FOOTBALL has lost its most iconic voice after John Motson passed away, aged 77.
Fans across the country are mourning the legendary BBC commentator, who hung up his mic – and famous sheepskin coat – five years ago.
During his distinguished 48-year career, Motty covered ten World Cups, ten European Championships, 29 FA Cup finals and more than 200 England games.
But there are some moments that stand out more than others and will NEVER be forgotten.
Here are SunSport’s favourite memories from the ‘Voice of Football’…
You can’t fault his appetite for the game
It was an image that became synonymous with Motty.
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And was always a running joke when the weather mimicked arctic conditions.
In December 1980, Motty reported live from Adams Park before Wycombe Wanderers entertained Peterborough United.
Battling the elements, he delivered his message with aplomb and the sheepskin became a regular fixture.
His commentating was something quite poetic
Motty tapped into popular culture too.
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One of the biggest Cup Final shocks of all time came when Wimbledon beat Liverpool 1-0 thanks to a Lawrie Sanchez goal in 1988.
Cue scenes of hysteria and disbelief at the final whistle and a distraught looking Kenny Dalglish as The Reds missed out on doing the double.
“The Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club,” he delivered when the ref called time.
And it is a line that has gone down in history.
And he loved it when England did well
Motty confessed that his favourite match he ever commentated on was England’s 5-1 drubbing of Germany in Munich.
You could really tell too, because he took so much delight in Michael Owen grabbing a hat-trick at the Olympiastadion during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.
He bellowed: “Ohhh, this is getting better and better and better. One, two, three for Michael Owen!”
But arguably his most famous commentary line came when he first started out
It was the goal that changed Motty’s life, he admitted.
Effectively, he was on trial at the BBC and he confessed that he “hadn’t pulled up too many trees at that point.”
“What a goal, what a goal,” Motson screamed as Ronnie Radford hit a screamer for Hereford United in their famous FA Cup shock against Newcastle.
“Radford the scorer. Ronnie Radford.” Motty then became a permanent voice.
Don’t mention Brian Clough though
In 1979, the legendary Nottingham Forest manager gave Motty a particularly prickly interview.
Cloughy wasn’t happy about the BBC over-analysing the beautiful game, so he let rip on the journalist.
“I think what you do to referees is nothing short of criminal,” Cloughy told him in no uncertain terms.
Despite that, Clough and Motty always had fun jousting over the years and Motty always said he was his favourite manager to interview.
Gazza’s tears at Italia 90
When Paul Gascoigne launched into a mistimed tackle and earned a booking that would rule him out of a possible World Cup Final appearance, we were shot to pieces.
Gazza soon got emotional on the pitch, and his Spurs colleague Gary Lineker gestured to manager Bryan Robson to keep an eye on him.
“Oh dear. Oh dear me,” Motty reasoned with the nation. “He’s going to be out of the final, if England get there.”
“Here is a moment that almost brings tears to his eyes.”
Finally, he wasn’t afraid to call it how it was
When Zinedine Zidane got sent off against Italy at the 2006 World Cup the world was stunned by what they’d seen.
The world’s greatest player threw a headbutt towards Italian defender Marco Materazzi who collapsed to the ground.
“And the referee has gone across now with his hand in his pocket,” Motty told us as we awaited the official’s decision.
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“He’s been told about it. He’s off, it’s red, it’s Zidane! You can’t excuse that, Zidane’s career ends in disgrace!”
Motty, you’ll be missed.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
