The loss of Icke's position with Hereford meant that he and his wife had to sell their home, and for several weeks they lived apart, each moving in with their parents. In 1973 Icke found a job as a reporter with the weekly "Leicester Advertiser", through a contact who was a sports editor at the "Daily Mail". He moved on to the Leicester News Agency, did some work for BBC Radio Leicester as its football reporter, then worked his way up through the "Loughborough Monitor", the "Leicester Mercury" and BRMB Radio in Birmingham.