Sport magazine 480

Issue 480 | December 16 2016

Im ag e s o f th e Ye a r

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The best sports shots of the year, in the words of those who captured them

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Cover: illustration, David Doran; image, Kai Pfaffenbach/Action Images. This page: Philip Haynes

“ I l I k e St e p i n to C h r i St maS by e lto n J o h n . I t h a s a g u I ta r r I f f I t ry a n d l e a r n e v e r y y e a r ” p37

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love and hate Greg Rutherford: long jump rivalries, dancing and dogs on leads

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diary A dignified Alastair Cook, spinning Dillian Whyte and joyous Darren Huckerby

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flats on friday Our columnist has no time for lynch mobs

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f r o n t 16

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2016 in pictures From Bolt’s on-track grin to Kaepernick taking a knee – we click through the most powerful pictures of the year

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laura kenny Our most successful female Olympian on why 2016 on the bike was more difficult than she ever imagined it would be

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leighton baines Everton’s Mr Dependable talks snapping people in the street, Koeman’s influence and Monday’s Merseyside derby Christmas sport Arrers at the PDC worlds, season-defining NFL ties, Premier League fixtures, the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day and more

g u i d e

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Watches Faces of joy, if you have the Christmas budget

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festive fragrances A page for her followed by a page for him. Scents not to be sniffed at

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booze Because Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without it, right?

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Greg Rutherford LONg jump kiNg, DANciNg DAD, cANiNE frEEDOm figHTEr “I love beIng In the mountaIns. Post-Olympics, I always go

It’s funny to think now what I did with my spare time before Milo came along. When you’re an athlete, there are long periods of time when you’re doing nothing. I genuinely don’t know what I did.”

skiing. I tend to take it relatively seriously. As well as being a builder, my dad was also a ski instructor on the dry ski slope in Hemel Hempstead.

So I learnt to ski from a very young age. My first job was working at the indoor slope in Milton Keynes. I caught the bug, so it’s a great holiday for me. But equally, when I’m on the slopes, I want to push myself.”

“It drIves me up the wall when people walk theIr dogs on a lead In a dog-frIendly area. Where I live

backs on to vast woodland, so most people walk their dogs off the lead.

But there are a few who keep them on leads and, when your dog goes to say hello, shout at you for having your dog off a lead in the woods. It’s like taking a child to a sweet shop and saying they can’t have anything.”

“I fInd It strange when groups of people belIeve they should beat you. Like it’s their given right to be winning

all the time. There’s an American contingency nowadays that, for some reason, can’t ever accept me beating them. To be honest, I’ve beaten them a lot more than they’ve beaten me, so I don’t really understand where that comes from. I find it very frustrating, but equally it’s always really pleasant when you do beat them.”

“antarctIca Is the only contInent I’m ye t to vIsIt.

I looked at an app recently that tells you how much of the world you’ve visited: 15 per cent. So I’ve done well in 12 years of being a pro athlete.

I get to travel, stay in shape, have fun and I’m paid to do it. It’s crazy.”

“any food that I probably shouldn’ t be eatIng, I probably wIll eat and enjoy. This is my break period. I’m

“ track and fIeld needs hawkeye. Or something similar.

Ryan McAmis

meant to be enjoying myself, so I’m eating pretty much whatever I like.

The training for Strictly [Come Dancing] was tough, but I’ve put on weight – I’m nowhere near as lean as I was at the Olympics. One night I got home from dance training at 10pm and ate half of one of those big bars of chocolate. I’d never dream of doing that while I’m competing.”

The plasticine [after the long jump board] is a process that doesn’t 100 per cent work. The sport in general is so incredibly amateur and generally run by people who want to keep it in its archaic state of the 1960s through to the ’80s because they see that as the heyday of track and field. In actual fact, that period was a great one because there was so much more investment in it – stars of track and field were sports stars. The sad thing is that by the time I retire, I think it’ll be even worse.”

“ the most Important thIng In my lIfe Is beIng a dad [to two-year-old son Milo]. And it’s the thing that takes up more

time than anything else because I train, then go home to be a dad.

Unexpected, by Greg Rutherford, is published by Simon & Schuster, priced £20

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Quote of the week

h o u s e m at e s of the week Remember when burglars broke into Duncan Ferguson’s gaff and, erm, regretted it?

Well, we have a 2016 contender home you definitely should not break into. Housemates Jade Jones (below) and Bianca Walkden both won World Taekwondo Grand Prix gold in their respective weight categories in Baku, Azerbaijan, last weekend. Bam.

“Virat is in incredible form, having one of the series you dream of. Clearly one of the great batsmen of our generation” Hard times in India for Alastair Cook, but he showed his usual dignity in waxing lyrical about the dazzling batting of opposition captain Virat Kohli, who has amassed 552 runs at an average of 138.0 in this series.

Number of the week And the winner of #XFactor 2016 is............... Fucking everybody!

This shite is off ourTV’s for another year! #DogShite tweet of the week Former Coventry and Norwich City cult hero Darren Huckerby attacks The X Factor with the energy he once used to go at opposition defenders. Clearly a Strictly man.

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Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s goal for Man Utd to beat Tottenham means 96 different nationalities have now scored in the Premier League.

Come on, Albania, Bolivia and Thailand – join the party.

Victory of the week

Spinning around

Photo of the week

Boxers are taught to punch through their target, but Dillian Whyte has taken that to an extreme as he swings off balance against Dereck Chisora. Last weekend’s heavyweight grudge match surpassed expectations as this pair put on a see-saw war, which Whyte won via a debatable split-decision.

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All pictures Getty Images

Glasgow Warriors don’t travel well, having won just seven of 53 away games in the European Champions Cup. That’s until a stunning 23-14 win last Saturday – with tries from Ali Price and Alex Dunbar, below – against Racing 92 in Paris.

Win at Scotstoun tonight and group qualification is near.

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Mob law applies only when it suits them

Main illustration: David Lyttleton. Pen pic: Peter Strain

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oul play can make for the most fascinating of rugby conversations.

Upon eruption of something unsavoury, the narrative is generally entirely predictable. All too often, these patterned reactions focus on something England and Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley has done. His record is undeniably grim – and it goes beyond the uncompromising extremes of abrasive play, all too often slugging its way into the category marked ‘cheap shot’.

However, a hefty percentage of the loudest objectors only seem to mind when it’s a player from a team other than theirs.

Hartley’s record is indefensible; the amount of time for which he has been banned is both alarming and sad, but I hear fewer complaints from Saints fans than from anybody else.

Also, when he’s captaining England so successfully and with such presence, those most resonant voices seem hushed. Then, having inexplicably been benched by his club for his big European return against Leinster last weekend, he comes on and loses the plot.

Now, if you’re going to tweet punchy accusations to me about making excuses for

Hartley’s actions, save your thumbs.

Benching him last weekend was as ill-judged a piece of statement-making as I’ve seen at club level, but it was still his responsibility to deal with it. There is an odd disconnect between his mental state while playing for club and country. Only he can truly know why.

But to read and listen to the views of Saints fans after the match was as interesting as it was predictable. While fans of every other club in Europe slammed Hartley and called for him to be stripped, flogged, and banished, the vast majority of fans from his club took the line that this was about more than Dylan, that there are bigger problems at Saints.

Actually, they’re probably right about the bigger problems, but they largely brushed

“Are these fans equally incensed when it’s their guy who has been naughty? They are not” 08

over Hartley’s concussive swinging arm. This is what rugby – well, sport – fans do so often.

It’s like Peggy Mitchell defending Phil and Grant: they’re either blameless or there is some serious mitigation to be considered, and we’re narrow-minded and prejudiced if we don’t hear them out and accept absolutely the case of the belligerent defence. So many fans seem duty bound to demand less tolerance of foul play, but are they equally incensed when it’s their guy who has been naughty? My observations tell me that, mostly, they are not.

I would imagine that Hartley ruled himself out of the British Lions captaincy race last weekend, which is genuinely sad as he would have been in with a real shout. But for me – and I wholly accept that his offence was worthy of both a red card and ban – the level of outrage from everywhere except Northampton felt altogether too mob-like.

If these ever-so-offended protectors of our game can honestly say they’d go at their own players like this, then good on them. I just think the majority of the outraged masses are as sanctimonious as they are transparent. @davidflatman

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Comments of the week Issue 479 | December 9 2016

Victor Moses

We speak exclusively to the Premier League’s most improved player

@VictorMoses Amazing interview in @SportMagUK #Touching #inspiring Already a #CFC legend in my opinion mate. @robwillhunter

Now is a time to celebrate what sport can still be

Pen pic: Peter Strain. Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

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ell, what a year that was. The last thing I did before starting this column was watch footage of Donald Trump’s meeting with Kanye West. In terms of leaving me bewildered to the point of absolute speechlessness, that pretty much summed 2016 up. How did any of it happen?

Whichever side of the fence you inhabit on Trump, Brexit and Honey G, there’s no denying that it has been a very dark year for sport. The doping scandal to come out of Russia – not that anyone in Russia cares to admit it – has cast an imposing shadow over Olympic sport in a year when the biggest sporting show on earth found itself starkly juxtaposed with the brutal poverty of modern Rio. On these shores, the number of football clubs now embroiled in historical allegations of abuse against young players is pushing three figures. In both cases, sadly, the overarching suspicion is that this is tip-of-the-iceberg stuff.

Scandal is not where it ends, of course. Disaster, corruption, human rights abuses and tragedy seem to have punctuated the sporting year – both at home and internationally – at regular intervals, with questionable ownerships and major financial problems dogging clubs across a number of sports domestically. Fans of Coventry City, Charlton, Millwall, Durham cricket and London Welsh rugby, among others, will welcome in 2017 in varying levels of uncertainty, despair or fury.

This would appear to be the way of sport in the 21st century, however. The corinthian values of old, if they ever really existed, have gone. Now, we are presented a deeply flawed, compromised, money-driven sporting landscape, permanently at the mercy of the greedy

and the corrupt. It leaves a sour taste, and one that doesn’t look like going away any time soon.

But to simply sit back, shake our heads and rue how frankly shit it has all become is to give in to the bad guys. Sport still has the power to do wonderful things, from the many grassroots organisations encouraging young people into myriad sporting

“To simply sit back, shake our heads and rue how shit it has all become is to give in to the bad guys” pursuits to the many clean, dedicated elite athletes who inspire people of any age every time they step on to the pitch, track or court. Actually doing it yourself is pretty healthy too, of course.

I’m not a massive fan of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year event these days – it’s a little too pleased with itself, I find – but its fundamental raison d’etre remains an important one. So when Messrs Balding, Lineker et al announce Andy Murray as the recipient for 2016 on Sunday evening, remember that there is still an awful lot to celebrate about sport, both in this country and beyond. There may be many bad guys, but the good guys will surely win out in the end. @tonyhodson1

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@CaseyStoney @SamRiderUK Brilliant interview. Casey’s such an inspiration, and a great role model. @rainedonparade @otheralexreid your editorial in today’s @SportMagUK was excellent. A difficult topic covered with a deft touch.

I doff my cap sir! @simonHrJ Nice piece on the biggest sporting moments of the year on Twitter. #trending @leebohammers They’re *all* football. Is it just me that finds that staggering, and a bit depressing? @dennis_r_M

Keep in touch with @sportmaguk sportmagazine sportmaguk info@sport-magazine.co.uk

e n g ag e

Meet the wags They say dogs start to look like their owners. Apparently that’s true of footballers, too. We reckon Roy Keane’s beloved Triggs (RIP) would have done a decent job as a midfield enforcer.

Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin, meanwhile, says his dog Otto is a speedster – just like his owner – although he likens him more to his Gunners

colleague Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain because “they both have style and pace”.

That quote and the images above are from Issue 3 of Boys Magazine, a lifestyle journal for men, which also features Everton’s Gerard Deulofeu and Chelsea’s Asmir Begovic. Woof!

Out now. Find out more at boysmagazine.co.uk

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Ben McDade, Brendan Freeman

A new magazine interviews Premier League stars about their canine pals

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Behind the camera The sporting images of 2016, as explained by the photographers who captured them

Bolt looks left | Kai Pfaffenbach Reuters “When Usain Bolt prepared for his 100m semi final, I decided to play with slow shutter speed for that race. I set my camera [shutter speed] to a 50th of a second, and was waiting for the moment when he passed my position. In this very moment, he looked to his left with the proud smile and my first thought was: ‘Hopefully I got this sharp.’ Well, I’ve been a lucky bunny in this case, but I still would not have imagined at this moment that this picture would go viral and get worldwide recognition.” k

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Chasing rainbows | Patrick McCann Racing Post “Sometimes the Irish weather just makes your day. This was one of those occasions. This image is from Bellewstown Racecourse in County Meath, overlooking the Irish Sea, on an unusually wet July evening. I’d walked down the tree-lined back straight of the circuit, because you get two opportunities to photograph the runners. On the second occasion I looked up and saw, reflecting through the summer rain, that rainbow.”

Wiggins and co | David Davies PA Images “I wanted to make the most of the in-field access and get something a bit different to bikes on a track.

There were high expectations of the [British] men’s team pursuit team; you could feel the tension as they prepared for their run. Not a word was spoken between them... you could see they were in a world of their own. They hid behind their visors and were oblivious to what was going on. I tried a couple of angles before slowing the shutter speed down and timed the shot to get the race on the track, to give the impression that everything was going on around them. k

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Verdon vertigo | Jan Vincent Kleine Red Bull Illume “The Verdon Gorge is a 700m-deep river canyon in the south of France. In March, I accompanied Norwegian elite climber Magnus Midtbø here. Instead of opting for a well-deserved rest day after flashing the ultra-classic 8b line ‘Tom et je Ris’ the day before, Magnus and Belgian expedition climber Tim de Dobbeleer set out to climb two 250m routes ground-up in one day. The sun had already set when Magnus started leading the final pitch to the canyon rim in the light of his headlamp.” k

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Olympic juxtaposition | Leo Correa AP Photo “For the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, I was assigned to go to the Mangueira slum to capture the fireworks exploding above the iconic Maracana stadium. So close, yet so far. My intention that night was to capture that juxtaposition: an amazing Olympic show that most people, especially the poor, were not invited to. To photograph this contrast, I positioned myself on a ramp inside the favela, supporting my camera on a small concrete wall.”

Kiss me | Scott Halleran PGA of America/Getty Images “After an amazing week of golf at Hazeltine, the Sunday singles was a great end. As I heard roars all over the course, I could tell things were going well for the US Ryder Cup team. At the closing ceremonies, I could see the look of happiness and relief on the faces of the US players. They wanted to win for their captain Davis Love III after the letdown at Medinah.

Ross Kinnaird shouted out to the players to kiss their wives and partners – as they did, poor little Rickie Fowler had no one to kiss, so he gave us a great face.” k

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“The best phone on the planet, period”

Now at

All eyes on Andy | Adam Davy PA Images “To capture this, I had to hold my camera up above the heads of the ball boys and girls, without being able to look through the viewfinder – a technique more commonly known as ‘Hail Mary’, because the photographer hopes and prays he gets something.

Luckily, I managed to capture Andy Murray waving to the crowd as he left Wimbledon’s Centre Court, trophy in hand. It works because you can see the line of ball boys with Murray between them – too far left or right and they would have blocked him.”

Pistorius in court | Siphiwe Sibeko Reuters/AP Pool “I was fortunate enough to be inside court on June 15 2016, when Oscar had to walk across the courtroom without his prosthetic legs during the resentencing hearing for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp...

I offered my seat to Oscar so he could take off his prosthetic legs.

I then moved swiftly to a better position and managed to get a sequence of pictures. When Oscar left my seat to go towards the front of the courtroom, I felt sorry for him. He seemed to walk with difficulty. He was walking on a carpet and I suspect it was hurting him; it wasn’t a smooth surface.” k

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Four play | Andrew P Scott ddp USA/REX “The beauty of covering the Olympic Games is exposure to sports that are outside the staple of day-to-day coverage. Table tennis is an incredibly fast sport – the speed of serves and reaction time of the players is amazing to witness. After shooting several rounds at floor level, I needed to give my eyes a break from madly tracking the little white ball. Climbing to the top of the stands and finding a spot where I could line up all the tables, I was able to stack the multiple matches into a single frame.” k

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Pow! | Richard W Rodriguez Fort Worth Star-Telegram “A ground ball was hit to third base and I started shooting as I followed the play. I lost focus as the third baseman passed in front of me, after throwing the ball to second baseman Rougned Odor [above right]. So I saw Jose Bautista’s late slide in the viewfinder, but the camera did not catch focus again until Odor turned to face him... Bautista got up, got shoved, and looked like he was going in to strike. Unfortunately for him, Odor was quicker to the punch and landed the first blow.”

Gold and blue | Dan Sheridan INPHO “The Fiji rugby team were celebrating their Olympic victory, and all the other photographers were shooting the whole team with a wide lens. But I saw this player [Ro Dakuwaqa] with the blue eye and thought it would make a really nice image if he was to bite the medal. So I shouted at a few of the players to bite their medals – and I took this image on a long lens to get the effect you see now.” k

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England’s Euro dejection | Jonathan Brady PA Images “Because my position was looking down on the England dugout, I thought at the final whistle – or close to it – that Roy Hodgson might look skywards and that it would make a useful picture. However, this moment looked increasingly unlikely to unfold; Hodgson just kept staring at his watch. I then turned my thoughts to the idea that the contrast between English dejection and Icelandic jubilation would make a stronger image. So I kept my lens trained on the penalty area as the final whistle blew.”

Take the knee | Marcio Jose Sanchez AP/PA Images “I decided to position my camera directly on the grass looking up at Colin Kaepernick to try to clean the clutter in the background from other players behind him and some of the ads near the bench.

I also aimed to include the 49ers’ home stadium in the background to give the image a sense of place.

I thought, unfortunately, the image wasn’t as successful, since Kaepernick covered his mouth for the duration of the anthem. But in the end, maybe this gives him more of a pensive mood and might add to the impact of the photograph.”

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Blame it on Rio Laura Kenny on the weight of expectation and why backing up her Olympic double was the hardest thing she has ever had to do Words Graham Willgoss

a golden team pursuit-omnium double at London 2012, she defended her titles in Rio to become Britain’s most successful female Olympian.

As a result, last week she was named Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year.

Kenny, who says she is still getting used to her new surname after marrying GB track sprinter Jason in the summer, is still only 24.

She might make it look easy, but Kenny tells Sport that this year on the track has been anything but. We catch up with her in the centre of the velodrome at Stratford’s Olympic Park at the beginning of December, moments after her first competitive race since her golden brace in Rio. Kenny is here to learn the newformat omnium, part of the Revolution Champions League finale.

Despite an extended break for a month-long honeymoon around Europe in a campervan, she finishes second in the scratch race. And, after catching her breath, is typically engaging company.

“I underestimated it,” she says when we ask whether defending her Olympic titles was more difficult than she imagined. “You see people such as Sir Chris [Hoy], and even [husband] Jason going to Olympics and backing up time and time again. And you think: ‘If they can do it, so can I.’ “But I totally underestimated how hard it was. Everything changes [after you have won gold once]. Your perception changes. You think all of a sudden people think you need to win everything.

People’s expectations change. Your own expectations change.

“Trying to back up was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Because people were like: ‘You did it before.’ Well, yeah,

but I didn’t just flick a switch and get given a gold medal.

“It was a long time. And this time I did the whole four-year cycle. Whereas before, I did only 18 months. And I realised how long four years was. I realised why people such as Ed [Clancy] and Joanna [Rowsell Shand] step away for a year. It’s difficult.”

Such is life for an Olympic champion that they are immediately asked if they will defend their title. It is likely Kenny will commit to another cycle. One of the rewards at the end, however, could be an omnium rejigged by cycling’s rule-makers.

coming here. But the thing is, you’ve got to put it on the line eventually. There’s no point in shying away from racing. At the end of the day, that’s what you have to do.

For me, coming here was literally about learning the new omnium and enjoying myself. But that was horrible.”

What were your expectations?

“I don’t expect to win. And I knew it was going to be hard, but I just feel like at the end of it I will feel good for putting myself out there. I can’t hide away forever. I can’t wait until I have Olympic form again.

“ Yo u t h i n k p e o p l e t h i n k y o u n e e d t o w i n e ve r y th i n g . Pe o p l e’s e x p e c t a t i o n s c h a n g e . Yo u r o w n e x p e c t a t i o n s c h a n g e ” The number of races have been reduced from six to four. All will take place over one day, instead of two. The individual pursuit, flying lap and 500m time trial have been axed, with a tempo race (in which points are awarded two deep for each lap) added, making it a solely endurance event.

The changes would appear not to favour Kenny. She came first in the individual pursuit and flying lap, and second in the time trial for her Rio omnium victory. But, as she tells us: “If you want to win bike races, you have to go and race them.”

Because by the time I get there, I won’t actually remember how to race.”

How did you find your first race back?

You were out there racing with fellow team-pursuiter and Matrix teammate Elinor Barker. It’s very different to racing as part of a team of four in Rio.

“Horrible. It was absolutely horrible. I just feel awful. I’m not going to lie. I know I haven’t got the form, is the other thing.

Because I have actually been doing a little bit of training, but I know how badly it’s been going. So that worried me even more

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Surely your instincts kicked in?

“Oh, definitely. I think that happened in that one. It’s just about being smart, when you haven’t got the form. And going back and remembering everything you used to do. And trying to make good of a bad situation. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter.

Because then, when you do have the form, you know what to do. And then you will get the result. It was just hard.”

“I think she feels alright, which is a bit depressing, innit? I mean, I thought I was going to be sick. When you came over k

2016 Rex Features

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he expectations on Laura Kenny are huge. Having bagged

was a proper fingers-crossed moment.

Even Paul – you never see Paul sweat.

He’s, like, cool, calm and collected.

Nothing can faze him. And he said to Richard Freeman, our doctor: ‘Is she alright?’ Richard came to me and was like: ‘Paul’s worrying.’ That was the first time I thought: ‘Oh god. If he’s worrying, how do you think I feel?’ But it all came together, and I was so happy it did.”

What do you make of the new omnium?

“It’s a weird one now. When it first came out, I was a bit gutted, because I was like: ‘You’re taking the history away from it.’

They changed it after London, so those four years up until London, the history has gone. And now we’ve had the next four years, and now the history has gone again. So it’s annoying [because it is difficult to compare results from one Games to the next].”

Will you race the new omnium at the World Championships in Hong Kong in April?

“I don’t know about 2017. I’d like to say in the future it will be an aim. But 2017 seems a bit soon, shall we say. I don’t think I would be ready.”

How do you see this coming year shaping up?

then to speak to me the first time, I was thinking: ‘I need a minute.’ It was horrible.

It’s weird, because in a Revolution you can actually ride as a team. Whereas in any other track race you do, you’re not allowed to work as a team… but it’s good.

It’s healthy competition. At the end of the day, if you’re being pushed on by your teammates, it can only be a good thing.

“And I think that’s why British Cycling is so good, because we are trying to race against all these good girls, and they are constantly coming through and pushing you. At the end of the day, you have to do a team pursuit eventually. So if you’re doing a team pursuit with the best girls in the world, you sort of know what the outcome is going to be.”

you went and got two gold medals.’ Yeah, but, literally two days before, I couldn’t finish a 2km pursuit, let alone finish a 4km at the Olympic Games. So I took a break.”

In the lead-up to Rio, were you nervous about your form?

And it was?

“Yeah, it’s definitely easier looking back now I know I got two gold medals at the end of it. But going into Rio, it was horrendous. Like, in the holding camp, I worried that I wouldn’t even make the team pursuit team. I’m not even just saying that. Because people will be like: ‘Yeah, but

Why did you feel you needed time out?

“What I felt was that my form was so suppressed, and I couldn’t access it. I knew it must be in there, because I’d put in so much hard work before it. And I’d seen, like, glimpses of it. Like, I did a flying lap, and I did a 13.7s in training. Which was two-tenths quicker than I’d ever gone. So I knew it was in there somewhere. It’s just I couldn’t feel good on the bike. Everything felt terrible. So I thought: ‘I’ll travel.’

Because I travel well, normally. I thought: ‘I’ll get there and I’ll be fine.’”

“I got there: same thing. We go up for a standing 3km. I did one lap, and I bailed.

After that, I said to Paul [Manning, her coach]: ‘I need to take a day off.’ I took a day off, then I took an easy morning. And then, I’m not joking, pre-race day was the only day I thought I should be in that team.

I got in the team, and that was it. But that

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Is it strange being at the track without your new husband?

“It does. It’s weird. They asked me: ‘How many tickets do you want?’ I was like: ‘Well, I’m a lone wolf this time, I don’t need anything. I’ve literally turned up on my own. But yeah, it does feel weird not having him here. I did a Revolution Series last year without him, but this is one of the only ones he hasn’t been in. We’ve spent so much time together as well recently, that it feels weird leaving him at home.”

We think your accent sounds more Mancunian every time we speak to you.

“That’s so funny. You’re the first to say that. Don’t tell Jason that, or he’ll be like: ‘I’m changing you.’ Some people think I sound Australian!”

Any parting words of advice?

“Never take a break, because it’s too hard to get your fitness back. Just keep going.

Crack on!” @grahamwillgoss

David Pearce/Revolution Series

“Liter ally t wo days before, I couldn’t finish a 2km pursuit, let alone finish a 4km at the Olympic Games”

“I have absolutely no idea. I haven’t really planned that far ahead, to be honest. I just want to get back into racing, get some sort of fitness back… I know how I feel. And I don’t feel very good. At all. There’s no way that riding round at the kind of pace we were riding round at then should have been hard. Yet I felt terrible from it. So I just want to make sure I get fit first, and then I can decide. Because I would love to do a World Cup this year. But I don’t want to half-heartedly go and then not enjoy it.

Because they’re hard, at the end of the day.”

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L i f e t H r o u g H A L e n s Everton’s Leighton Baines on being under the microscope in Monday’s Merseyside derby and taking photos of people in the street k Words Amit Katwala Photography Philip Haynes

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L

eighton Baines snuck out of Everton’s Christmas party for a 20-minute walk, with a camera hanging off his shoulder.

The left-back has been learning photography. He takes his camera with him on away trips, and often wanders the streets looking for subjects. He found the perfect snap that night in Leeds – two women, made-up and smoking outside a bar, their breath hanging in the air under atmospheric lighting. He pressed the shutter. Click.

‘What are you doing?’

‘You can’t do that.’

‘We could report you!’

“It wasn’t even a good picture!” he laughs – this time in front of the cameras for our shoot. “I was thinking: ‘What have I got into here?’”

One Saturday night, closer to home in Liverpool, he found another great image: a pizzeria, with the chef framed by the window and illuminated by a neon sign.

He waited for the ideal moment, lined up his camera.

Then: ‘Hey! That’s Leighton Baines!’

Such are the perils of learning a new hobby when you are a professional footballer. You get used to people screaming your name at you in the street.

“We get a lot of time travelling,” says Baines, explaining his new interest. “Just empty time. It’s something I wish I’d tried to get into a little bit earlier. It keeps me entertained and stimulated a little bit, trying to learn the fundamentals.”

Baines is not like most footballers. Over the years he’s developed a reputation for being trendier than his colleagues. He hangs out with musicians such as Miles Kane and Alex Turner, he plays the guitar, and he used to write a music blog for the Everton website.

The photography fits into that image, but actually it’s only within football where having hobbies and interests is seen as somehow unusual. For anyone else, these would be perfectly normal things, barely worthy of comment.

“That’s what’s hard,” says Baines.

“Say I have friends who might be creative – musicians and stuff. Away from football, I might spend time with people like that.

But then you come back into a football environment and you’re sort of classed as a bit different or weird, when probably away from football there are people who are a lot more complex or interesting than me.”

The dressing room can be an unforgiving place for anyone perceived

“I wIsh I’d got Into photography EarLIEr… as you gEt oLdEr, you gEt morE ComfortaBLE BEIng yoursELf” as different. “You try to be yourself,” says the 32-year-old. “And, as you get older, you get more comfortable being that. But you probably do still, I don’t know what the word is… maybe dilute yourself a little bit, just because it’s easier.

“And I think, especially early on, I probably did try to sort of… you flip-flop between the two. Between trying to find your feet and your natural inclinations and personality, and not being cast with that die of being ‘a bit weird’ or whatever.”

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stEppIng Into ChrIstmas

We’re speaking to Baines at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground, where he has been hosting a light-hearted training session for a group of patients from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital as part of his long-held role as a patron there.

There are some festive songs blaring from a speaker somewhere. “I like my Christmas tunes,” he admits – surprising for someone who says he can’t stomach much modern music, and who was raised

“I was a bit nervous, but I was pretty confident as well,” says Baines, remembering his early days at the club.

“I felt like it was where I was meant to be.

I’ve always been really grateful about the fact that I’ve been able to play here, be a regular player and have a great relationship with the club and the fans.”

There have been occasional rumours of a transfer away, but nothing concrete.

“You sort of get the benefit of the doubt locally about staying, but there’s never been an opportunity where the club has said: ‘There’s this option.’ Sometimes there are a couple of rumours – I think Manchester United, when David Moyes went over, made an offer. But you just get on with your job at that time. Although it was talked about quite a lot, it was never really close to happening.”

Baines says he’d like to end his playing career with Everton, and expresses a desire to complete his coaching badges.

For now though, he’s determined to stay at the top with the Toffees: “You just try and work hard to make sure you maintain your levels, and try to improve. Worst case, you try to maintain. You might have to do that little bit more. But you’re always looking.

“You live your life a certain way, you dedicate yourself to your work and think: ‘What else can I do?’ You’re constantly trying to tap into professionals in different fields, whether it’s a nutritionist or a sports performance expert. You’re trying to tap in to get that extra one or two per cent, whether it’s your diet, preparing for a game or recovering from a game. You just do anything you can to give yourself the best possible chance.”

After a stellar career with Everton and England, Baines remains one of the league’s most effective left-backs. He is striving to make time stand still, both on the pitch and off it.

@amitkatwala

Park life

His dad was a Liverpool fan, but Baines gravitated to the blue side of Stanley Park in his teens. He would take the bus to Goodison Park and sneak in for the final 10 minutes of games with his friends, when the stewards opened the gates to let people out.

He signed for Everton in 2007, after five years at Wigan. He’s been a mainstay ever since, providing assists from the left and scoring goals from penalties and set-pieces.

yellow Monday?

There have been at least five yellow cards dished out in each of the past four Merseyside derbies at Goodison Park. Spicy.

the weekend’s fixtures saturday

Crystal PalaCe v Chelsea Sky SportS 1, 12.30pm Middlesbrough v swansea, 3pm stoke v leiCester, 3pm sunderland v watford, 3pm west haM v hull, 3pm west broM v Man utd Bt Sport 1, 5.30pm

sunday

Leighton Baines invited a group of patients from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital to train with Everton for a special festive day out.

Watch a video of the day at evertonfc.com

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bourneMouth v southaMPton Sky SportS 1, 1.30pm Man City v arsenal Sky SportS 1, 4pm tottenhaM v burnley, 4pm

Monday

everton v liverPool Sky SportS 1, 8pm

John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images, Anthony McArdle

on Pink Floyd and The Beatles cassettes, borrowed from his cousin.

“All the shops try and wreck it, don’t they, by playing them from the end of October or something daft,” he continues.

“But December 1, I put my Christmas playlist back on my phone for in the car.

I sort of abstain until the 1st, then we’re all on for Christmas. What are my favourite ones? I like Step into Christmas [by Elton John] just ’cause it has that guitar riff in it that I try and learn every year.”

John Lennon’s effort [Happy Xmas (War Is Over)] is another favourite for the loyal Liverpudlian, who should be in action in this weekend’s Merseyside derby. It’s usually a heated occasion (see box, right).

We ask if a derby stands out from his youth.

“The one where Franny [ Jeffers] was fighting with the goalie,” says Baines. “[Sander] Westerveld, was it? A bit of fisticuffs and a few sendings-off. I can’t even remember the score [Everton won 1-0, in 1999], but there was a bit of a scrap.”

Everton go into the game on the back of a difficult run of results. After a strong start under Ronald Koeman, the Toffees have won just one of their past 10 league games (before this week’s midweek fixtures, prior to which Sport went to press). Baines says things have improved with the Dutchman’s arrival, new owner – Iranian billionaire Farhad Moshiri – and Steve Walsh joining from Leicester as director of football.

“It’s not a quick fix, changing the mindset and the way a lot of players work,” Baines explains. “But I think the manager is having an effect. Normally it takes the best part of a season for everything to fall into place, but I feel like the direction the club is heading is really positive.”

Koeman has targeted the European places, but Baines wants a trophy, too.

“We came pretty close in the FA Cup last year [losing a semi final to Manchester United]; we’ve had a couple of close runs in my time – semi finals and finals. It would be amazing to try and win a cup, and obviously we’re aiming to get back to those European nights we know everyone loves.”

7 days Our pick Of the actiOn frOm acrOss the festive periOd

christmas

Fri >

Five stars As darts’ annual Christmas spectacular gets under way, we assess the form of the five favourites to lif the Sid Waddell Trophy in January

Gary Anderson The defending champ (above) had the seasonally titled ‘Frosty the Throwman’ Mark Frost in the first round on Thursday; barring an upset, he should still be in the competition as you read this.

Anderson’s had a quiet season by his standards, but the heavy-scoring Scot once thought of as a gifed choker is very comfortable on this stage: he’s out for a hat-trick of titles at Alexandra Palace.

Michael van Gerwen Rapid-fire Dutch scoring machine has had a dominant year, winning the World Matchplay, Premier League and more. The big question is:

can the 27-year-old overcome his strange World Championship hoodoo? He’s failed to reach the final in either of the past two seasons, despite being a strong pre-tournament favourite. He’s odds-on this year, but needs to hold his nerve.

Phil Taylor Whether. at 56 years old, he has the consistency to put it together for a long tournament is the big question – but ‘The Power’ has shown flickers of brilliance in 2016. Beat van Gerwen in the final of the inaugural Champions League of Darts in September and – frankly – writing off the most competitive darting animal ever would be foolish.

Peter Wright The outlandishly coiffured ‘Snakebite’ is Mr ‘there or thereabouts’. Wright tends to reach the business

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end of most tournaments – and was a finalist of the 2014 World Championship – but the 46-year-old Scot is yet to win a major PDC title.

He did knock Phil Taylor out of November’s Grand Slam while posting a 103 average, and will need to channel that form in all of his major matches if he is to go all the way here.

Adrian Lewis The 2011 and 2012 world champion has had a poor season or two, getting more involved in Twitter rows than winning titles. However he was a finalist in this tournament back in January, and everyone in darts knows that the 31-year-old ‘Jackpot’ has vast reserves of arrers talent. Monday’s first-round match with Swedish veteran Magnus Caris might show us where Lewis’ form is. The best-of-13 final is on January 2. Expect it to fly by.

Mark Kerton/ActionPlus/Corbis via Getty Images

Darts PDC World Championship Sky Sports 3, 7pm

CHRISTMAS Rugby Union Champions Cup, Round 4

Familiar Foes

Sat>

David Rogers/Getty Images, Dickson/INPHO/REX/Shutterstock

The fourth round of Champions Cup group action sees six Premiership clubs engage in the return fixtures of some defining home-and-away double-headers

Pool 5 Bordeaux-Begles v Exeter Chiefs Saturday, Sky Sports 2, 1pm Chiefs were wasteful in going down 13-7 to Bordeaux on a foggy Sunday evening, and three defeats from three spells the end of their European campaign. Even so, Jack Nowell will likely make the trip to France as he pushes for a Six Nations spot.

Pool 1 Leicester v Munster Saturday, BT Sport 2, 3.15pm

Pool 2 Connacht v Wasps Saturday, Sky Sports 2, 5.30pm

Pool 4 Leinster v Northampton Saturday, BT Sport 2, 7.45pm

Pool 3 Sale Sharks v Saracens Sunday, BT Sport 2, 5.30pm

Leicester can still qualify despite a 38-0 tuning in Limerick, but Richard Cockerill needs to rally an all-time Tigers effort.

Led by seemingly omnipotent scrum-half Conor Murray (right), Munster seem utterly inspired.

Two teams that enjoy expansive rugby served up a thrilling second half at the Ricoh Arena. Joe Launchbury was titanic, while Kurtley Beale proved himself worth the weighty price tag on return from injury. Connacht will be out for revenge.

Restoring pride is the name of this game for Saints, who were again insipid in sinking to a 37-10 defeat last time out. While banned Dylan Hartley cools his heels, Tom Wood must mount the siege mission.

Northampton managed a win in Dublin three years ago. Another feels unlikely.

Mark McCall tapered Saracens’ training schedule prior to last weekend, fuming aferwards at the RFU’s decision to stage a fourth autumn Test. In between times, his team smashed Sale 50-3. Fit-again Maro Itoje (above), awarded man of the match, appeared extremely hungry.

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Fri 30th

NBA Golden State Warriors @ Cleveland Cavaliers BT Sport 1, 7.30pm

Klay Thompson is the lesser-known half of Golden State’s ‘Splash Brothers’, but he eclipsed star man Steph Curry in the Warriors’ recent demolition of Indiana Pacers, scoring a mammoth 60 points.

And Thompson (below) was on court for only 29 minutes.

He’ll be back to play his part in Warriors’ Christmas Day meet with Cleveland Cavaliers – part of a 13-hour run of NBA games broadcast on December 25. Social.

Sun>

Sun 25th NFL Weeks 15, 16, 17 Sky Sports The festive period encompasses the final three weeks of the regular NFL season. And, with so much still to be decided, the battle for playoff places will go to the wire.

Week 15 sees the Denver Broncos host the New England Patriots (Sunday). The Patriots and Tom Brady (pictured) are looking to claim the 1st seed in the AFC, while the Broncos – the defending champions – are battling to make the playoffs at all. Afer the Patriots they still have to face divisional rivals the Kansas City Chiefs (Christmas Day, Sky Sports 1, 1.30am) and then the Oakland Raiders in week 17.

Huge games, all. The Raiders are second in the AFC West, but have not made the postseason since 2002.

The week 17 clash between the Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans (January 1, 6pm) in the AFC South also looks like being a crucial encounter – both teams currently have a 7-6 record.

The NFC is no less fascinating.

The Detroit Lions are surprise leaders of the NFC North having won their past five games, but they have both the Minnesota Vikings and a resurgent Green Bay Packers chasing them. The Lions’ schedule for the final three games is tough: the New York Giants, also looking to cement a playoff spot (Sunday, 6pm), the Dallas Cowboys, who have already booked their spot (Boxing Day, Sky Sports 1, 1.30am), and the Packers (January 1).

Elsewhere, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could end a nine-year playoff drought if they can keep winning during the run-in.

Strong men unite

Strongman Ultimate Strongman World Championship Dave, 5pm

The first Ultimate Strongman World Championship saw 12 of the world’s biggest men go head to head over five gruelling events earlier this month. A yoke carry weighted with two motorbikes, atlas stones, the monster tyre flip, axle clean and the press-and-deadlif challenge together make for superior Christmas viewing, and will be televised first on Dave on the final Friday of the year.

In the deadlif, England’s Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall took top billing. Earlier this year, he became the only man ever to deadlif 500kg. It was almost too much for Hall, who burst blood vessels in his head and passed out. Fellow Englishman Laurence Shahlaei, who beat Game of Thrones star The Mountain to the Europe’s Strongest Man title in July, also featured.

Expect to see four-time World’s Strongest Man Zydrunas Savickas (pictured) – one of the greats – making faces like you see above.

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Festive Feast Just the 30 top-flight games in the 10 days between December 26 and January 4. We pick four worth not snoozing on the sofa to watch

www.sport-magazine.co.uk @sportmaguk facebook.com/sportmagazine

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Watford v Crystal Palace Sky Sports 1, 12.30pm

Liverpool v Manchester City BT Sport 1, 5.30pm

A London derby (of sorts) is the early kick-off on Boxing Day. Crystal Palace are the team to watch if you’re keen on the net bulging at both ends. Since going down 5-4 to Swansea at the end of November, the Eagles have beaten Southampton 3-0 and shared six goals with Hull (Sport went to press before this week’s midweek games; we’re going out on a limb and saying their meeting with Man Utd at Selhurst Park was not goalless). Christian Benteke (pictured) scored four times in the three games mentioned above.

Expect him to continue that streak over Christmas.

Gary Lineker says Man City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo “couldn’t save a fiver”. Gary Neville has criticised Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius for his recent displays. “He showed he struggled with the job to judge players, so why do we let him talk about players on TV?” Jurgen Klopp said in defence of his goalkeeper. Likely to be plenty for the pundits to get stuck into here, then. Liverpool won by three goals in both league meetings last season, with Roberto Firmino scoring in each of them. City seem all at sea afer successive losses to Chelsea and Leicester.

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Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea Sky Sports 1, 8pm

West Ham have visited Old Trafford twice this season. A creditable league draw was followed three days later by a 4-1 thumping in the League Cup. The Hammers will need to draw more on the spirit of their previous game with United in London: a late 3-2 comeback win in their final game at Upton Park. Their new home has not seen that sort of performance yet.

If Dimitri Payet (pictured) and co are to deliver Slaven Bilic’s stated aim of a top-10 finish, they will need to turn over a new leaf. Some ask, given Henrikh Mkhitaryan should be back for United by then.

Tottenham will surely feel like they owe Chelsea one by now, having surrendered the league title at Stamford Bridge last season and then the lead to lose 2-1 in west London at the end of November. That was courtesy of a Victor Moses (pictured) strike – the man your Uncle Sport identified as the Premier League’s most improved player on our cover last week. Spurs are up against it: Antonio Conte has turned Chelsea into an efficient machine. They have nine successive league wins at the time of writing, and are sitting pretty at the top of the tree.

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West Ham v Manchester United Sky Sports 1, 5.15pm

Christmas

Boxing Day

Christmas Card

Horse Racing King George VI Chase Channel 4 & Racing UK, 3.15pm The King George VI Chase is to many as much a part of Christmas as turkey and mince pies. And this year’s Boxing Day feature could prove an absolute cracker, thanks largely to a jolly man with rosy cheeks.

Dorset trainer Colin Tizzard is having a season to remember, with a trio of brilliant chasers all being aimed at the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. While Hennessy Gold Cup winner Native River next heads to Chepstow for the Welsh

Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images, Michael Reaves/Getty Images

MMA UFC 207: Amanda Nunes v Ronda Rousey BT Sport, around 3am Ronda Rousey hasn’t set foot in the octagon since a shock loss to Holly Holm in 2015. Her long absence lends an extra air of intrigue to her bout with Brazil’s Amanda Nunes, the current UFC bantamweight champion in Las Vegas. At 29 years old, Rousey should still be at her prime, but she’s lost the sense of invincibility that once cloaked her. Has her confidence been equally shaken?

Is her heart still in mixed martial arts?

Equally interesting are Rousey’s tactics.

Trading strikes with Holm was her undoing, and taking Nunes to the mat for arm bar fun seems smart. Nunes’ Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills, however, mean her own ground game is strong. She might have lost to Cat Zingano (who lasted just 14 seconds with Rousey) in 2014, but the 28-year-old Nunes has improved since. Rousey still starts as favourite, but if she’s slipped at all from her peak, the tough Nunes will be ready to capitalise.

Grand National, the other two are going to Kempton for Christmas.

World Hurdle winner Thistlecrack, already using his seemingly huge engine to good effect over the bigger obstacles, may yet be kept to a race for novices on Boxing Day. But the hugely popular Cue Card is definitely bound for a fifh run in the King George. Should the 10-year-old register a second consecutive victory – he beat the late Vautour in a sensational finish 12 months ago (above) – he will write his own chapter in a race history illuminated by the heroics of Desert Orchid and Kauto Star in eras gone by. And leave his trainer free to get right on the sherries.

Fri 30th

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Watches Our pick of luxury pieces worth more than £5,000

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1. Zenith El Primero Range Rover 42mm Special Edition £7,200 | zenith-watches.com 2. Rolex Daytona £27,450 | rolex.com 3. Hublot Classic Fusion Aerofusion Moonphase £11,700 | hublot.com 4. Omega Globemaster £8,205 | omegawatches.com 5. Breitling Avenger Hurricane £6,810 | breitling.com

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James Lincoln

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Liam Phillips 2015 and 2014 BMX SX World Cup Champion 2013 BMX World Champion

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Fragrances

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Sport’s pick of feminine scents to put under the tree

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absolute and patchouli, with warm, luxurious amber. £39, 50ml | rituals.com

and white incense. An olfactory jewel. £74, 50ml | In store at Harrods

2. Cartier: La Panthère Edition Soir Accord of fresh gardenia, velvety musk. Exuberant. £78, 50ml | houseoffraser.co.uk

4. Marc Jacobs Daisy Shine Edition Strawberry and ruby red grapefruit, with base notes of musk and vanilla. Sensual. £80, 100ml | houseoffraser.co.uk

6. Zadig & Voltaire This is Her! A heart of jasmine and vanilla-chestnut mixed with sandalwood. £57.49, 100ml | johnlewis.com

3. Rituals: Voyage en Inde, Oriental Essence The velvety elegance of jasmine

5. BVLGARI Rose Goldea Pomegranate, rose, jasmine, musks, sandalwood milk

1. Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir With plum and raspberry. Spiked with pink pepper and spicy woods. £86, 100ml | jomalone.co.uk

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7. Acqua di Parma Peonia Nobile Black pepper with notes of raspberry; floral heart. £108, 100ml | uk.acquadiparma.com

James Lincoln

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Fragrances The rugged smell of Christmas – for him

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wood and honey notes. At the same time, soft and intense. £97, 100ml | harrods.com

essence, finished with a cedarwood base.

Dark. £44.10, 60ml | johnlewis.com

2. Paco Rabanne Invictus Fresh grapefruit peel, marine accord, patchouli, amber gris accord. Strong. £66, 100ml | boots.com

4. BVLGARI Pour Homme Atlantique Ambergris, vetiver, sandalwood. Woody, tones. One to save your Christmas money for. £66, 100ml | Out Feb 20, nationwide

6. Davidoff Cool Water Celebration Edition Bergamot, peppermint and lavender. Floral heart. £67.50, 200ml | debenhams.com

3. Cartier: L’Envol De Cartier A misty cloud of musk blends with masculine gaiac

5. Roberto Cavalli UOMO Distinctive notes of black violet. Heart of honey and lavender

1. Issey Miyake L’eau D’Issey Noir Ambré Key notes of cinnamon, amber, dark woods and leather. £88, 100ml | In store, Harrods

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7. Atkinsons: The Big Bad Cedar Top notes of lemon and cardamom, with a woody heart. Moody. £120, 100ml | harrods.com

James Lincoln

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Fitness

Your new regime starts on Boxing Day, right?

1. NordicTrack FreeStride Trainer FS7i Combines the benefits of a stepper, a treadmill and an elliptical into a single machine. Choose your workout from the FS7i’s library, or create a custom route with Google Maps and jog along with a street view on the touchscreen display. £1,499 | nordictrack.co.uk 2. On Cloudflow: Rock & Orange Handsome, lightweight and ultra-responsive performance running shoe. Designed with 18 of On’s Zero-Gravity EVA foam ‘Clouds’ – positioned precisely where you need them – that will propel your every step. A blend of breathability and superb support. Onwards! £120 | on-running.com

3. Fitbit Charge 2 Stay motivated by tracking steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes. Reminds you to move in order to reach an hourly goal of 250 steps – likely to come in handy once you’ve parked yourself in front of the TV. £119.99 | fitbit.com 4. Head Speed MP A versatile racket that supports your speedy game. Open 16/19 string pattern provides greater spin, while new Graphene Touch technology offers an incredible touch and solid feel. Have yourself a Murray little Christmas. £189.99 | head.com 5. Infruition Sport This fruit-infusing water bottle is a portable and stylish way to make plain old water taste amazing. Simply add in

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your fruits to the special chamber, and you’re good to go. Includes a 28-day recipe plan.

DIY detox. £14.99 | infruition.co.uk 6. Tangram Factory Smart Rope LED Jump Rope Thanks to the 23 LEDs in the rope connected to magnetic sensors, you can see your fitness data in mid-air as you jump. Two sets of ball bearings in each handle guarantee smooth, natural motion. £69.95 | apple.com 7. New Balance J Crew 90s Women’s Windbreaker J Crew have teamed up with New Balance to produce their first collection of gym clothes. This piece was inspired by NB’s old-school jackets of the 1980s and ’90s. Happy New Balance. £120 | newbalance.co.uk

’Tis the season to be jolly. This is how we do it

Top row (l-r): Johnnie Walker Blue Label x Asprey Christmas Gift Set £2,750 | harrods.co.uk; Balblair 1999 £57.95 | thewhiskyexchange.com; Gypsy Hill Hepcat/Beatnik £2/£2.20 | beermerchants.com; Centre row (l-r): Dark Matter Rum £34.94 | amazon.co.uk; Mozart Chocolate Cream Liqueur £36 | harveynichols.com; Cherry Bakewell Vodka by Heston £24.50 | waitrose.com; Absolut Facet £21.99 | selfridges.com; Champagne Brut Rosé 1er Cru NV £34 | harveynichols.com; Thunder Toffee Vodka £21.45 | amazon.co.uk; Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur £33.45 | amazon.co.uk; The Botanist Gin £34.99 | waitrose.com; Tipplesworth Old Fashioned Cocktail Kit £15 | tipplesworth.com; Forest Gin £59.50 | harveynichols.com; Bottom row (l-r): Fortnum and Mason Sommelier Hamper Containing a dozen bottles, from sparkling to pudding wine, that will suit every taste £275 | fortnumandmason.com

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James Lincoln

Drinks

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THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO CHANGE IT FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

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