Alex Hayes is a former sports

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

who specialised in football reporting in the UK and France. He previously worked for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', TPS/

Canal Plus Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. He was then a respected football agent, whose clients included

Robert Pires Robert Emmanuel Pires (born 29 October 1973) is a French association football, football coach and former professional Football player, player. Pires played for French clubs FC Metz, Metz and Olympique de Marseille, Marseille prior to his time wi ...

and

Jérémie Aliadière Jérémie Aliadière (born 30 March 1983) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. As a graduate of the elite INF Clairefontaine, Clairefontaine academy, he signed ...

. He also represented

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

in the UK. In May 2015, he became executive vice-president of Ligue 1's

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and currently competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French ...

. He left the role in September 2017. Since May 2018, he has been the Sporting Director of

Royale Union Saint-Gilloise Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jos ...

, a Brussels-based football club owned by

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

chairman

Tony Bloom Anthony Grant Bloom (born 20 March 1970) is an English sports bettor, poker player, entrepreneur, owner and chairman of Premier League football club Brighton & Hove Albion and majority owner of Belgian First Division A team Royale Union Saint-G ...

Biography

Early career

Hayes started his journalistic career in magazines, working for ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

'' in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as a features assistant between 1996 and 1998.

Newspapers

He then joined the ''

Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' as a football writer, where he reported on the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, the Champions League, the England national team and European football. During his six years at the paper, he used his great language skills to secure exclusive interviews with world-famous players and managers such as

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...

, Eric Cantona,

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best players ...

Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (; born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was moved to main striker and then to second striker, where he remained throughout his playing ...

Johann Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'O ...

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

Serge Blanco Serge Blanco (born 31 August 1958) is a former rugby union footballer who played fullback for Biarritz Olympique and the French national side, gaining 93 caps, 81 of them at fullback. His alternative position was wing. He was generally nicknamed ...

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...

, Aime Jacquet and

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...

TV

In 2004, Hayes was recruited by the French TV channel

TPS Foot TPS Foot was a French sports channel that was dedicated to airing football matches and was owned by French satellite provider TPS. The channel began its programs on 13 August 2005 via the TPS package and on certain cable networks. TPS Foot stop ...

(which was bought out by

in 2006) to cover the Premier League. During the next three years, he combined his duties as the full-time UK correspondent for TPS and then Canal Plus with match-day presenting, commentating and reporting. He covered more than 250 Barclays Premier League games during his time at TPS/Canal Plus. After a brief spell at Setanta, during which time he produced as well as directed an exclusive documentary on Didier Drogba, Hayes joined

in September 2007 as their Champions League reporter. During his time with Sky, Hayes interviewed such stars as Eric Cantona, Gianfranco Zola, Michel Platini, Karim Benzema, Patrice Evra, Lionel Messi, Gerard Houllier, Didier Drogba and Kaka.

Other career highlights

Hayes is the UK correspondent for the French sports daily newspaper '' L'Equipe'', as well as the French language radio station RTL. He is a regular contributor to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' newspaper and contributed to the former ''

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

'' magazine. Hayes is the author of two books: ''The French Revolution'', a book about the influence of Gallic footballers in the UK, and

Claude Makélélé Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently a youth coach and technical mentor at Chelsea, having formerly been the head co ...

's "autobiography" ''Tout Simplement''.

External links

*https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-life-after-hoddle--success-story-of-french-succession-1069256.html *https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby-union-blanco-heads-mission-to-unite-europe-1046154.html *https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/uefa-hint-at-letting-sky-into-europe-656665.html *https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ronaldinho-my-dream-of-joining-manchester-united-542559.html *http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a68797/setanta-confirma-lynam-for-premiership-lineup.html *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzFSlazl5dc *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SCMkVx5teA *https://web.archive.org/web/20110927023229/http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/sports-breakfast/blog/2011-07-12/hayes-malouda-very-happy-chelsea-why-would-they-get-rid-him {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Alex British male journalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)