The man with the magic mic...
As John Motson announces he is blowing the whistle on his 50-year BBC career, MARION McMULLEN looks at some of TV’s legendary football commentators
‘FOR those of you watching in black and white, Spurs are in the all-yellow strip,” John Motson once informed TV viewers. The 72-year-old has covered 10 World Cups, 29 FA Cup finals and more than 200 England matches but has announced he will be ending his 50-year association with the BBC at the end of the season.
Affectionately known as Motty, he is renowned for an encyclopedic knowledge of the game – and the occasional on-air gaffe.
His match commentaries have included memorable lines like: “Whether that was a penalty or not, the referee thought otherwise,” “The Brazilian supporters are wearing yellow shirts – it’s a fabulous kaleidoscope of colour” and “Actually, none of the players are wearing earrings. Kjeldberg, with his contact lenses is the closest we can get.”
For two generations Motty has been the voice of football for many but he has decided to call it a day before he thinks he is past it.
“I just thought my 50th year in the BBC is 2018 and it has to end some time and I thought that would be a good note to go out,” he says.
“I also don’t want to go into the area where people say ‘He’s been there too long’, ‘He’s lost it’, ‘He’s not what he was’.
“I wanted to go out while I was still commentating as well – or as badly – as I have for all those years.”
John, who has famously donned a sheepskin coat over the years, is part of an elite group of memorable TV football commentators.
Kenneth Wolstenholme was the opening commentator on the first Match Of The Day in 1964 and covered every FA Cup final between 1949 and 1971.
His impeccably timed description of Geoff Hurst scoring England’s fourth goal against West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final – “Some people are on the pitch... they think it’s all over... it is now!” – remains the country’s most iconic piece of commentary.
David Coleman was the BBC’s senior football commentator for almost a decade from 1971 before becoming the genial host of A Question Of Sport.
Coleman, like Motty, was also synonymous with the occasional on-air gaffe – a trait which became affectionately known as ‘Colemanballs.’
His famous utterances included lines like “If that had gone in, it would have been a goal, “Forest have now lost six matches without winning,” “The late start is due to the time,” “He’s got his hands on his knees and holds his head in despair” and “For those of you watching who do not have television sets, live commentary is on Radio 2.”
He also came out with: “The big Cuban opened his legs and showed his class” during coverage of the Montreal Olympics in 1976.
Brian Moore was the voice of ITV’s football coverage in the 1970s and 1980s. Moore’s The Big Match brought highlights to the more child-friendly time of Sunday afternoons.
He covered the FA Cup final on ITV every year from 1969 to 1988, and memorably declared “it’s up for grabs now” as Arsenal’s Michael Thomas ran through to score the dramatic late winning goal at Anfield to snatch the title from Liverpool in 1989.
He also came out with: “And the news from Guadalajara where the temperature is 96 degrees, is that Falcao is warming up” and “Mark Ward has only got size five boots but he sure packs a hell of a punch with them.”
Barry Davies was seen as something of a rival to John – he was preferred by the BBC for the 1994 World Cup final.
Davies was less about the stats and more about the empathy. During England’s roller-coaster quarter-final against Cameroon in 1990, he sounded like he was suffering every bit as much as the viewing public.
Yet perhaps his most famous line – “where were the Germans, and frankly, who cares?” – actually came during an Olympic hockey match.
He also once announced: “Poland nil, England nil, though England are now looking the better value for their nil” and “Lukic saved with his foot, which is all part of the goalkeeper’s arm.”
It’s not just football that Motty has covered. In 1974 he worked with Muhammad Ali while commentating on a boxing match between Santiago Alberto Lovell and Joe Bugner at the Albert Hall, London. Ali would face Bugner in the ring the following year.
Speaking to BBC Sport, John recalled: “In the second round, Bugner decked his opponent and before I could turn to Ali to get his comments, he had taken his jacket off, leapt in the ring and started to playfully spar with Bugner. That was the last I saw of him.”
Back to the football, and the game that launched John’s Match Of The Day career was an FA Cup third round replay in 1972.
It came during Motty’s year-long trial for the BBC show, who expected the tie would warrant a short segment. However, Hereford’s shock 2-1 win against Newcastle – aided by Ronnie Radford’s 30-yard strike that sparked a mini pitch invasion – saw it promoted to Match Of The Day’s main game.