BBC Sports Report

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 - SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR THE OFFICIAL DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF BBC SPORTS REPORT 'Opens the doors to one of the great radio institutions.' - Dan Walker 'An absolute joy to read.' - John Inverdale 'That opening tune always quickens the pulse.' - Henry Winter Sports Report is as much a 75-year history of sport as a BBC radio institution and Pat Murphy pays handsome tribute to a programme that is still followed affectionately by millions. For nearly 75 years, one BBC programme has been a constant factor in chronicling the way sport is covered, in all its many facets. It has been a window on the sporting world all over the globe - packed tightly into every Saturday evening for the bulk of the year. First broadcast in 1948, Sports Report is the longest-running radio sporting programme in the world and one of the BBC's hardy perennials. Pat Murphy has been a reporter on the programme since 1981 and here he sifts comprehensively through the experiences of his contemporaries and those who made their mark on Sports Report in earlier decades. He hears from commentators, reporters, producers, presenters and the production teams who regularly achieved the broadcasting miracle of getting a live programme on air, without a script, adapting as the hour of news, reaction and comment unfolded. Drawing on unique access from the BBC Archives Unit, he highlights memorable moments from Sports Report, details the challenges faced in getting live interviews on air from draughty, noisy dressing-room areas and celebrates the feat of just a small production team in the studio who, somehow, get the show up and running every Saturday, with the clock ticking implacably on. --- Waterstones Best Books of 2022 - Sport

Patrick Murphy is a celebrated BBC journalist and the longest-serving regular contributor to Sports Report. He started in November, 1981, specialising in cricket and football, and is famed for his many jousts with difficult members of the football industry. Murphy has been involved in 44 sports books, including acclaimed biographies of Ian Botham and Brian Clough.

Preface The Weekly Miracle The Beginnings Angus and Eamonn - The Odd Couple The Signature Tune Memorable Programmes 1948-1988 The Front of House In the Studio Moments to Savour At the Sharp End There were Some Laughs as Well Reading the Classifieds Gender on the Agenda - At Last! Memorable Programmes 1989-2021 Troughs Among the Peaks In Praise of Sports Report The Last Word Acknowledgements