Sometimes you forget that there are young gentlemen posting on TFK.
I recall watching the highlights of that Bristol City win at Anfield on Sportsnight on BBC (cc @mickee321, @Sidney).
It’d be on at around 10.30pm on Wednesday nights, usually on BBC2 and was great for FA Cup replays. You’d have extended highlights of a feature game, other reports and also a recap of the Tuesday night games with either Tony Gubba or Gerald Sinstadt reporting.
You have to remember that it was less streamlined and technologically advanced in those days and they’d be cutting and editing a game that may only have finished at 9.40pm, or even later if it went to extra time.
As a result, you’d often be crestfallen when Des Lynam or Steve Ryder would announce that the football would be coming up later on but first port of call was York Hall Bethnal Green for a British welterweight title bout or Ulster Hall for a Dave “Boy” McAulay world title defence. You’d then be hoping that they’d skip a round here or there but many’s the night you had to watch full deferred coverage of a fight before the football started, while your auld lad would be trying to get you off to bed.
Or sometimes the best coverage you’d get would be trying to get a longwave signal onto BBC five live and listening to Alan Green commentating. I had a little homemade shelf I made that I could temporarily leave the radio up on so it would be up high and the ariel half hanging out the window so it would work. Mad now with the wall to wall HDTV coverage of every game going.
You east coast lads must have fared a bit better with the signal tho? It was a pure cunt of a thing to maintain …It would tune out for a couple of minutes and you’d be trying to figure out what happened in that time when you eventually got it back …
Alan Greene (near side, the right in his northern accent) would do the first 22 and a half minutes commentary of each half and then hand over to ‘football correspondent’ Mike Ingham. Jimmy Armfield on co-commentary duty. I gave a fair chunk of my child hood listening to Man United matches in the early years of the premiership with my brother. Distinctly remember listening to it when Cantona booted the fan. Shit reception but great memories
I was listening to five live the same night. Up in room studying for mocks. Ran down and told auld lad make sure and record sportsnight tonight. Des looked like Walter Kronkite telling the nation about Kennedy when the opening sequence finished.
Sportsnight was some of the happiest memories I have. Chris Waddle beating the unbeatable Milan team and the lights going out.
I even looked forward to Lloyd Honaghan fights the show was so good.
Tinnion goal was a lovely left foot curler into side netting kop end afair
