Yes it was a belter, settled on a Golden Goal if I remember correctly

Do TS have rights for the playoffs?

Thanks Arthur. Would Alan Parry have been commentating on the Liverpool v Alaves final with Alvin Martin? I expect so as they were talkSPORT's first choice commentary team at the time.

Additionally, I think talkSPORT may have done commentary on the 2000 UEFA Cup Final between Arsenal and Galatasaray, although I know they didn't do commentary on either of the 2003 (Celtic v Porto) and 2008 (Rangers v Zenit) finals.

The last UEFA Cup Final talkSPORT did commentary on was Middlesbrough v Sevilla from Eindhoven in 2006, with Chris Cooper and Alvin Martin doing the honours (this being Cooper's last commentary on a major final for the station).


They have commentary rights to the three Football League play-off finals, which is a deal they've held since the play-offs returned to Wembley in 2006/07.

These games are three of four Football League commentaries they have rights to do annually, the other being the League Cup Final.

Something I've always found strange/intriguing is how this deal with the Football League doesn't seem to have been extended to include the semi-finals of the play-offs.

You would have thought they'd be at least as much interest in hearing talkSPORT do commentaries on certain Championship and League One play-off semi-finals, especially given how down the years Five Live haven't always been able to do commentary on some of these games due to commitments to other football matches/sporting events, as there is in hearing them do the League Two final live.

It's the same with the League Cup - in 2004/05 they had commentary rights to matches from every round (effectively the same full, non-exclusive deal Five Live have), yet since that season they've just done commentary on the final and nothing else.

Five Live tend to do all Championship games, hand pick League 1 games and no L2 semi finals and then all 3 finals.

Would be nice for TS or 5Live to do the BSP Final too

talkSPORT's deal with the Football League ended last year, which put into question whether they'd be doing the Carling Cup Final and Play-Off Finals this year as well (and in the future as well).

But as we know, they did the Carling Cup Final this year so would expect to hear the Play-Off Finals on talkSPORT too as, seemingly, they've extended their deal.

But, yes, it would be great to hear the Semi Finals. I doubt talkSPORT would turn them down if they had the chance to do them. The Championship ones would obviously be of great interest, as would the League One matches if Leeds were involved.

Yes it was with Alvin, also I would say they did the 2000 final, not least as I recall Alan Parry being at the Leeds game in Istanbul where the two fans were killed. If I remember correctly Alan Brazil had just joined joined and was doing the evening show at the time

I think on a few occasions in past seasons other sporting events have prevented Five Live from doing certain play-off semi-finals - from memory, their commentary of Rangers v Zenit in the UEFA Cup Final on a Wednesday night stopped them from being able to do (I think) Bristol City's Championship play-off semi-final second leg - so I've long thought talkSPORT are missing a trick by not doing these games if it's possible to extend their deal to include them, given that there will be an audience for them especially if Five Live are committed to something else.

Didn't Five Live do commentary on the Conference Premier Play-Off Final in (at least) one of the last two or three seasons? I seem to remember listening to one on Five Live.

I know talkSPORT tend to send a reporter to most Conference Premier play-off finals, and the odd semi-final too.



4-4-2, Arthur, thanks for posting those details. I didn't know talkSPORT's previous deal expired at the end of last season, and seeing as it looks like they've renewed their deal I hope they've done so to include the play-off semi-finals as well.

On Alan Brazil, I think he joined Talk Radio (as was) at the start of the 1999/2000 season - his initial duty was to present 7-10pm weeknight show It's Just Like Watching Brazil on certain evenings alongside Mike Parry (then just a voice in the gallery), before being moved to breakfast on a regular basis at the start of the following season.

They may have done the BSP, if I was around, I would have used the TV. If Luton are in it then it's probably a big enough story for them to cover.

I think a national station could cover the BSP , an occasional Non League news show/feature and reporters at games towards the end of the season would be good.

Although the Football League doesn't receive great coverage from 5Live in terms of live commentaries. It does receive some focus during discussions.

I think our (Shrews) then Conference play off final at the Britannia Stadium was covered on 5 live, the penalty shoot out was, that I do know. I was there so didn’t listen. It was also the day I last wore my “lucky” shades, I lost them shortly after that and for the two Wembley finals since, I’ve not had them – and we’ve lost both!
And people say the game’s all about tactics and fitness!

In fairness to Five Live, although their coverage in terms of commentaries and reporting on the Football League is sketchy for much of the season, once we hit the home straight around Easter time their coverage does become a lot more comprehensive and with a few exceptions their coverage of the play-offs is as complete as it can be.

When it comes to Conference Premier coverage - although there is not a show like BBC Radio London's Non-League Football Show on national radio (there probably isn't the demand for one, in truth), I think a lot of the things you'd like to hear currently happens on both Five Live and talkSPORT.

For example, last Saturday during Matchday Live talkSPORT had an interview with Stevenage manager Graham Westley and I've heard a number of other non-league players/managers on there over the course of the season. Plus both Five Live and talkSPORT have had reporters at games on the final day of the Conference season and at play-offs matches in past years, hopefully this will continue.

Anyone know much about Sean Allen-Moy?

He's been doing the news and sports bulletins on talkSPORT's Weekend Sports Breakfast this morning (I bring this up as they are now done from the studio and usually by TS regulars, but he is a new voice on the station).

As per Google, he presents a weekly football podcast on Real Radio North-West called Who Ate All The Pies. Has he done any football commentary/reporting on local radio?

He's a freelancer and a regular on Absolute Radio - both news and sport. I think I met him last year when I did some work experience for them.

Thanks. Had a look at his Twitter - I agree with him about Darren Gough!

BBC Radio Leicester

Martin Ballard presenting Sportstime.

Championship
Peterborough v Leicester - Ian Stringer and John Sinclair (commentary)

Conference North
Gainsborough v Hinckley - Andy Gibbs

Saturday 10th April


talkSPORT

Adrian Durham presenting Matchday Live, followed by Call Collymore with Stan Collymore at the KC Stadium

FA Cup Semi-Final
Aston Villa v Chelsea - Andrew McKenna

Premier League
Hull City v Burnley - Nigel Pearson and Stan Collymore (commentary), with Graham Courtney at pitchside
West Ham United v Sunderland - Ian Abrahams and ? (plus Five Live summariser Matt Holland on during the build-up)

Championship
Bristol City v Swansea City - Ian Danter
Cardiff City v Reading - Roger Hughes
Doncaster Rovers v West Bromwich Albion - Simon Humphreys
Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday - Grahame Lloyd
Newcastle United v Blackpool - John Temple
Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Town - Geoff Peters
Peterborough United v Leicester City - Kev Lawrence
Preston North End v Scunthorpe United - Dom McGuinness

League One
Millwall v Gillingham - Andy Clarke

Scottish Cup Semi-Final
Celtic v Ross County - Mark Donaldson

Horse Racing: The Grand National
Aintree Racecourse - Rupert Bell

Golf: The Masters
Augusta National Golf Club - Bob Bubka



BRMB/Beacon 97.2FM (Black Country)/Mercia/Gold 1152AM (Birmingham)

Tom Ross presenting The Goalzone from the Keepmoat Stadium

FA Cup Semi-Final
Aston Villa v Chelsea - Joe Holt and Pat Heard (5pm BRMB commentary)

Championship
Doncaster Rovers v West Bromwich Albion - Tom Ross and Tony Brown (3pm Beacon and Gold commentary)
Sheffield United v Coventry City - Nathan Alleyne and Dave Bennett (3pm Mercia commentary)



BBC WM

WM Sport with Richard Wilford from The Lamb (2-4pm) and Paul Franks from Wembley (4-8pm)

FA Cup Semi-Final
Aston Villa v Chelsea - Mark Regan and Ron Atkinson (5pm commentary)

Championship
Doncaster Rovers v West Bromwich Albion - Richie Anderson, with Jane France interviewing the Baggies fans outside the Keepmoat Stadium

League One
Walsall v Tranmere Rovers - Andrew Dawkins

Conference Premier
Tamworth v Luton Town - Richard Wilford (occasional commentary and reports, plus presenter between 2-4pm)

Cricket: County Championship Division One
Warwickshire v Yorkshire - Mike Taylor



Notes: Big surprise on BRMB, as Joe Holt has been given the chance to commentate on Villa's Wembley Cup Semi-Final ahead of their clear number one Tom Ross.

I guess Tom didn't want to miss doing Albion's potential promotion clincher, especially with Beacon and Gold being the only stations in the country doing commentary on this match. Great opportunity for Joe to do a showpiece match in his absence.

BBC WM are doing Around the Grounds between 2-5pm, with reports on Albion, Walsall and Tamworth (occasional bits of commentary on the latter), discussion about other local sports teams and build-up to Villa's semi-final.

Unusually for talkSPORT, they have a featured League One match which kicks off at 3pm. I wonder if this is something they plan to do regularly when they return to doing Around the Grounds on Saturday afternoons next season?

BBC Radio Five Live

Host Mark Pougatch at Aintree
Hull v Burnley Conor McNamara
West Ham v Sunderland Ian Dennis and Matt Holland (commentary)
Crystal Palace v QPR Jonathan Beck
Bristol City v Swansea Simon Mann
Newcastle v Blackpool Peter Slater
Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday Alistair Yeomans
Peterborough v Leicester Mark Bishop
Nottingham Forest v Ipswich Pat Murphy
Cardiff v Reading Jason Mohammed
Doncaster v WBA Ian Brown - welcome back
Colchester v Swindon John Acres
Leeds v Southend Stuart Hall
Torquay v Rochdale Hamish marshall
Celtic v Ross County (Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden) Roddy Forsyth (with Nigel Adderley and Craig Burley commentating on Sports Extra)
R/U: Harlequins v Leeds Ed Marriage
R/U: Biarritz v Ospreys Gareth Charles


IRN

Hull v Burnley Ian Fenton
West Ham v Sunderland Dave Easom
R/U: Harlequins v Leeds Russell Hargreaves


BBC London 94.9

West Ham v Sunderland Emma Jones and Bradley Allen (on-line commentary)
Crystal Palace v QPR Nick Godwin and Rufus Brevett (FM and DAB commentary)
Watford v Plymouth Andy Tilsley
Brentford v Huddersfield Billy Reeves
Exeter v Leyton Orient Dave Victor
Millwall v Gillingham Andrea Warth
Southampton v Charlton Jamie Reed
Barnet v Macclesfield Barry Swain
FA Cup S/F: Aston Villa v Chelsea (Wembley) Phil Parry (also host), Clive Walker and Jamie Hill (commentary)
Last edited by IanFergus : 10-04-2010 at 15:47

Saturday 10th April - BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra

Paul Scott presenting from the studio

Championship
Doncaster Rovers v West Bromwich Albion - David Oates and Craig Hignett (3pm commentary)



Five Live additons to Ian's post above

FA Cup Semi-Final
Aston Villa v Chelsea - Mike Ingham, Alan Green and Chris Waddle (5pm commentary), with John Southall at pitchside

Watford v Plymouth Argyle - Richard Connelly
Cricket: Essex v Hampshire - Steve May
Horse Racing: Grand National - Cornelius Lysaght, John Hunt and Luke Harvey (commentary)
Rugby Union: Munster v Northampton Saints - Nick Mullins (also 5.30pm Sports Extra commentary)
Rugby League: Harlequins RL v St Helens - George Riley



Additions to my earlier post (#2265)

Phil Parkes alongside Ian Abrahams at West Ham v Sunderland for talkSPORT
Chris Blakemore interviewing Villa fans outside Wembley for BBC WM

IRN

FA Cup S/F: Aston Villa v Chelsea (Wembley) Laurence Moran


Newstalk 106-108

R/U: Munster v Northampton Simon Hick

BBC Radio Wales

Steve James hosting

Bristol City V Jackland (1400BST KO) - Ian Hunt and Ian Walsh (SW FM)
Cardiff City V Reading - Iain Gwyn Hughes and Kevin Ratcliffe (SE FM / Digital TV/Radio)
Grays Athletic V Wrexham - Rob Phillips and Jason Perry (North FM / Online)
Bala Town V Port Talbot Town (FAW Cup Semi Final) - Jeremy Davis
Ebbw Vale V Pontypool (Principality Premiership RU) - Phil Steele
Cardiff V Llanelli (Principality Premiership RU) - Bethan Clement
Horse racing from Aintree - Aly Rowell
European PGA Tour Golf, Madeira Open - Nick Dye
Glamorgan V Sussex (LV= County Championship Div2 Cricket) - Edward Bevan

BBC Radio Cymru

Dylan Ebenezer and Eleri Sion hosting

Bristol City V Jackland - Gareth Blainey and Osian Roberts
Cardiff City V Reading - Dylan Griffiths and Meilir Owen (commentary of last 10 minutes)
Grays Athletic V Wrexham - Iwan Roberts
Bala Town V Port Talbot Town (FAW Cup Semi Final) - Alwyn Parry Griffiths
Grand National, Aintree - Alun Jenkins and Hywel Davis (commentary)
Ebbw Vale V Pontypool (Principality Premiership RU) - Gareth Rhys Owen
Cardiff V Llanelli (Principality Premiership RU) - Bethan Clement
Glamorgan V Sussex (LV= County Championship Div2 Cricket) - Edward Bevan

BBC Bristol / Somerset

Geoff Twentymann hosting

Bristol City V Jackland (1400BST KO) - Richard Hoskin and Adam Baker (All FM/AM frequencies 1st half) (1548MW 2nd half)
Oldham Athletic V Bristol Rovers - Ed Hadwin and Keith Brookman (94.9FM / 104.6FM / 1566MW)
Stockport County V Yeovil Town - Rob Scanlon and Chris Spittles (95.5FM)
Bath City V Staines Town - Mike Kay
Plymouth Albion V Bristol (RFU Championship) - Damien Derrick and Mark Hoskins (DAB / Online whole game) (1548MW 2nd half)

Real Radio South Wales

Bristol City V Jackland - Mark Poyser
Cardiff City V Reading - Mark Threadgold
Horse racing from Aintree - Rupert Bell
Aston Villa V Chelsea (FA Cup Semi Final) - Lawrence Mora

A further addition to my earlier post:

Mikey Burrows interviewing Villa fans outside Wembley for BRMB before and after the FA Cup Semi-Final.


Currently Tom Ross is presenting a post-match phone-in (presumably from a ILR studio near Doncaster) alongside Pat Heard on BRMB, having already done the 5-6pm post-match phone-in on Beacon, Mercia and Gold.

Earlier, a pre-recorded version of Tom presented BRMB's build-up to the semi-final while the man himself was doing live commentary on the second half of Doncaster v Albion on Beacon and Gold.

BBC Radio Leeds
studio: Nick Hatton

Brentford verses Huddersfield Town (92.4, 95.3 and 102.7 FM)
commentator: Paul Ogdon
summariser: Kieran O'Regan

Burton Albion verses Bradford City (AM)
commentator: Derm Tanner
summariser: ?

(103.9 FM)
Leeds United verses Southend United
coverage: Adam Pope and Carl Harrison
Halifax Town verses Lancester
reporter: Dave Fletcher

Leeds Carnegie rugby union coverage was on DAB and online, which joined AM after the match. 103.9 FM also featured coverage of Yorkshire cricket, which was online.

Yorkshire Radio (DAB) and Minster FM)
Leeds United verses Southend United
host: Michael Weadock
commentator: Tom Kirwin
summariser: Eddie Gray


The Pulse
Burton Albion verses Bradford City
commentator: Tim Thornton
Summariser: Ian Ormondroyd

BBC Radio Scotland, 10/4/10

Sportsound presented by Richard Gordon.

Active Nation Scottish Cup Semi-Final

Celtic v Ross County - David Begg, John Robertson and Murdo MacLeod (commentary) with Chick Young pitchside

SPL Commentaries

Hearts v Kilmarnock - Liam McLeod and Craig Paterson (810MW commentary)
Falkirk v St Mirren - John Barnes and Des McKeown (92-95FM commentary)
Hamilton Accies v St Mirren - Martin Dowden and Steve Cowan (online commentary)

Open All Mics reporters on 103.5-105FM

Falkirk v St Mirren - Kenn McIntyre
Hamilton Accies v Hibernian - Derek Ferguson
Hearts v Kilmarnock - Allan Preston
Ayr Utd v Dunfermline - Stephen Craigan
Partick Thistle v Dundee - Chris McLaughlin
Queen of the South v Inverness CT - Sandra Brown
Livingston v Forfar Athletic - Jim Spence

Andrew Cheal reported when it went out on the 2000/2100 BFBS News.

It was Andy Gllies who was on 5 Live for the Cup Semi. Roddy and Nigel on Sports Extra with Craig Levein rather than Burley.

Did they say anything to Ian Brown re his return? Did they ask where he had been/

Sunday 11th April (Midlands - Part 1 of 2)


BBC WM

Rob Gurney presenting WM Sport from Molineux

Premier League
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Stoke City - Dan Wheeler and Rob Gurney (commentary)

Cricket: County Championship Division One
Warwickshire v Yorkshire - Clive Eakin



Beacon 97.2FM (Black Country) and 103.1FM (Shropshire)

Tom Ross presenting The Goalzone (in automated form by the sounds of it)

Premier League
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Stoke City - Bill Hatton and Robbie Dennison (commentary)


I don't know if my ears were deceiving me, but it sounded like Rob Gurney's WM commentary was used to describe Matt Jarvis' Goal of the Month contender for Wolves v West Ham on Match of the Day last night.