t h e y should 100% be in WSL 1. It’s important to make sure it’s not just about one season, it’s about the future as well.” Houghton is an instinctive leader and will want to explore this beyond her career on the pitch. On whether she can ever see herself managing, she said, “We’ll see. Obviously I’m trying to finish my coaching badges. hile I’m injured at the moment, I’m trying to fill my time ust to get it done before the busy games come around. “You never know, whilst I’ve been out watching games I can see myself being a leader in some sort of sense. Maybe not a manager but something within first team and high-performance teams. I’m trying to leave my options open.” Having already tried her hand at punditry and column writing, she said, “That’s something I’ve thought about, especially post career. It’s something I love, I absolutely love the game. For me it’s kind of a dream job but I think there are a few more strings to my bow than just punditry.”
But for all the talk of her postplaying career, there’s still plenty left to come for teph on the field. All things being equal, she will lead England out of the tunnel for next summer’s home Euros and look to add to her 121 caps. he s only five games away from overtaking Peter Shilton, the English men’s footballer with the most caps, and joining the group of six women’s players with more caps than Shilton. Now coached by Sarina Wiegman, who oversaw the Dutch victory at Euro 2017, England should have all the necessary tools to go one better than their semi finals at the most recent Euros and World Cup. Steph assured us, “It’s going to be an unbelievable tournament. The girls are confident, obviously when you’re a home nation and you’re going to have the whole country behind you, it gives you that little bit more confidence to go and do well. Fingers crossed we can go and do something that makes everybody happy.”
England are joined by Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland in Group A. They face Austria in a orld up ualifier at the Stadium of Light on November 27th, which Steph calls a “good test to see where we are as a team” after four relatively easy wins, with a combined score of 32-0, since Sarina Wiegman took over.
Houghton will likely cross paths with Durham Women defender Sarah Robson, who has 60 caps for Northern Ireland. Despite 6-0 and 4-0 wins over Northern Ireland in 2021 alone, Houghton is full of praise for Kenny Shiels’ side, calling them a “great team” and adding that there’s an “added bit of pressure against the home nations, because we’re expected to win”.
We ask if she might make it to Maiden Castle in April to watch Durham Women face her old side Sunderland. “If I can’t come, then my Grandma will be there” she quipped back. Steph’s love of football, and the North East, is infectious and this clearly goes for her family too.
According to Steph, her footballing legacy isn’t something she thinks about often. But when asked what she would like it to be she replied, “I’d like people to think of us as someone that’s probably paved the way. I think ultimately just someone who’s stayed humble and been a good person. If people could say them few words about us then I’d be pretty happy.” (Manchester City FC)
DUSC break records at BUCS Short Course Swimming Championships
Abi Curran Sport Editor
The pool at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre had not hosted a finals day in almost two years. So, when Durham headed down to heffield for the Short Course Championships, the club were on the lookout for a weekend of strong swims.
Joined by Olympians and European record holders round the pool, Durham Swimming Club (DUSC) were in good company. Athletes such as Andreas Vazaios and Louise Hansson, national swimmers for their respective countries, raced alongside students from 81 universities across the country.
In this respect, it wasn’t going to be an easy weekend for DUSC but, if their Sky Sports-esque introductions via Instagram stories were anything to go by, the team meant business. A weekend of impressive swimming broke nine Durham University records.
Perhaps the most successful team was the women’s relay team. On day one, in the heats, the 4x50 freestyle relay team A set a new record by over a second in the 200m race. After coming in the top 20, the team then broke their own record in the finals. rodie Judge, Amy Hodgson, Flora Forrest and Grace Maskell came away winners after a strong final race. The story in the 4x50 women’s medley relay was not too dissimilar. The same swimmers pushed hard and broke a seven-year-old Durham record. The medley team managed fourth place this time in the final and, if that wasn t enough, simultaneously broke their own record again in the final race. Over in the mixed relay, both of Durham’s teams managed to break records, and then break them again. Durham A broke the 4x50 mixed medley relay record of 1:56:51 from 2019 by over a second, with Durham B cutting that time by over another second in their subsequent race.
It comes as no surprise that Ponds Forge is famous for being one of the world’s fastest pools. The depth of the pool is complimented by the type of gas that is used to chlorinate the pool providing perfect conditions for records to be broken.
After success in the Short Course Championships, Durham University Swimming Club will look forward to the Long Course Championships which are to be held in February, anticipating more records and success in the pool.(Manchester City FC)
Sport “I should be thanking Durham. This is the wrong way round” Sport talk to Durham alumnus and World Cup winner Will Greenwood Steph Houghton: “I love the fact I’m from the North East” The England women’s football captain talks ewcastle, Euro and her legacy
Sixth-tier Gateshead into FA Cup second round after dramatic win
(Gateshead FC)
Jonny Tiplady
Sport Editor National League North side Gateshead have made it to the second round of the FA Cup for the first time in four years. They did so in dramatic fashion, beating Altrincham with a stoppage-time winner in their 3- replay win.
Having twice taken the lead and twice been pegged back by their ational eague hosts, talismanic striker Macauley Langstaff popped up with an injury-time scorcher from outside the box to wrap up the tie. angstaff has eight goals in ten league appeareances this season. The Tynesiders had looked set to make the next stage in less hair-raising circumstances; they led 2-0 at home in the original tie with just seven minutes to go.
ut, Altrincham’s own injurytime heart-breaker, a 95thminute equaliser from Jake Moult, forced a draw and a replay on home soil. The eed are no strangers to dramatic cup ties this season; they needed a replay and another 3- victory to reach the first round against eighth-tier Marske United, and the same scoreline to beat Runcorn Linnets, another eighth-tier team. The game represented a break from a restless league campaign for a Gateshead side who have lost just once since the beginning of September. Currently sat in ninth place in the National League North, Mike Williamson’s team are just a point outside the playoff places. Their game against Altrincham was a real test of their promotion mettle and proved they can compete with teams in higher divisions. They have not been in the fifth tier of English football since being demoted for financial irregularities in 1 . The next round of the A Cup will pose an even greater challenge, as they face eague One side Charlton Athletic in just two weeks’ time. uoyed by their fans at the 11,800-seater Gateshead International Stadium, and IT viewers at home, the team will be hoping for a shock win to progress to the third round. If they do, it will be the first time since 2015 that Gateshead have reached the third round of the A Cup, where they then faced a heavy - loss at the hands of est romwich Albion.
Giant shocks have been synonymous with the A Cup in recent years. ho could forget Wigan Athletic felling Manchester City in the fifth round, or incoln City’s stunning run to the quarter-finals Some say the A Cup is losing its magic. With underdog stories like these, fans can rest assured they will be easily enchanted once again.
In conversation with Will Greenwood and Ben Fennell
George Simms Harvey Stevens
3 years ago and seven weeks, this was the first pub I came into. I got a note in my pigeon hole, from Dan Sibson and Nick Keller saying, Shakespeare, ’o’clock’.
Yet when Durham alumnus ill reenwood M E once again ducked through the doorframe of The Shakespeare at pm last Tuesday, he returned a orld Cup winner. A crucial part of England’s 3 ugby orld Cup-winning side, Greenwood won two Premierships with the eicester Tigers, before helping arlequins to two European Shields. e is joined by en ennell, another urham alumnus. ennell captained urham’s first in his time here, first inviting Greenwood to join a pre-season tour to Sicily before his first year had even begun. Although ennell’s rugby career perhaps didn’t reach the lofty heights of his counterpart, he went on to collect an Oxford blue before focussing on the world of business. After 1 years as CEO of advertising giant BBH London, Fennell set up his own agency, The rowth ouse. More recently, however, the two have united to write a book: World Class, documenting their experiences in the world of sport and business. They sat down, in The Shakespeare with Palatinate to discuss their time at Durham, the world of rugby and what makes a great team. ill did go A O for first term ennell joked with us. e hadn’t had a year off, came straight up to Durham and found alcohol, women and freedom.
Greenwood laughs in agreement and philosophises.
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