Alan Carr's new sitcom Changing Ends brings back memories of the legendary Graham Carr for Chronicle & Echo sports editor, Jeremy Casey

Alan Carr's new comedy Changing Ends hit our screens last week, and is a must-watch for all Northamptonians, and for Cobblers fans in particular.

The comedy tells the story of Carr's upbringing in the town, as the son of Cobblers boss Graham, and the first episode, as well as being funny, is very NTFC heavy.

There are loads of nice touches that any of us lucky enough to have been around for Graham's time as manager of the club can appreciate and enjoy.

There is the almost-perfect reproduction kits from the 86/87 season, snapshots of the sports pages of a broadsheet Chronicle & Echo, although sadly no Pink Un, references to the big derby clash with Peterborough United... and some of the players look spookily familiar.

The names are not the same, but watch through squinted eyes and you can perhaps pick out Trevor Morley, Ian Benjamin, Peter Gleasure and a few others…

The wonderful old two-and-a-half-sided County Ground is namechecked, with the matchday PA apparently a full-on Teynie, but sadly can't really be replicated, although the changing room looks remarkably similar to the one under the old main stand.

Then there is the portrayal of Graham himself, with actor Shaun Dooley doing a great job.

He definitely has more hair than Graham did at the time, but he brilliantly captures the fearsome football manager Carr could undoubtedly be (more on that later), but also the more gentle, kind and caring man that he also is.

The trademark flat cap also gets plenty of airtime…

When I saw Dooley had originally been cast I had my doubts he would pull the role off, but he does, and does it well.

The show certainly took me back to when I first met Graham, which was back in early 1987.

I was taking my first steps into sports journalism as an 18-year-old at the Northants Post, which was pretty much perfect timing as Carr's team - one of the best the club has produced - was in the process of storming to the Division Four title.

The Cobblers team in Changing Ends is a bit of a joke and struggling at the bottom of division four, and it is true the team was in the doldrums when Carr initially arrived in April, 1985 - but it didn't stay that way for long.

After using his knowledge of the non-League scene to pick up several nuggets, the Cobblers quickly improved and the club was promoted to the third tier within two years.

That saw Carr cement his legendary status at the club - having also been part of the County Ground team that played in the top flight of English football in 1965/66. The only season the club has played at the top level.

As a cub reporter for the Post, I had the pleasure of dealing with Graham more or less on a weekly basis, and was privileged to regularly be invited into his office upstairs in the club house, which was situated across from the County Tavern pub on Abington Avenue, for a mug of tea and a chat.

On occasion I would also sit with him and watch the players train on the County Ground pitch, or pitchside at British Timken in Duston or the ON Chenecks on Billing Road.

He was nearly always friendly and happy to chat - but you were well aware he was also not be trifled with, and was somebody who didn't suffer fools gladly.

I didn't get on his wrong side often, but definitely did on one occasion ahead of the 1987/88 season, and I'll never forget it.

The squad had travelled to the north east for a pre-season training camp, which I didn't attend. I was picking up information on how things were going from the Chron, but made the mistake of criticising the team in print for a 5-0 friendly defeat at Blyth Spartans.

I can't remember exactly what I wrote at the time, but fair to say it wasn't overly positive.

On his return from the trip, Graham saw the paper and what I had written... and he was not happy!

I was quite happily sitting at my desk on the Monday morning or whenever it was when the phone rang.

I picked it up and Graham was on the other end - and he was fizzing!

Once he had calmed down (a little!) he made it clear to me in no uncertain terms how I should never report or judge on a performance from his team without knowing the full story.

The fact of the matter was that on the day of that Blyth game, Carr and his assistant Clive Walker had ran the players half to death on a north east beach to in a fitness-building exercise... hence the performance and result at Blyth that evening.

To be berated as I was by Graham was a chastening experience, but it was deserved, and also meant I learned a very valuable lesson!

As for the Cobblers, that fitness work on the beach obviously paid off, as a week later they opened their season in the third tier, their first since promotion, with a 5-0 win at Chester City!!!

Graham was to leave the club at the turn of the 1990s, and go on to manage elsewhere before moving into scouting for various clubs, and in particular with great success at Newcastle United.

After returning for that managerial stint in the mid-80s, Graham had settled for good in Northampton and our paths have continued to occasionally cross over the years.

And when they do, sometimes with a bellowed 'Jeremy' in that north east accent through his car window, Graham is always happy to say hello and have a quick chat, with football nearly always the topic of any conservation!

Now 78, Graham is still involved in his beloved football, and is still involved with the Cobblers where he is an associate director, and will always be seen as club legend.

I mean, let's face it, the home supporters' bar at Sixfields is called Carr's Bar... what further proof do you need?