PAGE 78 C M Y K DAILY MAIL WeeKEND The prized possession you value above all others… My collection of football ‘I’d love my own quiz show. When programmes. I’ve got every FA Cup Final programme since 1921 and all the I hosted a Mastermind special England World Cup ones. They repre- in 1978 I was told I had a great sent my 60-year passion for the game. The unqualified regret you wish you future – but nothing happened!’ could amend… Never having had the thrill of commentating on England The event that altered the course of playing in a major final. your life and character… When Here- The way you would spend your fantasy ford United beat Newcastle 2-1 in the 24 hours, with no travel restrictions… FA Cup on 5 February, 1972. It was a I’d wake up at the Dormy House hotel at classic game and it changed my life Broadway in the Cotswolds and go for a because my boss on Match Of The four-mile run. Then lunch at Oslo Court Day realised I could be trusted to in London’s St John’s Wood: smoked commentate on a big match. salmon and scrambled eggs, followed The crime you would commit knowing by a meat dish with red wine. After that, you could get away with it… I’d burn a match at my local football club, Bar- down a pub near where I live in Hert- net, with my 26-year-old son Fred. Then fordshire. It’s on a busy crossroads and a cream tea at the Landmark Hotel in causes no end of traffic problems. Marylebone, washed down with cham- The song that means most to you… pagne in its Mirror Bar. Finally, a slap- Kirsty MacColl’s He’s On The Beach up dinner at The George of Stamford because I always associate it with Hotel, off the A1 in Lincolnshire. Bournemouth. We have a flat there The temptation you wish you could and it’s my little sanctuary. resist… Snacking on bread and cheese The happiest moment you will cherish while on the road – which is why I’m forever… The day in 1971 when I got normally a stone overweight at the end my first contract on Match Of The Day. of each football season. To be hired by a show that was getting The book that holds an everlasting res- 10 million viewers was mind-blowing. onance… The Power Of Positive Think- The saddest time that shook your ing by Norman Vincent Peale. I left world… The bombings in London on school feeling inferior because I was 7 July, 2005. For it to happen in the city the smallest in the class and not great at DEFINITE I love really saddened me. The memory sport. The book inspired me and helped still makes my blood run cold. me as a cub newspaper reporter. The unfulfilled ambition that contin- The priority activity if you were the ues to haunt you… To be a quiz show Invisible Man for a day… I’d drive a host. I was the questioner on a Master- black London taxi for the day. For mind special for the 1978 FA Cup Final years I thought I’d do that job if the ARTICLE and a lady who worked for Magnus From top: The Dormy House commentating didn’t work out. We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly Magnusson said I had a great future Hotel, a London The pet hate that makes your hackles doing that, but nothing ever happened! taxi, an FA Cup rise… Email! It’s spoilt the art of con- probing questions – and only accept The philosophy that underpins your Final programme, versation. I’m a dinosaur about tech- life… Never be late. My mother instilled Scent Of A Woman, Herbert nology, I can only go as far as texting. THE definitive answer. This week: punctuality in me. I’m a real nuisance Chapman, a The film you can watch time and time because I’m always the guy who’s there cream tea, a again… Scent Of A Woman with Al football commentator John Motson early, standing in empty rooms. sheepskin coat Pacino. People think I’m a very serious The order of service at your funeral… P and the beach at person but it really makes me laugh. My father was a Methodist minister so HOTO Bournemouth The piece of wisdom you would pass on The unending quest that drives you The person who has influenced you to a child… Always take a positive from on… Never letting my work standards I suppose I’ll have a small service in a G RAPHS: most… My wife Anne. She’s kept my a negative. Jimmy Hill taught me that. slip, and therefore giving the younger Methodist church. But I’m only 66 feet on the ground. We’re a team and I The unlikely interest that engages your commentators a run for their money. and I hope I’m still fit enough to go on Te couldn’t cope without her. curiosity… Business. I’ve no idea how it The poem that touches your soul… for many more years. RRY O The figure from history for whom you’d works. I meet people who say they’re a William Wordsworth’s Daffodils. One The way you want to be remembered… ’N E most like to buy a pie and a pint… ‘non executive director’ and do very of my few regrets is I’ve never really As a decent broadcaster. And for cham- ILL, ALA Herbert Chapman, Arsenal’s hugely little for a salary. Sounds good to me! been the type to stop and stare. I put too pioning sheepskin coats for 40 years! M influential manager in the Twenties. The treasured item you lost and wish much effort into my job to ever stop. The Plug… Motty is part of the BBC ALLSTAR, Y, R He made football more professional. you could have again… The ability to The misapprehension about yourself team on television and radio during the I’d love to tell him how he helped make play football. I enjoyed it immensely you wish you could erase… That I’m a European Championships until 1 July. E the game what it is today. and will never have that pleasure again. Tottenham Hotspur fan! As told to Rob McGibbon X NEXT WEEK PS... l David Tennant, Billie Piper and Catherine Zeta Jones and Tom Cruise bring glam metal musical Jane Horrocks head the cast in a l Rock Of Ages to the big screen on Wednesday. Julie Walters returns new BBC1 season of love stories MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers’ to the National Theatre in The Last Of The Haussmans. And modern Mexican classics l Part One of Jamie Oliver’s Summer Salads series catch Elton John before the British leg of his tour ends on 16 June l PLUS Britain’s best TV listings guide 78 weekend DAILY MAIL WEEKEND IS PUBLISHed BY ASSOCIATed NewSPAPERS LTD. PRINTed BY THE POLESTAR GROUP. RegISTERed AS A newSPAPER AT THE POST OFFICE. © ASSOCIATed NewSPAPERS LIMITed 2012. National 9 JUNE.