Football commentary firsts
It amazes me how some people when writing their autobiography can remember minutiae detail of when they were growing up. Maybe it’s poetic license. I certainly don’t have that gift.
I have been wracking my brain to try and remember what my actual first commentary was. My first sports report was for Capital Gold Sport and it would have been at somewhere like Barnet or Leyton Orient. Unfortunately I can’t be precise. I remember getting a good amount of airtime on a League Cup match at Wycombe and coming away with that buzz and the knowledge that I can do this. Wycombe came close to causing an upset and the game went to extra time. Getting praise in the office later that week from Jonathan Pearce meant a lot.
I do, though, remember specifically my first live interview on the radio. It was another cup match. This time the FA Cup and at the Valley where Charlton won and Carl Leaburn was the matchwinner. I had taken my brother-in-law along for the day out and he watched the whole thing unfold.
Carl was in position in the press box with me and I assumed very excited to speak to me after causing a cup shock. However, he didn't come across very excited once we went live. I asked about six questions and he gave me answers that lasted no longer than five seconds each. (What am I going to ask him now going through my head) It was like he had scored a consolation goal playing for the reserves. It was painful …. for both of us obviously.
I think the first commentary I would have done would have been for a certain football club in south west London. This was in the days before MUTV and the like. These matches were recorded onto VHS and sold in the club shop. Sitting on the gantry at Craven Cottage was like a dream. I got to be a ball boy on the odd occasion for Fulham when I was 10 or 11 years old, dressed in an all-yellow tracksuit and remember being sung at by the Charlton fans one game. Our yellow tracksuits must have reminded the away supporters of a banana as they sung the theme tune from the kids television programme “The Banana Splits” at me. Tra La La La .. etc
On the Fulham gantry more recently
But from sitting in the stands in the Stevenage Road to suddenly being in the gantry of the Riverside stand and getting paid (not very much) to commentate on my team was special. By the way, we got 50p and a biscuit at half time for being a ball boy!
I got to interview the players post-match, even went into the manager’s office. Couldn’t tell you (obviously!) why I stopped but it was a great grounding. It would be interesting to watch them back. But the main thing is, it provided me with an outlet to tackle live sport, to prepare for a broadcast, make mistakes and show my worth. And if Fulham won, even better!