World Cups, Ryder Cups, Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and Olympic Games: in 30 years as a sportswriter, I have been privileged to see up close what it takes to win.

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Details, dedication, and teamwork.

 

Those are the qualities that enabled me to make a winning start to my bid-writing career. Within months, I had already contributed to successful bids across complex, high-value tenders – as part of a team or as the sole writer.

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Prior to that, I was the main voice of football on the Daily Express. I was the chief England writer during the Sir Gareth Southgate era and followed Arsenal, Tottenham, and Chelsea on their Champions League exploits.

 

I watched Harry Kane make his Spurs, England, and Bayern Munich debuts, enjoyed intimate, hours-long conversations with Jose Mourinho, and faced the Sir Alex Ferguson hairdryer on full-blast in press conferences.

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Simultaneously, as an occasional tennis-writer, I racked up more Wimbledons than Sir Andy Murray.

 

My journalism career started straight from university and the following year I won the English Sports Council Young Sportswriter of the Year award.

 

Finally, after 28 happy years in an industry that was changing irreconcilably, I decided to look elsewhere for a challenge.

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That is when I identified the strong alignment between journalism and bid-writing skills.

 

I have always been dedicated and thrive as part of a team.

 

Proposals give me the chance to bring those crucial 'details' to the bid-writing process – the ‘marginal gains’, as former GB cycling guru Sir Dave Brailsford calls them.

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Unfortunately, I was never more than an average sportsperson myself. Doing this is my chance to make the difference between winning and losing.