Your supposed rival Barry Davies also finished his football commentating career at Selhurst Park as part of Match of the Day’s 50th anniversary celebration. His first MOTD commentary was here in 1969 against Manchester United, but can you remember your first Palace game?
That was in 1972 when I was still in radio before making the move to television. Palace were playing Derby County when Brian Clough was the Derby manager. After the game I had to interview him and I was terrified because it was live on the radio, so he stood in front of me calming me down before we started!
As for Barry, it was quite unique that he started and finished with Palace. Despite what many people thought, we were always on speaking terms during our careers and still are.
What is your biggest memory of watching Palace?
The 1990 FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Villa Park. That was one of the best games I have ever covered, and I can recall the memories of that game so easily such as that great run from John Pemberton that set Palace on their way. It was just a magnificent afternoon for the underdogs as both semis were shown live, and after the Villa Park match, the tie between Manchester United and Oldham Athletic was full of goals as well, so the BBC were absolutely thrilled!
I remember Steve Coppell very kindly quoted me in his post-match interviews because I had said to him in the build-up that you needed to score the winning goal against Liverpool as late as possible, because they always came back.
What are your recollections of commentating on the subsequent FA Cup final?
What a day! In terms of end-to-end excitement, the 1990 final was certainly one of the best I have commentated on. It obviously finished 3-3 with Mark Hughes saving the day for Manchester United when it looked it Ian Wright had won the game for Palace after his two goals. Wrighty had been out with a broken leg and was on the bench for the final, and came on to such lightening effect and really lifted the whole occasion.
Unfortunately after everything had died down, the replay turned out to be quite a dour game in which United won 1-0. Palace wore a yellow and black change strip, and from the gantry I was struggling to identify the numbers on the back of the shirts!
