Nooooooooooooo.
RIP the voice of late lunchtime pan-continental general knowledge quiz matchplay.
Henry Kelly was many things. He was possibly the still living preincarnation of Ryan Tubridy, except he was sound. Like Dave Allen, Terry Wogan, and, eh, Roy Walker and Gloria Hunniford (?), Henry was one of âour men in Englandâ. He flew the flag for Ireland. He made Irishness, if not acceptable, at least slightly less threatening to English people whose only knowledge of Ireland was leprechauns, alcoholic blocklayers living in squats in Kilburn and IRA bombs.
But above all, Henry Kelly was a man of Europe.
It was Going For Gold that brought down the Berlin Wall. It was Going For Gold that brought about European unity. It was Going For Gold that ushered in the optimism of the 1990s.
When people saw the happy, smiling faces of the contestants from all around Europe waving at the camera on the intro, when they saw how they played the game in a spirit of international camaraderie that would have done justice to the Lakeside stage, it made them feel European. Like the Ryder Cup does.
The Maastricht Treaty and 1992 would not, could not have happened without Henry Kelly.
When the history of the European Union is written after it inevitably collapses in 2035 in the face of a continent wide fascist onslaught, the pissed off and afraid non-fascists who are now on the run from the Gestapo will talk wistfully among themselves about the men who created this entity that was once seen as a triumph of enlightenment. Theyâll talk about Jean Monnet, about Robert Schuman, about Jacques Delors, and theyâll talk about Henry Kelly, the man who fostered peace and harmony in Europe through the medium of convivial, respectful and exciting general knowledge quiz matchplay. Henry Kelly wasnât a quiz show host, he was a colossus of European unity.
Itâs no coincidence that anti-EU sentiment began to rise after Going For Gold was cancelled.
Never has Europe needed a man like Henry Kelly like does now.
We do not have one.
Henry Kellyâs other claim to greatness also exemplifies his Europeanness. It is him holing a bunker shot at Dromoland Castle in Tony Jacklinâs Pro-Celebrity Golf on Saturday morning Channel 4 circa 1991. It would have done justice to Seve.
âThe new golden boy of Irish golfâ is a verbatim quote from the legendary three times European Ryder Cup winning captain about Kelly. He was Best Of The Irish that day.
Ultimately golfâs loss was lunchtime general knowledge quiz viewersâ gain.
But Henry Kelly was the greatest European Ryder Cup vice captain we never had.
Henry Kelly, a man of Europe. Sleep well, Henry, you have much sleep to play catch up on.
Going for gold!
The heat is on, the time is right,
Itâs time for you, for you to play your game.
'Cause people are coming, everyoneâs trying,
Trying to be the best that they can,
When theyâre going for⌠going for⌠Gold!
