The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus. Strong opinion that subject meets WP:GNG with sources provided with equally strong opinion that provided coverage is WP:ROUTINE and so subject does not meet WP:GNG. v/r - TP 16:48, 19 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Phil Imray[edit]

Phil Imray (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)
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Footballer who has yet to make an appearance at a level deemed to confer notability by Wikipedia standards (per WP:NFOOTBALL) has only played semi-professional club, no senior international call-up, only general mentions in sports journalism per WP:ROUTINE ClubOranjeT 09:08, 4 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comment - The topic appears to pass WP:GNG per the availability of reliable sources. See WP:NTEMP, "Notability is not temporary". The sources clearly establish topic notability. Northamerica1000(talk) 14:11, 19 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This debate has been included in the list of Sportspeople-related deletion discussions. — • Gene93k (talk) 18:48, 4 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • A couple of articles in the sports section does not define notability - every kid that trials with a big club gets that sort of coverage; it sells copy.The Chatham Cup coverage you link is exactly the type of routine news coverage such as press releases, public announcements, sports coverage... that doesn't signify notability. At the end of the day, this is a footballer who has yet to actually achieve anything notable. WP is an encyclopaedia, not a summary of every article printed in the sports pages.--ClubOranjeT 07:09, 6 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • What other section of the newspaper would you expect a sports player to get coverage in? Unless they are David Beckham, that's where all sports players get covered. Or are you saying that more than newspaper articles are required? Either way, it's a flawed argument. You do realise that the section of WP:N that you linked to is for events? I fully agree that Imray is not a significant event. In my opinion, what's meant by routine sports coverage is "Imray made a good save" in match report – there were quite a few of those articles, but I don't believe they prove notability, so I didn't include them in my keep !vote. However, when the article is primarily about the player, that's significant coverage in my book. Finally, if he hasn't achieved anything of note, then why have multiple independent reliable sources covered his career? Jenks24 (talk) 09:40, 6 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • I agree his career is a non-event, but thousands of kids get a few sports page articles by journos hoping they are uncovering the next Messi. Thousands of these guys get their WP articles deleted every year because they have not made a meaningful contribution to the annals of history. Same as thousands of polititians who never got elected and thousands of musicians who never made it big get deleted every year.--ClubOranjeT 19:11, 10 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • No, thousands of kids don't get the coverage that Imray has. He is simply unfortunate in that he is from New Zealand – although the league he plays in has professional players, it is not "fully professional", yet the national team is strong enough (they did make the last World Cup) that he is not simply given a game because he has a vague understanding of the rules, which is apparently enough for some players from countries where football is next to non-existant. He has far more coverage than players in the fourth tier of English football and some of those really obscure European leagues – articles that will never be more than one-line stubs. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that it's well-known that NFOOTY is a flawed guideline and it would really be great if the WP:FOOTY editors who comment on all these AfDs came in with an open mind about whether players who haven't played in a fully professional league can still be notable, rather than shooting down any and every reference provided as "routine". Yes, most players who haven't played in a FPL are non-notable, but that does not mean they all are. Sorry to go off on a bit of a rant there. Jenks24 (talk) 05:50, 11 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Northamerica1000 (talk) 14:19, 7 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

  • 3 articles about the same thing...his job interview at Hibs, and 2 match reports. This is trivial non-notable tabloid sports journalism coverage. --ClubOranjeT 19:11, 10 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, causa sui (talk) 19:01, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Even having 3 articles about his job interview, it is still WP:ONEEVENT and not a particularly notable one. Regarding your earlier comment regarding articles being in "broadsheet" papers, note that tabloid journalism does not refer to the size of the paper it is printed on, only to the journalistic nature of the article. Having references based on sports articles is not the issue, it is the nature of the article, and these articles - essentially the same piece in three different papers, are pretty run-of-mill. My 8 year old kid has had an article in the herald also.--ClubOranjeT 10:16, 18 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I disagree that WP:ONEEVENT applies here. As you say, he received coverage for his "job interview", but he also received coverage other things, such as the "Miramar keeper [Phil Imray] secures Chatham win" article. I do understand that tabloid journalism does not only apply to tabloid newspapers, but unsurprisingly, tabloid journalism does occur mostly in tabloid newspapers. In the case of the articles I have mentioned above, I do not believe they are tabloid-y in nature, they appear to be written by serious and competent sports journalists. Perhaps other editors will comment on whether they believe the articles to be tabloid-y and run-of-the-mill? In any case, this has certainly been an interesting AfD. Jenks24 (talk) 10:35, 18 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
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