David Coleman – A ‘Grendsternd’ Life In Photos

DAVID Coleman was the voice of BBC sport for a generation. To Private Eye readers his verbal ticks and errors were worthy of a Colemanballs column. But most of the gaffes aren’t his. His was the excitable, knowing voice of sport in an age when a man with ordinary teeth and hair could still get on the magic box with no need of an incidental coffee table and tan – although back then Coleman often broadcast from another planet, Grandstand was pronounced ‘Grendsternd’ and news was broken by the teleprinter in the manner of telegrams from the colonies: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Leeds United 1; STOP; Gandhi restless; Ipswich Town 4… He was….87.

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The BBC Commentary team for the 1966 World Cup in England: (back row, l-r) Frank Bough, Alan Weeks, David Coleman, Walley Barnes; (front row, l-r) Ken Aston, Kenneth Wolstenholme, Arthur Ellis