He treated everyone he met, from rookie reporter to football superstar, the same.
You knew exactly what you would get from Brian: Never moody, always bright, cheerful and ready to tackle his workload - no matter how heavy.
He may have had strong views, as a top columnist it would have been unthinkable not to, but he was happy to listen and respect those of others.
It was impossible to tell if Brian was feeling the pressure because whatever was asked of him he took on without complaint.
That made him immensely popular with the office. Ask Brian for a thousand words on any sporting topic and you could bank on him replying: “How long have I got?”.
Wooly adored his job and never lost his passion for sport, particularly football and cricket.
He did not go to college or university, having left school at 16. But Brian had raw talent and knew throughout his glittering career what made a story.
Even when he was very ill he watched an England against South Africa cricket match as if he was going to write about it.
He was as passionate about sport in his 60s as he was as a rookie reporter aged 16.
And Brian never shied away from asking the toughest questions, being both feared and admired by football’s elite.
He started his career at the Esher News in Surrey after his mum saw an advert in the paper for a cub reporter.
After the Evening Post in Hemel Hempstead and United Newspapers he was head-hunted by The Sun, where he worked his way up to became chief football writer.
He stayed there for 27 years.
It would have been longer if he hadn’t been snapped up by the Daily Star in 2001, where he was handed the job of chief sportswriter and columnist on The Daily Star, covering all the major sporting events around the world.
The man who succeeded him at The Sun, his pal Shaun Custis, said: “It felt like trying to replace Alan Shearer.
“Like Shearer, Wooly was renowned for hitting the target and hitting it hard.”
Brian also worked at Sky, starting on Hold the Back Page in 1994. He was co-host of Jimmy HIll’s Sunday Supplement from its start in August 2001, becoming full-time presenter of Sunday Supplement in 2007.
Sky’s The Footballers Football Show, TalkSport, Radio Five Live and Breakfast TV also valued greatly his expertise.
Not many sports writers are asked for their autographs but Brian was, often.
Fans would also seek him out for a chat at stadiums and he always obliged.
He spoke to them like they were a friend - and you could often be mistaken for thinking they were. That was typical of Wooly.
He wrote 14 books but the last, his autobiography, will sadly never be completed - although that will be a relief to many!
On a personal level, he started playing cricket for Claygate Cricket Club at 11 and football for Claygate Royals in Surrey, reaching county level at both. A knee injury foiled a potential top level-cricket career.
With his colleagues, he always joined in the fun - “red wine and pasta boys!” was his cry once the work was done.
But he never lost his composure or became rowdy.
We may live in an age where swearing is commonplace, not Brian.
If things got out of hand as the wine flowed, you could guarantee it would be Wooly calming things down.
“I never saw him take a drink too many,” said his great friend and colleague Nigel Clarke, who travelled the world with him.
“He was just too affable to be anything other than a nice man.”
Glenn Goodey, a friend for over 40 years and a former colleague on The Sun, said: “I’ll remember Brian as a warm and generous person and as the most hardworking journalist I have ever known. A truly lovely man.”
In a First XI of all-time greats of sports reporting Brian would have to be selected, maybe as skipper.
In short, Wooly was the star of the Daily Star’s sports department.
But he never acted the star. Gentlemen never do.
A devoted family man, Brian married his childhood sweetheart, Linda after they met as trainee reporters on the Esher News.
Linda retrained as a teacher to fit in with life with three young children and a travelling sports reporter husband.
Brian leaves a wife, three children, Emma, Benjamin and Jack and three grandchildren, Max, Joe and Poppy.
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