There's Only 2 Tony Cotteys - An Interview with Tony Cottey and David Brayley

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Tony Cottey played professional football for Swansea City before a successful career in cricket for Glamorgan and Sussex.  His lifelong friend, David Brayley, worked in local government before launching a writing career on the back of the book he co-wrote with Tony about his sporting career, ‘There’s Only 2 Tony Cottees’.

Tony and David talk first about growing up on the Gower, their time at Bishopston Secondary School and the people that influenced them.  They talk, especially, about their families who were crucial in shaping their values and their choices in their lives.

Tony recalls his time at the Vetch with Swansea City and playing at St. Helens with Glamorgan.  One of the most difficult experiences for Tony was being let go by Swansea at 19 years of age.  His father helped him cope with this.  David’s parents were separated and he describes his mum as ‘the most resourceful person he has ever met’.

We talk about the writing of the book, choosing the title and the story behind the striking front cover.  Both men talk about the process of writing the book as part of their friendship and how they wanted it to reflect Tony’s authentic voice.  The book reads like a series of stories told at the bar and is all the powerful for that.

Tony talks about some of the very personal issues that he talks about in the book including the death of his fellow Sussex player Umer Rashid.  David reinforces the importance of including as much as they could, including the bad as well as the good.

They finish by talking about their reflections on their life and careers, putting their stories into some sort of perspective.  David mentions his writing career after writing the book with Tony including his recent success winning the Children’s Sports Book of the Year awarded by the Daily Telegraph for his collaboration with rugby player James Hook ‘Chasing a Rugby Dream’.  The Awards for 2021 can be found here:

https://sportsbookawards.com/

For those interested in David’s work you can check out his website here:

https://www.david-brayley.co.uk/

After finishing his career, Tony has done sports commentary, after dinner speaking and working in public relations with Sussex County Cricket Club.  He now runs an ice cream parlour with his wife in Shoreham.  If you want tickle your taste buds you can see what Tony and his wife’s ice cream parlour serves up here:

https://www.cottsandlinz.co.uk/

The song mentioned in the chat about Umer Rashid was sung by many different artists.  This version was sung by folk group from the 1960s, Peter, Paul and Mary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNSyqazXfGE