DS Forums

 
 

LBC Sportswatch 70's / 80's


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 20-03-2012, 12:04
Andy Walmsley
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: France
Posts: 785
Charles Ekberg (Grimsby Town)
Charles Ekberg had been at BBC Radio Humberside mid to late 70s.
Andy Walmsley is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 20-03-2012, 19:00
The Difference
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 14,211
Tom Tyrrell was Piccadilly Sport and now works for Today FM.
Tom hasn't been involved in Today FM's Premier League coverage for quite a few seasons now. I'm not sure what he's up to at present.

Slightly off-topic but to give you details of the commentators to have worked for Today FM (which for the uninitiated is an Irish national station that has held Saturday afternoon Premier League radio rights for the past 14 seasons) since its launch in 1997; initially they used Conor McNamara who did their first live commentary on that year's FA Cup Final; before in 2001/02, upon Match of the Day leaving British television screens on a weekly basis, Tony Gubba became a Today FM regular as McNamara moved in the opposite direction and began working for BBC Radio 5 Live (although I think he only became a contracted 5 Live commentator at the beginning of the 2002/03 season, having covered the 2002 World Cup for TV3). I think that it was around this time when Tom Tyrrell first became involved in Today FM's coverage, with him and Gubba commentating on games in alternating weeks.

When Premier League highlights returned to BBC TV in 2004/05, Gubba moved back to Match of the Day however Ron Jones - who was winding down his commitments with Radio 5 Live at this point (although he continued to cover the odd midweek match for them for a few more seasons) - would effectively replace him, with Today's Saturday games being shared out between Jones and Tyrrell. Today also had a third choice commentator they very occasionally used during the mid 2000s, Charlie Lambert, who you might remember as a reporter on Radio 5 Live during that decade or the sports editor of BBC Radio Merseyside before then.

I'm not exactly sure when Tom Tyrrell stopped being a part of Today FM's Premier League Live team although I can't remember hearing him (or seeing his name on the Radio Football Commentators and Reporters thread) for three or four years now. By the late 2000s Ron Jones had very much become their main commentator with Tyrrell often covering Manchester United's home games when they weren't the subject of the commentary game or if they were one half of a live double header.

These days Ian Beach acts as Today's secondary commentator on Saturdays when either they have two live games or Ron isn't available, with him otherwise being a London-based member of their reporting team. I believe Russell Hargreaves, who to bring it back to LBC has worked as a sports newsreader and reporter for them in recent times, has also done the occasional commentary for Today - I remember him doing an impromptu live broadcast for them last season on that afternoon when a Manchester United home game (which was due to be their featured match) was delayed due to burst piping in their dressing room.
The Difference is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20-03-2012, 23:35
The Difference
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 14,211
Quite a bit after the period of time the OP requested information from, but another former LBC sports broadcaster who springs to mind is Ian Abrahams. He was the station's sports editor during its News Direct years, between 1996 and 2000. According to this interview, he covered Euro 96 and commentated on the 1999 Division 1 Play-Off Final between Watford and Bolton for the station.

Ian left LBC to join the ITV News Channel upon its launch before joining talkSPORT in 2003, initially as a London football correspondent before also becoming the station's newsreader on weekday mornings the following year. He's worked in this timeslot ever since although now reads the sports news bulletins during the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast and Keys & Gray shows.

Out of interest, when did LBC stop doing what I would consider "proper" Saturday afternoon football coverage? Would it have been around the turn of the millennium? I know they've continued with their Scores programme on Saturdays with the likes of John Cushing, Phil Blacker and Ian Payne presenting it in recent years but I would like to know when they stopped sending their own reporters to/taking IRN's updates from weekend football matches.
The Difference is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-03-2012, 17:43
Mark Watkins
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 51
Impressive! I thought my memory wasn't bad but I'm grateful for all the additional.

It must have been Matthew Lorenzo on LBC then (thanks) not Peter.

Although I really enjoyed Sportswatch, I tended to flick over to Sport on 2 to catch their 2nd half commentaries, so seems I've heard Peter on the BBC but associated him (in my mind) with LBC. So good that's cleared up.

Can I add that, the attraction for me in the Dominic Allen hosted days was, I seem to remember, the urgency and importance of the delivery. No doubt this stemmed from Dominics serious nature and the fact that those LBC jingles were quite formal, I think. Then you had the constant "go round the grounds" even when there were no goals. It all added to the excitement and was very pacey.

Whilst 5 Live, for e.g, is most professional, I can't help but echo the recent sentiments here, and say that it's a pity there's not more input from reporters at the grounds generally, even during full match commentary. I'd rather hear more of them than expert summarisers and general waffle when there are breaks in play.

In conclusion a revived Sportswatch, I feel would def. work.

Let's hear more from the reporters at grounds, rather than them (seemingly) there to make up the numbers - in respect of 5 Live anyway.

Mike Ingham is very impressive and always has been.

Thanks again everyone. All good!
Mark Watkins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-03-2012, 18:52
The Difference
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 14,211
Can I add that, the attraction for me in the Dominic Allen hosted days was, I seem to remember, the urgency and importance of the delivery. No doubt this stemmed from Dominics serious nature and the fact that those LBC jingles were quite formal, I think. Then you had the constant "go round the grounds" even when there were no goals. It all added to the excitement and was very pacey.

Whilst 5 Live, for e.g, is most professional, I can't help but echo the recent sentiments here, and say that it's a pity there's not more input from reporters at the grounds generally, even during full match commentary. I'd rather hear more of them than expert summarisers and general waffle when there are breaks in play.

In conclusion a revived Sportswatch, I feel would def. work.

Let's hear more from the reporters at grounds, rather than them (seemingly) there to make up the numbers - in respect of 5 Live anyway.
Have you ever listened to talkSPORT on a Saturday afternoon?

In Matchday Live from 12noon on Saturdays, they do the kind of Around the Grounds programme you describe above rather than a 3pm commentary game, with a big emphasis on crossing between reporters from about a dozen of the day's biggest games. The majority of these reporters are reasonably local to the areas of the home teams in their games so you get the kind of regional feel you would have got on LBC Sportswatch when they took updates from games hosted by non-London clubs.

talkSPORT typically spend more time with their reporters than 5 Live do and cross between matches much more frequently, chiefly because they are not preoccupied with a commentary game. Like you I often get the impression that some of 5 Live's reporters at Saturday afternoon matches - particularly those at their featured games from the lower leagues - are there in almost a tokenistic manner rather than to be major contributors to 5 Live Sport.

I know talkSPORT has had a bad reputation in some quarters in the past and perhaps still does, but their Saturday afternoon Around the Grounds output has been consistently very strong for about a decade now and has long been my preferred choice of listening on Saturdays at 3pm. Going by what you've written above you seem to have similar tastes to me so I imagine that Matchday Live would be right up your street.
The Difference is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2012, 13:46
Mark Watkins
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 51
Thanks, I'm now a (recent) convert to Match Day live on Talk Sport!! Cert. gives 5 Live a run for their money, esp. as the match commentary concentrates more on the match & less on opinions, unless there's a controversy.
Mark Watkins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2012, 16:14
La Rhumba
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: London
Posts: 10,467
What about the weekday 6-9pm daily show on Talkback the LBC AM service. I can't remember the name of the presenter, but he always started the show with headlines from all the London Football teams, and then said "there's no transfer activity at West Ham" just to satisfy Hammers fans who complained he never mentioned them.

It was the first daily sports talk show I can remember on any station, and he had long interviews with people (like Danny Kelly does now). I remember one guest was Glenn Hoddle who'd just moved back from France, and had bought a house in Epsom - before he joined Chelsea. So that would date the period this show was on air. What was the presenter's name?
La Rhumba is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2012, 18:54
The Difference
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 14,211
Thanks, I'm now a (recent) convert to Match Day live on Talk Sport!! Cert. gives 5 Live a run for their money, esp. as the match commentary concentrates more on the match & less on opinions, unless there's a controversy.
I'm pleased to hear it. Speaking as someone who supports a lower league team and isn't always able to listen to specific coverage of them on local radio, I think talkSPORT provide a really valuable service on Saturday afternoons and in midweek that hasn't been offered anywhere else on British radio for many years.

I enjoy their commentaries but for me Matchday Live is the jewel in talkSPORT's crown.
The Difference is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-12-2016, 11:29
Mark Watkins
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 51
Found this on-line (scroll down / through useful LBC history lesson) which helps cement / confirm some of those greats on much missed Sportswatch with words & a picture.

https://comparativemedialawandethics...-broadcasting/


Mark
Mark Watkins is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 23:37.