Always remember the day Swans were home. Garabaldi was packed,as usual,and we were outside drinking in the alleyway. John walks down the alley. The chant goes up .."You Jock b@stard You Jock b@stard" John laughs and claps. He was at that time a Celtic player. Brilliant
I've had an enjoyable couple of G&T's this evening watching the football. I am now in the quiet sitting and sipping my last before my head hits the pillow and my thoughts have taken me back to commentators. Rugby League.....Eddie "up n under" Waring comes to mind. Rugby Union....Bill "the voice of rugby McLaren. I am not a Rugby Union man and so I do not understand the rules,laws,of the game.In this I relied on the game commentary given by Bill.It was brilliant. When this gentleman ended his commentaries on the game so did my interest in the game. Only my memories Nos da
Great reminiscing 55 Waring’s ‘sparring partner’ in ‘Its a Knockout’ was Stuart Hall - the less said about him the better! As for Bill McLaren, it’s ironic that he dropped out late in the day, which meant that Cliff Morgan was roped in at short notice - with little or no prep time - to commentate on the famous Baa Baas match in 1973, and it was Cliff who uttered arguably the most famous piece of rugby commentary ever: Cliff Morgan's famous commentary was: "Kirkpatrick to Williams. This is great stuff. Phil Bennett covering, chased by Alistair Scown. Brilliant! Oh, that's brilliant! John Williams, Pullin, John Dawes. Great dummy! David, Tom David, the half-way line. Brilliant by Quinnell. This is Gareth Edwards. A dramatic start. What a score!" Another great rugby commentator from those days was Nigel Starmer-Smith, a former England scrum-half who now is sadly suffering from the ravages of dementia: An awful disease/illness.
Other great commentators from the past I have just dragged from my memory Tennis - Dan Maskell Football (radio) Peter Jones and Bryon Butler Golf Henry Longhurst and Peter Alliss Cricket (radio) John Arlott
Some great names there - I recall an anecdote about John Arlott, when entering Australia, a Customs officer asked if he had a criminal record, to which the great man (allegedly) responded “I didn’t know it was still mandatory ….” Fred Perry and Jack Kramer often co-commentated with Maskell at Wimbledon. Other football commentators from our youth included Hugh Johns (saw him at a Service Station returning after the Wales v Scotland WC match at Anfield) and Idwal Roblin. From Athletics, we had David Coleman and Ron Pickering From Cricket, we also had Peter West, Johnners and Richie Benaud to name but 3
Saints n greavsey footy show was good, didn't David Coleman present a question of sport back in the day ? I remember as a kid Dicky Davies on saterday afternoon sport itv i think, cos grandad watched it n liked the wrestling big daddy etc ?
Cliff Morgan was one of the captains on A Question of Sport opposite Henry Cooper. David Vine was also a host on this programme as well as Ski Sunday.
