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| Colin Addison and John Motson at Edgar Street In 2012 - Picture From Andy Compton |
The retirement of John Motson is to be honoured with a special night of BBC Programming.
• John
is one of the best known personalities in sports broadcasting. His
contributions include Match of the Day, Grandstand, Football Focus and
BBC Radio 5 live regularly since 1968
• He received an OBE in 2001 for services to Sports Broadcasting
• After
starting out as a sports reporter on Radio 2 in 1968, he made his first
major breakthrough on Match of the Day during the iconic FA Cup replay
between Hereford and Newcastle and he has been with MOTD since 1971
• From
1979 to 2008 he was also the BBC's voice on major cup finals such as
the FA Cup, European Championships and World Cup. That run included his
record-breaking sixth World Cup final in Berlin in 2006 and his 29th FA
Cup final in 2008; an achievement not matched by any other commentator
• His
retirement follows fifty consecutive years with the BBC that has seen
him cover 10 World Cups, 29 FA Cup finals, 10 European Championships and
more than two hundred England games
The BBC will dedicate a
night of TV to mark the legendary career of football commentator John
Motson as he retires after an incredible 50 years.
Taking place on May 19,
BBC Two from 8.30pm will pay a fitting tribute to the man who has
presided over 10 World Cup finals, 10 European Championships, 29 FA Cup
Finals, over 200 England internationals and over 2000 football matches.
Motty: The Man Behind The Sheepskin
takes John on a poignant but fun filled journey around the football
grounds that have provided the backdrop for so many remarkable
commentaries and football stories from this unique broadcaster, famed
for his love of a sheepskin coat.
Reliving some of those
immortal commentaries and the stories behind them, the programme also
hears from those closest to him including his beloved wife Annie and son
Fred, plus football legends Gary Lineker, Ian Wright, two of his
longest standing co - commentators Sir Trevor Brooking and Mark
Lawrenson along with celebrity football fans Sir Elton John, Noel
Gallagher and Sir Rod Stewart.
On the night, Motty Mastermind,
sees John take over from John Humphrys as the host of the famous quiz
show. With his love of facts and figures, John is the perfect quiz
master as he sets to grill Alex Scott, capped 140 times for England and
former Arsenal Women’s Captain, former world boxing champion Anthony
Crolla, football commentator Jonathan Pearce and record breaking swimmer
Mark Foster.
Rounding off the night is Countdown to the Full Motty
which sees Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker introduce a special
countdown of some of Motty’s greatest football commentaries from over 50
years as a broadcaster.
The evening of special
programmes follows what is set to be an exciting day of football on the
BBC with Manchester United v Chelsea in the FA Cup Final live on BBC
One, KO 17.15pm.
John’s
final commentary can be heard on May 13 on Match of the Day as he
reports on the action of Crystal Palace vs West Brom. On that same
evening he will also be presented with the Special Award at the Bafta TV
awards taking place at The Royal Albert Hall, live on BBC One from 8pm.
On hanging up his
microphone for the last time, John said: “I’m truly humbled that the BBC
is dedicating such a special evening to me. I’ve been very lucky to
have witnessed some incredibly special moments in football and I look
forward to sitting down with my family, and many football fans in the
country, to look back on the past 50 years.”
A special Twitter emoji will give fans a unique
way to celebrate John's remarkable career. It will go exclusively live
on Twitter on May 11th at 11:00 BST until May 21st
23:59 BST with John becoming the first ever UK sport broadcaster to
have their own bespoke Twitter emoji. To use, Twitter users should
simply include any of the following hashtags in a Tweet and John will
appear holding that iconic microphone one last time: