He was known simply as the “voice of football”.
Legendary commentator John Motson, famous for his trademark sheepskin coats, died on Thursday at the age of 77. His iconic voice was heard passionately commentating on some of the greatest matches in the history of football.
Fellow commentator Jim Rosenthal said: “Motty was ‘King of the football mic’.” Prince William called him a legend whose voice was football.” Motson loved the game so much that when he appeared on Desert Island Discs, his favourite songs included “Three Lions” by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner and the traditional FA Cup final hymn “Abide With Me”.
But he was also the commentator at English football’s darkest hour, the Hillsborough tragedy. As news of his passing broke, there was an outpouring of love from the world of football to the devoted family man who had been married to his beloved Anne for 46 years.
She kept scrapbooks on his career and he lovingly nicknamed her “Ultimate Statto”. His first game was Everton v Derby County on radio in 1969. His last game was 49 years later Crystal Palace v West Brom on television in 2018.
The statistics, which he loved so much, of his career were incredible. In-between, the journalist - known to one and all as ‘Motty’ - covered around 2,500 matches. That included 20 international tournaments, 200 England matches and 29 FA Cup finals.
And his true love of the game was such that earlier this month, he was photographed at Sutton United’s 0-0 draw with Stevenage at their Gander Green ground. Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, the son of a Methodist minister, Motson reached the very top of his profession and was once voted the country’s favourite commentator.
But he said he knew when it was the right time to quit. Speaking of his decision to retire, he said: “I just thought my 50th year in the BBC is 2018 and it has to end some time and I thought that would be a good note to go out.
“I also don’t want to go into the area where people say: ‘He’s been there too long, he’s lost it, he’s not what he was.’ I wanted to go out while I was still commentating as well – or as badly – as I have for all those years. I didn’t want to carry on and then people say: ‘Oh dear me, we’ll have to get rid of him.’”
He was widely praised for his professionalism, particularly in 1989 at the FA cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough. It was his calm and steady voice that accompanied much of the news footage of that day, and he gave evidence to the coroner’s inquest in 1991.
Motson was the first person to say there was no misbehaviour on the part of the fans. He said: “From where I was sitting, it looked like a case of overcrowding. So I wanted to get any suggestion of crowd misbehaviour out of the way and I’m glad I did, but I’m also glad I was right.”
But he said the brilliant Italia 1990 World Cup changed his view of football and brought joy back after a series of tragedies in the '80s, including the terrible Bradford fire and the Heysel disaster.
He said: “The game went to an all-time low, I thought, and then the tragedy of Hillsborough. I did wonder whether football would get back on its feet after that. But I’ll tell you what turned it, we had the 1990 World Cup within a year, England in the semi-final, Gazza’s tears.”
While Motson was born in Salford, the family moved around as his dad, William, was a Methodist minister. They lived in houses provided by the church and when he was seven, they moved to Plumstead in south-east London, and that’s where he saw his game.
He recalled: “My first football match was at Charlton in April 1952, a 1-1 draw with Chelsea. My Dad took me. Benny Fenton, of Charlton, kicked the ball out of play so hard it hit a brass bandsman’s drum and burst it. The noise boomed all around the ground. As a seven-year-old, I remembered that long after the goals.”
Later, he was sent to Culford boarding school near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Football was discouraged at Culford at the time, and the main sports played there were rugby union, hockey and cricket. He was once given detention for playing football while wearing a brightly coloured pullover, which was also against the strict school rules.
But when he came home for the holidays his dad played football with him all the time. “He made me into a football nut,’” Motson said.
While he passed eight O levels, including Latin, Motson went to work in a Methodist book publishers instead of completing sixth form. But he soon realised he wanted to become a journalist and got a job on local newspapers.
Motson was a devoted family man, marrying his wife Anne in 1977. He was immensely proud of their only son, Fred who is a lecturer in law at the Open University. They were a very tight-knit family, living in a village in Hertfordshire.
He loved running half-marathons, films and reading. Fellow commentators said he was an inspiration to them all. Clive Tyldesley said: “As a teenager I just wanted to be John Motson. Nobody else. Terribly sad.”
Jim Rosenthal said: “The reality is there are so many football commentators now that it’s very hard for anyone to grip the nation like Motty did. Motty dominated football, Peter O’Sullevan dominated racing, Bill McLaren dominated rugby. It was a different era and in that era, Motty was king of the football mic beyond any doubt.”
Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler said: “John was the standard-setter for us all. We basically all looked up to him - his diligence, his dedication, his knowledge. He was a very serious broadcaster but he was a real fun guy to be around.
“I went on a few football tours with him. We all had to stand up and speak and when Motty spoke we knew we were in for a good time - he had a great sense of humour.”
And football legends also paid the respects, BBC presenter and former England international Gary Lineker said: “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.”
Jamie Carragher said: “An absolute legend of the game. So many of us grew up listening to this man describe the action and goals on MOTD and cup finals. Sad loss.”
Motson, who always said he was a supporter of Barnet, put his big breakthrough down to one of the all-time FA Cup upsets when Hereford beat Newcastle in 1972. He said: “It changed my life, in the sense I was on trial that year at the BBC, I hadn’t got a contract at that stage. I had been in radio, and they kind of borrowed me for a year if you like to see if I made out.
“That replay between Hereford and Newcastle was sort of designated to be a bit of a formality. If Newcastle had won it, the match would have been shown for about three minutes on Match of the Day.
“Then when Ronnie’s goal turned it and Ricky George, who by coincidence was a friend of mine, scored the winning goal in extra time, the match was propelled to the top of the running order and we had an audience of about 10million.”
He smiled as he recalled: “From that moment onward, maybe the BBC thought they could trust this young guy with a big match, so yes, it was a stroke of luck and a huge turning point, it was the moment which changed my career.”
Motson, who died in his sleep, was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting in 2001 and survived bowel cancer in 2014.
