Mike Amos was for 55 years a journalist in north-east England, almost entirely on The Northern Echo, until made redundant at the age of 73. He has won more than 40 journalism awards, was named North-East Journalist of the Year seven times in 18 years, was an inaugural inductee in the Provincial Journalism Hall of Fame and in 2006 was appointed MBE for services to journalism.Born in Shildon, Co Durham, where he served as local councillor, churchwarden and parish magazine editor, he retains a lifelong passion for Shildon FC but worries over where allegiance might lie should they ever draw his other favoured club, Arsenal.For 20 years until 2016 he was chairman of the Northern Football League, the world's second oldest, and has written or edited several books about the league. Other books include Unconsidered Trifles, a 400-page memoir of life as a "jobbing journalist."