He seems shorter in person then on the television. But there’s no denying the sheer presence that he exuberates as he takes his place at the top of the table. There is a sharp in-take of breath by the journalists sat in front of him. One of them dares to speak up: “Cold today, isn’t it Sir Alex?”

“Aye.” He nods. “Coldest I’ve seen since I came here.”

And so began my month-long stint of work experience at
Manchester United Television.

The MUTV office is surprisingly understated, for a club of
Manchester United’s magnitude, and is tucked away on the
Deansgate stretch, above three floors of insurance offices.

A vast amount of my time at MUTV was spent working on a
documentary of Old Trafford. The year of 2010 has seen the
illustrious stadium turn 100 years old. I spent hours delving
through pre-recorded interviews, including ones with Sir Alex
Ferguson, ex-talk show host Michael Parkinson and a little
known United old boy called David Beckham, for relevant clips.

Some of my time was spent haggling with other media outlets, in order to obtain certain images and videos for other documentaries. I can’t begin to explain the sheer joy I got by just saying: ‘Hello, my name is Kelly Cornwell and I’m calling from Manchester United television....’

I also took numerous trips down to the live gallery at Old Trafford. On one occasion even managing to muscle into a Manchester United home game, albeit I watched the match on a TV screen in the gallery buried underneath the Stretford End.

A quick trip to the infamous Carrington training centre was also on the agenda. I listened intently as Sir Alex outlined his views on the sporting issues of the day in one of his infamous press conferences. I also winced when he corrected a Sun journalists’ factual error, to which the reported replied: “Yeah, whatever.”

Manchester United are famous for producing many young starlets, and I got to see these future stars in action when I travelled to Burnley for an academy game. As the snow began to fall outside, I was huddled into a truck to watch a live match being edited before my very eyes. Afterwards I got to flex my journalistic muscles when I interviewed the academy manager, Paul McGuiness and the man of the match, Josh King.

Some may think that those working at Manchester United television have the ‘dream’ job. It might very well be just that, but it does involve incredibly early mornings, work-filled evenings and the ability to react quickly to any news that pours out from Old Trafford. But even with all the hard work involved, I can safely say I still see it as my dream job.

MUTV is the official channel dedicated to Manchester United (courtesy of flickr.com)

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