A n afternoon with Pat Nevin unfolds like a travelogue. The former Scotland international waits for me inside Berwick-upon-Tweed station and, in a moment of peak Nevin purity, he is reading a memoir written by Simon Raymonde, the bass player of his favourite band, the Cocteau Twins. The book is great, apparently, and sparks a stream of amusing anecdotes about a time when Nevin was considered a “weirdo” as a Chelsea and Everton footballer interested in music, books, film and politics.
We drive out of England, and into Scotland, while the 60-year-old Nevin talks about his love of travel and his relish for another European Championship , where he will work as an analyst for BBC Radio 5 Live in Germany. The tournament begins on Friday and Nevin will be there as Germany face Scotland in the opening match in Munich. From being a gifted player, and the chair of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Nevin worked in almost impossible circumstances as a player-cum-chief-executive and director of football at Motherwell before he became a writer and commentator.
He reflects on his strange odyssey in his latest book, Football and How to Survive It , with wry insight made fresh by the fact that, as Nevin says at home: “I didn’t want to be a player in the first place. I love playing football but do you want all the other stuff in it? Not really. But in the end it was really good and I loved it most of the time.
” Euro 2024 team guides part three: Scotland Read more That love.
