By Elliott West
“You’ve got to have a decent voice, you’ve got to have a sense of timing, know when to talk and not to talk. You are the eyes and ears of the viewer”.
John Motson
Introduction
The passing of John Motson this week, aged 77, leaves a lump in every football fan’s throat. His voice reigned as a commentator for football for 50 years and he is probably one of the last pundits that you can actually say defined a sport. This was a man who has it all, a trademark sheepskin coat, memorable lines and an encyclopaedia of football knowledge that he could dive into at a moment’s notice. His football commentary CV is impressive, bearing witness with his microphone to 10 World Cups, 10 European Championships, 29 FA Cup finals and more than 200 England international matches.
The art of his fantastic knowledge of football came from keeping a multitude of scrapbooks that he could dip into before a match and a volume that was lovingly updated by his wife Anne. The son of a Methodist minister, born in 1945 and who grew up in Lewisham before being packed away to boarding school in Bury St Edmonds, John fell in love with the beautiful game during his school days and went on to make it his life mission to preach from the football pulpit.
Football Background
Motson began his journalistic career working for the Barnet Press and the Sheffield Morning Telegraph newspapers before joining the BBC working as a sports reporter for BBC Radio 2. His defining moment in football which would lead to a football marriage for 50 years, came in 1972 when he was the commentator for Match of the Day for the FA Cup replay match between Hereford and Newcastle. An epic career moment that began with one of the Hereford players, Billy Meadows, their centre-forward driving him to the ground. Ricky George, another passenger in the car, would go on to ironically score the winning goal against the touted favourites Newcastle United, a 2-1 win. Even John predicted a Geordie win and it was a classic that left this football legend tearful and elated, producing this classic quote during the match :
“Radford again… oh what a goal! Radford is the scorer. Ronnie Radford – and the crowd are invading the pitch.. and now it will take some time to clear the field. What a tremendous shot by Radford.”
John Motson
What was supposed to be a four-minute segment, was so gripping that it led to the BBC showing the match in its entirety. A match that culminated with a pitch invasion by the Hereford fans. Later sitting in Billy’s front room in Barnet, both Billy and John celebrated with a fish and chips repast, singing Don McLean’s American Pie before sitting in front of the television to watch the match replayed on Match of the Day. This was a wonderful day and one that would propel Motson into football commentary stardom. John would witness the lows of football history including the Bradford City fire in 1985 and the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 that nearly ended his love affair with the game. There was also the emotional moment when Paul Gascoigne shed tears after England were beaten in their semi-final match against Germany at the 1990 World Cup and he was booked with a yellow card in the 98th minute of the match, eventually losing 4-3 on penalties. There was a shred of comfort though because Gazza scored the winning goal against Scotland at Euro ‘96. Motson was also there when England beat Germany 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier in 2001, sealed by a Michael Owen hat trick.
The man they called Motty, was not afraid to take on the sharp-tongued Brian Clough and would rule the airwaves until his decision to retire after his last match between Crystal Palace and West Bromwich that ended 2-0 to Palace. An OBE holder and honoured by the BAFTAs for his outstanding contribution to sports broadcasting, Motson would later work for Talksport—a sad day and one that leaves behind his wife Anne and son Frederick.
