By Floyd Amphlett
It was Bill Shankly who famously remarked that some people saw football as a matter of life and death, when in fact it was more important than that.
Much as greyhound racing can produce massive highs and lows, as we all know, life goes on after every win or loss.
As we approach the end of 2022, many readers will feel they know the ‘Mickys Barrett story’. A gang of boistrous Nottingham Forest fans first appeared on the greyhound radar during their first crusade to Newcastle in February.
The Geordies – themselves, not known for their shy reticence – were baffled by the noisy but good humoured bunch who turned out decked in the appropriate trap colours and belted out endless choruses of ‘There’s only one Mickys Barrett’
In the summer, that enthusiasm, fun and sportsmanship added an extra dimension to the Greyhound Derby, and the happy ending came earlier in the week when the Jason Gray trained hound ran away with the ARC All England Cup.
It sounds like a bit of a film script, and that possibility is currently being explored. But the Micky Barrett story is multi layered and its connection with the famous Shankly quote might be closer than many would imagine.
The Mickys Barrett story actually focuses on two men. Ashley White and his great friend, at the centre of the tale.
Many of you will recognise Ashley because, to quote a line from Snatch, he is ‘hardly inconfuckingspicuous’.
He is the six foot four geyser invariably carrying a guitar and his ventriloquist dummy, Trent End Trev.
Opinion is divided as to whether Ashley is actually an accomplished ventriloquist. But there is no doubt at all, he can’t play a bloody note on the guitar.
Perhaps even more surprising is that away from club, Ashley is actually a quietly spoken gentle guy. Without him, there would be no Mickys Barrett.
It was his idea to remember his friend in the most novel way imaginable and then tenaciously stick with it until it grew legs.
Micky Barrett’s story has previously been told but here is a reminder. He was a 67 year old Nottingham builder who died on 21 November 2020.
Ashley said: “He had only been diagnosed with cancer four months earlier. He was a big strong guy and a non smoker and it was a huge shock.
“Micky was from a Nottingham council estate and never wealthy. He worked so hard to support his family, wife and three daughters.
“He was an absolute gentleman; a gentle giant with a fabulous sense of humour. His big loves were Nottingham Forest and England and we travelled all over the world to watch them. He was fiercely patriotic too. He would always sing the national anthem and at Remembrance time would always wear a poppy.
“But the thing that struck most about Micky was his kindness to other people. Everyone loved him because he always found time to talk. You could buy a couple of pints at the bar and head off for a table. By the time Micky got there, there was no head left on his beer, because he’d had a chat with everyone between the bar and the table.
“When he died we were absolutely devastated.
“It had been a terrible time for the country anyway, after all that time with Covid, and everyone’s social life had just disappeared. It was a very bleak period”
So Ashley, who had only been dog racing a handful of times in his life, decided to do something about it. He had a brainwave/storm.
Why not buy a greyhound and name it after you recently deceased friend?
It was obvious surely. . . .(er, no!)
Ashley said: “There was one group who were particularly close to Micky and I gave them my pitch. We would all put in a few quid, buy a dog and all meet up again once a week to see him run at Nottingham.
“There was no need to get a good one, fourth or fifth grade, would be fine. I really fancied the idea of hear the commentator calling out ‘Mickys Barrett is leading to the first bend. Mickys Barrett is the winner . . . or has finished last.’ We could all remember our friend.
“I thought it was a great plan, but they didn’t. What did I know about greyhounds anyway? Fortunately, because Micky was so popular, there were other people to ask.
“I gave them all the same pitch and suddenly there were ten, then twenty who bought into it. Some of them barely knew Micky but knew of him. It was £100 per share and we were looking for 40 members of the syndicate.
“The numbers kept rising, we got up to 40, and then the original group of ten lads got back in touch. They had changed their minds, they wanted in.
“Then more kept coming. I tried to cap it at 50, then 60, and eventually was persuaded to allow another four in. We ended up with 64 and I swear we had such momentum, that we could have got 150.”
It is also, probably, widely known, that the dog who became Mickys Barrett, was actually a substitute.
Ashley said: “I didn’t have a clue who to speak to speak to, but one of the syndicate, Paul Howett, known to everyone as ‘Harold’ was a dog breeder. Although he didn’t know about greyhounds, he told us we should go to Jason Gray, a trainer at Nottingham.
“I spoke to Jason and told him our plans. He was very nice and told us all he could including all the pitfalls of ownership. I was convinced he was the right guy for us. He agreed to find us a dog.
“A few days later, Harold phoned an said there was good news and bad news. The good news was, that Jason had got us a dog, Clerihan Axle*. The bad news was, we couldn’t call him Mickys Barrett. The rules say that you can only have one change of name, and he had already been renamed once.
“As far as I was concerned there was no good news. If we couldn’t call him Mickys Barrett, there was no point in doing it. I asked Harold to pass on a message to Jason that I wanted to speak to him.
“I spoke to Jason the next morning and he apologised. He said he hadn’t realised that Axle had be renamed. He would buy the dog himself and find us another one.”
(To be fair, Ashley’s own due diligence left a bit to be required. Finding a trainer for a syndicate of 64 Forest fans without discovering that he was a Derby County supporter. ..!)
A few days later Jason reported back that he had found another talented youngster and as a bonus he was white and black.
Ashley said: “I always fancied the idea of a big white dog. It just seemed appropriate, Micky always had a thing about white, he always wanted to see the England team in white shirts.”
It was at that point that The Other Charly became Mickys Barrett.
(*Clerihan Axle, who had previously been registered as Ardera Axle. Although not in the Mickys Barrett class, we won B1/A1 at Nottingham and a smattering of minor opens. He is currently running A2).
Mickys Barrett qualified into A2 at Nottingham last August and he showed reasonable progress winning three of his first 12 races.
The last one didn’t go so well and he was KO’d. The stewards, rightly, insisted on a solo trial which took place two years and one day after the passing of his namesake.
Coincidence or not, Mickys came back a different greyhound.
He won his next four at Nottingham and then extended that to seven when going unbeaten to the ARC Northern Puppy Derby Final at Newcastle.
He finished last in the final behind Freedom Alibi, a dog he had beaten in both the heats and semi finals.
Though obviously disappointed, his sporting owners cheered louder than the rest of Newcastle when the winner went to the podium. It would become a trademark of their sportsmanship.
That, along with their sheer numbers. When a dinner was arranged a year after Micky Barrett’s death, it was attended by 250 people. On numerous occasions when his four legged representative was on the card, the membership, swelled by partners, friends and kids, would regularly add 150-200 to the attendance figure.
It was during the Star Sports & Towcester Events & Leisure Derby that the Mickys Barrett fan club started to create more attention from outside the enclosed world of greyhound racing.
In addition to the Nottingham press, Talksport latched onto Micky thanks to Jonny Owen. The actor, writer and producer (engaged to Line Of Duty’s Vicky McClure) just happens to be ‘one of the 64’.
The 64 are well supported too
Jonny’s enthusiasm for his new hobby was infectious and Mickys Barrett’s exploits became a regular topic on the station. Despite a near miss in the final, (beaten by a dog born 20 miles from the City Ground) the positive exposure for greyhound racing was immeasurable.
In fact, Mickys Barrett’s exploits even made it to the football terraces where the Forest fans were educated about a hound even quicker than winger Brennan Johnson.
As suggested earlier, the Newcastle finale has produced an almost ‘film scripted’ end to the year and although the Pride of the Trent End will remain in training, he has already done enough to present Jonny Owen with the basis of a script.
But there is more depth to this story and it is something that any script writer would leap on. It is a tale of poignancy and hope.
Ashley said: “What many people don’t realise is what Mickys Barrett has done for the lives of the syndicate. As friendships have developed, stories have emerged about the lives of the members.
“A lot of the syndicate are aged sixty plus, some over seventy, and are mainly men. Some are widowed, many have never married. I’ve heard many stories from lads saying that at the end of Covid, they had become reclusive.
“Their whole social lives had come to an end. Their mental health was shot and some even talked about having very dark thoughts.
“Mickys Barrett has changed that. This is a syndicate that embodies friendship and positivity and my very dear friend in the sky would have absolutely loved that.”
Derby County supporter gets to train an All England Cup winner
Ashley and Micky
