Hi Martin, how are you doing?
Hi Small Talk. I’m very well. We’ve been doing a few interviews today so I hope I have enough energy left to say something interesting. But please don’t ask me who’s going to win the league!
Who’sgonnawinthele- You’ve been commentating for over 40 years. How does Leicester’s title win compare to everything else you’ve seen?
I think it’s probably the greatest achievement. I did do a little bit of Nottingham Forest in their title-winning season but I wasn’t as closely involved as a commentator. Football was more democratic in those days; there weren’t the super-rich clubs we have now. I used to think Arsenal’s Invincibles season was the most amazing achievement in the Premier League era but they were at least expected to be challenging for the title.
For Leicester – who lost only three games remember – to win the league by ten points, when they’d never done it before, and to do it in such a lovable way, was amazing. There were parts of the world where people didn’t even know how to pronounce Leicester yet everyone was still talking about them. It’s done so much for the essence of sport and the romance of sport. It was a privilege to be there for the day the trophy was presented. I’ve never seen such happiness around one game.
Is it true you turned down your first job in TV?
Yes. I was a non-league footballer of not much repute. I wanted to keep playing, and I was doing a pre-season in 1973 when I got an offer to be an editorial assistant at LWT on the Big Match and On the Ball. I was already doing some work ghost-writing Jimmy Hill’s newspaper column, which I would deliver longhand to his flat in Holland Park on a Friday. On this particular day I knocked on the door to make sure the copy was okay and he asked me in for a coffee. I told him about the job I’d been offered and that I’d turned it down. He threw his hands up in horror: ‘What do you mean? How good a player are you anyway?’ He said I was mad and that – these were his exact words – ‘you never know where it will take you’. So I called up to see if the job was still available and it was. And he was right: it’s led me to talking to you 43 years later!
Do you feel like the last of a great generation of commentators?
I don’t feel like I’m part of a great generation of anything. Sky have given me a fantastic platform, as ITV did beforehand. I was lucky enough to have done enough, but still be young enough, to be considered for the job when the Premier League started. I don’t think I was the first choice – I’ve never checked it out, but I know that when I joined BSB in 1990 a lot of people turned it down because they thought people wouldn’t watch on satellite TV. I joined because a guy called John Hockey, who handled my affairs at the time, said to me: ‘Everybody in football will be watching.’ And I thought, ‘That’s the audience I want to reach.’
Do you still get nervous before games?
There is always a feeling of excitement before a game. Nerves are part of it but it’s more: what’s gonna happen? You’ve done your preparation, and just as a player wants to make the first pass an accurate one, so you want to make the first two sentences work for you. You have to respect the game, you have to be prepared because you never know what will happen. I’m lucky to be a small part of it – we’re not in football, we’re associate members of the family really. I’m very grateful for that.
What do you remember about the Sergio Agüero commentary?
We went for a meal in Altrincham that night and I was just pleased it was such a thrilling end to the season and that I got the score right! My colleagues were playing it on their phones in the restaurant, and I thought, ‘Well if you enjoyed it maybe other people did as well,’ and after 38 years I became an overnight success thanks to Sergio Agüero!
It was his moment, let’s get that absolutely straight. Jim White – not our Jim White, but the one who writes for the Telegraph - asked me about it for a book he was writing, and I said he should talk to Manchester City fans who were behind the goal. He said he wanted to talk to me because I was the chief witness. I thought that was nice. I’m happy to be the chief witness for a moment like that.
Do you ever have anxiety dreams about your job?
I dream about not getting there on time. I’m sure the psychiatrists and psychologists would have a field day. I have one where every turn I take takes me in the wrong direction; there’s another where I’ve lost my bag. The strangest thing, which happens from time to time, is that I’m sitting in the commentary position and it moves because I’m on a train and it takes me away from the game. (Laughs) Those are my dreams.
You talk a lot about looking forward to the next game rather than back...
You have to, especially when you’re broadcasting live. You can spend 40 years building a reputation and then lose it in 40 seconds. You’ve got to be on it. It’s not always easy; we’re human beings. You have better days and days that aren’t so good. And to be honest with you, I would say only four or five times a season am I really happy with what I’ve done, because you can’t do a perfect commentary.
Do you review them?
I review them in my head, usually on the journey home. I know. Even when they’re going on, I know where I might have said something different. You’d be lying if you said you’re not pleased if somebody comes up to you and says ‘I thought you captured the moment’, but in your head you’re remembering the moments you didn’t capture! It’s a quest for perfectionism that can never be attained, but it doesn’t stop you trying.
What’s your favourite film?
Goal. That’s the Goal of 1966, not the one I was in. And Escape to Victory, if you want something that isn’t factual. I love it when Russell Osman says ‘We can win this’, and instead of escaping they climb back up to play the second half. I could watch that on a loop.
What’s your favourite TV show?
I’m a big James Corden fan. I love Gavin & Stacey and I’m thrilled he’s doing so brilliantly. I took my daughter to see Gavin & Stacey being filmed in Barry Island and he kindly came out to say hello. I was lucky enough to have a really good education but I’m very lowbrow. I love pop music, I don’t like clever music: Bohemian Rhapsody is the worst song in Christendom because it’s so pretentious. Give me something by Adam Faith in 1961, or one minute 25 seconds of pure pop. I love all that. I try to switch off when I watch TV. And it has to have a happy ending. I’m no good with this serious stuff. If it’s too heart-rending, I’m in bits.
Do you cry at the end of films?
Yep, and not just at the end of films. I think as you get older you get more sentimental as well, and there’s been enough in a troubled world to make you cry in the last few years.
Who was your childhood crush?
That’s a really good question. (Thinks for a bit) There was an Israeli actress called Daliah Lavi, she was absolutely stunning.
And who’s your adulthood crush?
Jenny Agutter.
What would you put in Room 101?
Artificial pitches. They have to be an unfair advantage and I think the FA should look at creating a feeder league where all the clubs with artificial pitches play each other, and the others play on grass. That way the players can decide what they want to play on.
If you could go back and commentate on one game, what would it be?
The. 1966. World. Cup. Final. We did a documentary earlier in the year, and it was such an honour. They are my heroes, the Boys of 66. Funnily enough, because we showed it on Monday Night Football, I was asked to do the commentary because we couldn’t use the BBC commentary. But ITV kindly allowed us to use Hugh Johns’ commentary, which isn’t so well known because not many people had ITV in those days. I thought it would be great for his commentary to be heard.
I was 20 when the final took place, so I could have done it – [swallows some helium] and I would have done it in a very tremulous voice! I did Italia 90 and Euro 96 for SBS in Australia, so I got close to commentating on England in a final. I think I might have one more go in Russia. Good luck Big Sam!
Thanks for your time Martin. Enjoy the season
Thanks Small Talk.
Sky Sports’ biggest ever football season includes 126 live games from the Premier League starting this Saturday with Hull City v Leicester City
