Career
Hannan has made numerous radio and television appearances. Among the most notable are: lieutenant"s Funny Up North with. Vic Reeves ( Independent Television Tyne Tees 2006) Eddie Waring: Mr Rugby League (British Broadcasting Corporation Four, 2010) Eric and Ernie: Behind the Scenes (British Broadcasting Corporation Two, 2011) Morecambe and Wise: The Whole Story (British Broadcasting Corporation Two 2013) Hannan is currently editor-at-large of Forty-20, a rugby league magazine.
Formally he was editor of Total Rugby League, the now-defunct sister newspaper of Rugby League World between 1997 and 1999 and was also the editor of Rugby League World magazine from 2002 until 2004.
He was United Kingdom correspondent for the Australia"s official NRL weekly, Big League between 2004 and 2006. Along with fellow author and rugby league journalist Philosophy Caplan, Tony Hannan is a co-director of Scratching Shed Limited, an independent publishing house based in Leeds, Yorkshire.
Hannan was the creator and illustrator of the popular and long-running satirical cartoon character "Walt", whose pithy comments were a nightly feature in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus newspaper from March 1987 until April 2002. Having first appeared alongside Brad Ford, a cheeky bear based on the "Bradford"s Bouncing Back" regeneration campaign figurehead of the late 1980s, Walt soon took over the strip.
Hannan"s cartoons have also appeared in Private Eye, Punch and similar publications.
In the late 1980s, while editor and creator of the fanzine Bernard of the Bantams, a sister publication to Bradford City Football Club"s award-winning City Gent, Hannan created the character of Boring Stan, Park Avenue Fan. Stan, as the name suggests, was a very dull supporter of Bradford City"s cross-town rivals Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C., who had gone into liquidation in 1974 and were only just being revived via the amateur Sunday leagues. To this day, Bradford Park Avenue fans are known by the nickname "Stans".