posted Dec 27, 2007

In the early 1990s I was a presenter on Radio 4's Thought for the Day. I started one broadcast by describing how, as a child, I used to sit by the fire listening to Sports Report and trying to predict the football results by the announcer's intonation. And I confessed my lifelong ambition to read the results myself. When I got home I had a call from the Head of Sport inviting me to do just that. It was to be on a Children in Need weekend so I got my friends to sponsor me as well. It was a brilliant day. Travelling up to London in the train I practised reading different results. At the studio I met James Alexander Gordon and listened to some of his stories! Then the great moment came and we took it in turns to read a division each. At the end I did an interview with the lovely John Inverdale and afterwards we went out for a drink. It was the best day ever. Any chance of doing it again???

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posted Dec 28, 2007

If it wasn't for Sports Report I doubt if my love of football would be as strong as it is. I grew up in rural Sussex in the late 60's and early 70's without a tv so radio was my link to the world of football, especially Bryon Butlers commentaries . I would go with my dad to watch Crowborough Athletic who played up the "rec" just behind our house. If the first team were away we would watch the reserves but we always went and came home to sit by the fire and mums homemade cakes and a cup of tea to listen to the results. We'd listen to hear how the likes of Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, Derek Dougan and Jimmy Greaves had got on and my dad would always right down all th english and scottish results on the fixture list in the paper. Places like Burnley, Preston and Derby seemed a million miles away to me and I tried to imagine what they were like and when James Alexander Gordon read out the name of Stenhousemuir I always smiled, back then it always seemed such a funny name.

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posted Dec 28, 2007

I really look forward to a saturday afternoon at 5pm when sports report comes on air and mark says it's 5 o'clock and this is sports report

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posted Dec 28, 2007

I support Burton Albion and my fondest memory of Sports Report was in December 1984. We had just beaten Aldershot (then a league club in the old 4th Division) 2 nil away in the 2nd round of the FA Cup. It was only the second time that we had beaten a league club in the FA Cup. 2,000 of us had traveled down to Aldershot on special trains. The draw for the third round was broadcast at about 5:15 on that Saturday evening. We arrived on the platform at Aldershot station just before 5. We were all ecstatic after this superb win and when the SR theme tune came on we danced around the platform singing "Da-da da-da da-da da-dar, da-da da-da da da-da!!". The late great Brian Butler said that he hoped that Burton Albion's inclusion in the draw would provide, in his words "A little fantasy". We drew Leicester at home, an event that four weeks later would make history for the wrong reasons.
When traveling home from matches it is an essential part of the day to return to the car and tune into Sports Report.
Can I appeal to the controller of Five Live to stop truncating Sports Report with live commentaries and give us the full wonderful hour of Sports Report that so many listeners love. Perhaps the live broadcasts could go to FiveLive Extra.

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posted Dec 29, 2007

My dad always said that it was no surprise my brother grew up loving football,as he was born at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon in time for the results on the radio. When he was little in 60/61, it would be Saturday teatime and he would be listening to the results with Dad. He would appear periodically in the kitchen announcing excitedly, mashbabone, mummy,mashbabone!! My mum and I were mystified and it wasn't until years later we realised that he was telling us about all the match postponements that he had heard about on the radio. He especially loved the name Stenhousemuir and, because of sports report, always had a soft spot for the team despite living in the South East of England!

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posted Dec 29, 2007

I suppose that I listened to the first "Sports Report".
Some great football commentators and reporters.
Raymond Glendenning an icon of the day, who also commentated on the big fights with Stewart McPherson a Canadian, and summeries by
W. Barrington Dalby.
Raymond also did the horse racing.
The great football reporters were Donny Davies, Bill Bothwell, an out of breath Scotsman who seemed to have run to the Manchester studio to do his piece, ha! ha!
The very knowledgable and eloquent Geoffrey Green later to be succeeded, in type, by Brian Glanville.
Then the great football commentators following Raymond Glendenning, the twosome that I am sorry to say puts Alan "know it all" Green into the shade, Brian Moore (later to grace television commentary) and Maurice Eddleston, brilliant. Brian Butler who could raise his voice to keep you in touch with the mood of the game but still keeping his words precise and clear.
The new voice to either Radio or TV, Simon Brotherton, tremendous and can raise his voice to the mood of the game but still, as Brian Butler, you can clearly hear every single word. Simon is also a great commentator on the cycling. I even remember John Arlott doing a few football commentaries or reports for Sports Report. Eammon Andrew was a great presenter but tried his best to change the name of Sports Report to "The Five O'clock Show". But it will always be Sports Report.
Mark like so many presenters before him does a brilliant job, others John Inverdale, Tim Payne and "Des", the only thing that spoils the programme now is the silly 5.15 kick off's that break the programmes continuity up.
I could go on and on about the reporters, there were some great ones and as Mark said, Larry Canning, he used to do the Midland teams reports and Bill Bothwell did the Northern area, Manchester and Liverpool in particular, with Donny Davies.
What do the older listeners think to the new breed of screaming commentators, Alan Green and "screaming Lord Such himself" Jonathan Pearce, although he has settled down a little since he came to the BBC.
I could carry on for hours.
Sports Report will carry on for years to come as it is the best sports programme on Radio or TV. It is "out of the blue". Many happy returns on its 60th. birthday, I must have been 10 years old when it started. "This is the BBC Light Programme, "Sports Report".
Reg Allwood, Horsforth, Leeds.

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posted Jan 1, 2008

I can't remember a time when I didn't listen to Sports Report. As a young teenager, my Dad took my brother and myself to Ninian Park to watch Cardiff City - Mel Sutton, Peter King, John Toshack, Alan Warboys (four goals in one game) - and it was always sports Report on the radio on the way home.

Probably that's what inspired me to become a sports journalist: eventually covering non-league football on the edge of London with Barking FC winning the Isthmian League and also Essex Beagles athletics with the peerless Daley Thompson.

What makes Sports Report special? It's not just the music but the breadth and detail of the football coverage .......... though as a passionate Welshman now living in Cornwall I would love to hear more about rugby union other than the English Premiership. After all, it's a national station, isn't it?

But I love it - all together now: ta dum ta dum ta dum ta dum ta diddly dum ta dum ....

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posted Jan 2, 2008

My memories go back nearly sixty years. My father never had a biro(were they invented in 1948?) and pencils were indistinct so had to use a "laundry marker pen" which had to be wetted by the tongue every so often in order to write down the scores on the back of the newspaper. These scores were rigoursly scrutinised to see if the family had 'won the pools' that week. No such luck.We even reverted to using the famous or should I say infamous Horace Bachelor "Infra Draw" method for a few weeks. Every week in the autumn and winter was underpinned by the famous opening tune at 5pm on a saturday. Warm fires,a cold hall and limited hot water for a bath via the back boiler of an MTF. Childhood nostalgia but there we are.

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posted Jan 3, 2008

Whenever I hear the tune (together with the news over the top) the memories flood back. I was the son of a soldier in Falingbostel Germany in the early to mid 60's. And I remember listening to the scores some time back in 64 with my team Manchester United once again becoming a force in the league after a few lean years. Dah dum dah dum dadada dum dadum dadum dadah dadah dadum dadah Manchester United 5 Everton 1! Wow, there I was full of happiness, wolfing down German cream cakes as I listened to Geoffrey Green's report on the game. I remember hearing for the first time the word "Superlative" and looking it up in the dictionary. And in honour of my English lesson with the magnificent Geoffrey Green I have used his name for this site.
They did change the tune for a while. 70's or 80's? A bad, bad moment in the history of the Beeb.

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posted Jan 3, 2008

Back in 1959 I was a BBC studio manager who worked on Sports Report every Saturday with editor Angus McKay and his secretary Fiona. The star presenter then was Eamonn Andrews and John Webster read the football results to which the Nation listened avidly to check the Pools coupon. In those days the top prize was about £75000 and was the equivalent of todays National Lottery.
It was always a frantic and tense show to work on, with so many reports coming in from all over the country and Angus pulling together the various elements and keeping Eamonn briefed. Eamonn had the amazing ability to conduct a seemless interview with a guest while Angus was feeding the questions into his headphones. This sounded so sponaneous yet often Eamonn had no idea who he was going to talk to, yet he made it sound completely spontaneous. I remember on one occasion Angus screamed at Fiona, "For God's sake light me another cigarette Fiona" to which she smilingly replied "But you already have two on the go Angus!"
Great fun and a very happy team,eventually I moved on to become a producer myself and later took over as Controller of Radio 1. You can read more in my book "Radio 1- The Inside Scene" to be published in the Spring.

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