John Motson the voice of football has passed away atthe age of 77. He'd commentated on 29 Cup Finals and various World Cup games.
LEGENDARY FOOTBALL COMMENTATOR PASSES AWAY AT THE AGE OF 77
John Motson the voice of football has passed away at the age of 77, born on the 10th July 1945 in Salford, Manchester.
Heard on BBC Radio 2 sport and later Radio 5 Live plus Match of the Day.
Motson started his career in 1963, Motson's career began as a newspaper reporter in Chipping Barnet and later in 1967 in Sheffield.
In 1968 he joined the BBC as a sports presenter of Radio 2, and in 1969 he provided the commentary of Everton v Derby County, and two years later he was giving the commentaries on Match of the Day.
His first FA Cup final came in 1977 when Manchester United played Liverpool at Wembley as a replacement for David Coleman.
Motson went on to provide commentary for 29 FA Cup Finals.
In April 1989, Motson commentated on the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest when the Hillsborough disaster occurred. Motson found himself commentating on a tragedy rather than a football match, and he later appeared as a witness at the Hillsborough inquiry.
He also provided commentary for various World Cup games.
In September 2017, Motson announced that he would retire from the BBC at the end of the football season. His last live radio commentary was on a match between Arsenal and Watford on 11 March 2018.] His 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, he did return for a brief spell for Talksport.
He went on to give commentary to around 2,500 games from league to premiership, FA cup to World Cup games.
He was married for 43 years to his wife Anne and had one son Frederick who was born in 1986.
He was awarded to the OBE in 2001.
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