'Big Ron Manager' was an embarrassment for Peterborough United...until Darragh MacAnthony started watching

In 2006 Posh chairman Barry Fry accepted an offer from Sky Sports to film a warts and all documentary based on former Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson trouble-shooting his way through all aspects of life at London Road. He had no trouble identifying the warts, but was less successful in clearing them up.

Posh were cash-strapped and thus failed to heed warnings from Swindon Town who had scrapped the project after four weeks as too intrusive and not at all helpful. The idea was sound as Posh had a rookie boss in Steve ‘when it’s a battle you effing battle’ Bleasdale following the departure of Mark Wright for gross misconduct. Atkinson hadn’t managed a football club for seven years, but Bleasdale had been in charge at Posh for around seven minutes.

The series ran for five hour-long episodes which can still be seen on YouTube. If you’re Bleasdale, Sean St Ledger or Danny Crow it’s probably best you don’t look. The editing made them look, in order, incompetent, arrogantly rude, and moody.

But one man lapped it all up, a certain Darragh MacAnthony watching in Spain and keen to get involved in football. MacAnthony watched it with his father, and recalled: ‘"We were in stitches about what was going on. There were people falling over themselves, rowing and fighting, but what I liked about it was the passion of the club and the fact that Barry Fry is a well-known character in football."

MacAnthony bought Posh months later for a quid, and he’s still here 20 years later after a largely golden period in the club’s history. ‘Big Ron’ hadn’t done much for the value of the club, but having had a ringside seat for most of that period, I wasn’t at all surprised.

‘Big Ron’ used to roll up in his chauffeur-driven roller and then be driven off again after what were often carefully staged performances. Fry claims nothing was a set up, but that wasn’t true when he visited the Evening Telegraph when the plan was to use ‘Big Ron’s’ apparent charisma to persuade the paper to take up a club sponsorship.

Then editor Rebecca Stephens and I had to practice walking into the ET boardroom where ‘Big Ron’ was waiting to deliver his pitch. We did several takes before we were allowed to sit down enabling ‘Big Ron’ to show off ‘the art of the deal.’ Ms Stephens listened patiently and then delivered five words in reply. ‘We are not doing that’ and the bemused look on the faces of Big Ron, his producer and cameraman was priceless. The scene didn’t make the final cut for some reason.

‘Big Ron’ had about as much success in the dressing room. Posh were pushing for the play-offs when he arrived and nothing had changed when he left, apart from Bleasdale resigning on air which wrecked any chance of compensation for a decent man. Bleasdale reckoned ‘Big Ron’ interfered too much which to be fair was the programme’s premise. He now runs a wedding photography business.

The show did win a Royal Television Society Programme Award for Best Sports Show when the citation read: ‘a hugely entertaining entry into a sporting world that sometimes beggared belief,’ which was accurate if a little understated. It’s a surprise it didn’t win a comedy award as well.

Reputations were harmed with St Ledger and Crow both claiming they had been misrepresented. The former went on to play international football, while the latter went on to play for Cambridge United Luton and Lowestoft.

Fry, as he tends to do, emerged from the carnage in better shape. He’s also still at Posh acting as MacAnthony’s wise old right-hand man.

BIG RON REUNION

A Big Ron Manager reunion has been arranged as the final fundraiser for the Tommy Robson statue.

An evening with Barry Fry and Ron Atkinson will take place at The Fleet Community Centre in Peterborough and will be hosted by former BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Pat Murphy on Thursday, September 3 at 7:30pm. Murphy used to work at the ET before going on to much bigger and better things!

Tickets are priced at £25 each and can be obtained by contacting Stuart George on 07799 581768.