John Motson, the legendary commentator who became the voice of English football, has died aged 77.
Motson worked on the BBC’s flagship Match of the Day programme since 1971 and covered more than 2,000 televised games, including 29 FA Cup finals and 10 World Cups, and his positivity and love for the sport shone through his work.
“Motty”, as he was affectionately known, was pushed into the spotlight when commentating on non-league Hereford’s famous giant-slaying of Newcastle United in 1972, which took top billing on Match of the Day, and his words became an essential accompaniment to the footage of Ronnie Radford’s long-range goal.
“Oh what a goal! What a goal!” Motson shouts. “Radford the scorer, Ronnie Radford. And the crowd are invading the pitch!”
The iconic goal by Radford, who died in November aged 79, is the moment Motson credited as the piece of “luck” he needed to elevate his long career.
“Ronnie changed everything,” Motson said last year. “He changed his life, my life, the history of the FA Cup with a goal that came out of nowhere. In my lifetime, I’ve never seen a shot fly through the air and go into the net quite like it.”
After starting as a newspaper reporter in Barnet and at the Sheffield Morning Telegraph, Motson joined the BBC in 1968 as a sports presenter on Radio 2.
His career also took in two Olympic Games and Wimbledon’s memorable 1988 FA Cup final triumph against Liverpool at Wembley, where he delivered another of his most famous lines: “The Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club.”
Awarded the OBE in 2001 for services to broadcasting, Motson hung up his microphone for the BBC at the end of the 2017-18 Premier League season.
The long-time Match of the Day host Gary Lineker wrote on Twitter: “Deeply saddened to hear that John Motson has died. A quite brilliant commentator and the voice of football in this country for generations. He’ll be very much missed. RIP Motty.”
“RIP John Motson,” tweeted Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher. “An absolute Legend of the game. So many of us grew up listening to this man describe the action & goals on MOTD & cup finals. Sad loss.”
Fellow commentator Ian Darke tweeted: “Very sad to hear of the passing of John Motson. Probably the most famous football commentator of them all. Meticulously researched and retaining boyish enthusiasm and love of the game over half a century of the biggest games , he set the gold standard.”
