Text/Bai Guohua Former "Football" newspaper interviewed reporters, and interviewed Yan Junjun twice

At the end of 2008, I met Mr. Yan for the first time in Luoxi, Panyu, Guangzhou.

Calling him "Old Yan" was too formal, so I took it upon myself and called him Lao Yan like his acquaintance.

In the winter of Guangzhou, the sun is lazy, Lao Yan's house is full of all kinds of stones, the sunlight comes in through the window, the stones are colorful, Lao Yan was about 70 at that time, still like a bell, his spirit, together with his love stone, instantly reminded me of one of his masterpieces "Dare to be Taishan Stone Dare to be".

Some people, he never gets old.

Why visit Lao Yan? That's because the "Football" newspaper is going to publish a special issue to commemorate the 30th anniversary, and I want to reproduce the first ten years of "Football" from Lao Yan's mouth.

It was also a "pilgrimage" of my own.

The "Football" newspaper has experienced the rise, glory, decline, and struggle, but both Lao Yan and the "Football" newspaper have been written into the history of Chinese football and the history of Chinese media.

Lao Yan asked me with interest: "What year did you come to the "Football" newspaper? ”

I respectfully replied, "In 2002." ”

Lao Yan looked at me for a moment and said, "Then let's get started." ”

▲In 1979, the trial issue of "Football" newspaper and related reports of China News Service

On November 6, 1979, Lao Yan and his colleagues accomplished a deviant feat in the history of Chinese media. That night, the mood of this group of people was like the villagers of Xiaogang Village, Fengyang, Anhui Province, who pressed the red handprints of the life and death contract of "package production to household" for the first time in 1978.

Whether that day was an auspicious day for the zodiac, Lao Yan did not check.

That night, after finishing the manuscript of the "Guangzhou Daily" itself, Lao Yan, who is the head of the sports group of the "Guangzhou Daily" political and cultural department, and his comrades-in-arms began to write for the first professional football newspaper in China. The three reporters were all colleagues in the sports team of Guangzhou Daily at the time, and they were all familiar with football. The two editors were specially recruited from other departments by Wang Xiuping, then deputy editor-in-chief of Guangzhou Daily. The manuscript was uploaded, proofread, and then sent to the printing workshop of Guangzhou Daily.

In this trial issue, 50,000 copies of the newspaper "Football" were printed. Because there was no money, all the paper and printing costs were paid on credit to the Guangzhou Daily, which stated at the time that it would settle the four issues once.

After printing, the sky was already slightly bright, a little glance at the newspaper born under his hands, a little calmed down the excitement, too late for any cheers, Lao Yan took everyone to the street to sell newspapers. The main personnel include a few editors, as well as a small number of family members of the "Guangzhou Daily", including Lao Yan's wife.

On both sides of the Pearl River, as well as on Hongde Road, Baogang Stadium, and Huangsha Wharf, 50,000 newspapers were snapped up. Lao Yan looked at it, and his heart was reassured, he was more convinced than ever that the future of the "Football" newspaper would be bright - many workers who had just finished work simply sat on the side of the road or stood against the wall, and only after reading the newspaper did they reluctantly go home.

An old editor who was editing the "Football" newspaper the night before, and came home much later than usual because of the "Football" newspaper, saw his wife's angry face. The tired old editor said: "I went to edit the "Football" newspaper, I was very tired, I want to sleep, don't make noise with me." After waking up, the smiling wife served a bowl of chicken soup - when the wife went to the street that day, she was fortunate to witness the shocking scene of the launch ceremony of the "Football" newspaper, so she was greatly moved and joined the family group of the "Football" newspaper sales newspaper.

A week later, on November 14, China News Service issued a message: "China's first "Football" newspaper is launched! This is the first professional football newspaper in China. "It's not volleyball, it's not table tennis, it's a very backward sport in China, and China's first professional sports newspaper was born.

Half a month later, when the editorial staff who founded the "Football" newspaper got their salaries, they found that there was an extra 20 yuan, and there was no manuscript fee at that time, and the extra was 10 yuan per issue of the editing fee. The paper and printing costs owed to the "Guangzhou Daily" on credit were more than enough to be settled smoothly at one time.

After a trial period at the end of 1979, on January 1, 1980, the first issue of the newspaper began to be officially launched. That year, Yan Junjun was exactly 40 years old - 40 is not confused, this graduate of the Department of Physical Education of South China Normal University (later merged into the Guangzhou Sports Institute), as if he had found an anchor, and since then he has set himself in the vast sea of Chinese football.

▲In 1980, the first issue of the "Football" newspaper

It is no accident that this newspaper was born in Guangzhou, in Guangzhou Daily, and in the hands of Yan Junjun.

In 1979, Lao Yan was the head of the sports group of the Political and Cultural Department of Guangzhou Daily. Lao Yan is on the street, and out of professional habits, he will often pay attention to pedestrians who stop in front of the newspaper column. He found that in front of the sports report, the most people gathered and watched the most seriously. This made him a little itchy - there is no doubt that football is the number one sport in the world and the number one sport in China! This fact and this market made Lao Yan's heart anxious, like a cat scratching.

But in the face of reality, Lao Yan couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. At that time, the "Guangzhou Daily" only had 4 pages a day, and the sports report sometimes could only account for half a page or two columns every two weeks, and there were many rules and regulations when writing, and even some games were not even allowed to report the score, because we believed in "friendship first, competition second", if you want to report the score, don't you put the game first?

The Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1978 has already been held, but many people have not yet realized what this means. Some people are wandering, and some people are not willing to be lonely. Lao Yan is very sensitive, unlike many colleagues in Guangzhou Daily who came from the Chinese department, he graduated from the sports department of South China Normal University, full of athlete passion. In 1979, Lao Yan was strong-blooded, had no long-term objects, and was fearless, so he boldly came up with an idea: to start a professional football newspaper.

Among the leaders of Guangzhou Daily at that time, Wang Xiuping, deputy editor-in-chief, was very supportive of Lao Yan, and Wang Xiuping clearly told Lao Yan: "You can do it, and Guangzhou Daily will try its best to support you." However, Lao Yan encountered a policy barrier - at that time, cross-industry newspapers were not allowed in China, and Guangzhou Daily, as the organ of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, could not run a sports newspaper.

▲ Mr. Havelange, the former president of FIFA, took a group photo with the team of "Football", and the first right in the front row was Yan Junjun

Lao Yan began to use his brains, he found the person in charge of the Guangzhou Municipal Sports Commission at that time, and asked them to come forward to apply for the publication number, and all the editing, distribution, and operation work were handed over to the "Guangzhou Daily". Another thing that makes the Guangzhou Municipal Sports Commission most excited is that if the newspaper loses, they will not lose a penny; But if the newspaper makes money, the Guangzhou Municipal Sports Commission will get half of the share.

Lao Yan received the strong support of Chang Rong, vice chairman of the Chinese Football Association and deputy director of the Guangzhou Municipal Sports Commission, and after the two channels of "Guangzhou Daily" and the Guangzhou Municipal Sports Commission were unimpeded, they still needed to be approved by the Guangzhou Municipal Government. The changes of the times are one thing, but the geographical factors are also very important, and Guangdong, which is at the forefront of reform and opening up, does have a group of people whose degree of ideological emancipation is in the forefront of the country.

"The time, the place, the people, all are indispensable." This is Lao Yan's own summary.

His successor, Xie Yi, former editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Football", summed it up this way: "The entrepreneurial genes and growth desire of the first editor-in-chief Lao Yan are typical of the temperament of that generation of Guangdong entrepreneurs. ”

▲ 1986 World Cup special issue

Lao Yan is a reporter who charges into battle.

He was the first Chinese journalist to ask a question at the World Cup (Mexico 1986).

He was a deafening commentator.

In 1988, "Football" newspaper put forward the proposition of whether Chinese football could be "professionalized" for the first time. The proposition of this proposition was like a stone stirring up a thousand waves, although it later fell silent, but it once again witnessed the height and depth of the problem that the "Football" newspaper looked at at at that time.

In 1995, he mentioned "defending Chengdu", which was the real Huang Zhongdalu.

▲In 1995, the famous "Defending Chengdu" and the debate battle on the level of referees

He is also a long-sleeved business master.

Lao Yan's newspaper philosophy is that only "silver" can buy "talents". Writers and literati who like football everywhere, and the backbone of football reporters everywhere, have become part of the huge "field army" of the "Football" newspaper, and the standard of "1,000 words and 1,000 yuan" is not a low standard until now.

He was also a great master of the founding school.

Under Lao Yan's hands, there were a number of football legends such as Xie Yi, Liu Xiaoxin, and Ji Yuyang, which were thunderous, although they were given by the strength of the "Football" newspaper, but Lao Yan's personality charm was also a factor that could not be ignored.

Liu Xiaoxin, who succeeded Xie Yi, still remembers the scene when he first met Lao Yan: in the late 90s, he joined the "Football" newspaper from "Sports Reference", and when he met Lao Yan, Lao Yan asked: "What do you want from the "Football" newspaper? Liu Xiaoxin said: "Nothing else, I just want to go on a business trip." ”

Lao Yan took out three thousand yuan from the drawer: "Go to the finance to go through the procedures, go on a business trip immediately, and go where you want to go." ”

That afternoon, Lao Yan talked endlessly, and I listened and remembered, it was a quick interview—who doesn't like to listen to Master Zu talk about the history of the prestige of their sect?

▲In 1990, the "Football" newspaper reported that Liaozu won the Asian Club Cup

interviewed Lao Yan again, and it was another ten years.

In 2019, the Chinese Football Association awarded Lao Yan a "Lifetime Achievement" award - the Special Contribution Award of the China Football News Award, and Lao Yan deserved it.

He still thinks clearly, and his voice is like a bell.

Some people never seem to grow old.

But there are a lot fewer stones in his house, he said, and "many have moved back to their hometowns in Hainan." ”

We added WeChat to each other, and he sent me a sentence: It's a pity that you didn't become my colleague.

This is a kind of encouragement from the old man to me, even if it is polite, I will accept it all. Besides, this kind of regret, for me, why not?

Then, there is no then.

In terms of seniority, he is the wind is clear, and I am Ling Hu Chong, but he is really the wind and the wind is clear, but I am not Ling Hu Chong.

Because of his Dugu Nine Swords, I have never learned it, and I can't do a single trick.