‘It’s reassuring I made some sort of impact’
EXCLUSIVE THERE have been plenty of imitators but nobody will replace John Motson in the conscience of the football nation when he finally hangs up his microphone at Crystal Palace versus West Brom on May 13.
That is the view of Motson himself, who has seen broadcasting change as much as football over the 50 years he has served the BBC since joining them as an ambitious young commentator in 1968.
“The biggest change is that when I first started, there were probably only six people doing this job,” he says. “Three on BBC, three on ITV.
“I don’t get too involved in websites, but somebody who was doing an article asked me if I realise that in any given week, there are probably 200 people in this country commentating on telly or radio. So it is harder for a commentator to get through the crowd.
“There is probably a guy working for Radio Something who is going to be the next big voice. But I don’t know if anybody will be lucky enough to have the same longevity – there is so much competition.”
The imitators have been a natural consequence of such a distinctive cadence – the joy of Motson at the game he still loves amplifying similar feelings in the minds of armchair fans sat up and down the country.
“I have no problems with imitations,” he says. “I am always flattered by Rory Bremner, Alistair McGowan and people like that. Not Spitting Image necessarily.”
The cartoon figure of an over-excited, stats-driven encyclopedia-in-a-sheepskincoat is so well-established that, as we talk, Motson himself even slips into the third person to introduce him. “If you went out now and asked, ‘What do you think of Motty’s commentary?’ some will say they like it and some will say they don’t,” he says.
“Commentators can’t appeal to everybody. You cannot flatter yourself by thinking you are held in high estimation. When people say they grew up with my voice, yes, it is very warming. But there are probably people who would say something very different if you weren’t there.”
Motson is being selfdeprecating as ever. We were speaking on Sunday at the Hilton Park Lane hotel where 800 guests for the EFL Awards dinner rose to acknowledge Motson’s Contribution to League Football award, the night’s major accolade.
This is the first of a number of interviews he will do in the run-up to his retirement, which will end after a special segment from the Wembley pitch during coverage of the FA Cup final a week after his finale at Selhurst Park.
Surprisingly, he seems to struggle for words at times. Not, as I suggest, because he is embarrassed to talk about himself, more that he is anxious to provide the precise answers he feels I am looking for. With Motson, precision is everything, while on the flip side he is in fact so comfortable talking about himself he plans to take to the after-dinner circuit to tell his anecdotes: how he broke through when a five-minute segment on Hereford’s 1972 FA Cup victory over Newcastle dominated the broadcast on Match of the Day; his infamous tellingsoff from Brian Clough; his sheepskin coats; and his rivalry with Barry Davies.
“He was probably more restrained and had more vocabulary than me and I was the one who got overexcited,” Motson said. “But the BBC found that quite workable and we never had a cross word.”
The 72-year-old also has less well-known tales of broadcasting away from football.
“I went to two Olympics and I did white-water rafting and Greco-Roman wrestling,” he recalled. More notably, if you listen to radio coverage of Bjorn Borg’s Wimbledon triumphs, Motson’s is the voice you will hear.
“I was also a boxing commentator and one of my highlights was doing a Joe Bugner fight with Muhammad Ali as my co-commentator. I still have the photograph.”
Sporting memories are enriched for us all by quality commentary and it is to be hoped fans show their appreciation when Motson comes to take his final bow, in much the same way cricket came together to applaud Henry Blofeld.
“It is not just ‘Blowers’, Brendan Foster also retired this year,” Motson interrupts – again, a stickler for accuracy. “To feel that affection that people have got for you – it is quite reassuring that you made some sort of impact. The popular phrase I always hear from people is, ‘I grew up with your voice’. They don’t necessarily say they like it!”
Either way, it will certainly be missed.
They don’t necessarily say they like my voice