John Motson dies aged 77

I wasn't really a fan, certainly not over a Barry Davies or Brian Moore.

He was more of a state the obvious commentator, probably the first of the cult of personality commentator, with his sheepskin gimmicks and trotting of meaningless stats.

All the same, the last few days have suggested a thoroughly decent man who had time for people, and can only respect someone who managed to maintain that for decades in the football media industry, which is as fickle and as transactional as it gets.
 
bluedanza said:
If he spent his last night watching the footy in the pub then his last match was watching us before having a heart attack.

Probably got his blood boiling at Haaland’s lack of service,
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The landlord said it was the Leipzig v City match he watched, enough to give anybody physical problems. Be a fantastic quiz question in years to come.
 
Gray said:
The landlord said it was the Leipzig v City match he watched, enough to give anybody physical problems. Be a fantastic quiz question in years to come.
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I have just noticed the article on the BBC website. I think that is great that the last game he watched was a Man City CL match, I really liked him as a commentator, particularly the excitement in his voice during those key moments in big games, he has been part of my life from childhood and the fact that the Ronnie Radford goal in the FA cup scored exactly 7 weeks before I was born launched his career makes his passing personally quite significant.
 
normskih said:
Exact way to put it. One of four or five great commentator’s of the era. At a time when no bias was made towards any team. RIP Motty.
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In fairness, the vast majority of games that Motson, Davies and Moore reported on were highlights.
It was only the cup finals and international games that were broadcast live.
So there wasn't the endless time available for banal trivia and stats or seeing how many times they can mention the rags / zoom in to see if Bacon or the ticket tout are there etc and of course he was never accompanied by some ex rag or scouse player in the gantry.

That's not to take anything away from Motson but explains why today's commentators are so disliked
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
In fairness, the vast majority of games that Motson, Davies and Moore reported on were highlights.
It was only the cup finals and international games that were broadcast live.
So there wasn't the endless time available for banal trivia and stats or seeing how many times they can mention the rags / zoom in to see if Bacon or the ticket tout are there etc and of course he was never accompanied by some ex rag or scouse player in the gantry.

That's not to take anything away from Motson but explains why today's commentators are so disliked
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That’s correct, not many of the matches were live but I thought the commentators were still at the match to commentate on the match? Their remarks were fair and unbiased.
 
Without getting too deep....

John Motson is a constant in my memory of football as far as it extends. I cannot believe he was so young. I have only got fond memories of him.

I can still hear his voice in computer games I used to play growing up. I can;t remember which ones it was,
 
Loved John Motson commentating, far far better than the annoying pricks today who I don't even listen to when they start waffling on about shit.
You never got that from Motson, would just concentrate on the game. RIP John you legend

My favourite commentator of all time was Peter Jones on Radio 2 bitd, when he was on midweek football special. It used to start at 8pm while most games kicked off at 7.30-7.45, he always started with " our commentary game tonight is whoever v whoever and this has already happened " cue the commentary of the goal or goals. Quality, as back then the radio was the only place to keep track of the latest scores
 
Apparntly, according to Lineker on MOTD, or the script at any rate, Motson could be viewed as a bit eccentric, away from his professional life. Why is that not a total surprise?
 
Fordyboy46 said:
What a game that was, when we thought Brian Horton was a great manager after all, lol
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Great to see that, thanks.
Also great to see Paul Walsh celebrating goals against his old team - it didn't seem to be 'a thing' back then. Nowadays, the anxiety players (and fans) have about such celebrations almost induces nervous breakdowns.
 
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Always enjoyed Motty on commentary and punditry duty. He seemed to avoid the politics off the field, and engage fans in a way that was very warm. I didn't realise he was from Salford, and half expected him to follow Them Lot or Salford City, but then found he followed Barnet. Hats off to him for that! He'll be missed. Condolences to his family and friends (not that I anticipate them reading Bluemoon Forum, but you never know).
 
RIP Motty. Very familiar voice to a couple of generations. Always seemed well prepared , felt for him having to commentate on developing situation as Hillsborough did as well as anyone could have -better than most. I miss the old fashioned commentators, prepared professional unbiased.
 
acton28 said:
Always enjoyed Motty on commentary and punditry duty. He seemed to avoid the politics off the field, and engage fans in a way that was very warm. I didn't realise he was from Salford, and half expected him to follow Them Lot or Salford City, but then found he followed Barnet. Hats off to him for that! He'll be missed. Condolences to his family and friends (not that I anticipate them reading Bluemoon Forum, but you never know).
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Born in Salford but moved away at a very early age
 
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