Julie Welch
Encyclopedia
Julie Welch is a British sports journalist
, author
and screenwriter
who in 1969 became Fleet Street
's first female football
reporter. As a screenwriter she writes both screenplays and scripts for television, while as an author she has written both fiction and non-fiction. Some of her most notable works include the 1983 made-for-television film Those Glory Glory Days
, which was inspired by her childhood love of football, and the book Long Distance Information.
before moving to London and working as a secretary at The Observer
. She made her journalistic debut in 1969 after being asked to write a report on a football match between Coventry City
and Tottenham Hotspur, becoming the first female Fleet Street journalist to report on a game of football. She told a 1999 interview with the Independent on Sunday's Lucy Pollard that she had faced hostility because of her sex, and that after the appearance of her first byline people had wondered if Julie was a unisex name
. Welch is a winner of the Daily Telegraph Magazine Young Writer of the Year Award. Welch has also edited the Long Distance Walkers Association magazine, and has participated in the annual "Hundred" – walking 100 miles non-stop over 48 hours. She later wrote a book about her experience.
She made her screenwriting debut in the 1970s, but it was her 1983 made-for-television film Those Glory Glory Days
that established her in this field. She was asked to write a screenplay about her childhood love of football by the producer David Puttnam
. She wrote her book, Long Distance Information in six months after being made redundant from The Sunday Telegraph when the department in which she was working closed. Other works include 26:2, published in 2000, the novel Dangerous Dancing (1993), and The Ghost of White Hart Lane, co-authored with Rob White (2011).
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
who in 1969 became Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
's first female football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
reporter. As a screenwriter she writes both screenplays and scripts for television, while as an author she has written both fiction and non-fiction. Some of her most notable works include the 1983 made-for-television film Those Glory Glory Days
Those Glory Glory Days
Those Glory Glory Days is a 1983 British made-for-television film about football. The screenplay was written by the sports journalist Julie Welch. The film is inspired by Welch's childhood love of football, and helped to establish her as a screenwriter...
, which was inspired by her childhood love of football, and the book Long Distance Information.
Career
Welch studied philosophy at the University of BristolUniversity of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
before moving to London and working as a secretary at The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
. She made her journalistic debut in 1969 after being asked to write a report on a football match between Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
and Tottenham Hotspur, becoming the first female Fleet Street journalist to report on a game of football. She told a 1999 interview with the Independent on Sunday's Lucy Pollard that she had faced hostility because of her sex, and that after the appearance of her first byline people had wondered if Julie was a unisex name
Unisex name
A unisex name, also known as an epicene name, is a given name that is often given to either a boy or a girl. Some countries, however, require that a given name be gender-specific or have enough names with male and female versions...
. Welch is a winner of the Daily Telegraph Magazine Young Writer of the Year Award. Welch has also edited the Long Distance Walkers Association magazine, and has participated in the annual "Hundred" – walking 100 miles non-stop over 48 hours. She later wrote a book about her experience.
She made her screenwriting debut in the 1970s, but it was her 1983 made-for-television film Those Glory Glory Days
Those Glory Glory Days
Those Glory Glory Days is a 1983 British made-for-television film about football. The screenplay was written by the sports journalist Julie Welch. The film is inspired by Welch's childhood love of football, and helped to establish her as a screenwriter...
that established her in this field. She was asked to write a screenplay about her childhood love of football by the producer David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
. She wrote her book, Long Distance Information in six months after being made redundant from The Sunday Telegraph when the department in which she was working closed. Other works include 26:2, published in 2000, the novel Dangerous Dancing (1993), and The Ghost of White Hart Lane, co-authored with Rob White (2011).
Filmography
- Angels (1975)
- Couples (1975–1976)
- Crown CourtCrown Court (TV series)Crown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....
(1978) - Horse in the House (1979)
- Those Glory Glory Days (1983)
- Playing for Real (1988)
- Ellington (1996)
External links
- Julie Welch at United AgentsUnited AgentsUnited Agents is a British talent and literary agency founded in 2007. It is situated on Lexington Street in London, UK and was set up by agents who had left Peters, Fraser & Dunlop . It is chaired by Lindy King and the managing director is St...
- Julie Welch at Journalisted.com