Football Daily - TCV Q&A: Radio vs TV & corpsing on-air

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

John Murray, Ian Dennis & Ali Bruce-Ball answer listener questions on football commentary. From the most unusual commentary positions to the best landmarks visible from the press box. And what exactly is the difference between radio and television commentary? Questions always welcome on WhatsApp voicenotes to 08000 289 369 & emails to [e-mail]00:40 FAQs, 04:10 Unusual commentary positions, 13:10 Commentating in a box, 17:00 Famous visible landmarks, 19:55 FA Cup commentaries this weekend, 22:30 Radio vs TV commentary, 29:20 Toughest sport to commentate on, 33:25 How is it decided who does which sport? 37:55 What makes a good summariser? 43:30 Have you ever lost your composure? 50:20 Feeling self-conscious on camera, 52:30 Keeping the passion and excitement.5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Fri 1945 Hull v Chelsea, Sat 1215 Burton v West Ham, Sat 1745 Villa v Newcastle, Sat 2000 Liverpool v Brighton, Sun 1200 Birmingham v Leeds, Sun 1330 Grimsby v Wolves, Sun 1630 Rangers v Hearts, Mon 1930 Macclesfield v Brentford, Wed 1745 Qarabag v Newcastle.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. If there was a big rent button that would just demolish the internet, I would smash that button with my forehead. From the BBC, this is the interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work, your politics, your everyday life. And all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Commentators view on the Football Daily with Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis.

Hello, this is the Football Daily. I'm Alistair Bruce Ball and welcome to this special edition of the commentators view. As we five live commentators this week are dedicating this episode to answering your questions, the listeners' questions. There are so many that come in on the emails, the WhatsApps and the voice notes. Email TCV at BBC.co.uk. John Murray is here. Ian Dennis is here. Hello, chaps.

I'm going to get to the first one in a second. I just wanted to ask you both before we start. What is the question you get asked the most about your job? I think two that I get asked. One is, what's the best match you've ever commented on? Yes. which you regularly get asked. And the other one, strangely, is,

I'm always amazed, how often I get asked, how far in advance do you know which matches you're going to commentate on? I feel like I get asked that all the time. And I don't think it's a very interesting answer, which is, well, the answer is, as you well know, maybe two or three weeks? Well, I know that, but I'm thinking the listener there

and we're thinking, well, what's the answer? You couldn't leave the listener hanging there to your own question, could you? No, well, exactly. But people are fascinated, John. I think the reason for that question, by the minutiae of it, by the practicalities of it, because probably quite a lot of people who ask that question get up and go to work Monday to Friday and just know exactly what's coming.

But actually, yeah, I don't know. And probably maybe try and put themselves in your shoes and think, oh, if I got that call getting told I was going to the Arctic Circle in a couple of weeks, how exciting. Well, I think I would find the question I get is how did he get into it? How did you become a... a football commentator. What would you say? Do they ask in the style of,

how did you get into that? Or how did you get into that? But you've got that great story, haven't you? And that great letter, haven't you? That you wrote to John Motsen, which is a lovely way to sort of frame that and tell that story. Yeah, yeah. And that was from 1988.

And often when I, sometimes, if I, if I, talk to students, I actually say it doesn't matter whether you want to be a commentator, whatever path you choose to go down, the two attributes that he said, determination and enthusiasm, I think applies to any walk of like in that respect. I quite often get asked, I'm sure you do too, about the people we work with. Who do you like working with the most? Who's your favorite summariser? Who was tricky?

Interviewees, who was great, who was difficult? You know, I quite often get asked about the personalities. By the way, I'm not answering. We know the answer to that. It's Stapman Dave and Chris, son. They're your favourite. Walk straight into that one. Emails, TCV at BBC.co.com.

U.K. Voice notes, even. 08,000, 289-369. And we are going to start this episode with one of those. Good morning, gentlemen. Humble Rick here from the FPL podcast. And I was much intrigued by the recent comment of the flip-down desk.

at the valley. And I wondered if the commentators, the three amigos that you are, could offer any other insights of any other football grounds that have unique commentator either positions or comfy seats or unique desks or perhaps the view is quite unusual from that particular gantry. Love the pod. Happy New Year to you. I appreciate it. It's well past January. Just to explain very quickly, humble Rick, so yes, first came across Rick on the the FPL podcast from BBC Sport. He was going rather well one season. Chris thought he was showing off a bit,

so called him humble Rick. And Rick is actually an actor by trade and plays the doctor in Coronation Street whenever a doctor is required. He's a Cardiff fan and often phones into 6062. That is a great question. Go on, chaps. Then unique commentary position.

So what Rick's referring to there is I went to the valley where I'd not been to for ages, and I don't think I've ever sat in a seat like we do at the valley, where you sit in your seat and then you have a desk, a sort of flat surface that you lift out of a slot to the right of your seat and then it slams down in front of you. So it's almost like sitting in a baby's high chair.

It's like that surface in front of you. And once it slams down, you're locked in and you can't really move. It's unusual. Bit like getting into position in Apollo 6. Yeah. But also they're lethal the way they drop. They're really heavy. If you had your fingers in the wrong place when one of those comes down,

you know, that's going to hurt. A couple of favourites that are a bit different. Do you remember Carroll Road for a spell? I've commented in lots of different places in Carroll Road, but one of them was the sort of double seats where you share it, the seats are kind of connected. And if you've summarised as swings, then you swing as well. Which is slightly off-putting.

And annoyingly, they've put them in at Everton as well. in the new stadium. There are the sort of double seats which are not my favourite. No. And also, I always enjoy at Selhurst Park where the commentary position, the press box,

which is where we are, has sort of stripped wooden floor. But the seats that give us there have got casters on the bottom. So you sort of slide around during the course of a match on your seat on the casters, which I quite like.

So the more exciting the matches, the more you're sliding around on the casters. I'm trying to think of unusual positions from the gantry, you know, unusual views. The old ground at Rotherham United at Millmore to get onto their gantry was a test because you'd had to walk up a ladder. You then had to duck under a beam.

At the same time, there was a slightly raised bit. So whilst you had to sort of like stoop to get your head under the beam, at the same time you had to climb through I always found that quite awkward for somebody who's over six foot to get to the old Gantry at Millmore. I do love commentary positions as well where you can see outside the stadium.

So you can sort of describe what's going on in the outside world while the football is going on. So Turf Moore immediately springs to mind there. You get a fantastic view across the countryside and the hills and the cricket ground, isn't it? So that one. And the other one, which one is it, chaps?

You'll have been there more recently than me. is it the Dragao where they've got that gap between yeah exactly you can see out of the stadium I love that you can see the Duro yeah that is a real that's one of the great views from a commentary position yeah yeah one of the greatest views I had I remember was at the World Cup in South Korea

in Jiu Island when you had a view out to what were is that the South China Sea and also there were rocky islands off the coast. It was like a sort of James Bond style backdrop that we had. Scaramanga. It was. It was one of the great views that I've had from a commentary position, Matt. But you also did Maratimo, John. Yeah. The floating flower pot out in Madeira, which offered great views.

It did. You're right. The floating flower pot. What's that all about? That was how I described when Leeds played Maritimo. I said, welcome to the floating flower pot of Madeira because it was Maritimo against Leeds United and that's how I described. Obviously all the vegetation, the flowers. It was, yeah, it offered quite a colourful, I thought, description of the island. I think as well, do you remember when we covered England playing in Trinidad? I remember, I think you could see the outline of Venezuela from Trinidad, unless I'm getting there, unless I'm remembering this completely. But I think the coast of Venezuela is not far from Trinidad, I think.

The other one I remember is Northern Ireland, went with Danny Wilson to go and watch them play the Faroe Islands away from home. And that game, in my mind, felt like it was played. It was, it was played on top of a cliff top, and it felt like school sports day. Honestly, it was so low-key, there was no one there. And if you booted the ball off at one end of the pitch, I know it wasn't strictly true,

but it felt like the ball just disappeared off into the ocean and down the cliff face. It was so remote. It was so unusual. That was a great experience. So that is a great question, Rick. Good start. Actually, on a similar theme, Steve from Brighton, love the podcast and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Jonathan Pierce Robot Wars episode. Of course, you can always go back and listen to any of the previous episodes through BBC Sounds. I met J.P. briefly when watching Brighton at the With Dean Stadium.

an athletic stadium that Brighton used back in the mid-2000s. We both laughed that we were there at the time, stood on a running track, and there was a long-jump sand pit, a few yards from the dugout, very different from the Amex Stadium. Be interested to know if any of the TCV team were lucky enough to commentate at the With-Deme. Yeah, I did. I did. And it's exactly as Steve describes it. Again, I mean, on the school sports day theme,

because of the running track or whatever, that was just, you know, soulless. It was it was not it wasn't a great place to play or or commentate on but in a way sort of bonded Brighton fans together because they were up I saw Bobby Zamora score goals there for example for Brighton. I didn't commentate at the

with Dean Stadium but that actually makes me think when you talk about soulless the the tie that's coming up between Newcastle and Carabag could have been Newcastle against Monaco and that is one of my least favourite stadiums to commentate in the Monaco Stadium because it just has it's the atmosphere is never seems to be very good there and you're a long way from the Peters and athletics track it's a small

stadium so that would be on my list of least favorite places to commentate on so when they were drawn out against Carabag which is going to be a that's going to be an experience in itself when we go there for the first leg of Newcastle's tie I've already done my visa for that. So I have to say, even though we will be travelling all the way across Europe to the Caspian Sea coast, I'd rather be commentating there

than in Monaco. All due respect to Monaco, of course. I always felt for, so when I first started out at BBC Radio Bristol, covered half Rovers, half city. You know, we didn't have a... Well, it was changed up, actually, in the time I was there. We didn't have a correspondent for each club.

You did a mixture of both, which basically meant you were, you were hated by both sets of fans because you couldn't get anything right. But I always felt a bit sorry for Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium because it's a rugby arena more than it's a football arena and there's too many gaps there. And it's just, it was so difficult to build atmosphere there. I quite like that.

I quite like the Memorial Grant. Yeah, yeah. Good pasties. That shocked you. Oh, the pie, the pie Steve Bruce and I had at Old Trafford. That was good the other day. Very, very good. very good

Richard in Baldock says Hi guys great show I always listen to you on the pod on a Monday while doing my

decorating listening to the great Jonathan Pierce Reminis reminded me of when I went to watch Hull City with my dad

this is just brought something into my mind so Richard says when he went to watch Hull City with his dad

when I was about 10 back in 1969 70 I was sitting on the perimeter wall when one of the bobbies patrolling the perimeter of the pitch told me to get off you can't sit there son how times have changed also as a very young lad i regularly went to

the hawthorns to see west brougham play with my dad and he made me a wooden step we took it into the ground so i could stand on it and see over the other supporters heads can you imagine trying to take a lump of wood into a ground these days again how times have changed changed. Do you have any similar stories to this? I think people used to do that at Sunderland, at Roker Park, if I remember rightly, is that right, Ian? What, wooden steps in to the terrace? Yeah, because I think at Roker Park, I think I'm right in saying the pitch, the bottom of the terrace was almost a step lower than the pitch. And I think they did used to hook these wooden steps on so that kids could stand on the step and see up over.

and onto the pitch. The reason that it triggered a memory for me, Booth Free Park, one of my early commentaries, I went to commentate there, and if you remember, it was a rare thing and that it was actually a commentary box,

and it was an enclosed box who commented inside the box, which had a big glass window on it. And on this occasion, I went to Booth Free Park to commentate on this match. It was a foggy, misty day, and the mist came in. And also,

the box, the glass on the front of the commentary box, became full of condensation because it was a dank winter's day. So it was misty, stroke, foggy outside, and also you couldn't see out of the box because of the condensation on the window in the commentary box. It was one of the most difficult commentaries I've ever done. There's a question as well. Commentary boxes inside, as opposed to being outside.

side. Oh, South End. South End. In fact, I did it, it was against Hull City. And I remember because the night before, I actually stayed in the hotel where Steve Bruce, who Ali worked with recently, was the manager. And I just popped up into the bar for a drink and a bit of food. And he said, oh, come and join us. So we ended up having a drink with the backroom staff.

And then he said, I've got to disappear. We've got the team meeting. If you want to come in and eat with us, then feel free. Anyway, I said, no, no, I wouldn't impinge. But I actually had breakfast with him and the players the next morning. And then did the commentary. And then if you've ever done the game at Roots Hall, they shoehorn all the radio commentators into this commentary box behind glass.

And we were in there for a three o'clock game by about 12.30. I was with David Pleat. And I've really struggled to get out afterwards. I'd been in there that long. It was so cramped. And then I had to drive about six hours home or whatever it was. I really struggled. I had cramp in my legs.

Pleity actually had cramp as well. What is it? He said, I've got cramp. That is probably the most congested commentary box I think I've ever worked in. I've done a few commentaries there over the years. Not for a long time now. But I remember one of the commentaries there, as you say, Ian, there were several different commentary teams in the box.

And I remember at one point, when I wasn't on, taking my headphones off in the box, and it was an absolute cacophony of commentary. It was like being in some sort of Middle Eastern market. It was an extraordinary noise. The old Ashton Gate, which has been drastically improved now, but you used to be in a commentary box there behind glass, sitting on funny little narrow benches.

That was not ideal. And I think Swindon's county ground as well, I seem to remember being inside commentating there. Yeah. And I remember actually going... I think they've taken the window out there now, I think. Oh, right. So you do actually have a... You're not inside, as it were.

And the Dell at Southampton was behind us as well, wasn't it? Yes, that was behind class, it was. Yeah, that was very tight, wasn't it? Oh, it was, yeah. I remember going over to watch Molder against Rangers in a game in, probably, what would that have been in? It wasn't, it must have been UEFA Cup, probably, as was then, and being shown into because they didn't have the space in the stadium at the time. So I was in a director's box effectively and was sort of set up in there.

So it was something bizarre experience of sort of carpeted floors and fridge and TVs while sort of trying to peer out the window and probably like a lot of people watch their football nowadays in the Premier League. Ashton Gate also makes me think of famous landmarks that can be seen from commentary positions. Yeah, that's good, John. So Ashton Gade, Clifton Suspension Bridge, from the commentary box at Lincoln City at Sinsle Bank, you can see Lincoln Cathedral.

Yeah, up high away to your right. That's a great view, yeah, absolutely. That's a good one. That's a good one. And in fact, John, you mentioned about you've commentated in different positions at Carrow Road. The stand opposite, the main stand for a time we actually commentated at the very top. And I'm sure you could see the cathedral.

You can see Norwich Cathedral. You'd do well to see Linking Cathedral from Doherty. Didn't that famously, I'm going to say something stupid here now, didn't that famously replace the Pyramids of Geyser as the tallest man-made structure in the world at one point, Lincoln Cathedral? Lincoln Cathedral? Yeah, I think so. I think so. I think I could be making that up.

Hmm. Why do I say things like that? Well, I got a microphone in front of me. By the way, I did take a chance there to reach across to my Collins family Atlas of the world. And indeed, the island of Trinidad is very close to the coast of Venezuela. Right. Well done. Well done. Just to interrupt the Q&A for a second, just to preview what we've got coming up for you on 5 Live and BBC Sounds this weekend in terms of the football. Before I do that, though, Nathan has just posted in the script here.

cathedral with its central spire added in 1311 was the first structure to surpass the great pyramid of Giza in height officially becoming the world's tallest building for 238 years. There we go. So that's stuck in my head from. That's a great fact. Yeah. I think I think that's come from doing Lincoln Ipswich in the FA Cup. Do you remember Lincoln as an on league team on that brilliant run? And obviously was at the ground, saw the cathedral, looked it up. That's probably where that's that's come from. That is a great run to have as the world's tallest building. 238 years.

Yeah. It says there, John, a title it held until the spy collapsed in 1549. Oh. Maybe for a future clash of the commentators, the question could be structures that have been the world's tallest building at one stage or another. One of my boys had top trumps. I would look that out actually.

in case Nathan gets any ideas because I think we had a pack of top trumps of world's tallest buildings I might go and try and find that. Anyway, talking Lincoln and FA Cup, it takes us on very nicely to the weekend's football. Loads of commentaries coming your way on Five Live and BBC Sounds.

So we have got, Ian is first up, Friday night 745, Hull against Chelsea, in form Hull, flying in the championship against Chelsea. John, Saturday 1215. So John, you're not going back to McElwield for this round, so I'm going to McElwold on the Monday night for McElfield,

Brentfield, Brenton, against West Ham. I cannot wait for that. Burton Albion, West Ham, for you, Saturday 1215. I've got an early double, like I did in the third round, which I very much enjoyed when I went from McElwield to Derby. In this fourth round, the early kickoff between Burton and West Ham, and then on the Sunday, the early kickoff between Birmingham

and Leeds. And then straight after that, it's off to Azerbaijan. So I'll actually miss the match on the Monday night. So I'll be traveling to Azerbaijan. From Birmingham to Baku. Yeah. Baku beyond.

Saturday 3 o'clock, we're going around the grounds. So not got a commentary game there. We're going to go around the grounds and just fly to wherever the story is. Saturday 545, Astonville against Newcastle. Now that will start on Sports Extra. because the Six Nations is obviously underway.

So the Scotland-England rugby commentary will be on Five Live to begin with. Villa Newcastle will then move onto Five Live a little bit later on. Saturday 8 o'clock, kickoff times again all across the weekend. Liverpool Brighton, that is myself and Paul Robinson. Birmingham Leeds Sunday midday, John and Clinton, and Grimsby Wolves at half one on the Sunday. Guy Mowbray and Dave Edwards I think we've got a question actually

linking to that coming up in the pod a little bit later on so save tune for that and actually Ian so you're on the Sunday of FA Cup 4th round weekend you're actually going to be doing big game in the Scottish Premiership because you're doing Rangers Hearts which kicks off at 430 on the Sunday which is a crap

that title race is fabulous isn't it It is yeah there's been a few twists and turns of late so we'll see what the latest instalment is at Ibrox Yeah. And I'm sure listeners there, having mentioned, Ali, that Guy Mowbray is going to be commentating on the radio. I think that will have piqued the interest of those who hear this before that match is actually played. It'd be interesting to hear from Guy how he enjoys doing a radio commentary again. Yeah, so we have had correspondence on that.

Let's take it on to that in this Q&A episode. So this is Kieran has sent us a voice note. So Kieran's in Vancouver and he's got in touch. My question is regarding radio versus TV commentary. I love hearing the football every weekend on the radio. But I have also noticed people like Connor who do much of the day commentary. So why have you stuck to radio yourselves and why do some people like to do both? What are the main differences and nuances between the two?

I really love to find out more insight into your respective decisions on how you've gone about it and how the different challenges of them. Thanks a lot. Interesting. Yeah. I think my answer to this would be, I think people would think it's the same thing. You're commentating on a football match.

And obviously many of the principles are the same, but it is dramatic, I think it's dramatically different, commentating on a match on the television as opposed to commentating on a match on the radio. And actually, if I could say it, I think a lot of the people who make the decisions about you know who's going to commentate on on matches radio TV don't necessarily appreciate that

do you um Ian when you've done television commentary do you enjoy it as much as radio commentary because John's right it's a completely different discipline I mean first and foremost I think everyone knows it but whenever I've done match of the day and then and watch a little bit of it back I talk way too much because I'm just doing it you know because I'm so used to doing radio and filling every second and describing everything and obviously television that is not the way to do it. When Kieran talks about the different nuances to the two styles, obviously

for radio you've got to talk all the time but for me, the better TV commentaries to listen to are those when the commentators don't talk all the time and they let the game breathe, personally speaking. So therefore when I have done sort of like my bits on match of the day

I was actually told I'd gone too much the other way and I needed to actually talk too much they said, oh, can you talk more than you actually are? I was told that as well, Ian, and I actually didn't agree. Yeah. I felt that I felt that I was talking enough. Yeah.

But also, you've got to talk to the pitches as well. And I actually don't enjoy doing Match of the Day highlights, because the thing is, is that when I do my commentary for the radio, everything goes out, and I know whether I've done a good commentary or a bad commentary, The thing is with match of the day and the highlights, you don't actually see it until it's put out obviously at 10.30 at night or whatever the time is. But you can have a bad commentary, but a good editor, who can stitch your words together and make you sound better than you probably were.

Or equally, you can have a good commentary, but a bad editor, who then does a hatchet job on your commentary. And so until you actually see the final edit go out, are you actually happy with the end product? so to speak. I think it's quite tricky now for young commentators as well because very often young commentators are asked to do both TV and radio. And I think when you are making a way as a commentator, that's quite a difficult thing to have to do that balance. And I've now not commentated on a TV match for quite a long time. But I remember when you had to try and find the

balance, it was tricky. And it kind of messed with your mind a little when it came to, you know, one day you'd be doing TV and the next day you'd be doing radio. There's also a difference Kieran, I think and I've not done this yet, but between doing commentary for match of the day which you know is going to be highlights and actually doing a 90 minute commentary full

game. So when you do match of the day, you are obviously doing a 90 minute commentary but they're going to take the and you know you have to nail the big moments because you know that's all that's going to get seen. Red cards, goals, controversy, whatever, which sort of puts a little bit more. I think I was saying last week, John,

thing I, I think we were talking about your Macclesfield Palace commentary, the thing I really enjoy about listening to a whole radio commentary is it's not just those moments. You get the whole story, the whole narrative, the whole, the whole picture. But actually doing a 90-minute commentary, so funny enough, at the World Cup coming this summer, I'm actually going to do, for the first time ever, do a first couple of games for BBC television at the World Cup, full 90-minute games. But I've never done that. So I really need to go and pick the brains of people like Connor who do that regularly and switch between the two and sort of get the feel

for how to do that. Quite a big difference as well is for us, if we are doing radio commentary and then doing commentary for match of the day on the television is that for a radio commentary, you will have a summariser. So you've got someone to react to and bounce off and actually talk to.

And I really enjoy that aspect of radio commentary working with whoever the summariser is. But then when you step into doing match of the day, I often used to think, because you're just on your own, you're commentating for highlights. I used to sit there and think, I'm talking to myself.

I'm sitting here talking to myself about a football match. And it just feels really odd. And you do get to the point where you start, you begin to ask yourself questions during the commentary. Yeah, but also the other lovely thing about radio commentary. And I think, I mean,

we do, but particularly if you do Ian's slot Saturday 3 o'clock, is when you're doing match of the day, you're in a bubble, you're only doing that game, you're not doing context of what else is going on around you. And I love doing a five-live commentary when you're getting the updates from the other games, and you're doing the rugby and the cricket, and you know that the whole world is, you know, the world of sport is going on at the same time, whereas when you're doing match to the day, you're so plugged into just one game and what it means there. It's a slightly different experience in that sense. My name's Steve Bradnell

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From the BBC, this is the interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is. is actually doing to your work, your politics, your everyday life, and all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The commentators view on the Football Daily with Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis.

How about this one from Stoke fan George? Hello TCV. As a big Formula One fan, I've got lots of memories of being glued to the television listening to the late Murray Walker commentate and his regular Murrayisms, my favourite being with half the race, I was about to try and do an impression there, I won't actually. With half the race gone, there is half the race to go.

One of my favourite moments, though, is when he switches up his sports to commentate on snooker on an old episode of the Jeremy Clarkson talk show. The thing I have always wanted to commentate on more than anything else, you're going to laugh on this, is snooker. I'm not going to laugh. because I've got a microphone here.

Can you take that, the proper microphone? And we've got a clip here of some snooker. And I'd like you to give it the Murray Walker treatment. Can I stand up? Because I always stand. No, no, do by all means stand. By all means. Can we run this clip then, and let's have Murray's interpretation of it? And here we are. That's Ronnie O'Sullivan.

And this man is absolutely sensational. He's using the special high-grip chalk on his cue. and that queue itself is a very high-tech piece of equipment. Now, watch him. Which ball is he going to hit? He's going to hit the white ball, and he's going to hit straight on the year. Goes the cue and slam!

He's missed it! He's missed it! He's missed it! Brilliant. George says this got me wondering if there was a sport you've not commentated on but would want to, what would it be and why? Are there any of you haven't done? Because we've done a few.

Yeah, between us, we've commented on a lot of sports. What have I not done? Well, I've not done Formula One. Yeah. Has anyone ever fancied boxing? I have commented on boxing. Have you? Have you?

I commented on a Glenn McCrory fight in local radio. Difficult, isn't it? I mean, you know, we had some brilliant boxing commentators down the years on Five Live. But I think that's a really hard sport to do. I think that, I don't know what you two think. But for me, the hardest commentary has got to be horse racing. because, you know, they've got and I've got so much admiration

for John Hunt who I think is absolutely outstanding but they've got half an hour to prepare and particularly in the big fields you know like I don't know at Newmarket on the flat in the summer where you've got maybe over 20 horses

racing down over say seven furlongs and you've got to pick out the different silks and then to get it right as well they very very rarely and I listen to a lot of horse racing commentary I'm a big fan of the sport and I listen to a lot during the week and what have you and they very rarely get it wrong

any of the commentators you'd never hear them make a mistake very rarely I think that is an example of where a commentator will train their brain to deal with commentating on horse races so my guess is that you've got to kind of load your brain up with that information in a very short period of time and then get rid of

of it and put in another 20 horses or whatever it happens to be. I know, but even still, I mean, for instance, like, there's a guy in Ireland called Jerry Hannan, who is terrific. But you think of the Gordon Elliott silks, which is the maroon with the white star on the front. There might be four jockeys who are wearing those silks, and the only thing to differentiate the jockeys is the colour of the helmet. Might be white, might be blue, and to pick them out in a blur at travelling at such speed, I would love to have a go, but I know I wouldn't be very good at it.

Yeah. No, I definitely couldn't do it. And I marvel at, yeah, like you say. I mean, and also it's that lovely, you know, you've got to measure the pace of your commentary, haven't you? And make sure you don't hit 10 at the top. And, you know, John Hunt's build of a race, you know, from a few philons out to the finish is that that's something you've really... I'm sure, again, that comes with practice, but that is... That is expertise, isn't it?

My guess would be that you've commented on more sports, Allie. Well, actually, on that theme, we've got this voice note from Adam in London. My question for the commentators is how do you guys get involved in other sports? I know that John and Ali do golf and Ali does cycling. Den only does football. Why is that? Really interested to understand how it's decided within Five Live or in your careers if you'll get to experience other sports on an ongoing basis or whether it's ad hoc or whether it's kind of just fitted in as part of your contract, I suppose.

It'd be really interesting to know. And as a Rangers fan, I hope you guys are excited for the end of the Scottish Premiership title race. It's some league, best league in Europe, and let's hope Rangers do it. Keep up the good work, cheers. I don't know how you, for example, John, but one of my great joys of working at Five Live is being on the Five Live golf team, which I've done for sort of 20 years or so. And I do remember arriving at 5 Live. And it wasn't quite you were sat down and, right,

what sports can you do? What sports do you want to do? But football was obviously won, but you knew that was going to be very competitive and a lot of people wanted to do that. So it would be good to have another sport, at least another string to your bow. And I've just always absolutely loved the golf.

And again, I remember, I think speaking to Adam Mountford, who's now the Test Match special producer, has been for a long time at the time he was in charge of the golf. And just mentioning my interest to him and saying, you know, if there's ever a space, I love my golf, I'd love to be on the team. And then you've just got to get lucky and someone moves on and you get a chance and hopefully away you go. I mean, how did you get onto the golf, John? I was already part of the department.

So it wasn't a big stretch. And then also I worked on the golf, but not as a commentator for quite a long time, doing other things like presentation and, you know, reporting at the golf. but not necessarily the commentary. So I became part of the team before I actually became one of the commentators. See, when Adam mentions, I mean, Ali, you do a number of sports

and John, you've done rowing as well, haven't you? You've done equestrian? Yeah, equestrianism. I've done a whole range of Olympic sports. Table tennis. I did table tennis in Beijing, which was great fun. But when I first joined the department, they actually said to me,

would I be interested in doing the hockey at the Olympics? and I think my son had just been born or was yeah he had it was in 2002 and I didn't want to go away from home so I actually turned down the opportunity and then I never got an opportunity to do the hockey since I did a little bit of cricket I did Wimbledon once in 2007 wasn't particularly good at tennis and but when you first joined you used to do the desks as well didn't you you would you know you'd do the bulletins during the during the week and it was only there in 2009 that focused purely on the football and now I actually couldn't do another sport because I would never have any time off. Yeah. The thing I would say as well, just before we move on to the next one, is it's a set, obviously they are different sports and they have very different rhythms and rules and technicalities or whatever. But in terms of radio commentary, you are essentially, it's the same basic skill, isn't it, of describing, of painting the picture of

describing what is going on in front of you. And then, you know, for example, in the track cycling for me, relying heavily on your expert summariser. So I've had Victoria Pendleton alongside me for many years to actually give you that insight to tell the listener why it's happened, you know, the tactics, the strategy, the motivation and whatever. But your skill as the commentator really is just trying to describe, you know, say what you see, basically. So in answer to the question, is there a sport you would like.

to commentate it on that you haven't. I actually answered that if you were paying attention. Which was? You clearly weren't paying attention. Horse racing. I thought you said you wouldn't like to do horse racing. No, I said I'd like to have a go. I just say I wouldn't be very good at you.

Okay. Ian wants to do it on a Jeremy Clarkson show in front of the television audience, I think. I used to do Greyhound commentary. Did you? But the Greyhound commentary is easy because the jacket, the numbers that for the jacket's always the same. Yeah. I'd want to hear John doing NFL, I think.

I wouldn't. I love NFL, but I know you're not a fan, John. Dean from Cleethorpes next up. I've got a question about commentators, expert, summarizers. You get to work with some brilliant summarizers. Chris Waddell, Chris Sutton, Glenn Murray, Danny Gabidon are my personal favourites. I'm not going to ask you who your favourite summarizers are, but I'd like to know how are they selected.

Do you pick your own, or are they allocated to you? And Dom from Newcastle adds to this. What do you think makes a good pundit co-commentator? Or should I say a top, top, top one? What skill set do they need to complement you? And I wonder, and I'm sure you have, whether you have stories of working with colleagues that would fascinate the TCV faithful.

So the floor is open. Well, as we've already learned on this podcast, Ian asks for his summarizers. He's demanded Steve Bruce. they are allocated to two matches for us by the powers the deep

yeah yeah but you you do get a run don't you sometimes where you will comment you won't commentate with someone for ages then you'll do a game with them sort of out of the blue I mean for example when I've turned my radio on

and I'm really enjoying listening to the two of you together you and Matt Upsen John whenever I turn the radio on you seem to have spent a lot of time together recently but are clearly very much enjoying each other's company as well. I felt quite jealous of Ian the other night

doing a match with Matt. I felt he'd been unfaithful. I think in answer to Dom's question about what makes a good pundit is I think that they need to tell the listener why it's happening. You don't want to listen to a pundit.

If I say the cross comes in from the right, there was the towering header at the back post. You don't want a pundit to say, yeah, it was a good thing. Good cross from the right, towering head at the back post, 1-0. You want to gain some sort of insight as to why something has happened or what is likely to happen next. I would say as well, I really enjoy working with the summariser,

who will see something that I haven't. And I always remember working with Mark Lawrensen. Mark was so sharp. Yeah. And he also had a real editorial brain mark in that he could spot the story. You know, he had almost like a journalist's mind in that he could spot the story and he knew what the story was. And also, because he was such a good player, you know, he had an appreciation. I think it does help as well if they have what you would call the credentials.

I just think it gives us a summariser a lot of weight if you have, you know, if you've done it, seen it and won things. and you know Jimmy Armfield we would always be able to refer to Jimmy as England captain you know which which carries a great deal of weight

and also you know I love working with Clinton Morrison Clinton is really sharp really you know Clinton will spot things that I think oh you know he's absolutely right there I think one thing I realized as well

the further I've gone on is the more time you can spend away from the mic with someone, I think the better it is for your relationship on air. I always remember

going out to the World Cup in Brazil and working with Brad Friedel for the first time, but brilliantly before our first commentary, we sort of had two days. I think we were in Recefe

together, but just, you know, mooching about prepping games, going out, having a coffee and chatting, but just building so that you can sort of

establish a relationship and you know where you can go humour-wise or not. And I think that helps so much getting to know people off air before you get on air with them. And then obviously you build that relationship. I mean, people that we've worked with for years, like Mark Morrison or Pat Nevin,

that you work with time and time and time again. That just, it just, it's, it helps, I think, massively, doesn't it? And then when you work with someone new, you've got to, you've got to build that. What's bizarre now with, with Paul Robinson, is that when Paul was a player, I used to go out drinking with his dad, along with Jonathan Woodgate's dad, Alan. so there was Alan Woodgate, Rob Robinson and Peter Lorimer or Norman Hunter, and on a way trip, the four of us would go out. And now I end up working with Paul, having watched him as a player.

And then when Dom talks about stories, Jimmy Armfield, it was a privilege to work with Jimmy. I remember 2006 in Dortmund and our commentary position was quite low down. And we're in the full glare of the sun, for a very, very long time, because we had to be in position and obviously about an hour and a half before the game. And he said to me, he said,

you're going red sun. And I went, yeah, he said, you've got a cap. And I went, no. Anyway, he got me his hanky. And at half time, he tied the four knots. And he put his hanky on my head

to stop me from getting sunburned. And in fact, it was too late. I then met up with you, John, and Chris Waddell in Hanover. And I was ill the next day with Sunstroke. but it was too late but Jimmy tried to protect me from getting sunstroke and now as a result of Jimmy

I actually carry a bucket hat in my bag because in case I get caught out by the sun again was Jimmy the last five live summariser to bring a handkerchief to a match? Possibly yes let's do this one from Simon listening to the Jonathan Pierce episode

the other week and his commentary of the infamous Eric Kantonar moment, the emotion and anger in his voice gave me the idea for this question. Has there ever been a time in your careers when you've emotionally lost it and had to take a moment, whether this be through anger such as Jonathan, upset, or found something hilarious and just had to move away from the microphone. hilarious, I'm thinking, kind of like the famous Jonathan Agnew, Brian Johnston moment from all those years ago. I tried to do the splits over it, and unfortunately the inner part of his side must have

just removed the bail. He just didn't quite go his leg over. Anyhow, he did very well indeed, batting 131 minutes and hit three-fours, and then we had Lewis playing extremely well before his 47 not out. Agers do stop it. And he was joined by DeFratus, who was in. in for 40 minutes a useful little partnership there um Lawrence always entertaining batty for 35 35 minutes hit a four over the week keep us

bang us for goodness sake stop it yes Lawrence well week he was head and he was out for nine and Tuffle King batted for 12 minutes then was called by Haynes off person for two and there were 54 extras and he was were all out for 419 I've stopped laughing now um I do remember this wasn't me back in local radio days of BBC Radio Bristol our boss Jeff 20 one at the time had the idea that the classifieds in our equipment a sports report, you would have two different voices reading divisions alternately,

and the two lads who did it were in separate studios but caught each other's eye one day, made each other laugh, and honestly, they couldn't get through the football results. I remember Jeff not being very happy about it, but you know, once you've gone, you've gone, and they just could not, they could not get it back. But I don't touch, you know, I don't think that's ever happened to me on air. I once corpced on air. it was an under 21 game at Sunderland

I think England might have been playing somewhere like Slovakia and in the build-up to the game I'd interview David Prutton and whenever I'm doing an interview I always warm up the interviewee with a bit of a question and I knew he had a pet budgie so I just said to him and said oh how's your budgie just literally as I'm ready to start my opening question

he said oh it's it's died I went oh anyway the game was that bad I said if this game wasn't improved I'm going to have to tell the story about David Prutton's budgie. And the game didn't improve. And in the second half, and I think I was with Steve Froggett.

I think it might have been either Dave Woods, who was also there. Alistair Eumann's was the producer. And I told this story, in a very deadpan way, if you're pardon the pun. I said, oh, I said, and the budgie died. That was obviously the punchline. Turned around, and everybody had corpse laughing. Alastow had to walk away from the commentary position because he knew he was putting me off.

Steve Froggett couldn't talk. I then started laughing and then I think Shola Amiobe got a goal to rescue me but I felt I was distraught because I felt that I'd been unprofessional by coerpsing on air and I had only just joined Five Lab

I hadn't been there that long and it really bothered me and then I think it was Mark Pugatch you'd said don't worry it was actually quite funny so don't beat yourself up about it but yeah a corpse on air

about dead putchy Chris Sutton once saw me completely well not completely lose it I went very quiet driving to a stadium in Qatar ahead of a World Cup game where someone gave me the wrong directions and we missed a turn

and it meant another 15 minutes going round in circles and Chris said he'd never seen me quite so just you know just just went quiet yeah but you weren't on air for a bit it wasn't on end commentator wasn't it

no we've got a Another voice note now. This is from Villa Fan Harry. Hi, TTV. Really enjoying the podcast and really enjoy your commentaries too. I particularly like the variety of tone, I think, that you use in your commentaries and the way that this reflects and sort of matches the ebb and the flow of a game, rather than just being too shouty or too intense for the whole 90 minutes. Humour and likeness of touch, I think. Groth and undervalue, but I think make all the difference. But anyway, I've just got two questions I've been meaning to ask for a while. The first is, How do you know how many minutes of added time there are going to be at the end of a half, but before the official has put up his board? The same thing with substitutions. You often seem to know who's going to be subbed off before it goes up on the board. So we're interested to know about that.

And then secondly, have you found yourselves feeling more self-conscious about your commentary since starting the podcast? And how self-conscious is it good for accommodator to be anyway? Does it help or hinder if you're kind of thinking too much about the words? So interested to hear your answers to both of these, and thanks very much. Thank you very much. Harry, the question with Added Time and the substitutes is for the Premier League, there is now an app, which is used by the broadcasters, which has the information on it. So that's how we know that, isn't it?

Yes, exactly right, John. Yes. So you can have that sort of fun little game, can you? If you don't look at that and trying to get your summariser to guess who's coming off next or whatever. And then if they've managed to sneak a glance at your app, app with it on, they can make themselves look extremely clever, can't they? I don't look at that app, though, and it's always the producer who will look at it, yeah. Yeah.

But that's handy. And then the other thing we're hoping to get, if I'm allowed to say this, is further down the line is being able to hear the VAR conversations that we'll be able to hear them, but the listeners won't, but we'll be able to impart what we're hearing. That could be really useful at times, I think, couldn't it? Yeah, because if you did a game from a listener's point of view, if a commentator who works for match of the day, they get to, or at any television, actually,

they get to hear those VAR conversations. But if you're a radio commentator, at the moment, we don't get to hear the dialogue between the officials. And what about Harry's question about, have you found yourself feeling more self-conscious about the commentary since starting the podcast? No.

The only time I ever feel self-conscious is when they've got the Com Cam. And I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of it. I don't like knowing that there's a camera on me. And then I try and forget about it because I just want to commentate rather than having this camera monitoring your movements. I'm not a big fan of that.

No, I know what you mean. But I do always forget it's there. I'm not conscious of that being there, I must say, which is good, which is how it should be. I think that's a great question though from Harry because I remember Connor saying that on a previous pod that if you go listening to too many Football podcasts in particular the football cliches one where they go looking for Commentators and pundits and things that are said and things that tickle you If you start thinking too much about what you're about to say

Because you might appear somewhere else or how this is going to settle away of it you're in trouble then I think aren't you? I think you've just got to You can't be self-conscious I think you've just got to go for it haven't you? I think generally not just the podcast but I with us appearing now more often on social media, I would say we, I would say it feels like I have become more recognizable over the course of probably the last 10 years. So the anonymity that I love having. And we spend a lot of time,

don't we, mixing with some famous and actually very famous people. And I do not envy. I've never envied that because of the fact that we are close to them and see how it is, when you are very easily recognizable. And fortunately, you know, I think I would say the status we have is that you only occasionally, very occasionally, people will spot you like the LNAR man

at the Leeds Station the other week. And that's actually quite nice, because it's only once in a while. I would not want to be in a position where you almost feel that you can't go out in public. Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't want to court that either. hence the reason why I keep to myself on trains.

Let's finish with this from David from Lester. He's alerted us to this from Dot Nadabio's World Football Phonein on Five Live. I try and listen as much as I can. I know this is really going back. You were talking about black and white TV. I actually like listening to it on the radio. If I can get it. It's the best way.

I mean, honestly, listening to commentary by John Murray, for example, of many great Five Live conversations, John Murray, he brings it there to you. He's got the, man. Oh, my word! He's done this. I'm not going to do his accent. John Murray is something else, mate. He brings the passion there.

He is great, isn't he? We were talking about this on Brazilian TV the other day, and in Brazil, they've all gone through journalist college. And, you mean, mate, when he was going through it, the lecturer was saying, if you're going to be a commentator, you have to retain an emotional idea. of 12 and there's something in that isn't there but see John Murray is able to retain the emotional age of 12 while also having the emotional age of a mature fella and he does it

together and I think that's absolutely brilliant you know because you get all of the emotion of the occasion plus you kind of know that it's not the most important thing in the world I think he does that balancing act really really well he manages to be both 12 and 50 or whatever he is at the same time. That's brilliant. So that's South American football expert, Tim Vickery, alongside Dotten Addabio and one of the listeners. What do you say to that, Mr. John? I must thank Dotten and Tim for that. That was very nice. I've not heard that before. Yeah, interesting that, isn't it? The emotional age of a 12-year-old while also trying to balance it with being, well, at the moment, I'm 59.

I suppose that is true, isn't it? Because you do have to retain, which I've never found difficult, is to retain the enthusiasm that you have when you first start. And I feel that what helps with that is when we talk to younger commentators. And, you know, I've done this recently. We have Warren Muggleton was with us last weekend from BBC Radio Essex, on South End, he's kind of at the other end of his commentating Korean. And he just came along to, you know, see how it works, see what we do.

And I find when you speak to someone like that, that actually remind you, you know, why you got in the first place and, you know, the enthusiasm that you had and the, the eagerness to get on and do this job. And I find that really helps me just be aware and remember why it is that you started doing this in the first place. But being in the stadium gives you that enthusiasm. You know, there are a number of commentaries now that had done what is the term off-tube where you're in a studio and you're watching it on a, off a television. I could, that for me would be, would be soulless. To walk into the stadium of a big game, knowing that you feed off the crowd and those around you, that's

what gives you the buzz. And that, you know, for instance, and it didn't necessarily work out the way that maybe people were thinking in terms of the actual test in itself. But going to Ellen Road for the recent game between Leeds and Arsenal, I'd been looking forward to that game for a number of weeks knowing I was going to do it. I wouldn't get the same experience or the same feeling if I was going into a studio to watch it off a television. We're lucky, aren't we? We love it. We love what we do. And I think that is what brings it to life for people.

Whatever sport you're listening to, you know, radio, television or whatever, you need to feel that the people bringing it to you are engaged, are loving it. Funnily enough, when I went to get the Atlas, just to check and see where Trinidad and Tobago is, as I pulled it out of the bootcase here, right next to it is my original Panini sticker book, the first one that I filled in.

And it's funny, you know, I haven't seen it for a while, but it's just because I took the Atlas out. I saw it there. And just saying that, you know, it just, there's like an emotional connection when I see that, which actually does remind you. And I probably was about 12 when I filled that in. What year is it?

It's football 78. 78? Yeah. I completed mine in 78. I cut out my brother's Bruce Ryoch. Yeah. Cut it out. Controversial.

You can't do that. That's that. I know. I got into trouble. I'm going to go get it in short to you. I go cut out Bruce Ryoch and of Everton. And I stuck it in. I completed it.

I got into huge trouble for that. I bet you did, yeah. Johns, by the way, he's about to bring it. Johns will be immaculate. Oh, it will. It'll be like it's come fresh from 78, won't it? It will, I know what, exactly. I mean, it's slightly thumbed that bottom right corner, but...

Let me look for it. It'll be Derby County, wouldn't it, Bruce Riyok? I think he... Wasn't he at Everton? He was. Here he is. Hang on. Here he is.

Bruce Riong. John got this legitimately. Ian stole his. That's it. There he is. Yeah. Love that. Yeah.

Right. That is it. Brilliant questions and voice notes. Thank you very much, everyone. And keep those coming in as well, by the way, just because that's a special episode of them. We'll always take the questions. We love to read them.

We're back to the usual format on TCV next week with Connor McNamara, joining John and Ian. I'm going to be in Bruges. In Brugger. In Brugger. So keep the unintended pub names and glossary suggestions coming in as well. That is to TCV at BBC.com. UK or as a message or voice note on WhatsApp, that's 08,289-389.

That is it for this episode of the Football Daily. Remember you can find each and every episode of the commentator's view by scrolling down your Football Daily feed. So was your brother anywhere near completing at that point, Ian? So by removing Riyok, did that... Was it a race? It will have been a race because we're very competitive

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