The Otto Fischer Cup, Liepaja, Latvia - April 2025
I was very proud to be part of an international sporting network celebrating the achievements of Austrian football coach OTTO FISCHER, who won the league with Olympia Liepaja three times in succession between 1936 and 1940. Tragically, the Nazis killed him in the Holocaust as he was Jewish. I included his story in my 2017 book for Helion 'Blood in the Forest - the end of the Second World War in the Courland Pocket'. Ten years later, I helped produce brochures in English and Latvian for the first Otto Fischer Cup. This was staged in Liepaja with the aim of encouraging youngsters to play, and Austrian ambassador Bernadette Klösch unveiled a plaque at the ground where Fischer's team played. It was a great weekend - thanks to everyone in Liepaja and from Austria - and we hope it will become an annual event. Here are some pictures of the plaque, the ground, me with organiser Ilana Ivanova and our tournament - plus a lovely film of the weekend.
A commemorative medal for the children taking part in 'Football with Otto Fischer'.
Journalist, producer and presenter
I have worked for 35 years in TV, radio and online and on location in the USA, Africa, Scandinavia, Germany, the UK and Ireland. My books apply the skills I learned making documentaries using oral history such as the award-winning six part BBC Radio 2 Radio Ballads in 2006, which won a Sony Gold for The Song of Steel and Thirty Years of Conflict about The Troubles in Northern Ireland, which won a Sony Bronze.
Pixels from a Crime Scene
Podcasting has become a huge growth industry and is a great way to reach individual people directly, especially on important issues. The six-part podcast series Pixels from a Crime Scene (2020) was one of those programmes that needed to be made, working closely with the Internet Watch Foundation to get the messaging right.
The podcast tells the story of online child sexual abuse through the words of victims, the people fighting to eradicate it, law enforcement, internet companies and, even perpetrators. Pixels from a Crime Scene delves into this clandestine world, shining a spotlight on what really goes on online and why images and videos showing the sexual abuse of children are still spreading across the open web.
Producer: Angela Young, Cambridge Podcasts
Executive producer: Vince Hunt
Listen here.
The podcast tells the story of online child sexual abuse through the words of victims, the people fighting to eradicate it, law enforcement, internet companies and, even perpetrators. Pixels from a Crime Scene delves into this clandestine world, shining a spotlight on what really goes on online and why images and videos showing the sexual abuse of children are still spreading across the open web.
Producer: Angela Young, Cambridge Podcasts
Executive producer: Vince Hunt
Listen here.
Sport in the Cold War
The Cold War sports history podcasts