Motty to retire

ThatOldRedMagic · 28th June 2008, 13:21

After more than 35 years as BBC Sport's voice of football, Sunday's Euro 2008final from Vienna will mark commentator John Motson's last major television showpiece.

Having first appeared on Match of the Day in 1971, the 62-year-old has covered nine European Championships, nine World Cups and 34 FA Cup finals. But Germany-Spain will be his last live TV broadcast.

"I am coming to the end of my career, I know that," says Motson.

"I'd been thinking about it at the start of the season, but now I've decided I don't want to be tearing around South Africa for the 2010 World Cup at the age of 65. It's physically and mentally challenging."

Motson will continue to commentate on Match of the Day and Radio 5 Live - "I don't want to make it sound like I'm disappearing for ever," he says - but in opting not to work on the 2010 World Cup, he is aware it is the end of an era somewhat.

"Eighteen tournaments is about right for me," he says. "I don't want to go on too long, maybe end up going to South Africa and people say I'm past my best."

The son of a Methodist minister, 'Motty' first joined the BBC in 1968, following stints as a reporter on the Barnet Press and Sheffield Morning Telegraph.

Originally working on Radio Two, his Match of the Day commentary career was launched when he was detailed to cover the FA Cup replay between Hereford and Newcastle in 1972.

The BBC thought the match would warrant a five-minute segment following their two main games, but Hereford's shock 2-1 win - aided by Ronnie Radford's famous 30-yard strike that sparked a mini pitch invasion - saw the match promoted to the main game, and Motson never looked back.

"That was the breakthrough game for me," he tells BBC Sport. "It showed people I could cope with the big game."

By that stage, Motson had already replaced Ken Wolstenholme - the man famed for his commentary on England's World Cup final win over Germany in 1966 - at Match of the Day, and it is with great pride that Motty talks of how he has gone on to better Wolstenholme's record of FA Cup and World Cup final commentaries.
Paolo Rossi's hat-trick against Brazil in the 1982 World Cup was one of Motson's highlights

In total, Motson has covered six World Cup finals as well as his 34 FA Cup finals (29 finals and five replays), and more than 200 England matches.

Of course, it hasn't always been plain sailing for Motson, who recalls the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 and England's exit to Germany at the 1990 World Cup as his lowest commentary moments.

"Commentating on the Hillsborough disaster wasn't easy, so emotional," he says. As for Italia 90, he adds: "I knew how close I was to commentating on a World Cup final with England in it in 1990, so that was a shame."

On the lighter side, the commentator's more infamous lines are still the stuff of legend.

Still, outbursts like "it's Arsenal 0, Everton 1, and the longer it stays like that, the more you've got to fancy Everton," and "for those of you watching in black and white, Spurs are in the all yellow strip," added to Motson's charm rather than detracted from it.

That was underlined in 2004, when he was named the Royal Television Society's Sports Commentator of the Year, receiving the same honour from Four Four Two in 2005 and from The Variety Club in 2006.

But of course, his most prized honour is the OBE he received from the Queen in June 2001 for services to sports broadcasting.

And it is not just on TV that Motson has built an army of followers.

In 2001 when Match of the Day briefly lost Premier League coverage rights to ITV, Motson returned to his roots in radio and worked on BBC Radio 5 Live.

He was also caricatured by a virtual 'Mini Motty' on this website and he has researched and narrated over 30 football videos and written four books.

Furthermore, he has also provided commentary for various computer games and made his big-screen debut in the Aardman Animations movie Flushed Away in 2006 - albeit in the less-than-taxing role of a football commentator.

All this despite his unwavering method of preparation and a defiant refusal to exploit the stats, figures and opinion widely available on the world wide web.

"Younger reporters and commentators depend on club websites and the like," he said. "I'm of an older generation. I haven't changed my system since 1971 and I couldn't adjust now - I'm too old.

"I wonder if I really had to do all that work. You do get a reputation for stats and it's still in my head, but I don't go into quite so much detail as I used to."

Stats, figures and facts are all things that personified Motson's work, but while he openly admits "people who know me think it's an obsession", he still has time to enjoy his games - even from a haul of nearly 1800 commentaries in total.

"I've enjoyed every single one," he says. "Which in particular? I could go on for hours but I don't want to bore anybody!"

When pushed, he opts for the 1982 Brazil-Italy World Cup match when Paolo Rossi scored a hat-trick, England's 5-1 win over Germany in Munich in 2001 and Liverpool's FA Cup final win over West Ham in 2006.

While there will be many more great matches to come, viewers will have to get used to them without Motson's unique humour.

It is tempting to recite Wolstenholme's famous line "they think it's all over", but for the meantime Motty won't be hanging up the sheepskin coat just yet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7478872.stm

samabachan · 28th June 2008, 13:27

About ten years overdue mind.

francobaresi · 28th June 2008, 13:30

Hallefuckinlujah!!!!!!

This news is on a par with Ronaldo saying he wants to spend the rest of his career with United

giggs-beckham · 28th June 2008, 13:33

Good riddance to the fucking imbecile.

Moston Red · 28th June 2008, 13:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by giggs-beckham

Good riddance to the fucking imbecile.

I couldn't of put it better myself!

KingEric7 · 28th June 2008, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by giggs-beckham

Good riddance to the fucking imbecile.

Well that's a bit much!

But aye, this was long overdue.

Lizard King · 28th June 2008, 14:00

Thank fuck for that

esmufc07 · 28th June 2008, 14:03

Well lets hope they don't replace him with that whore they have on MOTD.

KeyserSoze · 28th June 2008, 14:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by francobaresi

Hallefuckinlujah!!!!!!

This news is on a par with Ronaldo saying he wants to spend the rest of his career with United

Quote:

Originally Posted by giggs-beckham

Good riddance to the fucking imbecile.

Harsh.

Undoubtedly its the time for him to bow out now but is not like Lawro's much better.

ThatOldRedMagic · 28th June 2008, 14:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by francobaresi

Hallefuckinlujah!!!!!!

This news is on a par with Ronaldo saying he wants to spend the rest of his career with United

(wouldn't quite go so far personally)

Rudie · 28th June 2008, 14:45

Almost feels like England has won even though we aren't there! This completely over shadows the achievement of whoever wins, nice one Motty! About time.

SmashedHombre · 28th June 2008, 14:50

Why does everyone hate him so much?

Fuzzymel · 28th June 2008, 14:59

He's not exactly retiring:

Motson will continue to commentate on Match of the Day and Radio 5 Live - "I don't want to make it sound like I'm disappearing for ever," he says - but in opting not to work on the 2010 World Cup, he is aware it is the end of an era somewhat.

Considering bbc wont be doing any live football after this its not really a retirement as such.

Murphman · 28th June 2008, 16:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmashedHombre

Why does everyone hate him so much?

'Cos he waffles on and on like a fucking old woman, bores the tits of everybody with his stoopid statistics and generally talks bollocks with his co bollocks commentator Lawro, apart from that he's not a bad bloke.

ZIDANE · 28th June 2008, 16:54

Its a good thing but now that the day has finally come I'm slightly worried who will replace him.

Sean_RedDevil · 28th June 2008, 17:30

Fantastic news, really great news.

Alex · 28th June 2008, 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by samabachan

About ten years overdue mind.

STH122 · 28th June 2008, 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThatOldRedMagic

"I don't want to go on too long, maybe end up going to South Africa and people say I'm past my best."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7478872.stm

Yeah in 2 years time we'll start saying that.
The grave dodger is obviously senile

Any chance he takes 'Lawro' with him into retirement?

Ivor Ballokov · 28th June 2008, 18:27

Pity he has left it so late after his peak to retire, seems a decent enough guy who likes his football so wouldn't wish any ill on him.

Alan Green to take over.....

giggs-beckham · 28th June 2008, 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by esmufc07

Well lets hope they don't replace him with that whore they have on MOTD.

I sincerely hope not, that will be replacing one cunt with another!

samabachan · 28th June 2008, 20:16

Man at Camus' Existential Cafe: "Can I have a cup of the negativeness of the universe, the hideous lonely emptiness of existence, nothingness, the predicament of man forced to live in a barren, godless eternity, like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void, with nothing but waste, horror, and degradation, forming a useless bleak straightjacket in a black absurd cosmos con leche?"

Waiter: "Ah yes, one "Lawrenson" coming up."

Raven_Blade · 28th June 2008, 22:02

He is not fully retiring yet. You will still hear him on MOTD. He has been a legendary commentator and is now winding down his career.

ThatOldRedMagic · 28th June 2008, 22:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by samabachan

Man at Camus' Existential Cafe: "Can I have a cup of the negativeness of the universe, the hideous lonely emptiness of existence, nothingness, the predicament of man forced to live in a barren, godless eternity, like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void, with nothing but waste, horror, and degradation, forming a useless bleak straightjacket in a black absurd cosmos con leche?"

Waiter: "Ah yes, one "Lawrenson" coming up."

Unfair to ascribe such a bleak view to Lawrenson; he can hardly be expected to grasp the darker points of Nietshe or Sartre, much less Schopenhauer!

Mad · 29th June 2008, 04:55

Legend.

Chorley1974 · 29th June 2008, 13:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmashedHombre

Why does everyone hate him so much?

For me it's because he is shit, and a really annoying cunt.

jasonrh · 1st July 2008, 03:29

THANK YOU SWEET JESUS!

And I only hear the man in his current senile mode when I torrent a match the Boring Broadcasting Company has.

Thank god they've got nothing for a while - makes sense as he'll probably off it between now and then anyway. Of course now it will be Green, Lawro, and they'll get Rednapp and Fowler in for shits and giggles the next time they get club football.

Pert! Get the...oh.

jasonrh · 1st July 2008, 03:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murphman

'Cos he waffles on and on like a fucking old woman, bores the tits of everybody with his stoopid statistics and generally talks bollocks with his co bollocks commentator Lawro, apart from that he's not a bad bloke.

I didn't understand why people on here disliked him, as I first heard him via very old Cup Finals and such.

Then I started hearing some of his modern commentaries - we get 'international versions' here of a lot of the game commentaries.

You automatically make some allowances for a much different style of TV presentation, but it wasn't just that - he has deteriorated unbelievably.

It was like 'Night And Day', if you will pardon the usage of a popular song title from the 1940s, when Motson was a bright young lad of 75.

redtilded121 · 1st July 2008, 12:17

he did used to be one of the very best but then seemed to start to try to live up to some sort of media image of himself and has become a caricature of his former self and a sad one at that .
jonathan pearce will probably take over.

horselesspaul · 1st July 2008, 13:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by esmufc07

Well lets hope they don't replace him with that whore they have on MOTD.

Shearer?

redtilded121 · 2nd July 2008, 12:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by horselesspaul

Shearer?

i think he means jacqui oatley who was poor ,i think eleanor oldroyd would have done a better job.

28th June 2008, 13:21	#1 (permalink)
ThatOldRedMagic Reserve Team Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Diss, Norfolk Posts: 1,892	Motty to retire After more than 35 years as BBC Sport's voice of football, Sunday's Euro 2008final from Vienna will mark commentator John Motson's last major television showpiece. Having first appeared on Match of the Day in 1971, the 62-year-old has covered nine European Championships, nine World Cups and 34 FA Cup finals. But Germany-Spain will be his last live TV broadcast. "I am coming to the end of my career, I know that," says Motson. "I'd been thinking about it at the start of the season, but now I've decided I don't want to be tearing around South Africa for the 2010 World Cup at the age of 65. It's physically and mentally challenging." Motson will continue to commentate on Match of the Day and Radio 5 Live - "I don't want to make it sound like I'm disappearing for ever," he says - but in opting not to work on the 2010 World Cup, he is aware it is the end of an era somewhat. "Eighteen tournaments is about right for me," he says. "I don't want to go on too long, maybe end up going to South Africa and people say I'm past my best." The son of a Methodist minister, 'Motty' first joined the BBC in 1968, following stints as a reporter on the Barnet Press and Sheffield Morning Telegraph. Originally working on Radio Two, his Match of the Day commentary career was launched when he was detailed to cover the FA Cup replay between Hereford and Newcastle in 1972. The BBC thought the match would warrant a five-minute segment following their two main games, but Hereford's shock 2-1 win - aided by Ronnie Radford's famous 30-yard strike that sparked a mini pitch invasion - saw the match promoted to the main game, and Motson never looked back. "That was the breakthrough game for me," he tells BBC Sport. "It showed people I could cope with the big game." By that stage, Motson had already replaced Ken Wolstenholme - the man famed for his commentary on England's World Cup final win over Germany in 1966 - at Match of the Day, and it is with great pride that Motty talks of how he has gone on to better Wolstenholme's record of FA Cup and World Cup final commentaries. Paolo Rossi's hat-trick against Brazil in the 1982 World Cup was one of Motson's highlights In total, Motson has covered six World Cup finals as well as his 34 FA Cup finals (29 finals and five replays), and more than 200 England matches. Of course, it hasn't always been plain sailing for Motson, who recalls the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 and England's exit to Germany at the 1990 World Cup as his lowest commentary moments. "Commentating on the Hillsborough disaster wasn't easy, so emotional," he says. As for Italia 90, he adds: "I knew how close I was to commentating on a World Cup final with England in it in 1990, so that was a shame." On the lighter side, the commentator's more infamous lines are still the stuff of legend. Still, outbursts like "it's Arsenal 0, Everton 1, and the longer it stays like that, the more you've got to fancy Everton," and "for those of you watching in black and white, Spurs are in the all yellow strip," added to Motson's charm rather than detracted from it. That was underlined in 2004, when he was named the Royal Television Society's Sports Commentator of the Year, receiving the same honour from Four Four Two in 2005 and from The Variety Club in 2006. But of course, his most prized honour is the OBE he received from the Queen in June 2001 for services to sports broadcasting. And it is not just on TV that Motson has built an army of followers. In 2001 when Match of the Day briefly lost Premier League coverage rights to ITV, Motson returned to his roots in radio and worked on BBC Radio 5 Live. He was also caricatured by a virtual 'Mini Motty' on this website and he has researched and narrated over 30 football videos and written four books. Furthermore, he has also provided commentary for various computer games and made his big-screen debut in the Aardman Animations movie Flushed Away in 2006 - albeit in the less-than-taxing role of a football commentator. All this despite his unwavering method of preparation and a defiant refusal to exploit the stats, figures and opinion widely available on the world wide web. "Younger reporters and commentators depend on club websites and the like," he said. "I'm of an older generation. I haven't changed my system since 1971 and I couldn't adjust now - I'm too old. "I wonder if I really had to do all that work. You do get a reputation for stats and it's still in my head, but I don't go into quite so much detail as I used to." Stats, figures and facts are all things that personified Motson's work, but while he openly admits "people who know me think it's an obsession", he still has time to enjoy his games - even from a haul of nearly 1800 commentaries in total. "I've enjoyed every single one," he says. "Which in particular? I could go on for hours but I don't want to bore anybody!" When pushed, he opts for the 1982 Brazil-Italy World Cup match when Paolo Rossi scored a hat-trick, England's 5-1 win over Germany in Munich in 2001 and Liverpool's FA Cup final win over West Ham in 2006. While there will be many more great matches to come, viewers will have to get used to them without Motson's unique humour. It is tempting to recite Wolstenholme's famous line "they think it's all over", but for the meantime Motty won't be hanging up the sheepskin coat just yet. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7478872.stm

28th June 2008, 13:27	#2 (permalink)
samabachan Cockface McSticklebrick Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: He plays on the left, he plays on the riiiiiiiight, our boy Ronaldo made you look shite. Posts: 3,756	About ten years overdue mind.

28th June 2008, 13:30	#3 (permalink)
francobaresi Sleep inducing poster Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 4,633	Hallefuckinlujah!!!!!! This news is on a par with Ronaldo saying he wants to spend the rest of his career with United

28th June 2008, 13:33	#4 (permalink)
giggs-beckham Reserve Team Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2,805	Good riddance to the fucking imbecile.

28th June 2008, 14:00	#7 (permalink)
Lizard King Join Date: May 2007 Location: Anderson's hair Posts: 12,041	Thank fuck for that

28th June 2008, 14:03	#8 (permalink)
esmufc07 Smashed's bitch Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ex-Chairman of the all powerful and all conquering organistation - lolibfascon. Posts: 9,882	Well lets hope they don't replace him with that whore they have on MOTD.

28th June 2008, 14:45	#11 (permalink)
Rudie Mentary Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Original Rudeboy Posts: 2,285	Almost feels like England has won even though we aren't there! This completely over shadows the achievement of whoever wins, nice one Motty! About time.

28th June 2008, 14:50	#12 (permalink)
SmashedHombre Has a date with the Grim Reaper - lol Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Slightly more handsome, intelligent and talented than Rams. Far more likely to shag sheep than most rams too. Posts: 18,218	Why does everyone hate him so much?

28th June 2008, 14:59	#13 (permalink)
Fuzzymel Reserve Team Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Guernsey Posts: 2,047	He's not exactly retiring: Motson will continue to commentate on Match of the Day and Radio 5 Live - "I don't want to make it sound like I'm disappearing for ever," he says - but in opting not to work on the 2010 World Cup, he is aware it is the end of an era somewhat. Considering bbc wont be doing any live football after this its not really a retirement as such.

28th June 2008, 16:54	#15 (permalink)
ZIDANE Reserve Team Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: "..undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation." Zizou on Scholes Posts: 4,418	Its a good thing but now that the day has finally come I'm slightly worried who will replace him.

28th June 2008, 17:30	#16 (permalink)
Sean_RedDevil Reserve Team Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Close to Villa Park Posts: 1,730	Fantastic news, really great news.

28th June 2008, 18:27	#19 (permalink)
Ivor Ballokov Reserve Team Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: old south wales Posts: 3,074	Pity he has left it so late after his peak to retire, seems a decent enough guy who likes his football so wouldn't wish any ill on him. Alan Green to take over.....

28th June 2008, 20:16	#21 (permalink)
samabachan Cockface McSticklebrick Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: He plays on the left, he plays on the riiiiiiiight, our boy Ronaldo made you look shite. Posts: 3,756	Man at Camus' Existential Cafe: "Can I have a cup of the negativeness of the universe, the hideous lonely emptiness of existence, nothingness, the predicament of man forced to live in a barren, godless eternity, like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void, with nothing but waste, horror, and degradation, forming a useless bleak straightjacket in a black absurd cosmos con leche?" Waiter: "Ah yes, one "Lawrenson" coming up."

28th June 2008, 22:02	#22 (permalink)
Raven_Blade Attention Whoring Common Crow Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Somewhere im not supposed to be. Posts: 16,262	He is not fully retiring yet. You will still hear him on MOTD. He has been a legendary commentator and is now winding down his career.

29th June 2008, 04:55	#24 (permalink)
Mad Reserve Team Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Location, Location. Posts: 918	Legend.

1st July 2008, 03:29	#26 (permalink)
jasonrh Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: "You sir, are the syphilitic cockbiscuit son of a hamster rimmer."; "Sir Alex Ferguson, trainer of the English champions, wants to start the spoon fruits since early." Posts: 57,742	THANK YOU SWEET JESUS! And I only hear the man in his current senile mode when I torrent a match the Boring Broadcasting Company has. Thank god they've got nothing for a while - makes sense as he'll probably off it between now and then anyway. Of course now it will be Green, Lawro, and they'll get Rednapp and Fowler in for shits and giggles the next time they get club football. Pert! Get the...oh.

1st July 2008, 12:17	#28 (permalink)
redtilded121 Youth Team Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 404	he did used to be one of the very best but then seemed to start to try to live up to some sort of media image of himself and has become a caricature of his former self and a sad one at that . jonathan pearce will probably take over.

2nd July 2008, 12:47	#31 (permalink)
edmundo Youth Team Player Join Date: