John Motson
Born in Salford, Greater ManchesterBorn on 10th of July 1945
Died in 000
British hero of the week October 6th 2011
(full name and title: John Walker Motson, OBE)
Born: July 10, 1945
John Motson is a former British football commentator known for his sheepskin coats, themselves the subject of much satire, and his voice. Although it has been described as 'annoying' by some, that voice is recognised almost universally in Britain as 'the voice of football'.
Motson was born in Salford, Greater Manchester in the summer of 1945, at the end of World War II. He entered the world of journalism when he wrote for the Barnet Press as a business correspondent and the Sheffield Morning Telegraph, where he first wrote about football.
His BBC career started in 1968, when he was hired by BBC Radio 2 as a sports presenter. He moved into television three years later when he joined the team of BBC's flagship football show 'Match of the Day'. He started by covering the minor games on the show, normally used for the highlights section but got his big break when Hereford United played Newcastle United in the FA Cup. It was expected that Newcastle would beat the non league side comfortably and that the highlights would be shown for around five minutes. Hereford shocked the football world by beating Newcastle 2-1 in one of the most famous FA Cup giant killing acts ever. The game was thereby elevated to the main match on the show giving Motson his first major exposure.
Motson has not retired completely from the airwaves but decided that the Euro 2008 final would be his last live commentary. He promised to auction his trademark sheepskin coats on ebay for charity.
Motson will be remembered for a whole myriad of amusing quotes, often self-contradictory.
Examples include "Nearly all Brazilian supporters are wearing yellow, it's a Kaleidoscope of colour". Perhaps the most famous one surely is; "for those of you watching in black and white, Tottenham are playing in yellow".
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