John Motson relives commentary gaffes in BAFTA acceptance speech


On a weekend of emotional farewells, football also said goodbye to the venerable John Motson who called time on his BBC commentating career after 50 years in the job.

The 72-year-old bowed out by covering Crystal Palace’s win over West Brom before being honoured at the 2018 BAFTA Awards for his “outstanding contribution to sports broadcasting” that same evening.

In accepting the award, Motty made light of a few of the famous gaffes he’s made on air over the years, starting with his classic blunder about Tottenham Hotspur playing in yellow on black-and-white television.

“To BAFTA, thank you very much, and I never saw this coming,” Motson said while accepting his special award on behalf of the BBC Sports department.

With no less than 10 World Cups, 10 European Championships, 29 FA Cup finals and more than 200 England games under his belt, we reckon Motty’s just about earned himself a rest.

Chris covers the funny side of the game for ESPN FC in the Toe Poke blog.

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