“Give me the quirky, the off-piste, the stylish” - Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall, OBE
Stuart Hall is not your typical sports commentator.
The man who claims to have first coined the phrase ‘The Beautiful Game” to describe football/soccer is far more idiosyncratic and verbose than your average Ray Wilkins; often to a frankly ludicrous degree, as this quote from the build up to one Liverpool game shows:
“And here we are at the Coliseum [Anfield], with a match of titanic proportions about to take place. Will the gladiatorial figurine of [Michael] Owen add to his mighty goals tally?”
Few would describe Michael Owen as a ‘gladitorial figurine’. It’s hardly commonplace language and, in truth, it hardly accurately depicts its subject – ‘Obnoxious crippled former child star’ would be a far more natural fit, but I digress.
You really have to question the world we live in, when retired housewife ‘Auntie’ Mark Lawrenson is seen as a better choice to drone through the BBC’s football programmes than broadcasting legend Hall. The man has a genuine passion for language and possesses quite the pedigree, having hosted the bizarre primetime staple “It’s a Knockout” for over two decades during the 70’s and 80’s.
His voice is really quite something; warm, refined, and luxurious, it harks back to a bygone era of television, when the BBC required it’s own unique intonation. Quite why this Classy Gent has been relegated to providing merely the occasional update on 5 Live’s football coverage is beyond us. In his younger days, such was the respect in which he was held that he is perhaps the only commentator never to have played the game professionally, who has appeared on the bench for a European cup final.
“We were denied access to the Olympic Stadium by the local broadcaster, they wouldn’t even give us tickets, so Bob [Paisley, the Liverpool manager] chucked me a No 14 shirt and told me to sit beside him on the bench as a substitute. Can you imagine the privilege? It was the greatest match I’ve ever seen. The excitement was incredible. Before the game, the players were drumming their boots on the dressing-room floor. It was like the climax to Tristan and Isolde.”
Like Tristan and Isolde indeed. It’s hard to imagine anyone else, anywhere else in the current broadcasting landscape, let alone that desolate wasteland of sports coverage, repeating such a phrase.
Outside of his lengthy career in broadcasting, Stuart has been involved in other, less successful, ventures. Of particular note is his foray into travel agency, creating perhaps the most unfortunate acronym in business history.
“I’ve never been brilliant in business. If you have an artistic bent, you’re never going to be good at the logistics of business. I’ve no time for all that. I’m the man who ran SHIT Travel - what a great venture that was.”
So, in celebration of his long career and the hope that we may get to hear from him more prominently in the years to come, we give you Stuart Hall – our Classy Gent of the Day.
-
footysphere liked this
-
classy-gents posted this
