Manchester Utd v Millwall
The FA Cup Final
Millennium Stadium
22 May 2004


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The son of a Methodist minister, The Reverend William Motson, John joined the Barnet Press newspaper as a junior reporter at the age of 18.

He moved to the Morning Telegraph in Sheffield, where he first covered League football, and later made his name as a sports presenter on Radio 2, then BBC Radio’s main sports station.

He became a junior member of the "Match of the Day" staff in 1971 and within sx years was commentating on his first FA Cup Final – Manchester United v Liverpool at Wembley.

He has now covered well over 1,000 matches for the BBC, including World Cup and European Championship Finals.

So what are Motty’s memories and highlights from his first 24 FA Cup Finals?

How did you come to commentate on your first Final?

In terms of The Final I was behind David Coleman and Barry Davies in the pecking order in the early ’70s.

But for my first FA Cup tie I did have the opportunity of covering the Hereford v Newcastle replay and, of course, Ronnie Radford’s wonderful equalising goal remains one of The Cup’s great moments.

David wasn’t available to do the 1977 Final and around the time of the Semi-Finals I was told that I would be doing it.

How did the match go from your perspective?

To be honest I felt a little inadequate on the day and wasn’t overjoyed by my performance.

There was quite a lot of apprehension on my part. Manchester United’s winning goal that day was a difficult one to call for a commentator too.

Lou Macari’s effort ended up in the net but Jimmy Hill, my co-commentator on the day, noticed that the ball had deflected off Jimmy Greenhoff and quickly told me so "off mike".

Do you have a favourite Final?

Well, after 1977, I did The Final from 1979 to 1994 and then from 1997 to the present.

I remember particularly dramatic finishes in The Finals of 1979, Arsenal v Manchester United, and 2001, Liverpool v Arsenal.

But the most memorable match was probably the 1981 replay between Tottenham and Manchester City, won with Villa’s marvellous goal 14 minutes from time. It was the 100th Final and the first replay at Wembley, played on a balmy evening.

Can you recall when you first watched The Final on TV?

Oh yes. In 1950 my father took me to a shop in Woolwich where they had one of those nine-inch black and white sets and we watched Arsenal’s match with Liverpool. I saw the "Matthews Final" three years later too.

When did you first actually attend a Final?

I was fortunate enough to have a ticket for the 1964 Final between West Ham and Preston, just after I had joined the Barnet Press.

I was very close to the steps leading down from the Royal Box and managed, along with many others, to give the great Bobby Moore a little pat on the back as he went past with The Cup.

Finally, John, can you remember any awkward moments while you were commentating on a Final?

Well, bearing in mind that a match like that can involve two hours or more of unscripted broadcasting, I think I’ve more or less got through unscathed.

But I remember that we nearly missed a goal during the 1994 Final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

Following a slow-motion replay we barely cut back to the live action in time to see Mark Hughes score United’s third goal. I think I just shouted "Hughes!"

And there was the time when Dennis Wise and other Chelsea players took their kids up to the Royal Box for the presentations. This was completely unexpected and I have to admit that I had no idea what their names were!