Football Daily - The Commentators' View: Home Nations Special

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

John Murray talks football, travel & language with home nations commentators. Liam McLeod represents Scotland after their dramatic win over Greece, Mark Poyser shows up for Wales after Craig Bellamy’s side lost to England, and Joel Taggart is on the pod on behalf of Northern Ireland. It’s Scotland vs Northern Ireland in Clash of the Commentators and suggestions welcome for our Great Glossary of Football Commentary - WhatsApp voicenotes to 08000 289 369 & emails to [e-mail]05:10 Favourite experiences commentating on your country 08:35 Perils of commentating off-tube 18:10 Craig Bellamy ‘puts on show’ as Wales manager 23:10 Live commentaries & any countries they’ve not been to? 26:40 Best commentary positions in the home nations 31:25 Clash of the Commentators 36:40 Great Glossary of Football CommentaryBBC Sounds / 5 Live commentaries: Sun 12 Oct 1200 Chelsea v Tottenham in WSL, Sun 12 Oct 1430 Arsenal v Brighton & Hove in WSL, Sun 12 Oct 1700 Scotland v Belarus in WCQ, Mon 13 Oct 1945 Wales v Belgium in WCQ, Tue 14 Oct 1945 Latvia v England in WCQ, Wed 15 Oct 2000 Chelsea v Paris in UWCL.Glossary so far:DIVISION ONE Bosman, Cruyff Turn, Giving the goalkeeper the eyes, Hibs it, Onion bag, Panenka, Rabona, Where the kookaburra sleeps, Where the owl sleeps, Where the spiders sleep.DIVISION TWO Ball stays hit, Coat is on a shoogly peg, Daisycutter, Has that in his locker, Howler, One for the cameras, Played us off the park, Purple patch, Root and branch review, Row Z, Stramash, Taking one for the team, That’s great… (football), Thunderous strike.UNSORTED 2-0 is a dangerous score, After you Claude, All-Premier League affair, Aplomb, Bag/box of tricks, Brace, Brandished, Bread and butter, Breaking the deadlock, Bundled over the line, Champions elect / champions apparent, Clinical finish, Commentator’s curse, Coupon buster, Cultured/Educated left foot, Denied by the woodwork, Draught excluder, Elimination line, Fellow countryman, Foot race, Formerly of this parish, Fox in the box, Free hit, Goalkeepers’ Union, Goalmouth scramble, Good touch for a big man, Honeymoon Period, In and around, In the shop window, Keeping ball under their spell, Keystone Cops defending, Languishing, Loitering with intent, Marching orders, Nestle in the bottom corner, Numbered derbies, Nutmeg, Opposite number, Park the bus, PK for penalty-kick, Postage stamp, Put it in the mixer, Put their laces through it, Rasping shot, Red wine not white wine, Relegation six-pointer, Rooted at the bottom, Route One, Roy of the Rovers stuff, Sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, Shooting boots, Sleeping giants, Slide rule pass, Small matter of, Spiders web, Stayed hit, Steepling, Stinging the palms, Stonewall penalty, Straight off the training ground, Taking one for the team, Team that likes to play football, Throw their cap on it, Thruppenny bit head / 50p head, Towering header, Two good feet, Turning into a basketball match, Turning into a cricket score, Usher/Shepherd the ball out of play, Walking a disciplinary tightrope, Wand of a left foot, We’ve got a cup tie on our hands, Winger in their pocket, Wrap foot around it, Your De Bruynes, your Gundogans etc.

The Commentator's View on the Football Daily. Listen on BBC Sounds. Hello, welcome to the Football Daily. I'm John Murray, and this is a special edition of The Commentator's View, where usually I'm joined by Ian Dennis and Alastair Bruce Ball to talk about football, our travels, and the language of football commentary. But today, because we're in an international window, we're doing something a little different. If truth be told, Ian Dennis and Alastair Bruce Ball are actually not available

this week, a little bit like Jude Bellingham. They've not been selected. And instead, we've given the call-up, and this is something I've been keen to do since we started the commentators' view, we've given the call-up to the BBC commentators for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. So, actually, alongside me, because we were both at the match last night, is Mark Poyser of BBC Radio Wales so hello to you Mark, welcome to the commentator's view. Also Liam McLeod is

on the line representing Scotland and Joel Taggart who deserves extra praise because Joel's going to be commentating on Northern Ireland tonight so thanks to you two both and Joel as well as the match tonight you've already been on the airwaves this morning

yeah a lovely morning John can I say it's an honour to join you I feel like at Ian Dennis done double I mean, I have to begin by asking you how you actually feel about his but seeming lack of commitment to this podcast. I mean, I've listened to a few and all sorts of excuses have been offered up. You know, not invited to the Ryder Cup was a pretty lame excuse

as to why he didn't make an appearance. We all love Denno over here because Ian Dennis for many years was the five live man at Northern Ireland matches. That's right, yeah. And in actual fact, I did that for a spell as well, covering Northern Ireland. In fact, you know, over time, I've covered all four of the home nation. So I've had spells where, you know, I've covered Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland over the years. So, I mean, Joel, I've known you for such a long time. And Liam, we've,

we've had dealings for a fair few years now as well, haven't we? Yes, indeed. And it's a pleasure to be on with such illustrious company. Obviously, we were busy last night at Hamden. It was never in doubt. It's a massive three points, obviously, for Scotland, beating Greece 3-1, but I don't think they can, they certainly can't be beaten in this campaign if they want to win the group. In all likelihood, they're going to have to beat the Danes on the final day. But to set all that up, they had to win last night, and they did. But how on earth they did it, I don't know.

It is brilliantly set up, though, the three remaining matches that they've got left. We'll come back to that a little bit later on. But while you and I, Liam and Joel have worked together for a long, long time doing various things. Mark, you and I are quite new, aren't we, in these roles together? Because you've stepped into the considerable shoes of Rob Phillips. I have. Yes, who's been on there. When Rob stepped down, he came on with this on the commentator's view.

So how are you finding it being Rob's successor? I'm really enjoying it. First game was in March at the start of this campaign. and it's been really enjoyable to watch this Wales team maybe not enjoyable last night in the first 20 minutes when I didn't think I'd be spending my half-time Googling Wales's heaviest defeats to England and thankfully we didn't get anywhere near the 9-1 in 1896

but it's been exciting and it's going to get very exciting on Monday when Wales played Belgium which is an enormous match in this group and we're reaching the climax now and for Wales it is very much in the balance less so, I think, than for the other guys. Yeah. I would think that you'll probably agree with me, the three of you. You know, it does feel different. Would you agree when you're commentating on the national team

as opposed to when you're commentating on any other match? You'd agree with that, Joel? Absolutely. From our point of view, it's been refreshing this campaign because we've so many young players. So this phase like a total rebuild for Michael O'Neill. There's a lot of excitement. and, you know, when Conner Bradley is one of those young players, then that gives everybody a little bit of hope. We got Trey Hume and Daniel Ballard back into the Premier League with Sunderland's promotion. You know, you get excited when you see Callum Marshall getting minutes for West Ham at the weekend.

That's another one. But there's a lot of hope, I would say, around Northern Ireland supporters and the camp these days. I think the strength with Northern Ireland, when things have gone well for Northern Ireland, it has been the strength of the team and I think that's something that cannot be undervalued in international football and I think it's interesting

that's what Thomas Tuchel is talking so much about at the moment rather than individuals to operate as a team but I'll tell you what I'd like to hear from you is the three of you what has been your favourite experience in the time that you've commentated on Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

and I'll give you a little bit of thinking time and I'll say for me with England it was very much that first World Cup experience under Gareth Southgate when that was, you know, when I stepped into the shoes of Alan Green and Mike Ingram to cover England at the World Cup

and for it to go in the way that it did, you know, there were some unforgettable memories in there. And, you know, despite the fact they then went on to reach the finals that they have, I think for me it was that first World Cup. What about you, Mark, still, as I say, early days, but you've been travelling with Wales for a long time. Yes, I have.

I've only been commentating from March on the men's team. I've been commentating on the women's game for about seven or eight years, but I have been covering the men in other roles and guises at the BBC for a number of years. It's quite an easy answer, really. The journey up to 2016, I think anything else is just ridiculous because that is still always what everyone talks about. Sam Vokes was alongside me in commentary last night, and you just have to talk about the goal against Belgium.

Nothing will top that. It's quite an easy one when it comes to Scotland. It should really be the penalty shootout win in Belgrade that took them to a major tournament for the first time since 1998. But that was during COVID. So the match was off tube, which to people who aren't aware of what that means, you're sitting in the studio watching the telly, basically.

So it kind of took away from the moment itself as big as it was. and David Marshall's save has gone down in history, one of the big moments in Scottish football with the national side. But for me, the Scotland game that stands out is Oslo, just over two years ago during the campaign to get to Germany. And they're 1-0 down, and it was similar to last night against Greece, actually. It was a pretty poor performance, generally speaking, and Halland gave Norway the lead from the penalty spot

and looked like they were cantering. towards a 1-0 victory in the Oolavall and then from absolutely nowhere up pops Lyndon Dykes to equalise. And at that point I was on with Stephen Thompson who, former Scotland International, played with Rangers, played with Burnley, played with Cardiff City. And we were both saying on air,

this is a great result now, one, one absolutely brilliant. And then 90 seconds later, Kenny McLean pops up and wins the game. when it was an astonishing turnaround I still actually cannot believe that they won that football match it was unbelievable and you actually knew

at that point they were going to Germany because they'd beaten Spain which is another brilliant memory it was just wonderful and I think Rodry was in tears at the end of the match I think that was the meme that he took it very badly didn't he I seem to remember this is a man

as you know does not lose many football matches but you lost that one and that set up the trip to Norway and you knew walking away from the stadium that night that Scotland were going to the tournament ourselves and I think the Scotland supporters were not too concerned about

the 12 pound pints that night it was a late one very good and you're absolutely right we've spoken on here before with Ian and Ali about commentating as you say off tube when you're in the studio and actually I was commentating on the penalty shootout win against

Serbia off tube in Salford with Pat Nevin and Roddy Forsythe in the studio with me. And, you know, one of the key, exciting, dramatic moments of that night, I remember a woman came into the room and emptied the bins in the studio. And I remember thinking, this is not how it's supposed to be, is it? So, yes, I get entirely where you're coming from. I find it very difficult because you're not across everything that's happening, you know, and just little things like substitutions.

If you can't see the numbers and you're not that old pha, with, for example, Belarus, who Scotland have got on Sunday. If you're not O'Fey with the faces of these players, you're then in a really sticky position because you're live on air, but you don't actually know for sure for certain who it is that's coming on. You can get caught out, unfortunately, when you're doing games like that. I was just going to say a quick off-tube story

in the early days of us doing off-tube commentaries. And we were watching a stream on the TV, which was from somebody's laptops, or whatever they were looking at on their laptop, that's what we would see. So the teams come out, we all set for the anthems, and then whoever's laptop it was started checking his emails. So all we had was this guy's email screen on our TV in the big room.

The stories of what goes wrong with off-tube commentaries, they are some of my... I mean, this is absolute niche commentator chat, isn't it? But some of them over the years. I mean, I've certainly spoken to colleagues who've ended up with the wrong pictures. it might have been my great friend John Helm was telling me this one that he was doing a commentary with I think it's possibly Ron Atkinson

who said as the teams came, it was a Brazil match and that was being done off tube from a studio and Ron Atkinson's opening remarks were it's funny, Brazil at the Maricanar I've never seen Brazil not wear yellow shirts and of course it wasn't Brazil it was some other random match in South America anyway listen

Joel you've had plenty of thinking time although I suspect you probably don't need too much thinking time to think about your fondest memory covering Northern Ireland I'm going to tell you a story about a game that wasn't off tube and for many reasons I'm glad it wasn't

my first ever commentary was it was in Malta about 25 years ago and we didn't get on air for the entire first half so the local telecoms guy he's sort of filling around with all these cables and I'm there ready first ever game and you're psyched up

and like the disappointment of nothing for the entire first half and we were doing the game on TV and also radio and anyone who is listening to the podcast and they will know that the great Jackie Fullerton was the TV commentator

at the time and the head of sports in Northern Ireland back then was the late great Terry Smith and he was on the trip and he's running in and out between the two booze telling Jackie you're also on the radio, you know,

keep talking, keep talking, keep talking. And Jackie's looking at him and all these kind of hand gestures. So it's the same thing at halftime. And Jackie comes into the room and says to Terry, Terry. I mean, what am I meant to do here? So, you know, the people listening on radio are saying, tell me more. And the people on television are saying,

would you ever shut up? The two very different disciplines. But we got on her in the second half, during which Sammy McElroy was sent off from the bench his assistant manager Jimmy Harvey was also then sent off and the team was managed by the kit man and he ended up managing the team and it concluded with this great moment

when he took off David Healy who scored the only goal in the game and he's looking over at the kit man and you're bringing me off are you sure and he waved over and there David was taking off so that was my first ever commentary I'm glad it wasn't off tube but in terms of best game John

I may be throwing off this podcast, going to have to be the England game, isn't it? 20 years ago last month. I suspected that might have been where you were heading. You know, Beckham, Lampard, Owen, all come to town, and from absolutely nowhere, we get the win, 1-0, David Healy,

Steve Davis with the pass, and anybody that was there will forever remember that night. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've gone for a win against England, but I'd have to. You can only speak the truth to the free people. of the world, Joel. You should never apologise for that, Joel.

I know, well. I knew you back me up, Liam. Well done. You mentioned Jackie Fullerton, Joel. Did you take over the radio commentary from Jackie? No, there was another commentator called Jackie Cummings, another Jackie. And in a

different era as well, John, I mean, I felt lucky to get the tail end of that era where you were still traveling with the team, you were still in the team hotel, the players would all mingled. I remember that vividly, that first international that I did in Malta, the day before the game, I was playing doubles tennis against the two goalkeepers,

Roy Carroll and Mike Taylor. The day before the match, I mean, when you think of it now, it's absolutely bonkers. And I always remember thinking to myself, if one of these two are heaven forbid both of them go over on an ankle, how do I report this and Joel what happened to Roy Carroll and Mike Taylor to result in them not being able to play well actually I had a great forehand

down the line they both collided and fell over you know it was just the end of a different era and you got all the stories and all that I mean Jackie would tell you his experience even in the 80s then and you know if Jackie had played Irish League football he won a league championship

but then the broadcasting into commentary In 82, if they were, you know, an even number of players in a training session, Billy Bingham would ask Jackie to join in, make it an even number. You know, crazy stuff. And Liam, I think I'm pretty sure right in saying that you stepped into the shoes of the great David Begg. He was one of them, yeah, certainly all these guys that I listened to as a kid, getting the opportunity to follow in their footsteps is pretty special. he's got a much better voice than I've got

I'd like to be an octave or two deeper if I could unfortunately that's I'm probably beyond that now I think well as I always say to people Liam you know no it doesn't matter how long you broadcast I don't think people generally do like the sound of their own voice

no no I think the same token and I still do it now and again because I still feel like I'm learning all the time I'll try and listen back to what I'm doing and you know listening back to a bit of the Greece game last night I think everyone's got one of these I keep saying things like obviously

you know the word obviously it's a ludicrous word to use so often when many of it's not obvious might be obvious to me so it's almost like I'm talking to myself you know it's it's trying to kind of iron out that kind of thing even at this stage having been doing it for a couple of decades

there's still phrases that I use that I tell myself not to use them but they just like a it's like automatically for whatever reason on autopilot they keep coming back but yeah it's a fabulous opportunity having not been good enough to be a

footballer to be involved in the game just great and obviously we come across each other every now and again John if it's a tournament or if Scotland are playing England or if it's a club match or whatever it's always a pleasure to knock heads with you guys yeah where was it you took us

was that when we covered rangers. And you were desperate to go one of your favorite spots. Where was that? It was Eindhoven. Of course it was. Since this is the BBC, I better not mention the name of the restaurant.

No, no. I can't do that. It's a steak restaurant, which is a chain in the Netherlands, which I've been in love with for many years now. You were unable to hide your enthusiasm for going there. Yeah, and unfortunately, when the lady was struggling to find as a table, I was struggling to hide

my disappointment. Minds longer than Netherlands in December. Can you send me the name of that restaurant? I will do that. I'll do that, Joel. You'll love it. Good. By the way, now we mentioned, it should really mention, I think it is a, we would say this as BBC men, but, you know, Liam, commenting on the TV last night,

now, widely available, all of the World Cup qualifiers for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, widely available on the BBC I play. It is brilliant. I've been glued to that over the course of the recent qualifiers. We've obviously got the really important radio coverage as well, but also clips go on social media, the highlights can go on the website, you've then got rights for other matches as well to go back to, so yeah, I mean, long may it continue in that regard. Yeah, it's probably very old-fashioned of May and doesn't really tally with how things

are in the world in which we live, but it does feel right that the national football teams should be freely available to everyone. But I tell what I was going to ask you as well, Mark, you know, having had my first experience over the course of the last few days of seeing Craig Bellamy as the Wales manager, interesting times. Very interesting. And isn't he an engaging character to sit and listen to?

Enormously. And wherever we go, he puts on that sort of show, if you like, for want of a better phrase, for the visiting journalists or whatever country it is that we go to. He certainly did that at Wembley on the eve of the match. But he was like that as a player. He knows so much, watches so much football from all sorts of different countries. In a previous job before I joined the BBC, I was working on another radio station when he played for Cardiff.

He was on loan and he came in to do a phone-in program. So he's sitting down and getting him a drink, asking him, how are you? Oh, yeah, I was up late last night watching a game in Lithuania. You must have approached that with some trepidation. Well, I didn't know what the answer was going to be. That's the thing about Craig Bellamy. When you ask him a question, invariably, he gives you an answer that you weren't expecting. There's no sort of gimmies, or he'll say this, if I ask him this.

So he does keep you on your toes. He did as a player and he did as a manager. But he was telling me that time when he was a player at Cardiff, how he was watching a Lithuanian second division game. So we're going back 15 years now when he was telling him. me this. So imagine what he's now like as a manager when he just studies so much football and every minute detail is so important to him. And he knows so much about the opponents that when we go to countries, he can reel off some of their great players from the last 20 years or so. It's been so entertaining following him as manager. You don't

know what he's going to say. You don't know what the team are going to do. It's been a real roller coaster ride but like Northern Ireland we have the Nations League backup as a playoff so even if Wales do not finish in the top two they will surely be in the playoffs and if they play somebody at home I wouldn't back against a Craig Bellamy Wales team at home backed by that incredible Wales support which you got a little bit of a flavour of last night in the second half where they decided we're just going to have a party at 3-0 down yeah talking about Craig Bellamy there Mark I remember

covering a I don't know if you remember this competition it's probably not on your radar John it might be on Jules there was a kind of mini tournament maybe 14 years ago played in Dublin the Carling Nations Cup

that's the one I remember that as well you say it might not be on my radar I was there I was there as well oh there you are what a tournament it was but I remember Scotland we're playing Wales and Craig Bellamy I can't remember

but if he was involved or not, if he played in the game. But what I do remember is being pitchside, doing the interviews. And I thought, I wouldn't mind a word with Bellamy, because he obviously had his time at Celtic, which was short, but it was fairly spectacular. And I thought, I'm going to chance my arm here and try and get a little interview. And he was dressed in the sharpest silver suit you've ever seen in your life.

And obviously, he's still playing at the time. and, you know, he's just standing there, just fit as a fiddle. And I thought, I'm going to chance my arm here. So we know of it to speak to us. It's, Craig, you've got a minute for BBC Scotland. And he just looked me up and down, looked at me, in the eyes, went, nah, and just walked off. That's me put in my place.

You know, I mean, at least he was kind of relatively nice about it, but, you know. It wasn't exactly a huge success that tournament game, was it? No, they didn't bring it back. There's always been this romanticism about trying. to bring back a version of the home international championship but it's just without England it didn't have the same

umph I think that's how you would describe it but that's the thing isn't it John when it comes to England I think there's been a few England Scotland games recently which I think have been pretty well received and they've been pretty competitive perhaps save for the World Cup qualifying game at Wembley

and Scotland only lost one World Cup qualifier since then in a group which is remarkable She's one defeat in 19. I thought I just slipped that in there. But the big games for England nowadays are kind of Germany and Argentina and the like, aren't they, John? I think that's probably the ones that get the English juices going

rather than a match against the home nations. Well, I can raise you with England now have lost one of their last 72 European Championship and World Cup qualifiers. Yeah, that's not a bad record. It's okay. It's not a bad record that. Let me just, because as I always say on here, you know, podcasts great.

You know, I know people absolutely love to listen to them. But in my opinion, the best thing we do is actually the live commentary on the radio. And so let me run you through the matches that are coming up over the course of the next few days. So you'll find these on the BBC iPlayer to watch on BBC Radio 5 Live and on BBC, Scotland, BBC Wales, BBC Northern Ireland. So, Friday night, 745, Northern Ireland against Slovakia. Sunday night, Scotland against Belarus. Then Monday night, that massive game that you'll be covering, Mark, Wales against Belgium.

Northern Ireland against Germany as well, Joel. And then on Tuesday night, Latvia, against England, when I'll be in Riga with Ian Dennis and Matt Ubson. But I'll tell you what I was going to ask you. And I think what would be fascinating to know is, given all of our experience and the travelling that we do, is there a European country that between us we've not been to? So where have you got on your list of European countries with football covering the team that you've not been to? For example.

I'd say your list. Your list has to be shorter than the rest of us, John. so I think you can go for necessarily I see I've never been to Norway for football well I've never been to Norway at all I've not been to Georgia

Armenia I've been to Armenia last year Yerevan was very nice Has anybody been to Georgia? I've been to all those ones John that you've just listed Belarus I've not been to

I've been to Belarus no I haven't either yeah so Joel's done Belarus where else I've been Lichtenstein I've not have you done Lichtenstein I'm going to Lichtenstein next month

right okay I've been a couple of times. Check out the casino and Ben Dern, Mark, if you're there. You'll enjoy it. Right. There's a free movie. Any steak restaurants to recommend as well? No, no, not there.

The Netherlands have got you covered. Liam just goes to, like, just trying to check his bank account. Makes a lot of something. You know what? The only reason that I mentioned the casino in Bend, down is because we went there for a friendly in June, and it was a national holiday, so nothing was open, apart from this casino,

which at a bar and a free buffet which for a man from Aberdeen is obviously not to be sniffed at Luxembourg I've not been to been there Gibraltar is another one I've not done but I'm sure one of you will have been there I've done that

do Andor play in Andorra yet or do they still play outside of Andorra? Well sometimes they play outside as they did at the end of last season against England in Barcelona when I went to the Espan Hall Stadium but I have done Andorra Lavella as well that was the famous occasion when England went there and on the day before the match the stadium caught fire.

We were outside the ground we saw this fire engine coming past. So where's that going? And then we turned, and there's smoke billowing out of this main stand of this stadium. And the Andoran Fire Brigade had to put out the fire in the mainstand. So do we think we have a full set then, John?

I think we might have covered the lot. Oh, Faro's, I'm not done, Not done, but you have. The Farrow's has the best fish and chips shop in the world, officially. I would go to the Farrow's just for the fish and chips. Nice. Fantastic, stunning. That's a long way for fishing chips.

Maybe this question should be our favourite restaurants in countries rather than stadiums. What's your favourite commentary position in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, if you want to be diplomatic or otherwise? Or just be honest. Hibbs at Tyne Castle, East Orode. The positions are fabulous. You can see everything and great views as well. It'll be the new main stand at Tynecastle has prevented you see in the castle and Arthur's seat now, which is a bit disappointing.

The one at Hamden is really good as well, but I'd say the two Edinburgh clubs for me. In Wales, we've only got the four league clubs. They all have their own quirks. Newport have got the polls at Rodney Parade, which can obscure your view. However, in terms of acoustics, the new. Noisiest fans all sit around and stand around your commentary position. So from an acoustics point of view, when they get going down at Rodney Parade, it sounds tremendous. Rexham has been transformed, as we know, by the Hollywood guy.

So you're always spying over to the stand on the far side to see which celebrity is going to be in the posh seats at the top. Swansea, you are relatively high up. The cameras are literally over your shoulder. You're right on the halfway line. That is a tremendous view. Cardiff City Stadium is slightly lower down and to the right of the halfway line which is not always perfect for a commentator

I'm sure you guys will agree we like to be bang on the halfway line having said that though you do get a wonderful view of the double-tiered stand across from us and then the Canton stand to the left which is always a sea of red and they make such a noise as well

and we'll hear and see that on Monday against Belgium yeah speaking of celebrities you just reminded me that last weekend was an absolute A-list special for me at Chelsea Liverpool when it was one of the sort of penalty shouts that there was and we had the TV screen next to it. So I'm looking at the TV screen, so I thought, well, they're going to replay this. And instead, I'm looking at the screen and there's the close-up of this woman in a thick coat. Who's that? Where's the replay for the penalty incident?

And I think, who is it? The camera's lingering on them. And then the producer back in the studio says, that's Madonna. Madonna has had the match. I couldn't believe it. You need to get to Rexham then because you'd literally, you'll hear a rumor that so-and-so is here.

And normally you would think, well, no, that can't be true. But in this day and age, anything, anyone could be in the turf having a pint. Yeah. QPR used to be a good one when, in fact, probably at least one of you might be into QPR in the day. days of Flavio Briatore and Bernie Eccleston when they regularly brought

Naomi Campbell along to the match and because they were sitting just in front of us there and I mean I have to say those three looked so out of place at Loftus Road anyway we are digressing Joel your favourite spots a lot of the grounds we are kind of just

like in seats besides the fans and the spectators which always makes for entertainment particularly knowing you have your what we call the effects mic when the supporters are so close to you and it always picks up

some colourful words and interesting language but also picks up some great one-liners but we have one stand John at a ground called Solitude which is home to Cliftonville the main grand stand is close to the fans

and we are allowed to sit there and it's an old sort of the stand goes up rather than back You almost feel as if you're nearly hanging over the touchline and it's basically commentator, co-commentator and the referee's assessor. Almost the only three people who are in that stand. It's a throwback in time.

You will regularly meet ground hoppers who come from all over Europe to see can this possibly still be still standing this ground and I would say from a commentary viewpoint That is, it's hard to beat for us now on a Saturday afternoon. Welcome to the team behind the team. A new podcast series in partnership with the Open University, where we'll be showcasing the people, the tools and the techniques

to help athletes and teams reach elite level. Like all elite sports, it's a pyramid and everybody's trying to get to the top. It's not just my vision. It's a shared vision amongst the team. What is this? This is not the way I see the game. The team behind the team with K. In partnership with the Open University. Listen on BBC Sounds.

The commentators view on the Football Daily. Listen on BBC Sounds. Clash of the commentators, which will be a special exhibition match. And this is lined up as Joel against Liam. So good luck with this. So Clash of the Commentators, basically, for those who haven't heard it before, one person gets asked a question. You've got 30 seconds to come up with us.

any answers to the question as possible so we will need one of you going first and the other one unplugging so oh you can be put into the waiting room I'm told Liam so so if you bear with this we're going to put you into the waiting room you're going to disappear for a moment or two and then he's gone and then we'll we'll bring it I didn't know he could do that incredible isn't it if he's not listening John can you just like double my score because he'll never know before. Right. So Liam's disconnected, so

Joel Taggart, we are ready to go. So if you're set for this, as I say, 30 seconds, you'll have the countdown music in the background, so that puts you off. And the question is, to you, all of the home nations are currently qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

What I want you to do is name any of your country's top 26 men's record goal scorer. So players who are on Northern Ireland list as one of the top 26 men's record goal scorers

and your time starts now David Healy Colin Clark Josh McGinnis George Best Norman Whiteside Isaac Price Garth McCauley

Jerry Taggard I haven't had a lot of goals over the years who else maybe Jim Midgilton Michael Hughes possibly

Johnny Evans that's it they're too late for Johnny Evans who is actually on the list I think he's number 26 but that is not a bad effort that that is not bad at all so as I suspected

you might be so we'll top that up and we'll get Liam back from the waiting room and Mark's sitting here thinking I'm pleased I'm not doing this. Right Liam's back. Welcome back from the waiting room, Liam.

Thank you. Did you all survive that? Did you enjoy it in there? Well, I'm ready for a darkened room, Liam. What's happening here? Right so if you're set Liam, we're ready to go. So the question that you have to answer is all of the home nations are currently qualifying

for the 26 FIFA World Cup. I want you to name any of your country's top 26 men's record goal scorers. So anyone who's on the list for Scotland as one of the top 26 men's record goal scorers. 30 seconds, you've got the countdown theme, and it starts now. Right, okay, Dennis Law, Dalglish, who we've already spoken about, John McGinn, Lurie Riley

There's the other one There's five who have hit 20 or more Hugh Gallagher Um, Faddy, James McFadden Kenny Miller McOist Oh, you see the late three in there I think there'll not be a great deal in this

This could be close, couldn't it, John? It is, I think. Can't believe I forgot Stephen Davis. Can't believe. If that, it comes down to missing Stephen Davis, you'll never forgive you. I know you won't. Believe you me, you'll be repeating this in your minds for the next week, if you're anything like us.

And I have to say, I think those efforts were much better than some of the efforts that we three, me and Ian and Alic, have put in over the course of. recent weeks. In fairness, this is very much on my radar, John, because John McGinn

became just the fifth man to get over 20 goals for Scotland. So this has been on my radar for

quite a while now. Right, so that means that I should get a bonus point for that. Well, I've got the scores and I should,

if it makes you feel any better last week, Ali, trying to name players who had played for both Arsenal and West Ham

got zero. I heard that one. I've held to her. So, the result is Joel 7 Liam 8 Oh,

Stephen Davis has cost you A classic encounter He's brought us more joy than heartache over the year So I live with that Right, we haven't got long left And since you're all here It would be great to hear what you've got to add to the great glossary of football commentary

where we add listener suggestions to football-specific commentary terms and phrases and we've now introduced a first division and a second division. So the first division is for football exclusive terms and Division 2 is for terms used in football commentary but also in other sports. And I'd be interesting, I mean, you think you'll all have the unusual phrases and I know certainly Scotland

and there will be phrases that perhaps are not familiar around the rest of these islands and we're always, of course, would like to hear from listeners on the email to TCV at BBC.co.com. UK and voice notes as well 08,000 289-369

and I will start with Watford fan Andy who says Hello team, I very much enjoy listening to the podcast while delivering groceries around the Midlands. As a Watford fan, I was listening to the three counties radio commentary versus Hull, a much-needed win. When we scored our equaliser, Jeff Doyle, the great Jeff Doyle, described Imran loser as giving the goalkeeper the eyes a phrase that is surely a contender for the great glossary of football commentary.

I think that is a possible, don't you, for Division I've used that phrase before. Yeah, and I can't think of any other scenario, you know, in terms of that penalty taking thing, giving them the eyes. So it might well be in the first division, that. And also, Ed, from Maidstone. a quick fire roundup after watching Match of the Day weekend shows. Firstly, this from Steve Wilson. Kaisedo getting away from Alexis McAllister and in behind that Liverpool back line and what a goal that is. Oh, that's an absolute beauty from Kaysedo.

Well, he has that in his locker. And this leads goal of the month contender Tom Gale on commentary. Hands on stack. That's it. We have to appreciate the power and the accuracy. This ball stays hit. So there we are. The two contenders, he's got that in his locker and the ball stays hit.

I think probably Division 2 for those two. Yeah. When he said it stays hit, it just made me think that sometimes I say, oh, that was in the moment it left his boot, which really doesn't make any sense. but I use it all the time because it can't be in when it's left his boot

it has to hit the back of the net but I do say that quite a lot yeah the one I always love Liam the one that I've heard is when a manager's position is in some doubt a bit like Russell Martin

for weeks The doubts all gone now with him hasn't it? Well there's no doubts there no no but the phrase his coats on a sugally peg I love that one yeah

that is a good one and his coat was in a shugly peg for weeks and he was only in the job for weeks so that was quite some going and obviously in Scotland we've got this fabulous word it's not one that I use terribly often but the

brilliant Scottish football commentator and presenter sadly no longer with us Arthur Mumford he invented the word stramash which is just fabulous just describing a kind of

ruck of players in a box and the ball kind of pinballing around he described that as a stramash and now there are people who are kind of just starting doing football commentary guys in their kind of mid-20s when I started are using the word stramash

and this is you know Arthur was commenting on football matches in this country 40, 50 years ago so it's remarkable how that's just become part of the vocabulary here I don't know if it's used anywhere else but it's certainly one that's used here.

I've definitely heard it used rugby union. I'm pretty sure I've heard it rugby union. I think I've also heard it used in just general life, you know, in the pub on a Saturday night. Yeah. And George here has pointed out, I've not heard this. And I don't know whether this was maybe from a certain time,

but in Scotland the phrase hibzing it, which I'm not familiar with that. Well, that... And the suggestion is that it's derived from hibbs when you don't win when it seems almost certain that you will. It's basically used to describe them falling apart. I think that's where it kind of stemmed from.

Although what I would say, just to counter that, is since that phrase was invented by somebody on social media, they went on to win the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years. So actually, it's still used to this day and it's used to this day primarily on social media

and fan forums and things like that whenever somebody kind of capitulates in a match kind of late on perhaps a little bit like Greece last night at Hamden you could say they hibbs did last night if you want to use that phrase it's not particularly welcome amongst hibbs supporters I would add that no I can imagine I give you one and I can't claim it to be mine

but it's one that people still talk to me about to this day and it was used about 10 years ago by a co-commentator, former manager and player in the Irish League here called Liam Beckett, who would be very popular with many of our listeners and he was watching a game with me one day

and there was a certain player who every time he got the ball, kept giving the ball away and Liam's phrase that was coined that day and is forever remembered was he couldn't pass you a sandwich at a wake. I don't think it'll ever be. topped. Right. I think we've got to draw things to a close here. So in summary for the glossary this week, quite a few entries. Giving the goalkeeper the eyes, we're putting that in

Division I. Has that in his locker is in Division 2. Ball stays hit, also Division 2. That was in the moment it left his boot. We've got to decide on that one. Cote on a shugly peg is probably Division 2 because I suspect that applies to other areas of life as well. Stramash Division 2 and Hibzing. It was. going to put in division one, I see. Just for Scottish listeners in particular, Hebernean fans, that one wasn't my idea. That was producer George, who came up with that one. I'm pleased you've made that clear for editorial purposes, Liam.

So keep the glossary suggestions coming into as TCV at BBC.co.uk on the emails. Voice notes on WhatsApp. We do love them, and they'll be back in force next weekend when, I presume, Alan, Ian, are back with us next week. Or is Ian having another week off? I don't know. 08,000, 289, 369. Well, exactly. 08,000, 289, 369.

You're very much towing the line, Liam, aren't you? And we'll also next week do more of our unintended pub names. So we'll have those next week. Excellent. That's it. That's absolutely flown by. And I've really enjoyed that. Mark, Joel, Liam.

Really great having you on. And good luck with your travels and your matches over the course of the next few. days or so. Thanks, John. Thanks, John. And that is it for this episode of the Football Daily. The next one will be, this is a good one. Scott McTominee, our brother of Naples. So that, search Football Daily on the BBC Sounds app.

You'll find that. And as for us here on the commentator's view, we'll be back to the bread and butter next week. Division 1 or Division 2 for that? As the Premier League resumes. And remember, you can find each and every episode at the commentator's view by scrolling down your football daily thing.

Do you know what? That's great. The win at Hamden last night, followed by that, really, it does make it a special couple of days. What an incredible double. Those last three that you squeaked in are just swinging your way.

I think you've a problem with your clock back there, John. I think it needs a bit of maintenance. He scored goals, lifted trophies and broken records along the way. It's a day to remember for Wayne Rooney. And now he's got a podcast. Welcome to The Wayne Rooney Show.

Twice a week, Wayne Rooney, Kay Curd and me, Kelly Summers, break down the biggest stories in the Premier League and beyond. As much as you'd like to say it, loyalty in football now is as there's no existence, whether that's fun players or managers. Plus, we'll hear the funniest, wildest and most outrageous stories from Wayne's career. The Wayne Rooney Show. Everybody's talking about it. Listen on BBC Sounds.