A former bobby, a novelist and now rugby reporter - Preston-born Barry Lees discusses his varied career

Their bid for success in Regional Two North West Division begins against visitors Birkenhead Park on Saturday, September 3,

And documenting their trevails will be the club’s new press officer, their former player and crime thriller novelist Barry Lees.

The 60-year-old former policeman, who was born in Preston, takes over from retiring Stuart Vernon – affectionately known as ‘Scoop’, who has become almost an institution after covering the club’s fortunes for nearly half a century.

While taking over from Vale’s very own Peter Pan are big shoes to fill, Lees should be able draw on his empathetic abilities which have seen him create different fictional characters in his novels.

Former second-rower Lees said: "Stuart has done a lot more than just be the club’s press officer – he does a lot of other things as well, but his main duties have been writing the match reports and stuff like that.

"The main thing is I have sort of been anointed by Stuart for the role.

"He is 83 now and he’s been fulfilling the role for 45 years but had started thinking about handing it down to somebody else.

"I am an ex-player who goes down to watch and I have been on some of the away trips.

"A lot of people down at the club have been aware that I have been writing novels – in fact some of them have read some of them.

"So it was a case of I know about rugby and I can also write in English, so it made me the frontrunner to replace Stuart.

"I started playing for Vale in 1985 when I was aged 23. I became captain of one of the lower sides and started organising trips and a lot of the social gatherings.

"So I have been involved for the past 37 years but I have never really had a post until now.

"I am on the committee now – and I am thoroughly up to my neck in it.”

Having plenty in his in-tray has always been the way for Lees who joined Lancaster Constabulary as a cadet in 1978 before progressing to uniformed duties in Morecambe and Lancaster where he has since settled.

Ten years out of uniform included spells in CID, a proactive drugs team and the criminal justice department, before becoming a community beat manager. In late service he became a training officer for newly-appointed constables.

“As a very young teenage cop, I remember standing with a riot shield on a street corner in Toxteth, Liverpool, wondering where the next petrol bomb was going to come from.” said Lees, who is married to Nicole.

"I worked through the miners’ strike in the 1980s – there were certainly some flashpoints there.

"Mid-service, I became a detective before I came out of that and was the community cop at Carnforth which I thoroughly enjoyed."

Upon his retirement from the police force, he became a student at the University of Cumbria graduating with honours in English and creative writing, as well as achieving qualified teacher status.

Now a lecturer in policing at the university – a post he has held since 2014 – Lees has indulged in his lifelong love of writing and has had eight novels published.

Among his list of many works, include “The Governor’s man”, “Track and Eliminate” and “The Wasps Amongst the Ivy”.

It would appear his many years working as detective has created a vivid imagination when it comes to writing, although he is at pains to state that his work is purely fiction and doesn’t correlate specifically to any case he may have worked on during his days in the police.

"There is no connection to my novels and my experiences in the police force,” said Lees, who used to write short stories for his now grown-up children Edward and Lynton.

"Some of the police procedural elements to some of my UK-set novels, I will have called upon the knowledge and experience which I have gained over the past 30 years, but I have not set out to specifically tell a story from my experiences.

"Although I have worked as a detective on murder cases, I have not tried to tell a true crime story – this is not what it’s about, they are entirely made up.”

In recent times, Lees has written novels which are based in the United States of America and his work have caught the eye of a publisher across the pond.

He said: "I am self-published but in recent months, I have signed with an American publisher.

“They have not signed up all my books just the three which are set in the USA.

"It’s a big kick for me is the American deal. To get a presence over there is great and my sales are considerably better from when I was trying to market the books myself. I don’t think I am ever going to get on a booker prize list but it’s nice to know that people are enjoying my work.”