It was much better, because you didn’t have to actually watch it.
2 Likes
How’s that now?
And when you got to watch it, it meant much more as you weren’t bombarded with live football every night of the week.
I didn’t have Sky Sports until I began earning money after college.
2 Likes
RIP Jimmy. A gentleman, a great broadcaster and a 1966 World Cup winner. He was Blackpool personified but I don’t hold that against him.
5 Likes
Glen Rovers ??
3 Likes
What I liked about him is that he rarely gave the “that wouldn’t have happened in my day” lament.
Jimmy Armfield was the crackly voice of midweek cup matches.
Classics of the crackly medium wave reception genre were the epic three game Littlewoods Cup Round 3 saga between Liverpool and Arsenal in October 1988, Liverpool’s 4-1 demolition by relegation-bound West Ham at Upton Park in the next round, the 4-4 FA Cup replay between Everton and Liverpool in February 1991, Sunderland’s dramatic victory over Chelsea in the 1992 Sixth Round, and a series of proper FA Cup replay nights during the 1995 competition, featuring such gems as Arsenal 0 Millwall 2 (one of Mark Kennedy’s two greatest career moments). Millwall’s penalty competition victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in Round 4 followed by a mini-riot in which mounted police took to the field, the great Graham Taylor’s Wolves beating Sheffield Wednesday in Round 4 after a penalty competition in which Kevin Pressman almost burst the net and Chris Waddle timidly patted the ball to Wolves goalkeeper Paul Jones, and Ronnie Rosenthal’s Tour de France at the Dell in Round 5 as Tottenham came from 2-0 down to beat Southampton 6-2 in extra-time.
Jimmy Armfield’s name, his voice, and the crackly interference-rich manner in which you heard his voice meant you know you were in the company of a true football man. And given that the Irish listener had gone to all that trouble to listen to him via a poxy, unreliable radio reception, they thus felt entitled to say they were a true football fan.
Kids these days will never know that feeling.
10 Likes
great post,
The constant resetting of the dial …
“Turn the radio towards the wall.”
“No. Turn it upside down.”
“Keep standing there, Da, don’t move - it’s coming in when you stand there.”
“Open the back door. It’s easier for the signal to come in through the door.”
10 Likes
Switching between 909 and 693 was the ultimate act of desperation
13 Likes
that’s it bang on
It never worked.
@Sidney was Pat Murphy usually at the City or Baseball Grounds? Villa Park as well maybe
Stuart Hall was usually at the school of science at Goodison Park or Maine Road with his phenomenal match reports
Ron Jones was a usual fixture at Loftus Road
regarding 693 or 909 you’d be seething when BBC radio Wales would come in perfectly with Live Second Half commentary from The RaceCourse Ground, Vetch Field or Ninian Park and 5 live would still be crackling away
Sounds like a horrible childhood, I’m sorry for your troubles.
BBC2 radio every Saturday, midweek football Tuesdays / Wednesdays too. Remember listening to Leeds v Barcelona games in '75 EuropeanCup semi final, fucking hell where’s the Things that make me feel old thread?
3 Likes
My Mam and Dad had a clock radio in their room. All other radios would be off limits when we were studying apart from that one which was upstairs and you could easily sneak up to. Many the evenings I snuck up to listen to the football news at 7.20. The room was above the living room and had a creaky floor board right beside the radio so it was critical to avoid that. I recall listening to a Coca Cola Cup win for Liverpool over Blackburn in Ewood Park in 1995 - Ian Rush with a hat-trick. The reception fading in and out all the time. But we crowded around a bloody clock radio listening to this match. Football mad! Obviously the auld wan coped on where we were but she let us have it every now and again. Great times.
8 Likes
Villa Park mate I am nearly sure.
Stuart Hall of course was outed as a bit of a cunt.