BBC’S own goal as it scraps classified results after 74 years

THE BBC has scrapped its classified football results, abruptly ending a 74-year radio tradition in a move that angered supporters.

Bosses pulled the Saturday teatime slot without warning, prompting an immediate outcry from listeners driving home from matches.

The dulcet tones of James Alexander Gordon, and more recently Charlotte Green, were an instantly recognisable fixture on Radio 5 Live.

Their 5pm run-through of matches from all of the leagues were on Sports Report, one of the longest-running programmes on radio.

However, BBC bosses said there is no longer room in its schedules because of 5.30pm coverage for the Premier League evening kick-offs.

Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Association, and Mark Lawrenson, the former BBC pundit, have already called for a rethink over the “own goal”.

“This feels like yet another of football’s great traditions has gone and it is a deeply regrettable decision from the BBC,” said Mr Clarke. “I hope they will think again.”

Classified results have been read out on Sports Report since 1948. First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme radio station, the show was on Radio 2 for many years before switching to Radio 5 in 1990 and then 5 Live Sport in 1994. John Webster was the show’s first results’ reader prior to Gordon, who conducted duties from 1974 to 2013, before he was replaced by Green, the former BBC Radio 4 newsreader.

Hordes of fans returning to their cars after 3pm football matches on Saturday to tune in to 5 Live were left dismayed. Mr Clarke said it was a “disappointing decision and a sad day for football”. He said in a statement: “The classified football results on the radio have been one of the great traditions of British football.

“Listening to the classified results has always been one of those beloved, shared routines for match-going fans.”

Lawrenson, the former Liverpool defender who retired as a regular BBC pundit at the end of last season, was also among those to express dismay.

“I can’t believe the BBC have dropped the reading of the classified results on Sports Report,” he said. “Talk about an own goal.”

Government sources also expressed bemusement at the latest modernising move by Radio 5 Live. In 2020, the channel presided over a strategic cull that led to Cornelius Lysaght, its voice of racing, to leave along with fellow presenter and host Jonathan Overend. Mark Pougatch – another respected presenter – was also told there was no regular work.

Niall Couper, chief executive of the football charity Fair Game, said the BBC should have more focus on the lower tiers. “It’s always nice for football fans to have awareness about how much football is going on,” he said.

Those defending the decision to stop reading the results say fans now predominantly use their smartphones to check football scores.

A BBC statement said: “Sports Report has been condensed into a shorter programme. We will still offer a comprehensive goal service throughout the day on air and on the BBC Sport website as well as Final Score on BBC One.

“We would like to thank everyone who has read the classified football results on 5 Live over the years.”