The announcement today of the death of Bob Betts will bring great sadness to more than one generation of greyhound supporters and journalists – writes Floyd Amphlett
The former editor of the Greyhound Life – the specialist greyhound section of The Sporting Life – was admired and respected from the press room of the old Hackney Stadium through to the terraces at his beloved Harringay and the bar of ‘The Stab’.
Bob Betts was ‘old school’, a man who represented everything that a journalist was expected to be. He probably wasn’t the supreme judge of greyhound flesh or form. He left that to those who specialised in the subject. But as a greyhound journalist and editor, I genuinely believe he was the best ever.
Bob loved a scoop. He wanted ‘the exclusive’, the inside angle on every story. The special photo that captured the moment. Bob was a great planner and strategist. He would see stories emerging before the main players even realised they were part of a story.
Ironically, it was the launch of the Racing Post in 1986 that gave Bob his greatest challenge and opportunity. Until then, the Life had been cutting budgets. Suddenly, money was found for a battle. To add spice to the tale, the person heading the Post’s greyhound desk was his long time rival for promotion on the Life, Mike Palmer.
Bob was ably assisted over time by a formidable team that included John Curle, Kevin Impey, Roger Jackson, Terry Norman, Mark Sullivan, John Benbow and Dave Cook. Bob was a great champion of the punter (as one example, he launched a vicious tirade at the advent of chart forecasts). He was a crusader against NGRC bullying and promoter domination of the sport.
Bob introduced novel and interesting features and columnists to the Life. Among them was yours truly, who was then writing for the Greyhound Magazine but was offered a weekly breeding column which continued until the famous merger.
Bob never truly got over the “sale” of the Sporting Life. In fact, the The Sporting Life bought the Racing Post for a £1, with the only proviso being that it would be The Racing Post title that would survive (to save face of the Arab owners who had done their brains from day one). In the grand ‘amalgamation’, the Life’s horseracing team were kept on but in what many saw as tokenism, their greyhound desk was made redundant.
One of the great ironies was that the Racing Post would soon come under the editorship of Bruce Millington, who cut his teeth in the Hackney racing office and was given his break by Bob. In his brilliant tribute Bruce makes reference to so many of the things that made Bob – Bob. Bruce refers to his insatiable appetite for a story, and the love of his family. At one time or another, most of his colleagues would have met Di and the family. In fact Stevie often accompanied his dad to events.
For me though there was another memory of Bob Betts that will be indelible in my memory of him. Bob was an outstanding greyhound journalist who took huge pride in his profession and standards. He passionately believed in tradition and the relevance of greyhound racing.
He made me proud to be a greyhound journalist, a feeling that no longer pumps as strongly. Despite the break up of The Sporting Life, Bob did his best to keep the Greyhound Writers Association together with its meetings at the Olde Cheshire Cheese. It couldn’t have been easy, sharing a beer with people who have taken your passion, but Bob saw it as professional greyhound writers acting professionally.
I know I will never be as good an editor as my friend Bob Betts. But I can at least say I learned from the best.
God bless you Bettsy
GWA members at the Derby lunch L-R Bob Betts (The Sun), John ‘Admiral’ Benbow (The Mirror) and Floyd Amphlett (Greyhound Star). Williamhill.com Derby lunch, Zetter Hotel, Clerkenwell, 21 May 2012 Pic Steve Nash
