Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has leapt to the defence of commentator Guy Mowbray after a strange theory about his role surfaced on social media.
Commentators employed by the BBC for their hugely popular programme have been accused of not actually attending the games - with some viewers claiming that they record their commentating in short bursts in a studio after the matches themselves. However, that theory was very quickly rejected by experienced commentator Mowbray, who took to Twitter on Monday morning.
He wrote: “Been shown a couple of tweets today from people who ‘know’ that the MOTD commentary is done afterwards over the edit. What else completely false, wrong and utter rubbish do they ‘know’? Never the case, never was, never will be. All live. I actually do ‘know’.”
Host Lineker then weighed in with his viewpoint and somewhat unsurprisingly, gave his backing to his colleague. Quoting Mowbray’s original tweet, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona striker wrote: “Confirmed: 100 per cent true.”
The debate was not however finished there, with Mowbray continuing to dispute the claims put towards him. One user in particular said that it seemed a happy coincidence that lines appeared to be used at relevant times, and suggested they were re-recorded to make the highlights make more sense.
Mowbray continued: “The odd line [is dubbed]. Maybe once in an entire season. Speaking for myself, there has to be a VERY good reason for it - not just to make the editor's job easier, or in a 'predictive' context. Apologies, but I care about what we do and can't abide falsehoods being spread around as fact.
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“To a degree, yes it is [lucky]. I'd prefer to think of it as knowing how to commentate - & it happens just as often live. Speaking for myself, the style doesn't change for live or highlights. Same job. If it doesn't happen, it's either not in the edit or you don't remember it.”
He then rounded off his rant by appearing to log-out of Twitter, but only before he had poked fun at the claims first and foremost. “I think that's probably me done for the day on here,” Mowbray wrote. “I'm going to do some commentary prep for the 3 live games I've got this week - just so I can put all the 'good' lines in after.”
Mowbray, 50, has offered his voice to the BBC since 2004 having not only commentated over Premier League matches but also World Cup, Euros and even UEFA Champions League fixtures.
