WAITING inside the tunnel at the Stadium of Light on Saturday after the FA Cup third round tie with Barrow, I was given a quick reminder of the way things used to be.

Now that sounds like I'm going on 60, when the reality is I'm just under half that and I've been covering professional football for the best part of ten years.

During that decade I have heard stories about what it was like as a press man to travel to away games on the coach of the team you were covering. Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Newcastle, Hartlepool, Darlington or whoever, there was a time when that was common practice. No more.

Unfortunately throughout my time as a football reporter, there has always been a PR push to keep you at arm's length, fearing that too much information could lead to a story which would embarrass the club.

But on Saturday, as I mulled around in the freezing Wearside temperatures waiting for goal-hero Fraizer Campbell, I witnessed at first hand an act that most top-flight managers - and players - can learn from.

A young female radio reporter hovered behind the ropes inside the tunnel waiting to interview Barrow players and management.

Not knowing the Premier League drill (yes, there is one), she was oblivious to the fact that Sunderland manager Steve Bruce had gone into speak to radio journalists in a separate room.

Ten minutes later, having completed his task of radio and TV interviews, Bruce walked out into the tunnel, en route to speak to the written press.

The young reporter shouted, "Steve, have you got a minute for the local radio in Barrow?"

The initial response from both Bruce and the club's PR manager Louise Wanless was to inform her that she had missed her opportunity.

Then Bruce thought about it, looked her way, smiled and said 'go on then, make it quick,' giving her a few minutes of his time to talk about Barrow's efforts.

There would have been a time when such an action would have been the norm, now it is something of a miracle in Premier League circles. In truth, it's probably the same across the Football League.

But fair play to Steve Bruce, he has shown the way forward and long may it continue.

He has been a breath of fresh air to the media since his move to Wearside in the summer, reminiscent of the days when Sir Bobby Robson would quite happily talk to anyone at any time.

I'm not calling for a return to the era of travelling on the team coach, that is long gone, but just a few more humbling experiences like that would do.

After all, while the man from the North West Evening Mail grabbed the whole Barrow team, chairman and management during his 50 minutes in the tunnel, I had to wait patiently for goal-hero Campbell and Lorik Cana to be brought my way.

That's not a reflection on Sunderland, that's just an honest assessment of the way professional football has gone in the last 15 years.

Keep it up Steve Bruce, there can't be too many around like that today.