Best of The Commentators' View 2024/25 - Part Three

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1:10BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. The Commentator's View. With Alistair Bruce Ball, John Murray and Ian Dennis. Hello.

1:23Ian Dennis:Welcome to the last episode in this mini-series, Best of The Commentator's View, where we've been sharing some of our favourite moments and stories from our debut season on your Football Daily feed. I'm John Murray, and every Friday on The Commentator's View, I jump on with senior reporter Ian Dennis. Is that allowed? Anyway, that's what we do. and Ali Bruce Ball as well, jump on you as well, to talk about our lives as five live commentators, the fabulous football, the travel travails and our love of language.

1:57Ali Bruce-Ball:And talking about love of language, there was no better guest to join us than Sky Sports lead commentator Peter Drury, who has history, of course, of being on Five Live Sports Report.

2:08Peter Drury:To me, it was the greatest privilege. It was the greatest. Wow, I'm going to be on Sports Report. And it was the most important piece of work every week. And this is not being, you know, better in my day sort of old man thing. I feel the poorer without that to listen to now and without the capacity, of course, to do that sort of work. But time has moved on and so on. And mention Brian Butler. Listen, it's the height of arrogance to quote yourself. But I suppose like everybody, I remember my first sports report piece. which was a game between Crystal Palace and Stoke in the second division when I was still on the local radio desk.

2:49Peter Drury:And I got, you know, I got a game. And I was so excited. And I remember doing a piece. John Inverdale was the presenter. And Stoke played in purple that day. And I did a piece around the fact that Stoke played in Episcopal purple. And, you know, I was brought up in a vicarage, so I know that sort of word. And so anyway, Brian Butler, the following week when he came into the sports room and I was doing a shift and when Brian Butler came up to me and said, Episcopal, well done. Whoa. And that to me was like being touched by the gods, you know, by the Pope himself. Exactly. Let's not beat about the bush.

3:33Peter Drury:If you love words, and you two do and I do as well, those 40, 50 second pieces were a chance to show off. And I love that. I love that showcase.

3:45Ali Bruce-Ball:And obviously, being broadcasters, we all love words. But you two particularly strike me as real wordsmiths. I mean, you really relish the use of the English language. And lots of it just flows naturally. And some of it, as all commentators, you think about a game coming up, don't you? And you think about phrases you might need or use. But I do sense, Peter, with you and with John, that that's something you enjoy. And I think people who listen to you really enjoy as well. Well, it's true.

4:17Peter Drury:I love words, ABB. I always have. I do, though, often say this, that words have been my best friend and my worst enemy, in a sense, because, yes, they enable you to hopefully come up with some nice stuff. But equally, and they're not wrong, by the way, this is a fair criticism. There are people who say, oh, just speak the language normally, will you? You know, and shut up. And I sort of, I get that. I do understand that. And it's not a bad thing to have that criticism because you do need that check. Otherwise, you just disappear into yourself because you're not actually broadcasting for your own benefit.

4:56Peter Drury:You're broadcasting for the benefit of the listener or the viewer. And so that is a useful check. But I suppose an awareness of that, coupled hopefully with an ability to come up with a word or a phrase once in a while, should work out in a reasonably balanced way.

5:13Ian Dennis:I remember a great piece of advice I had from Gordon Turnbull, who was our head of radio sport, I think for all of us, possibly. Ali, I think, yeah. Yeah, me too, yeah. I remember in my very, very, very early days, Gordon saying to me and suggesting to read as widely as you can. And he said, challenge yourself, read literature, novels that you wouldn't normally read and pick up phrases. and I always, in fact, there's a young commentator I spoke to this week, Ernie Bratherton, who I had a nice chat on the phone with earlier this week, who, you know, is writing in his very early days and I passed on the same piece of advice to him because I felt it was such a good piece of advice just to do that and think about phrases and when you're reading books, think, do you know, I could use that.

5:59Ian Dennis:Absolutely.

6:00Peter Drury:Actually, John, I'm not as voracious a reader as I should be and I think that is a very, very good piece of advice. Funnily enough, cryptic crosswords, they keep my brain ticking over as well. I think that's a great one as well. Yeah, and it's not a bad thing. And I do think also, and this is a rather plainer, more obvious piece of advice, listen to other people. You know, I could use that. I don't mean word for word, but I could borrow from that commentator that means of dealing with that moment. You know, I think you have to be broad-minded enough to do that.

6:34Ian Dennis:It was fascinating having Peter on the podcast, I must say.

6:37John Murray:And I've got to say, I thoroughly enjoyed that particular episode. It just makes you wonder, have you taken any inspiration from another commentator? Any examples you could possibly pick out?

6:48Ali Bruce-Ball:I mean, specific examples, no. But I've got to say, I do listen always with an ear to how you can potentially improve what you do. And quite often, whether it's you two, whether it's Connor, whether it's Vicky, whoever it is in whichever sport, sometimes you'll hear people, I think, come up with a line in the heat of the moment where you think, blimey, that was, I wish I could have come up with that, but I know I couldn't.

7:15Ian Dennis:Yeah, the beauty of it is when you hear it done well and it sounds so off the cuff and, you know, I always meant, you know, I just feel Peter Jones seemed so good at just coming up with the right words off the cuff in the biggest moments.

7:30Ali Bruce-Ball:We've also had Conor McNamara on the podcast a few times this season. One thing that I know Conor agrees with when it comes to football commentary is the need to stay hydrated and energised. And Ali, you found out with Dion Dublin to be a good co-commentator for that. I did a game with Dion recently, and I don't do too many with Dion, but we sat at Old Trafford and did a game a few weeks back, and before the game, he produced three different bags of sweets that obviously come from a massive... He obviously buys in bulk at home, but he had these rhubarb and custard sweets, but chewy ones, not the sort of sugary, sharp, hard, boiled sweet.

8:09Ali Bruce-Ball:Oh, God. You see, he gets away with it. I mean, Dion's older than me, but he's in the best nick, isn't he? I mean, he works out every day. So he can eat all this junk and he still looks well. Whereas if I started eating that, it all goes south very quickly.

8:21John Murray:But you know what I used to do, particularly for a Saturday commentary, because the Saturday commentary is, you know, so intense when you've got the constant talk back and you go in here, there and everywhere. At half time in every commentary, and I won't mention the brand, but I would have an energy drink. Because when you're driving, if people say I'm stopping off for a coffee, coffee takes 45 minutes to get into your system to give you that caffeine boost. The energy drink takes 15 minutes. That, as I'm told, is a fact. So I used to have this energy drink straight on halftime. Anyway, it wasn't healthy for me.

8:51John Murray:I was having an energy drink twice a week, you know. So anyway, I've dispensed with that, and I'm now a little bit healthier. I'm going with the water. But I still need a bit of a sugar boost at halftime to keep my attention switched on and concentration. So I will go for some sweets. And at halftime on Tuesday, I thought I was finished. They'd just done 45 minutes. There was a bag of sweets, and I put my hand in, and it rattled. And Chappers, Hare Chapman, picked up on it. He's listening. He's almost forensic. He went, are you going for the sweets, are you? It's almost as if he had a secret camera.

9:25John Murray:Counterattack with numbers. He's going to decide this game either way, like you said. You all right there, Ian? Are you opening your sweets? No, no, I was just... They were actually in front of Stephen. I was just moving them. Oh, right. What, towards your mouth? Don't believe him. I mean, honestly. You know exactly where they're going. The packet started to rustle. If ever there was an indication of don't talk to us anymore, I'm about to put some fruit pastels in my gob, that was it. He's got the sweets and then he's also got the betting up, so he's getting ready for Cheltenham tomorrow. He's in his element.

9:56He is so happy right now.

9:58John Murray:I think you'll find that's called multitasking. And I thought, well, I'm done now. My job is done. And I was just going for some sweets, but he heard it, the rustle. Her Chapman has got spies everywhere. You know, he has got loose lips sinking ships all over English football. Yeah.

10:14Ali Bruce-Ball:But also he's got 45 minutes. I mean, lots of spells of 45 minutes once he's handed over to the commentator. And he's getting people to get him cups of tea and slices of cake and biscuits. And we don't get to see any of that, do we? So it's not a fair fight, that one, really. It's never a fair fight with Herr Chapman.

10:31Ian Dennis:No, it's not. And do you remember that very same week, Herr Chapman was at it again when he caught out Izzy Christensen that Manchester City's women. I just think it's that final action, that final execution, appreciation in the past. And I think for Chelsea, I think it's just getting enough bodies in the box as well.

10:53John Murray:Who's done the Ian Dennis reaching for the suites whilst the microphones are still on? That was me, Chappas. That was me. Which suites, though? That's too many times working with him, isn't it? Yeah, that's the Ian Dennis influence. It's not good hanging around with those people.

11:09Ali Bruce-Ball:You can't get away with anything, can you, with Hair Chapman, Ian?

11:12John Murray:No, you can't, no. You know who would be perfect for that, though, wouldn't you, for going for the sweets? Russell Fuller.

11:18Ian Dennis:Oh, very good. There's a little challenge, by the way, for listeners. Ali's just got it. Yeah, yeah. It was a delay. There's a little challenge for listeners next season to actually listen out for that telltale Russell in the background.

11:35Ali Bruce-Ball:Staying energised, just one of many challenges for a commentator. Arguably the most important is getting to your match on time, something that Conor McNamara and I have found to be tricky in the past. I'll make an admission to this. There's been once in my career where I've gone to a game and got the kick-off time wrong. It was a 12 noon kick-off when Birmingham were in the Premier League. And in my head, for whatever reason, I thought it was a 3 o 'clock game. And I was living near Manchester at the time, and I was driving down, expecting to get there for around 12.30 for a three o 'clock kickoff.

12:09And I was listening to a sports desk at, say, 11 o 'clock, saying, coming up today, the early kickoff is Birmingham against it. And I was like, what? What? Oh, my God. Now, I was doing reports for Five Live. But I remember I drove down and arrived up at St Andrews. And I said, you know, there's no way I'm going to the official media car park. I've got to get as close to the front door as I can. And I drove right up. and I remember Robbie Savage had a tangerine coloured Lamborghini and you knew it was his because the red plate was Sav 8 and I drove right up behind, blocked in Sav 8 and got out of the car and Stuart was saying, you can't leave your car there, whatever and I was like, I just ran.

12:44Like I'm thinking in my head, the car's going to get towed away but you know, I've got to get here and I remember bursting in, up the stairs, plugging in my machine and no idea of the team, he was doing anything and as soon as I connected, they were like, oh Conor, there you are, right, we're coming to you in 10 seconds and this was obviously the start of Five Life Sport at 12 noon. It was like, and the lunchtime kickoff today is... And I'm there sweat perspiring, no idea of team news. And I just bluffed my way through with some like historical context. But that was the one time that I've sort of had in real life the panic dream that I'm always having of not getting there on time.

13:14Ali Bruce-Ball:But that's the classic thing. The listeners don't know that, do they? So we can tell that story now. But on the day, when you deliver that bit of radio, no one has a clue about that. That happened to me, Connor. Shamrock Rovers against Tottenham in a Europa League game. There's a 5.45 kickoff. And I was over there. and I was aiming to get there, I think, at 5.30 for what I thought was an 8 o 'clock kickoff and got with, you know, and set off and suddenly the traffic was horrendous and there were thousands of fans around. I was thinking, what on earth is going on? And my, I mean, I might be making this up.

13:42Ali Bruce-Ball:My memory is coming over a bridge or coming down a road where you could actually see inside the stadium and I could see the players on the pitch getting ready for a 5.45 kickoff and I was nowhere near. And again, it was only a reporting game and, you know, I wasn't needed like right at the top of the show, but it was like, yeah, exactly that, getting the kickoff time wrong.

14:01Ian Dennis:So there you are. What is it that Alan Shearer always says, Ian?

14:05John Murray:Alan Shearer says to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is unacceptable. Get closer to the action with live commentary from the world's greatest sporting events on BBC Sounds. It is all over! including Cricket, Super League Women's Euros 2025 Wimbledon, Formula One and much more

14:39John Murray:on 5 Sports Extra Sports Extra 2 and Sports Extra 3 listen only on BBC Sounds

15:07We'll be right back.