John Walker Motson was an English football commentator.
28 Facts About John Motson
2.
John Motson often wore a sheepskin coat during winter months after he reportedly "battled horizontal sleet showers ahead of Wycombe Wanderers' FA Cup tie with Peterborough United" in December 1990.
3.
In 2008, John Motson announced his retirement from live television commentary.
4.
John Motson continued to cover games for Match of the Day highlights and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live as well as commentating on CBeebies' Footy Pups.
5.
John Motson was born in Salford, Lancashire, where his father was a Methodist minister.
6.
John Motson was baptised in Boston, Lincolnshire, and spent childhood holidays there.
7.
John Motson was educated at Culford School, near Bury St Edmunds.
8.
In 1963, John Motson's career began as a newspaper reporter in Chipping Barnet.
9.
John Motson joined the BBC in 1968 as a sports presenter on Radio 2.
10.
On 5 February 1972, John Motson had what he later described as his big breakthrough, when he was assigned to cover an FA Cup replay between Hereford United and Newcastle United for Match of the Day.
11.
John Motson's commentary caused BBC executives to assign him higher-profile TV matches, and he subsequently signed a three-year contract with the broadcaster.
12.
John Motson was drafted in as a late replacement for David Coleman, who was in a contractual dispute with the BBC.
13.
Between 1979 and 2008, John Motson commentated on all the FA Cup finals that the BBC covered.
14.
John Motson continued to commentate regularly as the BBC covered midweek fixtures in European tournaments, and he remained a principal commentator when the Match of the Day show returned in 1992 following the launch of the Premier League.
15.
John Motson found himself commentating on a tragedy rather than a football match, and he later appeared as a witness at the Hillsborough inquiry.
16.
The criteria included pitch, volume, rhythm, and tone, and Comins found that John Motson scored the best results.
17.
John Motson attempted to join Setanta, but the BBC refused permission, so he retired from live television commentary.
18.
John Motson continued to cover pre-recorded games for Match of the Day highlights.
19.
John Motson covered a total of 10 FIFA World Cups, beginning with the 1978 tournament.
20.
John Motson covered 10 UEFA European Championships and a total of more than 200 England national team games.
21.
John Motson was a commentator for the FIFA video games series by EA Sports, and worked alongside Ally McCoist, Andy Gray, Des Lynam, Mark Lawrenson and Chris Waddle.
22.
John Motson first joined the franchise for FIFA 96; he and McCoist were replaced by Gray and Clive Tyldesley for FIFA 06 but later returned for FIFA Manager 08.
23.
In September 2017, John Motson announced that he would retire from the BBC at the end of the football season.
24.
John Motson's final pre-recorded TV commentary was a match between Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion and was broadcast on Match of the Day on 13 May 2018.
25.
John Motson was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1996, during which he was surprised by Michael Aspel at a charity event.
26.
John Motson appeared on the BBC Radio 4 biographical programme Great Lives in 2007, in which he nominated Brian Clough as his "great life".
27.
John Motson was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2001 Birthday Honours for services to sports broadcasting.
28.
John Motson died on 23 February 2023, at the age of 77.