Motty: 40 Up

Love him or loathe him, John Motson is just about the most experienced football commentator on British television right now. Saturday 1 October 2011 sees Motty celebrate the 40th anniversary of his first appearance on Match of the Day, so we thought it was worth taking a look back at some of the high points of his BBC career to remind ourselves of just what a career it's been...

"Radford again... Oh what a goal! What a goal!"
Ronnie Radford's goal helps Hereford United dump Newcastle United out of the FA Cup as Motty audibly immortalises the 1972 BBC Goal of the Season...



"A chance on here... and Pearson is the scorer!"
Motson finally wrestles the Cup Final microphone from David Coleman's grasp to give us his take on the climax to the 1976-77 campaign.



"Armstrong!"
Northern Ireland give 1982 World Cup hosts Spain the shock of their lives by beating them 1-0 to top the group. Motson wasn't really expecting Gerry Armstrong to score, but then again, who was?



"Chipping it in... and a posbilmnhra... oh Rossi!"
More tongue-tied brilliance from the 1982 World Cup as a whipped-in cross catches out the entire Brazilian defence and Motty with it...



"This is getting better and better and better!"
Motty allows himself to be anything other than neutral as England come from a goal down to beat Germany 5-1 in a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup.



"Beckham... YES! YES! He's done it!"
Despite humiliating the Germans, England still managed to nause up their qualifying campaign to the point where they needed a draw in their final game against Greece. 2-1 down and three minutes into injury time, Motty was ready to commentate on the most dramatic of outcomes...



"Van PersEEE!"
Boxing Day 2008 and we witness the weird phenomenon of a man's voice momentarily reverting back to its 8-year-old self as Arsenal aim to go 3-0 up at Villa Park.