Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine

Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Legion on August 18, 2014, 06:42:17 PM

Title: The Voice of Football
Post by: Legion on August 18, 2014, 06:42:17 PM
James Alexander Gordon has passed away.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Toronto Villa on August 18, 2014, 06:45:56 PM
Nobody will ever read the classifieds like he did. A legend in the game in some regards especially for those of us who heard him and associate him in our memories of Villa and football in general.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: saunders_heroes on August 18, 2014, 06:49:01 PM
Very sad news.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: dave.woodhall on August 18, 2014, 06:51:23 PM
Very sad; he suffered with polio as a child and was bedridden for a long while. I wonder how any people found out they'd become rich listening to him?
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Clampy on August 18, 2014, 06:51:44 PM
That's such a shame. Listening to him read out the results whilst on the way back from away matches kind of rounded off a saturday afternoon.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: garyshawsknee on August 18, 2014, 06:55:34 PM
Sad news, big part of our football culture. Didn't he only retire last year ?
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: London Villan on August 18, 2014, 07:02:42 PM
A real link with another world of football.

Very sad news. His family can be very proud of how many millions of football fans have such affection for him.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: The Left Side on August 18, 2014, 07:08:08 PM
Sad news, big part of our football culture. Didn't he only retire last year ?

I believe so, RIP.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: bertlambshank on August 18, 2014, 07:13:48 PM
He could make a nil - nil sound interesting.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: flybo on August 18, 2014, 07:57:35 PM
RIP James
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: brian green on August 18, 2014, 08:13:01 PM
He was a paid up member of the small elite of sports broadcasters along with Murray Walker, John Arlott, Peter O'Sullevan (sp?) David Coleman and Henry Longhurst who actually defined the job they did.   He also wrote his own epitaph that long ago Saturday afternoon when he read perfectly "East Fife 4 Forfar 5".   Thank you JAG.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Gregorys Boy on August 18, 2014, 08:24:24 PM
An icon voice, and such a crucial part of Football on a Saturday.  RIP.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Percy McCarthy on August 18, 2014, 08:30:47 PM
He was a paid up member of the small elite of sports broadcasters along with Murray Walker, John Arlott, Peter O'Sullevan (sp?) David Coleman and Henry Longhurst who actually defined the job they did.   He also wrote his own epitaph that long ago Saturday afternoon when he read perfectly "East Fife 4 Forfar 5".   Thank you JAG.

I thought Ronnie Barker made that up. He certainly used it in a sketch.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: dcdavecollett on August 18, 2014, 08:34:26 PM
A sad day for football fans with radios.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: PaulWinch again on August 18, 2014, 08:41:21 PM
RIP.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Pete3206 on August 18, 2014, 08:44:32 PM
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: frankmosswasmyuncle on August 18, 2014, 08:46:17 PM
Results at 5pm on Saturday have never sounded quite right since he retired.

RIP
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: dave shelley on August 18, 2014, 08:51:10 PM
A sad day for football fans with radios.

Exactly.  Another who will be sadly missed.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: CT on August 18, 2014, 08:59:27 PM
Quote
Results at 5pm on Saturday have never sounded quite right since he retired.

Exactly right.

RIP
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Villan For Life on August 18, 2014, 09:02:10 PM
The tone and intonation in his voice was lovely. He was football's John Arlott.

RIP.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: TopDeck113 on August 18, 2014, 09:14:22 PM
...but first the classified football results read by James Alexander Gordon.

I still haven't got over the fact that those words no longer headline Sports Report.  RIP
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: E I Adio on August 18, 2014, 09:30:41 PM
The tone and intonation in his voice was lovely. He was football's John Arlott.

RIP.

It was perfectly possible to immediately discover whether a team had won drawn or lost a game even before he read the actual score, just by his intonation during the reading of a team's name.

Marvellous. Just remembering his voice conjours up so many memories.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Steve kirk on August 18, 2014, 09:36:43 PM
What a wonderful rich voice he had, RIP
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: PeterWithesShin on August 18, 2014, 09:53:24 PM
He was a paid up member of the small elite of sports broadcasters along with Murray Walker, John Arlott, Peter O'Sullevan (sp?) David Coleman and Henry Longhurst who actually defined the job they did.   He also wrote his own epitaph that long ago Saturday afternoon when he read perfectly "East Fife 4 Forfar 5".   Thank you JAG.

I thought Ronnie Barker made that up. He certainly used it in a sketch.

It was made up. By Eric Morecambe.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: tomd2103 on August 18, 2014, 10:08:20 PM
...but first the classified football results read by James Alexander Gordon.

I still haven't got over the fact that those words no longer headline Sports Report.  RIP

That's the line that will always stick with me.  That and trying to guess the second bit of the scoreline from the inflection in his voice.   
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: rob_bridge on August 18, 2014, 10:21:31 PM
RIP.

When I got a tspe recorder for my 8th birthday I used to tape the results and try to cpy the way he read them out.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: London Villan on August 18, 2014, 10:22:47 PM
With all the pre match tributes we have for various people it would be very fitting to have one for him pre match on Saturday across the country.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Percy McCarthy on August 18, 2014, 10:25:32 PM
He was a paid up member of the small elite of sports broadcasters along with Murray Walker, John Arlott, Peter O'Sullevan (sp?) David Coleman and Henry Longhurst who actually defined the job they did.   He also wrote his own epitaph that long ago Saturday afternoon when he read perfectly "East Fife 4 Forfar 5".   Thank you JAG.

I thought Ronnie Barker made that up. He certainly used it in a sketch.

It was made up. By Eric Morecambe.

I think Eric saw it first on the Two Ronnies. It was one of Barker's solo word-play things, in which he explained that, to combat inflation, the Government had ordered one to be added to every number. Cue much double-entendre based hilarity. He said the famous scoreline once, then when he re-capped the football scores, he read it again as East Six five, Fivefar six.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Weedy on August 19, 2014, 12:27:20 AM
"...dividend forecast: very good. Telegram claims are required for..."
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Tony Erdington on August 19, 2014, 09:53:39 AM
Respect
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: SteveN on August 19, 2014, 01:55:33 PM
He was a part of the time when football results only came courtesy of the radio or the Sports Argus.  From all accounts a really decent man.

Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Lucky Eddie on August 19, 2014, 05:27:22 PM
There endeth just about the last thing I liked about football.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: brian green on August 19, 2014, 05:47:56 PM
One thing which made his reading of the scores was that in the early days it was very exciting because it was the first time you knew the results. These days all the tension and thrill has gone out of all forms of news or sports reporting because the media have milked it as it happens. The BBC are particularly guilty of this. Not only do they have front men and women headlining what is to follow in the bulletin, they plaster the news run in with adverts for upcoming programmes.

Back in the day households would be glued to their wirelesses listening to the scores and checking their pools coupons. Our very own Tony Hancock did a brilliant sketch based on it.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: dave shelley on August 19, 2014, 06:45:48 PM
I vividly remember sitting by the fire during the winter months listening in complete silence waiting for the Villa score as the results were read out and my old man marking them down to check his pools.  A completely different age altogether.
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: Ron Manager on August 19, 2014, 06:56:51 PM
One thing which made his reading of the scores was that in the early days it was very exciting because it was the first time you knew the results. These days all the tension and thrill has gone out of all forms of news or sports reporting because the media have milked it as it happens. The BBC are particularly guilty of this. Not only do they have front men and women headlining what is to follow in the bulletin, they plaster the news run in with adverts for upcoming programmes.

Back in the day households would be glued to their wirelesses listening to the scores and checking their pools coupons. Our very own Tony Hancock did a brilliant sketch based on it.

Aren't you thinking of Peter Sellers, Brian? I have the recording somewhere. Dont remember Hancock doing anything related to football.

Im wrong as well!  It was Michael Bentine who did 'football results' Two gooners as it were!
Title: Re: The Voice of Football
Post by: dave.woodhall on August 19, 2014, 09:21:43 PM
One thing which made his reading of the scores was that in the early days it was very exciting because it was the first time you knew the results. These days all the tension and thrill has gone out of all forms of news or sports reporting because the media have milked it as it happens. The BBC are particularly guilty of this. Not only do they have front men and women headlining what is to follow in the bulletin, they plaster the news run in with adverts for upcoming programmes.

Back in the day households would be glued to their wirelesses listening to the scores and checking their pools coupons. Our very own Tony Hancock did a brilliant sketch based on it.

Aren't you thinking of Peter Sellers, Brian? I have the recording somewhere. Dont remember Hancock doing anything related to football.

Im wrong as well!  It was Michael Bentine who did 'football results' Two gooners as it were!

In The Poison Pen Letters Hancock examined some letters Mrs Cravat had posted and ripped up her pools coupon. Is that what you were thinking of?
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