Jamie Doran was welcomed into the world of journalism by a bit of industrial language that left no room for ambiguity.
So nothing the filmmaker’s cameras catch when Craig Levein and his players have their say in the St Johnstone dressing room over the next 10 months will come as a shock to the system as he gets down to work on a new ‘warts and all’ documentary based on the Perth club.
“I went in on the Monday morning for my very first day with the Sunday Post,” Doran recalled. “I was thinking I was this hot guy who had beaten 300-odd people to get this job.
“I was met by one of the other journos who led me to my desk and just as I was about to sit down, Bob Miller, the editor, said: ‘Mr Doran, would you approach’.
“I hadn’t even got into my chair so I didn’t need to stand up.
“I went up to the top table and he said: ‘I was just wondering where your stories were?’
“I said: ‘Sorry Mr Miller, I’m the new guy, I’ve actually just been given a desk’.
“’So do you mean you haven’t got any stories for me?’ he said as he put out a hand to draw me in.
“I leaned forward and he said: ‘Well, f*** off out of here and don’t come back without them!’
“That was my training.”
From Syria to St Johnstone
An award-winning career that started out as a cocksure young trainee reporter at the Sunday Post – and went on to see him dodge bombs and bullets on the frontline of wars in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq – has come full circle for Doran.
He got a foot in the story-telling door with a bit of off-the-cuff writing about Scottish football.
Now he’s embarking on a project that will tell the world what makes our national sport gloriously essential to the fabric of life.
“After I got through the various written exams for my job at the Post, an old guy called Sandy Reid, who was quite a character, said in a great Dundonian voice: ‘We’ve got 20 minutes left, would you like to write me a wee story?’
“I wrote a quick piece about a boy going to a Partick Thistle match, getting a lift over the turnstiles and the whole Glaswegian paraphernalia about going to the game.”
Doran is steeped in Scottish football. At the age of just six, he was the lad asking for the turnstiles lift at Celtic Park. He’s already put together a football-based documentary series.
But there is still a long-standing yearning to truly get into the bones of the special peculiarities of our game – his game – that hasn’t been sated. And an American lawyer buying St Johnstone has given him the opportunity to scratch the itch.
“I’ve always had a dream to try and explain the enigma that is Scottish football,” said Doran.
“Per capita, our game is the best supported anywhere in the world.
“What is it that drives folk to go along to whatever the ground might be in the freezing cold, with horizontal rain on a dark Wednesday night?
“It’s not the players or the manager because they come and go.
“And it’s not the board of directors because, more often than not, they’re the target of ire from the fans.
“I‘m trying to get into the psyche of what it means to be a real football fan.
“They have this incredible enthusiasm and keep turning up. Is it masochism? Is it delusion? Or is it just searching for a moment to share a tiny bit of success with their friends and family?
“How do you explain that more fans turn up to watch football in Scotland than anywhere else in the world?
“That’s what I’m searching for.”
Webb made his move
He added: “Adam (new owner, Adam Webb) approached me and asked if I’d consider this.
“I’d made a series for Al Jazeera called ‘Fans Make Football’.
“It reflected my belief that football is absolutely nothing without supporters and that will certainly be reflected in this series as well.
“I selected great clubs around the world – Boca Juniors, Racing Casablanca, Sleman in Indonesia, St Pauli in Germany, a little team called Liverpool and a big team (you can guess where my allegiances lie) called Celtic.
“Adam saw the series, the Celtic one in particular, and he searched to find me.
“It was actually before the end of last season.
“I pushed him back and pushed him back. Eventually, he persuaded me that it would allow me to find the answer I’ve been looking for all my life.
“And I think I’m going to get close.
“The more involved in this project I get, the more I realise that the true essence of Scottish football lies out with the big three or four and with clubs like St Johnstone.”
Although Webb sought out Doran rather than the other way around, control of the end product sits with Clover Films. Access all areas was a non-negotiable.
“Adam came straight out and said: ‘You’ve got a free hand, you can go anywhere you want, you can walk in any door, no door will be closed’,” he said.
“That got me thinking: ‘Could this be the one?’
“It needs to be packaged as a warts and all, festival of honesty and fun.
“The drama amongst players and staff in training and on match days, management crisis meetings, fan despair and fan joy. There’s so much to it.
“The fans will play by far the biggest role.
“It isn’t just about St Johnstone, it’s about Scottish football. I see it through the prism of St Johnstone, a provincial team with incredible, diehard fans.
“I’ve already talked to a lot of them.
“I used to watch Celtic play St Johnstone and I’d be thinking: ‘Why have you guys turned up?’ I’m starting to understand why.
“It’s a quest.
“It’s a beautiful, honest game in Scotland. It’s not about the money.
“I was in Cameroon a couple of years ago and I was talking to a guy who told me he supported Liverpool but was changing to Manchester City because they had more money.
“There’s still a belief among Scottish football supporters that players are there to serve the fans, not the other way around.
“All fans ask is the players give their all for their team and in return, they’ll get their love.
“I’ve always had a big soft spot for Dundee United – to explain it would take too long.
“I could have chosen them or a club even more remote, like Ross County.
“But St Johnstone appealed to me the most.”
First impressions
It’s not Doran’s job to tell St Johnstone supporters Geoff Brown has handed the McDiarmid Park keys to a worthy custodian. But his instincts suggest this is indeed the case.
“I’m looking forward to my chats with Geoff,” he said.
“I think he may have thought that he’d done everything he possibly could and now it’s time to get fresh ideas and enthusiasm.
“Geoff wouldn’t have sold his club to just anyone. He would have thought very deeply about it.
“I have to say that my first impressions of Adam have been very good.
“He has stuck to his word about openness, access, everything. He hasn’t shirked from anything at all.”
But the dressing room? A place where walls rarely talk? Getting inside and staying inside may be two entirely different things.
“Craig will probably try to throw me out a couple of times but we’ll work it out,” said Doran.
“Whatever comes, we’ll deal with.
“Craig’s a nice guy as well.
“He’s an absolutely fascinating character, as are many people at St Johnstone.
“We’ve already spoken. Craig was totally cool. Everything is sort-able.
“I have to be absolutely clear – editorial control lies entirely with me.”
Sunderland ‘Til I Die
Drawing back the curtains of the football operation at McDiarmid is part of the package but supporters will be at the heart of the documentary series. Because they’re at the heart of Scottish football.
“Win, lose or draw it brings such great joy,” said Doran.
“I want to get that across in a very strong way, not just to a Scottish audience or a British audience, but to a world audience.
“We’ve had too many of these documentaries looking at the money in the big clubs. The Sunderland one (Sunderland ‘Til I Die) isn’t bad.
“The Wrexham one is a couple of Hollywood guys throwing money at it. Others are about the money from Arab countries. Scottish football isn’t like that.
“Adam hasn’t come in and talked about million pound players. He’s approaching it from a very logical position, always understanding that his club is about the fans.
“He wants to promote St Johnstone, which is what you would expect.
“It sounds awful coming from me, but I can tell you now – this is going to be brilliant! I’m very excited about it.”
Doran and his crew will be filming in Perth’s Slainte Bar on Sunday night, then at McDiarmid the following evening for the Premiership-opener against Aberdeen.
A few potential stars of the show have already emerged, with others yet to be discovered.
“Myself and the team have been working on this,” said Doran.
“We’ve already got half the number of characters I want for the film lined up.
“I’m looking for people who are larger than life.
“I said to folk at St Johnstone: ‘Come on, who is your loudest fan who screams from the sidelines?’ And, of course, they were able to tell me right away.
“It’s going to be great fun.
“We’ll have five camera units working like crazy over a few days. Some will be there 24/7.
“My main cameraman, who is a director in his own right, Mike Healy, is based in Glasgow. He’ll be coming up a lot.”
‘Favoured broadcasters’
The documentary has yet to find a home or be given a title but Doran has ideas on both fronts.
“I have broadcasters in mind and I know them all, as you can imagine,” he said. “I have my favourite three or four for a project like this.
“Over the next few weeks I’ll put together what we call in the industry a ‘sizzler’ – that tells you what is coming up in the series.
“Then I’ll approach my favoured broadcasters and see which one works best and puts up sufficient funds to make sure it’s done properly.
“I don’t want to tempt fate but I think it will be very successful.
“It will be a great contrast to some of the stuff that has preceded us.
“I think it will end up being over the course of a season.
“At the moment I’m looking at three parts as a kick-off but I can see this one running and running.
“We’ll get closer to a name as the process goes on but I have to say one thing sticks in my head all the time – that’s the name of the play about St Johnstone a couple of years ago, ‘Oh When The Saints’.
“I like that.
“I haven’t settled on it but it’s quite a tempting title. When you read it, you finish the song in your head.”
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