An award-winning reporter, Jason Burt moved into football believing that it would be more fun than news, and in the five years he's been The Independent's London football writer, he's found that he was right. A strange mix of Scotland’s emotional World Cup campaign in 1978 and his first ever live game, involving Darlington and Walsall, stoked Jason’s passion for the game. Today he sees the widening gap between top footballers and the public and the periphery role of the fans as the major issues facing the game.