Every Picture Tells A Story

[colchestersid]

Out of these, as a football commentator I would vote for Barry Davies - his voice seemed to capture the drama perfectly and he didn't need to chatter continuously

By the way the greatest commentator ever isn't on your list - Peter Jones on BBC radio had the most beautiful voice and hearing it again just takes me back to my childhood...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N8L85LeCww

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieVUJZJbeiM

[Carlisleprogs]

David Coleman was the best commentator for me. He was also great as presenter on question of sport and good on sportsnight; although Harry Carpenter was my favourite Sportsnight presenter.

[whitenoize]

Brian Moore - no question

[Grumpypants]

I'm in complete agreement with Dorking here. Brian Moore in my view was by far the best football commentator.
David Coleman was better commentating on athletics.

[Flaming Pie]

Hard to choose between them really. For pure nostalgia, for me it has to Wolstenholme. As a kid, my dream was to witness Everton winning the FA Cup . That was the glamour competition in those days. When they won it ,with that comeback against Sheffield Wednesday in 1966, Wolstenholme captured the comeback from two goals down perfectly. Best radio football analyst for me was Jimmy Armfield . He seemed to have a fantastic knowledge of the game.

[kempo]

David Coleman for me ,Brian Moore too Southern/London Biased

[Jim LFC]

In order
1 Brian Moore (Despite his Southern bias)
2 Barry Davies ( Majestic voice)
3 David Coleman ( Made a catchphrase out of a scoreline)

I thought Motson was so overrated and would always watch ITV when he was commentating on the big cup finals.

[Five and In]

Brian Moore all day long for me too.

I loved Motty's enthusiasm and the others named were very good too, but Moore had something extra.
I always felt that he described the events in front of him in a way that a fan would, but with some gentle authority too.

I also agree with Pete's comment about Coleman's heart possibly being elsewhere than football.
Maybe he just spread himself too thin by covering everything?

[manchesterunitedman1]

I think Ken Wolstenholme was perhaps the best followed by Barry Davies.

Neither of them chatted about nonsense and if you could not go and you closed your eyes their commentaries made you feel you were there.

All of the others mentioned Peter Jones-Motty etc were all top top notch

but for me Ken edged it just over Barry.

I have posted over 3000 messages since i first came on and i have always finished with the wave and the smiley face, some things will never change.


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[derby1884]

Listening again to Brian Moore after all these years, he had the perfect tone and pitch for a commentator but, dare i say, sometimes he lacked imagination in his choice of words. Personally, I preferred him behind the desk as a summariser/interviewer.

Wold love to opt for John Motson, what with him being a Derby fan (!), but my vote would go to Barry Davies who had the same control of pitch and tone that Brian Moore did but with a slightly more colourful and varied vocabulary.

Mind you, if you had listed Peter Jones amongst the options, he'd be my number one. Sport On Two on a Saturday afternoon was essential listening. Glad I recorded a few of those second half commentaries in the late 70s involving the Rams.
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[sharrowblade]

Its a great question...and you'll probably favour the voice you grew up with so personally I'd have to go for Peter Jones.

With regards to David Coleman, forgive me but I can't help forgetting his commentary on spitting image from the Olympics in 84' which went something like

'the Olympic Final,....its Coe 1, Ovett 2 and Cram 3......(screaming) and there's the bell, there's the bell and I've gone far too early...its quite remarkable ....I'll never be able to keep up this level of excitement for a full lap without my head exploding... there at the 300...and there's nowhere for me to go ,..... they're at the 200 and I've become totally incomprehensible....Aaaaaarrggh (Head explodes).

Apologies if it isn't quite right its thirty years since I last heard it, but it was one of the great comedy sketches.
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A Sheffield United Programme guide

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Well, 3 days later, I'm back with a new pc and one brilliant bloke who installed it all for me. Here's the count on the 5 TV commentators:-

Brian Moore 5
David Coleman 3 (including my own)
Ken Wolstenholme 2
Barry Davies 1
John Motson 1

Plus an honourable mention for radio's Peter Jones, who polled 3 here (which didn't count in the 5-man panel) but may have attracted even more had I included him in the list.

And in 3 days, this thread had 1,006 views, which is amazing but a bit disappointing that only 12 of you sent in a vote. But no matter, it created some good discussions so thank you all for partaking. On to my next Every Picture subject later.

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Here we are then....

#17

Sir Alf Ramsey, a beaten man but with a half smile, arrives at Heathrow Airport on 17th June 1970, just 3 days after the crushing defeat by West Germany. I don't know who those guys are behind him, England people perhaps, or just businessmen flying home from Mexico. Do you recognise them? Anyway, a penny for his thoughts. Could it be Gordon Banks' poisoning, or his replacement? Substituting Bobby Charlton with that Nijinsky chap? The Colombian jeweller? Those God-awful photographers? Let me know what you think please.

[Flaming Pie]

There’s little doubt that Sir Alf was a great manager. Ipswich Town winning The First Division title against all the odds in 1962 was some achievement. Apparently , a lot of the press were pushing for Joe Mercer to become England manager before Ramsey got the job. As it turned out, Mercer never applied for it. England were definitely on course to retain The World Cup in 1970, before disaster struck against Germany . Gordon West had knocked back the chance to go to Mexico as back- up for Gordon Banks and Peter Bonetti got the nod. Bonetti , on his day , was a great goalie , but had a poor match against Germany. All goalkeepers have bad days . Might have been a different story if the more solid West had been in goal? Ramsey also decided to take off Bobby Charlton when England were coasting to victory against Germany and the German mid-field took over. The match suddenly changed when Charlton went off. However, would England have been good enough to beat Brazil in the final anyway ? Who knows!

[derby1884]

Always thought he tarnished his legacy slightly by staying on a year or three too long. There's no way that, with the wealth of talent to choose from, England shouldn't have made the 1974 World Cup.
But Sir Alf wasn't overly keen on the likes of Bowles or Worthington and was maybe too loyal to 1 or 2 others.

I just felt it was a shame that the only manager to lead England to a World Cup was eventually sacked. He should have left under his own steam after the 1972 EC defeat to Germany.
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[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Some good thoughts there. I personally think Alf should have gone after the 1970 WC, but there you go. Here's one for today:-

#18

The FA Cup. Today (or, more accurately, this weekend) is 4th round day and we were 10 minutes away from one monumental giant-killing, which would have been up there with Walsall v Arsenal, Colchester v Leeds and Hereford v Newcastle. But it didn't happen - they rarely do, but it's what makes this competition the best anywhere in the World. But it's a competition on the slide, populated by reserve teams and stripped of replays. It's all so tragic. So where does it stand with you? What have you witnessed in the FA Cup, as fan or player? What cup humiliation have you suffered, or shock success have you wallowed in? The plinth on the photo here shows Old Etonians and the most recent visible date is Newcastle 1924. This must be one old trophy. What does it mean to you?

[Five and In]

The FA Cup holds so many special memories for me and I dedicated a whole chapter to it in the book I had published a few years ago.

For so many years it was the biggest day of the season bar none and I can still rattle off starting line ups from 40/50 years ago.
Sadly, I would struggle to even remember the teams involved over the last dozen or so without looking it up.

For me, the rot started to set in when Man Utd were pressured into playing in some Cup in Brazil or somewhere instead of defending the trophy they had won the previous season back in 2000. Even Fergie is on record as saying he regrets that decision.
Equally, managers playing weakened teams didn't help and neither did Sky with the volume of live games they show, which has diluted the uniqueness of a live match.

But we'll always have those memories of the Parka Army at Hereford, Sunderland & Colchester turning Leeds over and the Crazy Gang defying the odds against Liverpool etc.

My personal favourite memory is the 1981 Final.
I attended every match Spurs played that season, home and away, and that Final is still the best day of my life.
Ricky Villa's wonder goal, Ossie's Dream, Stevie P hoisting the Cup aloft and so many wonderful memories including myself getting back home the following morning on the back of a milk float after celebrating all night!
I still get a lump in my throat when I see images from that wonderful night at Wembley. That's what the FA Cup meant!

A week later, I got my hands on the trophy at a celebration do for Spurs players and members of the Supporters Club.

[Carlisleprogs]

I am in the same boat as five and in. Throughout the 70s and early 80s FA Cup Final day was special; not only the match but the BBC build up. I can’t remember the last final I watched.

In December 1977, immediately after the second round match, while waiting for a bus home, I stood outside Radio Rentals, and watched through the window to see Carlisle draw the Cup holders Manchester United at home. The excitement was unbelievable.

The match itself ended in a 1 - 1 draw and we had chances to win and that whole day is my highlight of watching football.

Another great moment was watching Carlisle away at Scarborough in 1988 in the second round. We were a terrible side, but there was a big Carlisle following. After a truly awful 89 minutes, Steve Richards, one of the Scarborough players, scored a 25 yard own goal to send us into the third round where we lost to Liverpool. The goal is on YouTube (link below)


Worst experience would be losing 2 - 1 at Ilkeston Town in 1999. Shocking performance in a season of shocking performances. Robert Lindsay ( Citizen Smith) was there as he was born in Ilkeston.

The whole competition has been devalued nowadays, but I would still be excited by drawing Man Utd (especially away) - just for the money.

[url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZA09Rcn4MM][/url]

[Flaming Pie]

Five and ln,, you can’t get away with that . Isn’t that a photo of David Essex holding the FA Cup when West Ham won it ! Best FA Cup game l went to as a kid was Tranmere v Chelsea 1963. The ‘Big Freeze’ had really kicked in and this was one the few ties that took place that bitterly cold day. Tommy Docherty’s up and coming young side came to Prenton Park and took on Division Four Tranmere in the snow . After a 2-2 draw, Chelsea easily won the replay. I have posted it on here before , but , similar to the snowy weather outside in this neck of the woods today, here’s a newspaper picture from the game. There is grainy image of the first game in the snow on YouTube. It was one of the few games shown on TV that evening.

[Five and In]

Flaming Pie wrote:

Five and ln,, you can’t get away with that . Isn’t that a photo of David Essex holding the FA Cup when West Ham won it !

I was definitely "Holding It Close" and happy to "Cry For Argentina" for sure Pie

I'm currently rocking a grey goatie, just like Mr Essex does these days, although I'm not copying him!