Alan Brazil is known for enjoying himself at the Cheltenham Festival, but his antics in the Cotswolds once saw him sacked after a boozing session caused him to miss his his radio show
Alan Brazil was once given the axe by talkSPORT after a Cheltenham Festival session resulted in him not showing up for his morning radio programme.
Known for indulging in the festivities at the premier National Hunt racing event, former Manchester United forward Brazil notoriously disappeared in 2024 on the last day of the festival – and faced repercussions for going AWOL.
However, this wasn’t the first time the celebrations had got the better of him on Gold Cup day, as he has past recalled a previous occasion when the charms of Cheltenham kept him out until the early hours, and a doomed letter arrived by bike the next morning to seal his fate.
“One year, we were on a three-line whip to be back in London ready for the show early the next morning,” Brazil wrote for The Sun. “The Gold Cup was run on the Thursday in those days and I was on with Mike Parry. He headed back to the smoke as soon as we went off air, but I wasn’t going to miss the big race.”
Renowned within the talkSPORT team, Brazil has been a fixture on the airwaves for many years after leaving his footballing career behind due to a back injury, reports the Mirror.
“It was one of the years Best Mate won for Hen and Terry,” he continued. “Of course, I ended up getting on the sauce and went back to a lovely pub in Moreton-In-Marsh where I was staying.
“It was St Paddy’s Day, and the landlord was wearing a Rangers top. When I looked closer I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – it was my old mate Jim Steele, who used to play for Southampton.
“I hid around the corner and kept shouting, ‘Oi bluenose, pour us another pint of Guinness’. He was starting to lose his rag when I came out from behind the pillar. We had a great night.
“Knowing I would be in stacks of trouble if I wasn’t back in London for the show I told the old porter at the hotel to make sure I was up at 3.30am. I woke up and my heart nearly stopped – it was gone four. I tore into the old boy for not getting me out of bed, but he replied, ‘Mr Brazil, you didn’t get in until 10 to four’.
“A bike turned up at my house with a letter. I’d been sacked. It was my wife Jill’s birthday on St Paddy’s Day and I was well and truly in the dog house.” However, Brazil’s story has a happy ending, as he admits that despite the mishap: “I was back at talkSPORT two-and-a-half weeks later.”
He continues to host the station’s breakfast show throughout the four-day meeting live from the course. Although his presence on Friday is far from guaranteed.